173 Nanny Duty

Lu'um gazed at Reed in the eyes, in an attempt to discern whether or not he had truly meant what he said. Her vision pierced through his environmental suit and physical body, all the way to his soul. It wasn't that Lu'um didn't believe Reed's explanation; for the most part, she was more than willing to keep an open mind. 

For a brief moment, Lu'um had felt something strange. A foreboding sensation that she had only ever experienced whenever He acted without her knowledge in secret.

In simpler words, she had felt, albeit for a second, that He had spoken through Reed in spirit. There was a very particular tone — a melancholy, calculating cadence to His manner of speaking — that only He possessed. 

Reed's natural tone, in comparison, was much lighter and informal than His, to the point that it was very simple to distinguish one from the other. Although their voices were identical, they had their own distinct color when it came to the art of rhetoric, if that made sense. 

There was nothing wrong with Reed, much to Lu'um's relief. Her concerns had been for naught, but even so, she deemed it a cautionary experience worth a moment of future contemplation. When it came to Him, a single misstep was enough to give Him a decisive, uncontestable advantage in any battle. 

She could not drop her guard for Reed's sake, not while He was still around...

"I'm sure of it; this probably a kind of a security failsafe in the event of a catastrophic event. If it can't keep reality running properly, the best solution is to make a save everything of importance in hard suspension until it can reboot everything back up at a later date.

It makes perfect sense, at least in my mind. I would definitely store my important data securely in a safe place if I knew that it was at risk of being permanently lost in the event of a system failure."

The more that Lu'um heard Reed's explanation, the more that it started to grow upon her. It really did make sense, from a cold, logical standpoint. Truth be told, Reed's rationalization sounded very much like something He would have told her. 

Even the idea of thinking about living, breathing people with souls akin to lifeless information sounded like Him. Absolutely detached from whatever little morality He had once possessed.

Lu'um genuinely hated how closely Reed was resembling Him and His twisted rationalizations. It brought up dark memories and beliefs that she no longer associated with her present self, which had long since become a painful topic for her to even think about...

She curtly interrupted Reed and said, "I understand, dear. There's no need for you to continue... emulating Him anymore, okay? I get it. Let us be done with this unpleasant line of thought."

He looked at her and saw a concerned, uneasy expression on her face, as if she had witnessed something remarkably dreadful. She, too, had her own personal fears, much to Reed's amusement in an odd way. 

Reed caressed Lu'um's helmet affectionately and said, "You worry too much, Sweetcheeks. I'll always be myself, no matter what may come to pass. Noble, dashing street rats like myself and self-righteous, anal-retentive bastards like Him are completely incompatible with one another."

Lu'um laughed when she heard his ludicrous explanation. Although it was absolute nonsense, it was very Reed-like at heart, filled with his characteristically misplaced gusto and conviction about the oddest topics...

Their touching, sweet moment would have lasted longer were it not... for Astor, Horatio, and Ophelia. 

The trio awkwardly gawked at Reed and Lu'um in dumbfounded embarrassment, for the lack of a better word. It was beyond them how they had been completely forgotten in about a five-minute timespan. 

Do these two really not care about us? 

Are we truly that insignificant to them?

Have they fallen in love so hard that they became fools? Where had the Reed of old gone? He would have already made a biting, defensive remark to Lu'um by now. And if Reed didn't do that, then he'd rely on his favorite method — playing the silent treatment card.

That the Reed that they had known — always on his guard around Lu'um...

It went without saying that the trio was considerably interested in what had occurred within the last three years to have warranted such a... drastic change in their relationship. 

Astor forcibly coughed, much to his own regret, and ended the unreal marvel in front of them. 

"...If you don't mind, could the two of you do us a favor... and explain what you were talking about? You've figured out some big clue about all of this, am I correct?" 

There was only so much that Reed and Lu'um could explain to them without making themselves sound insane, given the scale and nature of the Eventide of Faith. They had a real chore on their hands, getting their friends up to speed in a way that did not put them on the Dreaming Council's radar...

For young people like Astor, Horatio, and Ophelia, who knew relatively little of the Ancient Mulians aside from what they had been taught and seen in the Shadowlands, the concepts involved in Reed and Lu'um's simplified explanation were still too large to grasp in theory alone.

Truth be told, there were certain things that had to be seen in order to be understood. They couldn't be described properly with conventional mediums of communication like speech, writing, or art. 

Reed lamented the shitty job he had been given and said, "Okay... Let's run the facts down from the top one final time, so we're all on the same page." 

"...A colossus of unimaginable proportions has been underneath the continent all this time?" said Astor, still trying to wrap his head around the ridiculous statement he just said.

Reed nodded his head and said, "Good, good. Keeping going, don't stop..." 

"And this colossus is what has been keeping the Heavenly Barrier up since... the Great Barrier War?" 

Reed and Lu'um gave Horatio a quadruple thumbs-up for his contribution and then glanced towards Ophelia in expectation. 

"This colossus has been responsible for maintaining the world as we perceive it? And after the Twilight War, it fell ill, which is why these fissures have spread across the continent?" 

Reed clapped and said, "I knew the three of you could do it! That wasn't so hard to swallow, eh?!" 

The trio were not strangers to matters beyond comprehension, given what they had personally witnessed, but there was a limit to how much they could feasibly tolerate. 

Astor really wanted to believe Reed, especially given everything he knew about him. What he understood about Reed should have been enough to vouch for anything he could have learned, but this time...

"I'm going to need a bit of time to digest this startling... truth, buddy. And look, I'm all for believing you, but you have to understand that right now you sound, well, you know..."

"Sound like what? It's the truth." 

Horatio exasperatedly said, "The two you sound bat-shit insane. We're all aware of the unique circumstances surrounding you, and that does give you some credit, some leeway with us in regards to trusting you, but..."

Lu'um shrugged her shoulders helplessly and said, "You're not going to believe us, even after that you've seen over the years? Are you all being serious right now? This is the hill you're going to die on?"

Reed glanced at Ophelia in search of some kind of support, but she betrayed him and said, "I'm willing to believe in a lot of things, primarily because of the level of technology the Ancient Mulians possessed at the height of their civilization, but this... this is a little bit too much, even for me." 

It was then and there that Reed's final light of hope was snuffed out into the dark. 

Do these three really not care about us? 

Are we truly that insignificant to them?

Lu'um and Reed stared at each in tired resignation. They both knew that this time they'd have to deal with extra work this time around. Unbeknownst to the trio, they were already in midst of talks as to how they would progress now that they had reached an impasse with them.

"They're not gonna accept our explanation, no matter how much we drill it into their heads. And if they stick around here when we close the fissure, it's all but certain that they'll die... Goddamnit."

"You what this means, right? We're going to have to take—"

"Please don't finish that sentence. It's fucking bad enough we're gonna have to deal with whatever's down there. Don't add 'nanny duty' to the list, honey."

"Well, we can't just leave them here. And subduing them is also a no-go since it'd cause even more problems down the road. If we can't persuade them to shelve their mission, then the only option is to take—"

Reed audibly let out a howl of frustration and kicked a broken down hovercraft in the middle of the street in a fit of cathartic rage. The poor vehicle suddenly took flight again for the first time in millennia and flew into a nearby building. An expected fireball lit up the dark city in a wonderous pyrotechnical display of passionate frustration. 

Keep it cool, Reed. You got this. Ice in the veins, Reed. It ain't nothing you can't handle.

Three extra lives on the line this time. Just don't fuck up from here on out. Easy peasy.

Reed smiled and said, "Change of plans, then. The three of you are going to be tagging along with us. It'll be one big adventure for the whole family from here on out. Isn't that wonderful?"

Astor, Horatio, and Ophelia glanced at one another in worry as they stared at Reed's soulless smile and the flaming wreckage behind him. An ominous chill ran down their spines as they observed the foreboding scene of anarchy before them...