“Exactly. I was sent here as a… gift. I’m not related to her by blood. I’m not actual royalty. I’m just… powerful. It’s more of an honorary title. She owes me.”
“Surprise, surprise. Seems like everyone owes you.”
And at this statement, he grins. “They do. It’s that fucking book.”
“Ostanes’ book?”
“Yes. It’s the source code.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s the… hidden rules of the universe. But not just the rules, it’s the ability to—not really change them. More like circumvent them.”
“Like a cheat.”
“Yeah. Sure. Like a cheat.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
“It is.”
“So the rules don’t apply to you.”
“They do, but they don’t have to.”
“And yet… you cannot walk through portals, but I can.”
“Correct.”
“Hmm. Well, I’m not gonna lie, Tarq. This is not looking good.”
“How do you figure?”
“You are the ghost in the machine and I’m like… the super-hacker who has control of the machine.” Tarq looks confused. “Fine. It’s kind of a specific analogy, but still a fitting one. Basically, you and I together are like some… powerful super-team that can bend the will of the universe.”
“Yes. I think that sums it up.”
“And this queen. She wants us to be together so we can do powerful super-team shit for her.”
“Pretty much.”
“And what do you think of that, Tarq?”
He walks over to me, places his hands on my shoulders, looks me in the eyes. “I want. To get. My woman back.”
I let out a long breath. “Fine. I will cooperate and meet her tomorrow. But I want to leave early today. I’m overwhelmed. I need to go home and chill.”
He smiles. “Thank you, Pie. Really. I truly appreciate this. I’ll even walk you to the door.”
We don’t talk on the way to the lobby where my portal door is, but I can sense Tarq’s happiness. He’s very satisfied.
I’m not really sure what I’m feeling.
It’s not a terrible sense of dread, but I’m definitely not as content as I was before I bumped into him.
Nonetheless, he does take me to the lobby and when I approach the space where the door should be and the portal appears, no one tries to stop me from going home, so I count this as a win.
“Bye,” I say, rushing towards the now-waiting door.