Chapter 8: Chapter Seven: The System
A pop up appeared in front of me:
[Task: Deliver important message to Hokage office]
Ha, Ha, no. I not going to…
"I'll take it", I heard my self say. Then stopped. Wait, what is this? "I'll take the scroll to Konoha".
Wait, I tried to backtrack. What I want to say is…
"Although I do not no the way.".
I mentally shock my head. What is this, Lord Of The Rings? The monkey ladies smiled at my answer. No, do not smile at me right now. I rose to my feet, feeling like a puppet on strings.
I will not be taking… why is my mouth not moving?
"Ill carry it for as long is my burden to bear.", I continued, my voice a stranger's. And then, to my horror, I felt myself drop to one knee, "You have my sword".
The Monkey King Enma's nod of approval felt like the final nail in my coffin.
"Good. Tonight, in your room there will be map, with secret post's inside the Hokage Province. Memorize them tonight, then destroy it. From the moment you leave this house, you'll be on your own. Remember, if you're caught, there's no one coming to rescue you. This mission is top secret, and its success rests entirely in your hands."
I nodded and slowly rose, my movements mechanical, not my own. The Monkey King's entourage watched me with an air of expectation, their eyes gleaming with pride.
You fuckers.
"I think it's wiser to leave under the cover of night, rather than waiting till morning," my voice suggested – No, I need to sleep. Da fuck am I saying?
The room swirled with nods of agreement at my suggestion. What?
"Great suggestion, dear.", Lady Momo declared, "Although, you do seem a bit tired".
Yes, this. Lady Momo, you are a heaven sent.
"Perhaps it would be better if you rested till supper", Lady Yuki concurred. "Come dear, I'll show you to your room".
My body bowed towards the table and followed lady Yuki out the room. The hallway conversation between her and my body was a blur. They spoke of gardening and strategies, their words floating around me, making me half dizzy.
When I'm came back to myself, I was alone in this, honestly, kinda cozy room.
My gaze drifting around the room, landing on a wooden pitcher and bowl set upon a washstand, then to the heavy, low bed with its detailed carvings of banana trees boughs and leafs, each lined with hand-embroidered linens. I would had smiled had I had any sense of control of my body.
I felt my attention turning to my clothes, neatly folded clothes on the bed. My fingers brushing over the message scroll tucked inside, still intact, I sighed inside.
I sank down into the bed, clutching the blankets close. As my body nestled under the covers, the house wrapped itself in silence, save for the peepers cheeping their springtime song outside. The last sound to lull me into a heavy slumber was the hoo-hoo-hooing of an owl in the branches below my window.
In the depths of that sleep, a strange sense of detachment washed over me. It felt as if I were floating, adrift in a sea of midnight blue, where time and space lost their grip.
When I finally opened my eyes, there was no ceiling, just an endless expanse of this soft, blue glow. It was weirdly calming.
I sat up, feeling the plush velvet beneath my hands. Wait, velvet? I was on a couch, an old-fashioned one that looked like it belonged in a vintage store window. The room was surreal, lined with shelves of old books and oddities, lit by a chandelier that seemed to shimmer with a light of its own.
Sitting across from me was an old man with a kindly face, his hair and beard white as the pages of the books surrounding us. He wore a lab coat, jeans, shirt.
I couldn't help but to furrow my brow's to him, then I realized, I could move again. I looked at the person in front of me. The old man, with his soft eyes, watched me patiently, waiting for my confusion to ease.
"Welcome," he said, his voice bouncing gently off the walls. "We rarely get visitors at this hour."
I blinked, adjusting my glasses as I tried to make sense of where I was. "Where am I?" I asked.
Before he could answer, another realization hit me. I not only could move, but had also become myself again.
"You find yourself in a realm that blurs the lines between dream and reality, thought and matter," he replied with a mysterious smile. "Here, we explore the depths of the soul and discover the true essence of self."
.
.
.
"What?"
"This is a room where only does inside the imprint program can enter", he said, "You are inside the system".
I immediately got up.
"You're one does fuckers that put me here?".
"Sit", the room shifted and found myself on the couch once more.
I got up again but the same thing happened to me.
"There's no need for this".
"No need for this? You kidnapped me, you put me a month inside this..", I stood up, only to be forced back onto the couch. It was like the room itself was keeping me there. I breathed, "Where am I?"
"I already answered this".
I looked at him.
"Are you autistic or something?"
"We do not use ableist language here."
"re****", I said and furrowed my brow, "did you sensor me? Fucker. Wait, 'fucker' is all good but is in '******' where you draw the line?"
He just looked at me, his expression unchanged.
"Are you done?" he asked.
I slumped back into the couch, the fiery anger in me dying down to a cold, heavy resignation. I let my eyes drift shut for a moment, feeling the weight of this fuck-fest.
"Okay,", I opened my eyes, "what do you want from me?"
The old man leaned forward, the gentle light casting shadows across his features. "What I want," he began, his voice steady and solemn, "is for you to understand the purpose of your journey here."
"Journey? You mean the experiment?"
He shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Not an experiment, but an exploration. An test of potential, of limits, of the very fabric that composes your being."
"You just said experiment with extra words. You think you can just sprinkle some shit on top and I going to buy this as a, what? Self-discovery bullshit?"
He sighed.
"This place, this imprint program, it's not just about understanding oneself. It's about expanding beyond the known boundaries of your capabilities."
"Aren't you repeating yourself?"
"We placed you in a universe, were you'll pass through challenges, through learning, through experiences that you would never encounter in your ordinary life".
"Sorry, what? Be direct, what do you want from me? Why did you kidnap me for an entire month?"
"A minute".
"What?"
"A minute."
"Dude, I understood you words the first time, what I didn't understand is what you mean by them. Are you asking for a minute? Do you have someone you need to talk to? What are you trying to say?"
"You been here for a minute, Lucas. Each month here is, more or less, a minute in our world.", he informed me, "And we didn't kidnap you, you signed a waver. We can hold you for up to twelve hours".
I furrowed my brow. Wait a minute. One month per minute. 12 months for a year. 5 years per hour… my eyes went wide.
"Sixty year's? You saying you can hold me here for sixty years?"
"12 hour's, yes", to say I was without words would be a understatement, "Almost a second life".
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog of emotions.
"Okay", I murmured, dragging my hands down my face in an effort to regain some semblance of control, "And what do you want from me?"
"You don't drop a bone, do you?"
"I have no idea what you mean by that, but no, I never dropped a fucking bone in my entire life. Now answer my question. What do you want from me?"
"We want you to experience growth, Lucas. To evolve beyond the limits of your current understanding and capabilities….
"Cut the bullshit man", I stopped him, "Just be straight with me."
The old man sighed.
"We will give you tasks, they aren't optional; if you refused, we will command inoshiro's body to do them. Ever saw the movie 'Inside Out'? From this moment on, assume we will always be watching from inside you head."
"Because that's not creepy."
"You signed…"
"The Waver. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.", I sighed, "'We' who?"
The old man's gaze met mine, unwavering. "We are a group of researchers, scientists, and thinkers…"
"Fuck me, dude.", I interrupted again, "Can't you answer a fucking question? Who are the fuckers who are going to be playing god with my life?"
"I can't divulge their identities, Lucas. But I can assure you, no one is playing god with your life. We are… facilitating. Think of us as… catalysts for your personal evolution. The tasks we set, they're designed to push you, to challenge you, to make you question and, ultimately, grow."
"And to go on suicide missions."
"Is the world you chose", I took a long breath, "Every choice matters, Lucas. That's the very essence of this experience. You'll be faced with decisions, challenges that will test your morals, your resilience, your very identity."
I let out a laugh. "This is such a bullshit statement. And all this will be under the guidance and watchful eyes of your team of 'catalysts', won't it?"
"Yes," he replied simply, his voice steady. "But now, I think this is all the time we have left. We will see each other again, in a minute."
I furrowed my brows.
"Is this 'minute' thing some litigation bullshit?"
The old fucker just stared at me, an inscrutable expression on his face, leaving my question hanging in the air. Then snapped his finger's and everything went dark.
My eyes snapped open, the ceiling of the Monkey Village guest room greeted me again. For a moment, I only lay there, sprawled, disoriented, the remnants of the System Room clinging to the edges of my consciousness.
Two knocks on the door.
"Dear, is time for supper, are you ready?"
Oh, fuck.
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