Episode 22-4: Reality is a Suggestion

My finger runs down the skin of my arm, totally smooth, with no fur strand present. The mirror shows a human woman, with Asian features, and flat teeth with only two canines on the top. My proud orange fur is now jet black and only on my head. This is incredible.

"Enjoying the look?" Old Me asks.

I can't stop staring at my strange skin. "No. Humans are cute and all, but this is too weird even for me. I don't like it."

"Yeah, I think our original look is absolutely peak beauty."

"I'm sure you still love the process of getting pretty in the morning."

Through the mirror, I can see that my statement made him uncomfortable. I remember his initial fixation with how I was grooming when he showed up. Those were the eyes of envy, someone who still desperately wants to feel desirable.

"No, actually. I'm not too happy with the way I look these days. I stopped the crossdressing, it just doesn't look right on somebody that looks…like me."

I turn to meet him personally, his slumped shoulders and broken eye contact make me feel ashamed. "Run that one by me again? You don't crossdress anymore? We love to do that though, it makes us feel pretty. You'll still look hot wearing your cute little dresses and skirts, but now it'll be a more mature and refined style."

"You just don't get it. I don't look in the mirror with the dress and makeup and think, 'Wow, I'm gorgeous!' I think I'm obviously passed my prime, and maybe I should leave the glamour with the young me instead of clinging on to it like a desperate housewife."

I take his hand and cradle it. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're hot, and when this is all over and you go back to your timeline, I want you to put on that dress and those heels and take another look. I mean really look at yourself. You'll see the beauty is still there, it's just different. I promise."

He smiles. "Oh, you're such a talker. Thanks, I needed that for a while. Not a lot of people get it, you know?"

"I get it, but then again, I'm you. And looking at you right now makes me want to rip off this skin suit and get back to real beauty."

"Well, you only have to wear this 'skin' for a little while. You'll need to get us into the secret room in the science center without a fight. We'll only stand a chance if we attack somewhere interiorly, the external defenses would shoot us dead instantly."

"We? I'm supposed to sneak you inside with me? How can I do that? You got another one of those skin morpher thingies? Who are you going to turn into? We only have Sun Xiuying as an important contact."

"Do you see that pocket on the front of your blouse? I'll be in there."

I pull the pocket resting on my fake breast. "In here? You're going to shrink yourself?"

"In a sense. You'll see when we get there. I'll stop you before you go in and hide inside."

I grab my gun and make sure that it's loaded before concealing it. "Okay, let's go over some final details before heading out."

The Science Center is closed to the public, but this fake credential Old Me extracted and copied from the wolf's office unlocks the building. I have free reign, but I don't go too far in. I stop at the wall depicted in our research, and somehow, this is a doorway. There's not a clue in my head on how to open the thing. If they're as powerful as we studied them to be, then it's possible they're already watching me standing here through a security camera. If I spend too much time looking clueless, they're going to know something is up.

"What's wrong?" Old Me says from the inside of my front pocket.

"I can't open the door. I don't know how."

"Troy Hearth, the ultimate spy, and greatest detective doesn't know how to open a door?"

"Don't say it like this isn't a special case. You know that it's not just a regular door. Do you have any pointers or are you just going to sit there spewing sass?"

"I don't know. Wave your fake badge over the door?"

Nothing is happening when I pass the card over the wall. "No dice. This is starting to feel like a bust."

"Knock?"

"No way."

"Wait a minute…"

"Are those cyber eyes looking for the outline?"

"We're both idiots. Move to the left, you're on the wrong side of the paneling."

I take a few steps to the left, and my credential badge lights up with green going around the edges. The wall pops, steam rushes out of the new crevices, and it slides into itself to reveal an impossible-looking technologically advanced room on the inside. It's the stuff of movies or Ispio hotspots.

"Whoa, is this what the future looks like, gramps?"

"Hah, this doesn't even come close. Look at their monitors, still using glass screens. Cavemen!"

"Shh! If I can hear you, I'm sure everyone else can too."

"Yeah. Work your magic, get us to the relic room. I'll wait here and spring out at the right moment. Good luck."

This place is riddled with tech that is right on par with Ispio, and some of these gadgets are things I've never seen yet. People walk around this area checking several machines and testing different things, and not a single person seems to have noticed that I've walked in. I try to snag glances at whatever data I'm passing by, but none of it is coherent to me. They could be talking about anything over here.

Whenever someone who looks idle walks by, I get a "Hello, Dr. Xiuying" or a "Good evening, Dr.", to which I respond with a simple nod. They seem satisfied, and I'm happy to not be forced to sell a fake story.

I'm so distracted by the data they're collecting that I narrowly miss an ominous corridor with no directory on it. There can be only one thing down a scary hallway, the Animatrix. A polite tap on my shoulder makes me jump; I turn around to address my interloper.

"Doctor Xiuying, he's ready to see you," he says.

"He?"

He seems shocked that I asked the question. "The Character. You're on the schedule for the weekly meeting, he's ready to talk about the possible effects."

"Of course, I apologize. I'll go see him right now."

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily."

A bead of sweat forms on my forehead, and I can feel its sleekness. Is this what it's like to sweat as a human? "What do you mean?"

"You promised that I would be able to record your conversations with The Character this time. You better not be flaking on me right now, we're at a crucial point of the research, and I know that he can connect to the relic in ways nobody else can. Here, put this microphone in your front pocket."

He suddenly pulls open my blouse's front pocket and drops a small device into it without a care. A small "Oof" can be heard, and he freezes in his tracks.

"Uh—Oof! Ah, be careful, my breasts are sensitive today."

He leans away. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later tonight. A rose petal bath and wine will be waiting for you at home."

"That sounds lovely. Now, where should I be meeting him?"

"Are you feeling okay? You know, the usual spot, at the relic. Did you skip breakfast?"

"The usual spot! Of course! I was just making sure, you know how unpredictable The Character can be."

"Too true. Well, off you go and don't worry about the quality of the recording. I'll fix the audio files in the lab if I have to."

He speeds off someplace else and leaves me to walk the corridor alone. I pull open my front pocket and whisper, "Did that hurt?"

"It hit me in a very gentle area. I'm nearly crying," Old Me complains.

"Sorry about that. Can you tell me who The Character is?"

"I've got no clue. According to future circumstances, it's not important enough for us to know who he is. That doesn't mean he's insignificant though, be careful. Surprise factors of the timeline can influence the future greatly."

At the end of the hall is a doorway that opens up to a darker room. There's nothing in here except for one thing. A set of stairs leads up to a display case with some strange cube resting on the inside. All around it are lasers bouncing off tiny mirrors to create a security beam. Standing down by the first step is a human male dressed in a black suit and with his back facing me. His solid figure intimidates me, it's like his energy is much different than the average person's.

"You may approach me, Doctor. Must we gawk at every meeting?"

My mind has to fight the fear and force my legs to move toward him. Just what is this guy's deal? It's like the air around him is more condensed than anywhere else. The closer I get, the more my throat feels like a hand is wrapping around it and squeezing the air out of me.

When I make it to his side, I notice his facial features are very strong and sharp; his jawline is visibly edged as if it was forced to take that shape rather than getting there naturally. His eyes don't look at me, but I can see the power they carry behind his stare. I myself feel smaller than when I started. I know I'm short, but I feel like I'm standing at two feet next to him. He doesn't look that tall himself, maybe around 5'8" or so, I don't understand what's happening to me.

"I've witnessed something interesting, Doctor, but I'll have to keep it to myself for the time being. For now, I'd like to discuss yesterday's experiments."

My tongue is swollen, but I have to try to sound normal. "Naturally. Do you have any prioritized notes?"

"The relic can respond to anybody despite sex, gender, age, ethnicity, intelligence, or nationality, but not a single factor we controlled stands out as to what strengthens the bond between the person and the relic."

"I see. You believe it to be some random aspect of a person that defines the amount of control they have over the relic?"

"Do not repeat what I've said, it irritates me. Moving on, my personal tests seem to progress further, but there isn't a single thing I'm doing differently to substantiate these claims. Perhaps it may not have anything to do with ethnicity or nationality, but maybe more along the idea of bloodlines."

"We can test that if we bring a blood relative of yours into the labs."

His lips downturn into a menacing frown, and I'm afraid I might have offended him. "You know that's not an option."

I clear my throat. "So, in reference to yesterday's experiments, is there anything new you've discovered concerning the relic's…effects?"

"My control may be getting better, but there are still possibilities out of my reach. I can't fully articulate what I mean, but even though I'm unable to perform at the moment, the relic shows me what is possible if I continue to interact with it."

"Visions of future abilities?"

"Precisely. A small tease of what may come."

"Is it too early to ask to share what these abilities might look like?"

For the first time, his eyes meet mine, and I'm utterly distraught. "Ultimate control of reality. One day, I'll be able to combine parallel universes and fully retcon the world's history. I'll be able to make it that the Titanic never sank, or never sailed, or was never built. The reality of events will be my choice. I can even affect individuals as well. I can make it to where Doctor Sun Xiuying never existed. There will be no family or friends to mourn her loss because they never lost her in the first place."

I gulp audibly, and he notices. "That's incredibly powerful."

"I apologize, I didn't mean to frighten you. It was just an example. I'm ordering my personal training to be bumped up to five days a week. I must make progress quickly if I'm to speed up the agenda."

Agenda? So they do have a plan to use the Animatrix on the world. I guess Ispio is going to have to step in after all. "There are speculations around the cohorts about what the agenda actually pursues. What is your take on it, if I may ask?"

"A stimulating question, Doctor, but first, I'd like to share the interesting information I had at the beginning of this meeting."

"Please, go on."

He brings out a notepad from the back of his pocket. "First, I need to write something down. May I use that pen you have in your front blouse pocket?"

"I'm sorry—this pen is out of ink. I just haven't thrown it out yet."

"I believe I can make it work. Hand it over."

"I have a pen in my back pocket, you can have this one."

He shoos it away and points at the front one. "That is not the pen I requested. I demand to use the pen in your front pocket!"

I sigh and slowly raise my hand to the pen. I pick it off the edge of my shirt and hand it to him. He grabs it tightly and runs the tip of it on the notepad. It produces no ink, but he doesn't seem surprised.

"Well, it appears that you're right, Doctor, this pen doesn't seem to write at all."

"I tried to warn you. May I have that back, please?"

"Why would you want this pen back? It seems cheap, common, and out of ink. I could just snap this pen in half and discard it without a worry that you'll find an exact model somewhere lying around a desk." He puts his thumb on the top of the pen while gripping the bottom and begins to put pressure.

"Oh no! Don't break it, it's uh—sentimental! I'll just refill it later."

"Since I can't write down my quick note, let me just tell you what I saw at the beginning of our meeting. Here I stand talking with the esteemed Doctor Sun Xiuying, and yet, I clearly see Sun walking into our headquarters late as usual on my security feed."

Security feed? There are no monitors in this room, how could he have seen anything? His eyes glow a feint blue, much like the way Old Me does when he's scrolling through things looking for information. I noticed it during our research, he'd access the internet through his eyes, and they would glow a small blue from the screens he was looking at.

He raises his hand with his palm facing upward, and in a swirl of air, the cube that rested inside the glass display now sits in his hand. He throws the pen back at me, Old Me turns back to normal and crashes into me, breaking the cloak disguise I was using and reverting me back to my original form. We both moan in agony and sit up.

The Character smirks, satisfied with his deductive skills. "The Legendary Troy Hearth, famous Bloodhound of Ispio. Why am I not surprised."

"Actually, I'm a fox."

He points to Old Me. "And who is this? Your father? As I've known, Samuel had three children in his lifetime. I'll kill both of you and be one step closer to ending the bloodline of annoying detectives."

Three children? "Wait, I—"

A gun appears in his hand, it didn't come from anywhere, it just seemed to be created in front of my eyes. He aims it at us and the loud bang of a shot rings my ears, but I also hear a snap. Two seconds go by before I realize I don't feel a bullet anywhere in my body. Old Me must have rejuvenated the bullet before it landed.

"I've got a plot twist for you," Old Me says, "you're not the only one with odd powers."

"Samual Hearth, an expert inventor. I don't know how you developed that technology, but it's not enough to save you from a broken reality."

I stand up. "Gramps, turn this fool into a baby!"

Old Me stands too and snaps at The Character. A loud high-pitched ringing fills the room, and we all cover our ears. The rejuvenation didn't work, The Character is still visibly the same age as he already is. Old Me glances at his snapping fingers confused and surprised.

"What? I don't understand."

The Character holds up the relic. "Don't you get it yet? Reality is in my favor, it's already chosen that I'm going to win this fight. Even if I lose, reality will reset the result to make sure I'm its champion. The only thing you can do is delay the inevitable."

Old Me snaps again, but the same noise occurs. Obviously, the Animatrix isn't going to let its wielder get hurt. The Character vanishes to the top of the stairs near the display case and laughs hysterically. I almost expect more God talk to come from him.

"There is more to this than just the fixed results of an event, Agent Hearth. Reality is rewritten. I can make it to wear living beings can only breathe in soda to survive, or lava is actually cold to the touch instead! It's all possible and within my grasp!"

With power like that, every move I throw at him just won't matter. Even if I punched him, he can just make a reality where it doesn't hurt, or one where my arm is made of marshmallows.

"Any ideas?" I ask Old Me.

"Pray?"