Chapter 41 – At the usual hangout

    “Dodge this!” Rave shouted, hammering the buttons on the arcade machine. The pixelated characters on the player versus player machine moved in accordance with the inputs.

    “I can and I will!” John declared. He made true on those words and then executed a flawless combo that saw Rave’s character sail to the ground. “And so I win again!”

    Rave slapped him on the ass. That was, strangely, not that unpleasant. Probably because it was she who did it. “Ya know ya take this way too seriously, yeah?” Rave complained.

    “Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to seduce the guy who has literal game powers. What about me shouts ‘only games for fun’?” He gestured at the Legend of Zelda t-shirt he was wearing that day.

    “Ain’t nothing to do with ya Possessing the analogue stick to minimize your reaction times.”

    While the playful bickering continued, they moved over to Jimmie. The mechanic was completely preoccupied with watching Aclysia. Like a pet owner throwing their favourite rodent a piece of lettuce, Jimmie picked out pieces of metal and handed them to Aclysia. Broken utensils or remains from cut-outs, Jimmie had a whole lot to offer.

    Ever so gradually, Aclysia’s size increased. “Wonder what happens when she reaches the appropriate size,” John wondered.

    “Excess materials of Artificial Spirits with the Living Material Attribute are stored in a sort of pocket dimension. They can draw from that to cycle out parts of themselves or to regenerate if there’s material loss,” Jimmie responded immediately. “Didn’t think I would see one in person so quickly. These things are fascinating!”

    “Glad ya get something in return for the metal stuff, Jimster,” Rave said.

    “I wouldn’t complain if you repaid me some more.” With a glance at John, he added. “Maybe introduce me to some single girls sometime?”

    “Ya know I know even less people than you. I mean, I know a bunch of people from bar conversations, but that’s not enough to drag you in... well, could take ya along when I go clubbing sometimes.” Rave spotted Jimmie’s sour expression. “Why do ya even want me to introduce ya to a girl if you don’t like raves?”

    “To be fair, neither do I,” John weighed in. “Except the one, but she’s different.”

    “Oh, oh, I see how it is. The geek and the nerd don’t know how to have fun.”

    “Speaking of having fun, you two staying here or are you going out again to do... couple stuff?” Jimmie asked. He had been neither surprised that they had gotten together nor seemed to begrudge it. Either he didn’t believe it would last or John had clicked better with Rave than even the Gamer had initially thought.

    “Travy should be back any minute,” Rave answered absent-mindedly.

    ‘Metal feels different.’ It suddenly ran into John’s brain.

    “In what way?” the question confused the two people around him. The figurine, about thirty centimetres tall by now, kept eating.

    ‘It tastes different.’

    “Is that good or bad?”

    ‘Am I supposed to have preferences, Creator John?’

    “Metal, probably,” John responded truthfully. He didn’t want to fill her little head up with lies.

    Aclysia turned back to Jimmie. “I suppose I like metal more.”

    “No real advancement in that regard it seems.” The mechanic sighed and fell back on his chair.

    “But she can speak now and she’s hella cute.” Rave tickled the little woman’s tummy. No reaction, Aclysia just kept chomping on the necklace. What little magic had been in there seemed to have all been lost now. “Like seriously cute. I’d sleep with a girl like her. Threesome, maybe?” she grinned over at John.

    The Gamer did not get the opportunity to ask whether she was serious or not. Travolta chose that exact moment to burst in through the door. John vaguely heard harsh rain and winds behind him. A thing he had learned with the advent of the summer storm was that weather in reality was mirrored by the Illusion Barriers in the area.

    “Fucking dammit!” the ornery, middle-aged man cursed. “Who the fuck allowed the weather to rain on me. Fuck, I’m soaked.”

    “At least ya don’t have to dry your hair,” Rave quipped.

    “Fuck off, Rave.” Travolta shouted and pulled his tank top off. He didn’t have any qualms staying shirtless in front of the rest of his ‘guild’. While wringing his shirt out, he noticed that John was staring above his head. Travolta looked up. “Something in my hair?”

    “Oh, no, sorry, just spaced out for a moment,” John lied. What had made him stare was that Travolta was 22 levels higher than last time. That required an Observe.

    What was Thana? He had the sneaking suspicion that asking wouldn’t be smart. Besides Rave, nobody knew how much information he could get by simply Observing people. Speaking of Rave she looked at John with a raised eyebrow. She must have realized he was looking at a window.

    “Everyone’s here that’s – what’s that?” Travolta asked and put his shirt back on.

    “She’s called Aclysia,” Rave responded. “John made her, she’s an Artificial Spirit.”

    “For fucking real?” Travolta exclaimed and stomped over. He stopped just short of picking Aclysia up, instead only observing her from up close. “How the fuck did you have the money and Skill for that?” he asked.

    “Uhm, I kinda just was able to do it?” John responded, then decided to go a bit more into detail. “Gaia provided me with the crystal and I got the Skill off a different mechanic. I combined the two and there she sits. I’m still testing out what happens.”

    Travolta silently listened to that. He put his shirt back on, then gave John a once-over, as if he had never seen him before. “You’re a bit more filled out... you get items... and spells?” he mumbled his thoughts. “Your powers are really interesting. Man, to be a Latebloomer...” He trailed off again, his jaw circling as if he was chewing on something firm. “I’ll be upstairs, don’t break anything.” With those words, he suddenly and quickly walked away.

    John wanted to ask about the Bloodfallen, but by the time he had mustered the courage, the opportunity had passed. At the same time, Jimmie sighed. “I probably should get to the hospital. Can never catch a break.” He was about to light a cigarette on his way outside, when he was reminded of the rain. He cursed, put it away, then got moving anyway.

    “Guess that fills our interaction quota with the weirdos for the day,” Rave joked.

    “I don’t think we have any room to call anyone weirdo. I mean, what was it we planned to do today? Watch anime, only so I can understand the parody of it, then check out the Abyss Auction?”

    “Yeah, so let’s go! Watching Chinese cartoons is my favourite pastime.”

    “Oh, so it’s okay when you say it!”