Chương 10: Friend

We proceeded through the corridors, passing manifold distinct rooms. Like always, Pyiari had recovered and hummed a song.

"In a fairy tale, you can swing on the moon. And ride a horse across the rainbow, Make friends with the baby elephant, And catch the feather of the Firebird. Close your little eyes, nighty-night."

"Is this the same song you sang to make Orand sleep?"

"Yeah,""How come I am not sleepy right now?"

"Don't you know, Mister? And why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"What do I not know and what did I not tell you?"

"That you have a superpower, and if you have one, why are you asking how it works?"

"Me?" I pointed at myself, bewildered.

"I have a superpower?"

"Don't play dumb, mister. You used it, right in front of me."

"What do you mean? I never used a super—ohhh, I see what you mean. That was not a superpower."

"Then, what was it?" She demanded. A smile formed on my face. Finally, a chance to strut my stuff. I focused on my Skillcards. Among the hundreds of brown coloured ones, two gleamed. Instead of choosing the one which broke and bent light into a kaleidoscope of colours, I chose the less ostentatious one. Even so, to anyone unaware of the other card, this one would have looked nothing short of extraordinary. I summoned my silver Skillcard, Ghost Laugh. It appeared in my hand, radiating a soft silver glow.

"Waah," Pyiari marvelled.

"Mister, what's this? You have two superpowers? One is to laugh annoyingly, and the other is to summon playing cards?" This kid really knows how to get on someone's nerves. To describe my amazing cards…skillcards like that. She is a piece of work.

"No, this isn't a superpower at all."

"It clearly is,""Where I come from, everyone has these cards called Skillcards. They let you use a specific skill, and a person can have multiple of them."

"Skillcards? I have never heard of them before. Mister, are you not from Zyax?" I shook my head.

"Then where? Shugli? Cinda?"

"None of those. It's my first time hearing those names."

"Then where are you from?"

"Nupolis. A small city in a small country on a small planet called Earth. Ever heard of it?" Pyiari took hurried steps back.

"Mister, you are an alien? Are you here to kidnap me? You are gonna perform experiments on me, aren't you? Is that why you have been so kind to me? So, you can take me from here and experiment on me in your alien ship with your alien friends. And how do you look so similar to us? Have you stolen another person's skin? And below that is a huge ant, or two huge ants?" She raised her teddy as if it were a holy cross.

"Oh teddy, save me from the vicious alien. Oh teddy, save me from the vicious alien." This girl. She is making fun of me.

"You guessed our secret just right." I played along.

"We are two huge ants who have come to get you."" Pfft… Oh teddy, save– ha– me from the vicious alien."

"You really think that teddy can save you from us?"" Hahahaha, I can't, I can't. Haha, okay, I am done laughing. Pfft… hahahaha, Mister, how can you even say that you are from some other planet called Earth hahaha."

"But, I wasn't joking at all." Watching others laugh makes you laugh on your own, and right now, I was being influenced by Pyiari and couldn't help but chortle.

"Okay, mister," She finally stopped and looked straight at me.

"You can stop joking and tell me. Where are you from?"

"I am not lying. I really am from another planet. It's called Earth. I don't even know what your planet is called."

"It's Vivara,""Nice name."

"Wait, you really don't know? Vivara was our moon that got destroyed. Our planet is Oraya. Mister, you really did not know that?"

"I did not. Thank you for telling me that."

"You really are an alien?"

"Yes, and I would prefer it if you don't call me an alien."

"Where is your spaceship parked then, Mr Alien?"

"There is no spaceship, and don't call me Mr. Alien."

"What? No spaceship. Then, how did you arrive here?"

"In our world, rifts pop up randomly. Each of them is connected to a random place." There were several theories regarding rifts. It being God's divine judgement, involvement of aliens. Reality being a simulation and is currently glitching. But none of it could be proved. Personally, I believe that the Akashic system came on its own and is trying to tell us something through the rifts. Otherwise, what's the need for adding a story to every description?

The Akashic System wants us to know something, and the secret lies somewhere in the rifts.

"And one such rift is connected to our planet?"

"More specifically, it is connected to this very facility you reside in."

"Are we gonna escape through the rift?" I shook my head.

"Now what?" she frowned.

"Those on the other side cannot pass through the rift. We have tested that already. It fails." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"How are we gonna escape then?"

"I have a plan." Last time I lied, but this time I really did have a plan. I will be following the path j. m. k67 fiction's protagonist did. I now believe that he has completed this quest. Nobody knew about the Learning Centre, yet his book mentioned it, and Pyiari just mentioned 'Father Aran'. He was a major character in that story. There cannot be this many coincidences.

"Your face doesn't show confidence."

"I am always brimming with confidence, so you can't notice an increase in it through my face."

"What are you saying?" I gave her a smile brighter than my silver card, which made her remember it again.

"So, how does it work? How does your superpower, which you don't want to call a superpower, work?" Pyiari was really quick to believe me, or she did not and just wanted to know how cards work.

"I was the one who asked a question first."

"Arrgh, everyone in Oraya is born with supernatural abilities; some are apparent from birth, some are not, but everyone has to learn to control them." Pyiari started explaining as fast as possible.

"You have to focus on your superpower and form a switch, and you are done. You flip the switch, your superpower turns on, you flip it again, and it's off."

"Is there no limit to using it?" Pyiari was clearly annoyed by another question, but instead of arguing, she decided to answer it in a single breath.

"Using it for a long time puts a mental strain, one might bleed, organs may rupture, brain might burst open. You need to know your limit. Okay, now tell how does—and we are here. Just when it was my turn to ask the questions." The corridor opened up just ahead. Pyiari did not like that she would not be getting her answers right now, but that got buried under the excitement to finally meet her friend.

"Don't worry, we will have a lot of time after this. I will explain everything to you." The corridor ended, and we entered a big chamber. The floor had fake grass on it, and the walls were painted in blue with clouds drawn upon them, creating the illusion of an open field. It was the Playground. I grabbed Pyiari's arm and pulled her behind me, drawing out my sword. I expected the children's laughter to come soon, but none came. I looked at the ceiling. The Strange Toy was not present.

Sniffle, Sniffle Instead of the laughs I had heard several times before, I heard the sound of someone weeping. I traced the source. A girl who looked a year or two older than Pyiari sat on one of the swings. Her hands were constantly wiping the tears which rolled down her cheeks. Pyiari yanked my grip on her and rushed towards the girl.

"Pyiari," I called her out, but she did not stop. I ran behind her. She was faster than she had been when running away from Moark. Pyiari stopped right in front of the other girl.

"Lania," she called her. Lania, I had heard that name before, but where exactly?

"Lania," she called her again, putting a hand on her left shoulder. Lania finally stopped crying and looked up.

"Pyiari?"

"Yes, why are you crying?" So, this girl is whom Pyiari considers her only friend. Lania started crying again. I moved a bit closer, but still maintained some distance.

"Don't cry. Tell me." Pyiari wiped Lania's tears using teddy's hand.

"People keep on destroying my toy. I fix him again and again and again, but they keep... They keep destroying him."

"Is it Chimul and the guys again? God, I am gonna show them""It's not them."

"Then who is it?

"Some new guys, adults. I haven't ever seen them here. It's like they come here just to destroy my toy." I listened closely but did not interfere. It wasn't my place to barge in. I did not know a thing about Lania, so I let Pyiari handle it, and she was doing a great job. Tears had already stopped forming in Lania's eyes, but something was wrong; how she talked about her toy felt strange to me. I was missing something. The people she was talking about, I felt like I knew them.

Lania, where had I heard that name before? Was it in j. m. k67's story? Was it an item description? Or was it a monster descrip—. Fuck While I was lost in my thoughts, the conversation had kept on advancing.

"You don't have to be afraid of them anymore, or the other kids, or the other adults here' Lania looked at Pyiari with disbelief, curiosity and hope.

"We can leave. We can go out of here. We can go to the outside world. You can have many more toys there. You can walk on real grass under a real sky. You, no, we both can be free."

"How?"

"This mister here," Pyiari moved, opening up the space between Lania and me. Both of us finally got a better picture of each other. Lania Lania has always been a quiet child and struggled to make friends; she spent most of her time alone. The day came when she made her first friend. It was a doll that the adults had given her. Even when she got more toys, she loved it the most. When it got destroyed, she fixed it again and again, because it was what she cherished the most.

Recorded in the Akashic system in the year 13500"He will take us out of here."

"You!" she shouted, her voice dripping with anger. Pyiari looked at her with alarm.

"What's wrong?" Pyiari asked. Lania moved her glare from me towards Pyiari.

"You brought him here,""What's wrong Lania?" Pyiari tried reaching her, but Lania smacked her hand away.

"He is the one who keeps on destroying my toy."

"What? Mister would never do that," she turned around, facing me.

"Tell us, mister, did you do it? Tell us that Lania has just misunderstood." Pyiari clutched her teddy hard. Her eyes were pleading, she wanted to hear only one thing 'No, it wasn't me, you are confusing me with someone else.' Even if it was a lie, she wanted to hear those exact same words.

"Yes, it was me." The utter disappointment Pyiari now had for me was clearly visible on her face, but she was a strong girl who did not let emotions sway her.

"Why?" She asked.

"I can explain, but it will take some time." I had to explain to them how we humans thought of them. They might understand or they might not, and loathe me even more. Pyiari might hate me after realizing that where I intended to take her was a place where people like her weren't even considered alive. Just an NPC who were only useful for their specific purpose.

"Okay," Pyiari said, "We will listen. Please start explaining."

"I will not," It was a simple statement from Lania's mouth, but it was enough to shake Pyiari and me both. She too realized what Lania meant by it. Lania intended to do the same to me that she had done to the other kids who bullied her.

"At least listen to him, Lania. Mister is a good person. He must have had a reason to do it."

"No reason justifies destroying my toy," She shouted. Pyiari flinched back.

"Please, Lania, listen to him, to me, listen to your friend."

"Friend? You are no friend of mine. You ran away when they dragged me away, and when I came back, you avoided me. I asked you so many times to come play with me, but you didn't. Why?"

"Th-that." Pyiari did not have an answer for that.

"Lania, listen to me just once. Please." I tried to persuade her.

"Yes, Lania, please listen to Mister at least once. Please." Lania gritted her teeth.

"You're both just like the others."

"HAHAHAHAHA" Laughter echoed all around. I looked up. The creature with three heads, a wooden horse body and four spider-like legs hung from the ceiling. All of its heads were focused on one person. It would have been nice if it were on me, but it was not. I rushed towards Pyiari, the adrenaline surging through my veins. Even with the added weight of my sword and the fanny pack, I was faster than I had been at the district championship. I was the fastest I have ever been, because I had to be.

I grabbed Pyiari, and just a second later, Strange Toy crashed into the ground right where Pyiari stood. It made a crater on the floor with its sharp claws. I rolled on the ground, protecting Pyiari using my body.

"Mister, are you alright?" She asked desperately.

"Yeah," my head was spinning. I let go of her and stood back up.

"Move to the side, I will handle it."

"How? You don't look strong at all." This wasn't the time to take jabs at me.

"Did you forget? I have destroyed it before."

"Don't you dare touch him," Lania shouted. She stood beside the Strange Toy, caressing its wooden body.

"Mister, please don't destroy it. Again." Pyiari pleaded. Right now, her thoughts were contradicting each other. Should he choose her friend or me, who promised to take her out of the box she has been trapped in since her first memory? Because Lania had attacked her, she was currently at my side, but that might change soon.

"Don't worry. I won't," I said to Pyiari, then shouted towards Lania.

"Lania, just listen to me."

"I don't wanna." Pyiari scurried back when Strange Toy lunged at me. The movements from Lindy Hop really was something; I hopped, dodging its attack each time by a strand of hair.

"Lania, think about the last time I encountered your toy. Did I fight it?"

"You didn't," Lania stated.

"Exactly," I dodged another overhead blow by rolling on the ground.

"I didn't because I understand."

"Yes, you understand." Finally, I was getting through to her. She was listening.

"I understood—""You understood that you can't defeat my upgraded toy. So, you ran." Upgraded? What in the? Strange Toy stood still. With a bang, two more legs popped out. They were double the length of the rest. Only two more legs? That's not much of an upgrade. One circular blade popped at the end of each of the two new legs and started spinning, making a wheezing sound. An entry update has been registered.

Target: Strange Toy Entry updated Strange Toy (lethal version) Lania's toy got repeatedly destroyed by people she had never even met before. She did not know the reason, nor did she care, but she knew one thing. It could only be her toy or the strangers. Recorded in the Akashic system in the year 2000000. What kind of kid plays with a toy like that?

"Perish," Lania said, and the strange toy swung its new arms at me.