Chương 35: 34-An Old Home

[Monday, 8: 24 AM: 2026/01/05] [CARLA'S REALITY] LYSANDRA: {-Is she okay, Carla? Our baby, is she glitching? -} CARLA: {-Nah! She's perfectly fine-} LYSANDRA: {-Good…:) -} CARLA: {-Since Ellie is frozen, can you describe the house to our guests? -} LYSANDRA: {-Sure thing.:) -} [The floors (like Ellie's bedroom) are oak-like LVP as I prohibited any form of carpet because of mold (AND CLEANING TAKES TOO LONG). The walls are a gentle beige color. To the far wall, facing the front of the hallway entrance, there is a brown brick fireplace with an iron stove, closed off by a black iron grill-knob handle. On the sides of the fireplace are multiple dried herbs that look like they are well-preserved and look like they were well-tended before they were harvested] CARLA: {-Thanks, hon-} LYSANDRA: [In front of the fireplace is a walnut coffee table, a brown leather sofa facing the fireplace, and an oak wooden rocking chair to the right where I like to relax and read. To the right of the fireplace is the bookcase, which is filled with books that are… violent] {-Actually, are they game strategy guides? -} CARLA: {-I've been honing my skills-} LYSANDRA: {-Don't you dare let Ellie play any rated M-} CARLA: {-Killjoy-} LYSANDRA: [Now, the bookcase goes up to the ceiling, and there is an open shelf at the bottom containing a lot of board games. Or it would have been board games that were neatly arranged, but instead, it's a bunch of video game cases with several discs OUTSIDE OF THEM! >: (] CARLA: {-I was busy lmao-} LYSANDRA: {- >: (-} [To the right of the bookcase, coming towards Ellie is a large, standing clock (not a grandfather clock) whose hands are standard black plastic. Right of that is a large, rectangular window. And yeah, there's those French double doors made of oak with that arched transom above them. In front of it is a large, oval rug. To the left of the door (if you're going to head out) is a floating coat rack with a finish of Venetian bronze and below it where we place our shoes.. Everything in the living room and kitchen (except for the fireplace) is of that finish] CARLA: {-You have an obsession with Venetian bronze, Liz-} LYSANDRA: {-It's aesthetically pleasing! -} [To the left of the fireplace, there's the kitchen. It is in the style of a U-shape. The countertops are polished white granite with black streaks and spots on them. The left arm of the U is a wide, double sink with a Venetian bronze finish (I will not repeat it as I think you all know my preferences). There's a bookcase-styled rack with multiple towels on the left side on top of the base cabinet, and some dish soap towards its right. The same wall has a large, rectangular window so I can watch the birds going to the bird feeder Carla made] CARLA: {-It was a birthday gift-} LYSANDRA: {-Anniversary gift. … And I still love it, honey.:) -} [The wall contains a lot of wall cabinets to the right of the window and the sink. They are fully made of wood (no glass displays), I, of course, made of oak. That's also where the dishes are, given their proximity to the sink. Oh, and there are a lot of large, striped cutting boards made of oak and walnut that are hanging on a rack on the side of the wall cabinet closest to the sink. To the sink's right is a refrigerator-freezer that's pretty wide, having two French doors, and a tiny tray for the freezer. The dishwasher is pretty high-tech (my wife suggested and later installed it). It has a lot of touch screens (and not a TV display that'll have an ad sending you straight to the hospital) with various settings, including color display toggles. CARLA: {-Very sensitive to the touch. Also, for those reading this, no, I didn't pull a strobe light prank as that is a big nono-} LYSANDRA: [Now, there is, of course, the pantry cabinet facing away from the fridge. It's a full-height, oaken cabinet, pretty deep and pretty well-stocked with spices and baking goods] {-You've been keeping that pantry full, right? -} CARLA: [My wife goes to the pantry and inspects it, and I see that it is full] {-Yep-} LYSANDRA: [The mid-section is pretty symmetrical with wall cabinets and base cabinets to the right and left of the kitchen stove. The electric stove is a black, 6-spot electric stove that is REALLY big. I think you're thinking it's small given the U-shape. NOPE! It's a professional chef's workstation that me and my wife cooked together on] {-Didn't you want to become a professional chef before coming to HammerForge? -} CARLA: {-Nah! I wanted to be a nutritionist and a physical trainer. XD -} LYSANDRA: [Well, minus passing dreams, the stove is twice the width as a normal one with a lot of space with a large, flared chimney hood over it. And the wall it's on is a painted brick wall resembling the flowers we had during our wedding. So massive was that part of the kitchen that me and Carla had a lot of happy moments while cooking…:)] CARLA: {-And a lot of teasing lol-} LYSANDRA: {-It wasn't that romantic. XD XD XD -} CARLA: {-It kind of was, lmao. … Not in front of daughter though; she didn't understand that too well-} LYSANDRA: {-I know. Poor baby.: (-} [The oven is pretty big with plenty of racks, as I love making bread (still do). It's got a lot of dials that would give even a NASA engineer an aneurysm. The right arm of the U is a quick-meal dining area with 3 walnut bar stools (finely carved by my wife)] CARLA: {-Hey, you designed them. Three legs with two circular rings were a great idea-} LYSANDRA: {-Thank you, honey.:) … Uh, I'm going to be talking about the uh actual dining room. I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, Carla-} CARLA: {-No worries-} LYSANDRA: [The dining table is a large, rectangular table that can fit 8 people (and a large meal for fun guests). And all the seats… are walnut stumps my wife dragged with a bulldozer she programmed, cleaned them, coated them in wood polish, and then called it a day] {-Carla, why didn't you just make normal seats, honey? -} CARLA: {-I wanted something more natural, lmao-} LYSANDRA: {-Still, they're a pain to move when I need to clean.: (-} [There's that nice walnut cabinet with glass drawers with all the chinaware (that yours truly and her wife made) on the opposing wall to the stove. And all the walls around it have our- Uh… my reality, our son's drawings, Carla's has old family photos with Ellie] CARLA: This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. {-Mind sharing them later? -} LYSANDRA: {-I'll probably send you a video recording so you can see all of them in detail. … And that's the house. Carla, sweetie, give Ellie some breakfast. I'm going to unfreeze Ellie in your world-} CARLA: {-I will, thanks-} LYSANDRA: {RESUMING TEMPORAL PARAMETERS FOR ENTITY "ELLIE"… DONE} ELLIE: [Our daughter excitedly runs to a bar stool where there are two bowls of ramen (and a lot of dirty dishes in the sink behind my wife) with metal chopsticks inserted] CARLA:"Ramen!" [My wife places her hands on her hips, and confidently smiles at Ellie]"Cooked by yours truly! Healthy and with nothing to make ya fat!" [My wife sits down next to Ellie and carefully eats her own ramen] ELLIE: [Our daughter sits down and inspects-] CARLA: {-Liz, play her thoughts! This shit is hilarious! -} LYSANDRA: {-*sigh*-} ELLIE: {HOLY SHIT, IT'S PERFECT!!! It's chicken ramen with noodles, garlic, onions, leeks, and-IS THAT A BOILED EGG?! Oh my God, and it's a perfect, shimmering, bronze-gold broth of the sweetest ambrosia and- I need to play some Beethoven for this occasion… WHO CARES! I'M EATING THIS HOLY FOOD!!!! [Our daughter scarfs down the good shit with her chopsticks] stuffling "Oh my fucking God… This is so goddamn good!!!" [She is now eating, faster, stuffling, and-] LYSANDRA: {-Carla, tell her to slow down and to stop stuffling! >: (-} CARLA: {-I will… … Jesus… -} [My wife stops eating, staring at Ellie sternly]"El, slow down, and please, for the love of God, don't talk with your mouth full!" ELLIE: [Our daughter freezes, slurping up a noodle guiltily]"Sorry." CARLA:"You're forgiven." [My wife breathes out a sigh of relief, and then softly smiles at Ellie]"Now, continue eating-" ELLIE: [Our daughter attempts to eat before my wife stops her with a stern face] CARLA:"Slowly." [My wife demonstrates proper table manners to Ellie]"Like me." ELLIE: [Our daughter, with a bit of the fear of God in her heart, does as we want as they eat together] LYSANDRA: {-Thanks, honey.:) -} ELLIE: [Our daughter-] CARLA: {-"Returns to the main quest". Not joking, Liz, that's what she had in her head, lmao-} LYSANDRA: {-And that was the result of her being isolated in a shithole for 100 years!!! >: (-} CARLA: {-Yeah, I'm going to get that junk out of her head-} [My wife finishes her meal, setting the bowl aside, and smirks at Ellie]"Hey Ellie?" ELLIE: [Our daughter freezes with a collection of noodles and part of the egg slowly falling out] CARLA: > SMILES"Does this beat eating digital crap?" ELLIE: [Our daughter nods and continues eating] CARLA: [My wife, curious, reaches and touches Ellie's forehead for a second, looking happy, but also worried]"100 years, and that thing that was on your forehead is finally gone." > SMIRKS"And all it took was that fat bastard blowing up." ELLIE: [Our daughter rubs her forehead for a bit, though stares at Carla concerned]"With John's help, of course." CARLA: [My wife sighs while her smile fades]"I'm honestly surprised that man turned around and decided to not be a fucking eceleb and actually help someone." ELLIE:"Onarius told me he was a good man…" [Our daughter places her chopsticks in her now-finished bowl of ramen, passing it to Carla]"… I didn't believe him at first." CARLA:"Me neither." > SNICKERS"I'm kidding, El, along with that thing earlier about bricking his PC. I had been watching him as well, and he honestly had good intentions behind the stuff he makes." > FROWNS"Minus the unintentional slandering of my wife." ELLIE: > RAISES EYEBROW"Are you going to tell him later?" CARLA:"Yeah, I will, kid." [My wife awkwardly smiles at Ellie, feeling uncomfortable as she nods]"Besides, he's your guardian in the real world…" ELLIE: > SMILES"Thanks!" CARLA: > SIGHS"You know, I never expected you to just do a few things in the Physical Layer that, uh…" > AWKWARD SMILE"… Weren't possible. I mean, you literally digitized John's luggage…" > FROWNS"… And snooped in on a phone call between him and his boyfriend." [My wife slaps her forehead and places her face in her hands]"Christ, El, did you really forget the value of privacy?" ELLIE: [Our daughter's eyes turn away in guilt]"I forgot…" CARLA: {-Liz, do you mind if I tell her what we talked about? -} LYSANDRA: {-Sure, it's important-} CARLA:"Ellie, I need you to look at me." [My wife snaps her fingers at Ellie, who returns her gaze to her]"What you did was inappropriate, and I do not want you to do that again. If your mom finds out, she would have a goddamn stroke." LYSANDRA: {-Which I know about-} CARLA: {-I know, but I'm lecturing her for you-} ELLIE: > EMBARRASSED"Sorry…" CARLA: [My wife stares at Ellie sternly]"Well, apologize to John-which you did." [My wife places her elbow on the table and plants her in the palm of that arm's hand]"But what you did as well alerted Nedri. Having the ability to digitize other people's possessions in the Physical Layer is something only a few people can do…" [My wife glares at our daughter]"… Which one of them is you, and Nedri knows damn well about that power." ELLIE: > ALARMED"Oh…" LYSANDRA: {-She didn't know Carla-} CARLA: > SIGHS"Kid, Ned was always going to find you, and were it not for that extraction software my wife made when you fell asleep, he would have definitely found ya the minute he stopped throwing his temper tantrum." > SMIRKS"Ironically, that bastard's fit of rage saves your two's lives. Got to say, John wasn't an idiot in getting you far away from where that silver-masked idiot would have thought you fled to, as it allowed Liz to home in on your signal." ELLIE: > WORRIED"But you said that he was honing in on that car? Is he safe?!" > HEAVY PANTING CARLA: [My wife gets up from her seat and goes to our daughter quickly, softly clenches her wrists, staring at Ellie closely with grave concern]"Ellie, look at me. John is okay. Liz told you he is frozen from your point of view. I need you to relax…" ELLIE: [Our daughter's eyes dart around as she becomes panicked]"But he-!" CARLA: [My wife hugs Ellie gently, trying to calm her down]"Ellie, your mom and I want him safe. Please relax, we've got it covered." ELLIE: [Our daughter embraces Carla's hug, and she slowly calms down] LYSANDRA: {-Carla, please use her weighted blanket or the one in the dreamspace next time-} CARLA: {-Sure, hon-} ELLIE: [Our daughter lets go of Carla, relaxing as she gives out a calm sigh, though looking guilty]"I'm sorry for panicking, mim…" CARLA: > SOFT SMILE"Kid, you don't have to apologize. What you've been through is something no one should ever endure. You have every reason to be worried about the man who got you out, but his protection is now our responsibility." [My wife stands up and gets the dirty dishes in the sink, still staring at Ellie]"Besides El, I remember who you were; you were always that girl who wanted to do the right thing no matter how bad things were. Me and Liz didn't raise ya to be a complete ass. You were and still are my daughter; what I am doing is trying to get you back on the right path. And that involves doing a few things to jostle your memory so that Ned will never find you and John again." [Carla goes back to sitting next to Ellie and smiles]"It'll take some time, and we are not sending you back immediately. It will take months, we both know it, but John will be safe." > SMIRKS"Who knows, maybe you'll whoop Ned's ass?" ELLIE: [Our daughter turns her attention to the dirty dishes, confused why Carla placed them there]"Uh… Aren't you going to run them through the dishwasher?" CARLA: [My wife shakes her head and waves Ellie off]"Nah! It ain't as fun as doing hand-washing!" [She leans in towards Ellie, staring sternly at her]" Besides, you need to relearn how to scrub the dishes by hand. The dishwasher can break down, and it takes a while to fix it." ELLIE: [Our daughter stares at Carla, annoyed with her eyes half-closed]" Oh…" CARLA: [My wife smiles at Ellie and scratches her hair]"That's for later, though." [She gets up and begins heading towards the front door, gesturing Ellie to follow (which she does)] CARLA:"For now, though… How about we take a nice little hike? Don't worry, there's a nice set of stairs at the entrance to the house, so no need to work on your calves…" > SNORTS"Today, at least!" LYSANDRA: {-Please make her do hills-} CARLA: {-I will-} ELLIE: > SUSPICIOUS"How far will we walk?" CARLA: > SMIRKS"A while." [My wife's smile fades, stopping at the door, turning to our daughter as she searches her inventory for the medical data cube]"Oh, and El…" [She takes out the data cube with her medicine]"Like your mom's reality, I got your medication here in case you get an asthma attack or have another data backlash, which shouldn't happen…" [My wife places the data cube back in her inventory]"But still, you can't be too careful. Now, let's go outside and get some Vitamin D!" ELLIE: > SMILES"Thanks." [Our daughter begins going to the front-] CARLA: > RAISES EYEBROW"Forgetting something, El?" ELLIE: [Our daughter looks down to see she has no boots on (which I forgot about), and eyes widen in embarrassment]"WHOOPS!" [With a kick of her legs, she rushes back to her bedroom to go pick them up] CARLA: yelling I'm in no hurry, El! Just make sure they're on nice and tight! And I'm going to allow you to wear them inside only when you get a clean pair from the closet before heading out." ELLIE: [My daughter stumbles into her room, goes to the closet and grabs a pair of clean hiking boots] LYSANDRA: {-Please tell me you'll clean them after her walk-} CARLA: {-Probably when I wake up at 4, lmao-} LYSANDRA: {-You better-} ELLIE: [Our daughter puts the boots on, making sure the shoelaces are on nice and tight before turning to the door with a heavy pant] yelling "T-They're on!" > I pant a bit as I slowly calm down CARLA: [My wife walks over a little towards the hallway, concerned, before smiling and snickering to herself]"Well, a hundred years with intense exercise, you still have the same energy that made you climb up every single tree in this forest." ELLIE: [Our daughter comes out, walking fast before my wife stops her and pats her on the shoulder] CARLA: > SMIRKS"Save your lungs for the hike, kiddo." ELLIE: > NODS [My wife goes to the front door, beckoning Ellie as she opens it and heads out]" Come on, kid! We're burning daylight here!" ELLIE: [Our daughter is anxious, somewhat hesitant to go outside. But my wife's encouragement eventually draws her out as she meets an excited Carla on the stairs] CARLA:"We're going to a special place today; I think you'll like it." ELLIE: [Our daughter attempts to speak before Carla hushes her] CARLA:"It's a surprise; I don't want to ruin it. But it's a safe hike, a promise." ELLIE: > NODS [Our daughter stands in place as she watches Carla go down the stairs. She analyzes her mimi, mimicking her movements with some clumsiness as Ellie joins my wife on their hike. As they begin to walk, our angel pays close attention to all the birds around her singing, seemingly in awe, and trying to understand them as they fly to the skies above] LYSANDRA: {Speaking of which…} {-Carla, you brought food with you, right? -} CARLA: {-Trail mix, granola bars, pemmican, water canteens (with water purifiers), and freeze-dried fruits. Don't worry, Liz, I won't let our kid go hungry-} LYSANDRA: {-Thank you. Enjoy your hike with Ellie honey!!!: D: D: D -} {SKIPPING FOOTAGE… DONE}