Timon must have slamd on the brakes, as I had never felt the bus lurch so hard before. The sudden stop was hard enough to knock off my feet, but the slight pain that accompanied the fall was nothing compared to the importance of getting off the bus imdiately. Two of the biggest reasons I had managed to keep going so far were out there, alive. I stood up and walked off the bus to see them.
“John, Alex!” I called to them from down the clutter-strewn sidewalk. Both their heads turned towards , their faces full of confusion.
“Dad?” Alex said first.
“Yep, sohow still alive and here to help,” I said, smiling. Both of them had tears in their eyes as they ran towards .
“How are you even here? There are no flights, and your house is a three-day non-stop drive on a good day,” Alex said, crying slightly as she hugged . John was standing back slightly now, looking at skeptically.
“Dad, you look different. Where are your glasses?” John asked. Where were my glasses? I checked my System storage quickly and spotted them on one of the shelves. I rembered putting them in there one day before a shower. Had I just not put them back on? I suppose it made sense that my eyesight had improved, considering both my attributes and skill systems that were now a part of , but I hadn’t even realized that it had to that degree. It just sohow felt natural without them. The rest though, I hadn’t even considered that. When was the last ti I had a haircut? I used to shave my head weekly, but there was a full head of hair up there now.
“You look like you did when I was a kid,” Alex said as she pulled away from following John’s question.
“I’ve been through a lot, which I know sounds insane since this all started this morning from your perspectives, but I swear it’s , a weirdly physically healthier version of , but it is ,” I said almost pleadingly with them. Sohow, I hadn’t even considered this a potential problem. Of course, showing up looking at least twenty years younger would be jarring. Had John ever even seen before the balding had started?
“What’s my middle na?” Alex asked. Oh, now that was a good question to catch an imposter. She always was smarter than . I was oddly proud that despite the ruin around us, she was still able to think so quickly on her feet.
“Legally, your middle na is Madeline, but as a kid, I used to call you Alex Andra, and your mom once got pretty angry at when you told your preschool class that was your real middle na,” I answered, laughing slightly at the mory. Alex’s arms wrapped back around in a tight hug.
“John, I don’t know how, but I believe it’s him,” she said as she ended her second hug. John still didn’t look convinced.
“John, you’re nad for your grandfather, and every year on his birthday I got up early and made eggs for everyone the way he always made them for and him when he could. When you were nine, you secretly turned off the alarm clock and did the cooking instead,” I said. My smile grew even larger at the mory. The breakfast had turned out surprisingly well, even if not the exact eggs I usually made. I think it was one of the events that gave John his lifelong love of cooking.
“Okay, okay, I believe you, but what can you even do to help? It’s not like you can do anything about the aliens. Who knows how many they’ve killed?!” John looked on the verge of breaking down as he said this.
“I know I can’t fix the world, but I can get you two to a place of safety for now, at least while we figure out what’s going to happen. If you both are willing to co with back to Alaska, and I’m not saying you have to stay forever, but I’ve got food and plenty of propane reserves, it’s as safe as anything will be for now,” I said, trying to convince them. I had no idea how I was going to sell the bus full of my otherworldly friends, but first, I needed to even get them on board with Alaska.
“Three of us,” John said, pointing to a woman standing a bit behind them. So focused on my kids I hadn’t even noticed her. Did he have a girlfriend I didn’t know about? I suddenly wished I had never let myself beco so isolated from them. How much had I missed just because I couldn’t handle my own broken heart?
“Of course, sorry I didn’t see you back there,” I said, feeling awful about how much I had to have missed.
“It’s okay, um, can the cats co too?” she asked, pointing to what I had thought was just a backpack, but now I realized it was a cat carrier styled as one.
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“Absolutely. Hopefully, Chip likes cats, but even if he doesn’t, we can figure sothing out. So, back to how I look so different, well, younger, which Alex realized. It’s a very long story that I promise to tell in full once we are safe, but I need you to trust and get on a very strange bus with . There are people on there who are very much not human, but they also have nothing to do with the devastation. They played a big part in how I’m even here in one piece,” I explained, hoping they had inherited so of my naivety when it ca to trusting people. Honestly, it had bitten in the ass less than it should have throughout my life.
“I don’t know if it’s just how insane today has been or if I’m just in a coma right now, but okay, yeah, I’m willing to go for now,” Alex said, looking back to her brother, likely waiting for his response.
“Funny enough, I thought the sa thing, the whole considering I might have already died too. There was also an anxiety-fueled session of worrying about hyper-intelligent AI possibly torturing ,” I said, trying to lightly laugh off the situation.
“Roko's basilisk?” the woman behind John asked, surprising .
“That’s the one, but I decided I had to accept what seed like reality at face value for now,” I answered.
“Okay, we’re in, too; we need to get the cats sowhere safe. Thank you, Dad,” John said, relenting to the stares of both the won.
“Alright, just rember I said no one on the bus is human, okay?” I reminded them, worried about their reactions.
“Dad, trust , we all heard you,” Alex responded.
“Alright, well, follow ,” I said, turning around and walking back toward the bus. Four heads were staring at as I stepped back aboard.
“So, are they coming?” Cecile asked, breaking the silent stares.
“They’re right behind . Just rember, none of them have seen people that aren’t human other than the invading orcs, who you know just happened to butcher the planet,” I said. Everyone nodded, and I walked further into the bus, clearing the way for them to join .
“Oh, you really are aliens. Hi, I’m Maud, do you all have nas? Wait, do you speak English?” The woman with John, who was apparently nad Maud, asked. That was actually a good question. I had no idea how our translations actually worked, let alone how they interacted with people on an unincorporated world.
“I don’t know what English is, but we can speak if that’s what you an. I’m Cecile, and this is my brother Elicec. Timon is the driver, and this bird is Sanquar,” Cecile said, dispelling any worry about a common language. Each person nodded as Cecile introduced them. I liked Maud; John had good taste, which shouldn’t co as a surprise at all, considering his cooking skills.
“Uh, hi,” John said from behind Maud, taking one of the free seats to let his sister through.
“Dad, don’t take this the wrong way, but what the fuck happened to you?” Alex said, scanning the faces of my companions.
“A lot, and as I said, I promise I’ll explain everything once we are back,” I said, rembering all the dead orcs near the house. I hoped they were far enough away that they wouldn’t notice them imdiately. We would need to clean those up at so point.
“Okay,” Alex said, sitting down across from John. Maud, strangely enough had taken my old seat next to Sanquar and was quietly talking to him about what it was like being a bird. The brothers were both looking at the cats in their carrier strangely. Did they have anything like cats on their world?
“We good to go? Got any more passengers to pick up?” Timon asked. I looked to my kids to see if they had any more passenger requests, but neither spoke, so I assud it was a no.
“We’re good. Let’s get back to the house. Uh, is anyone any good at building a wall? There’s a bit of damage to the kitchen,” I said as I sat down next to John.
“I’m pretty good at the do-it-yourself stuff. It might not look great, but if you’ve got the materials, I can probably patch it,” Alex answered. She always had been more like when it ca to tinkering. Had she graduated yet? No, she’d have invited to that, right? Wait, she was only twenty-six. There was no way she had her doctorate already. I pushed so of my worries down, we could figure out everything I had missed later.
“Glad to hear it. That should make things a bit easier. How about you, John? Is Maud soone special?” I asked. He just nodded in return. He still looked ready to make an escape if he could. I knew what was wrong the mont I saw this look. He had inherited my anxiety. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. “Anyone wanna et my mallet?” I asked, trying to cut so of the tension.
The Singing Blade faction is one of the younger orc factions, having broken off from the Giant Blade faction when one of their commanders beca tired of never getting the glory he believed he deserved. Due to the number of warriors that followed him when he left, the Giant Blades were forced into a tentative nonaggression pact if both factions wanted any chance at survival. They both specialize in oversized bladed weapons, but the big difference in their styles cos from the Singing Blades preferring berserker rages, while the Giant Blades prefer controlled strength.
System Paths, Careers in the Spiral By Glarppp
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