STORY

STORY

ACCEPTANCE OF HEAVEN
[James Primate | Speaking Systems | Rain World (Ambients and Instrumentals)]
2024-12-31 01:59:42
Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:14:03

It had been a number of weeks since the union remnant's coup had failed.

On that day, N-414 had followed the notails back into the elevator and out of the office building, and was met with a new set of ordeals. Responsibility to all the remainders he had charged to their expected deaths fell upon his shoulders: their comfort, their basic needs, all manner of pings flooded towards him with questions he lacked the answers to. After all, he was no leader. He was a therapist, a people watcher, a priest to a faith he could no longer find comfort in. He could not abandon them all, feeling accountable for every last one after what he had forced them into.

And as much as he could not escape them, he would not allow them to escape him either. Many times he stopped using his antennae, speaking aloud so that his own thoughts would not dominate those of others, but as the cracks began to form and tensions rose he would come to use them again just to settle their worries. All trepidation was muted save for his own. The union's supplies were soon running low, and while the swarm could survive scrounging in alleys he could not stand to subject them to such a fate.

So he made an appointment with the assistant. It stung his pride to have to crawl back to the top of that tower, to beg for his swarm to be allowed into a Heaven he had sought to destroy, but life had become overwhelming. He needed a reprieve for his swarm, for himself.

As the elevator reached the top he reached beneath his mask, claws digging into scratches already so deep along the side of his head. The itching never stopped, and it only got worse the more he had to listen to the others. Up so high, he was free from it all, yet still the itching inside did not stop.
The elevator dings, marking his arrival. He wipes the blood from his claws on his jacket and stands a little straighter, prepared to make his case to the gods.
The doors open, and so he steps into Life's office.

The sight N-414 had come to was much like the one he saw when he had first tried to fight the gods.

O-2 and the Creator spoke over a computer tower. One which had some smoke damage and a dent in its casing, but otherwise was finally in working order.
The Singer watched tv, reruns of shows that have played for years on end.
And Life, that horrible creature, sat distraught at his desk, surrounded by a growing amount of images of his husband, as if he was attempting to block out his terrible mood.

"Meeting for 4pm? I'm available."
He looked over to O-2 and the urge to say something arose, though there came no words to accompany. She made the right choice after all, ahead of the rest, but still there was a feeling of betrayal.
O-2, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to wave to N-414.

"How's the terrible job, New O-2?"
"Though, in a world where we can only count up to one. I suppose that you can be any number you wish. You just have to choose. :D"
N-414
2024-12-31 02:03:19
N-414 Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:15:48
"N-414 is fine. Thank you."

He glances over to Life, at the state of the God and the many, many images with the same abundantly pink figure Life had introduced as his husband weeks ago. He approaches the desk slowly, but resumes the conversation with O-2.
"It goes terrible, as you say. Looking after one's self is enough of an ordeal as is."
"I don't know how you or the others managed it, and for so long. 8}"
O-2 holds out a blunt and says no more.

":D"
He raises a hand politely to decline.

"Kind, perhaps should you offer again later I would accept. For now, I wish to keep my wits keen."
"O-2: Space weed
O-3: Lavender oil
O-4: Ground up unicorn horn
O-5: Mold Spores
O-6: Catnip
O-7: Mushrooms (but you wouldn't know it)
O-8: Pain medications
O-9: It's best you'd not know
O-10: Whatever anyone else is doing
O-11: Caffeine"
"Pick the O-class you most relate to to find out what drug works best for your stress. :D"
"If you need any, just ask me. I'm carrying it all. Except whatever O-9 used to take. TvT"
"Perhaps the pain medication...? 8}"
O-2 fishes through her inventory, moving drug after drug aside until she finds a small orange bottle. She tosses it to N-414.

"You owe me, O-4(14) :D"
He catches it imperfectly, the bottle bouncing off of his palm leading him to hurriedly snatch it out of the air before holding it a little closer. Even if he could benefit from them now, he still figured it best to wait until after the meeting.
Again he looks over to Life, the reason for his being there. And yet he turns back to O-2 and The Creator, his veil shifting as he cocks his head slightly, gesturing to the computer tower.

"That was being worked on the last time I was here, weeks ago. Is it of import to you? 8}"
"That old thing right there is the entire reason the notails exist."
"Thus my abandonment of the Union was not a failure on my or O-7's part. We were just being smart. Sorry to inform you, but your job will be obsolete and the notail species free to vanish once that device is powered on. :D"
"How about I tell you more about our species obsoletion later. It's becoming quite awkward standing in front of the enemy of all notails making causal conversation. Don't you think? Or, ah, maybe this is truly what victory for us should look like? The god that tormented us for so long being but a background character to the exchange of drugs and the speaking of weather patterns? :D"
Yes, he thinks, a thought all to himself. The Neo could never truly have been killed in its entirety, a thought he could entertain when of a more clear mind. Being able to live in spite of it was the best anyone could do. Still, he keeps the thought to himself, should speaking his truth make his work any more difficult.
"Let's. Becoming obsolete sounds like a mercy, at this point."
He holds up the bottle of pills in one hand for her to see.

"And, thank you."
He turns to Life, resting a hand on his side of the desk.

"I am here to discuss the welfare, housing, and employment of homeless notails."
"Why does everyone want to talk about that? Why does no one but my husband want to talk about a cute weevil they found on the side of the road?"
He turns his head sharply to look at everyone else in the room, caught off guard by the sudden melancholy. Slowly he turns back to Life, taking a seat across from him.
"Appreciating weevils might be harder for people whose concerns lie with a shortage of food and a comfortable place to sleep."
N-414
2024-12-31 02:10:11
N-414 Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:20:24
There's a twisting in his gut as the question roils inside him. Against everything he has ever felt for The Neo, he cannot believe he finds himself asking,

"Are you alright? 8}"
Life
2024-12-31 02:10:35
Life Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:22:15
"Yes. I'm perfectly ok and nothing is wrong. All I ask is that if you want to kill me or you hate me, you just tell me that from the start. That way we can get the awful part over with. I'm just so tired of everyone hating me."
Life
2024-12-31 02:10:50
Life Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:21:36
"And please, don't be the 10th person today to tell me 'Well, you have to accept that people hate you, you've done a lot of terrible things.' I know! I accept it! I'm just so tired of hearing it."
"It doesn't help that I learned that the rest of the universe blew up weeks ago and I didn't even notice...."
N-414
2024-12-31 02:11:30
N-414 Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:23:01
He couldn't deny the thoughts. Even now, the urge to throw Life itself through the window to hurtle down to the streets below crossed his mind. Even if he was just a person, did that mean that any of what the Book of Limbo had taught him was untrue? That in his very existence, the misery The Neo causes comes to pass? The thoughts still linger, and beneath his veil the mandibles inside his mouth push apart the corners of his mouth as they twitch in frustration.
N-414
2024-12-31 02:11:42
N-414 Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:23:34
"I am... sorry you had to learn that now. Knowing you were deceived about something so significant must have been... hard."
"I will not tell you you deserve to be hated because of what you might have done. That is not productive to your self-improvement. 8}"
"Thank you. Look, if you need housing and food, ZooCorp will always provide. Even if the job shortages are making things a bit dubious."
"We only have a few more things we have to finish. A week or two of work, and then we'll all be done and none of us will have to worry about anything that happened in the past."
"It is hard to take that as it is, not that I do not wish to believe you. You mean to say just two more weeks and all will be okay for everyone? How? 8}"
"Well, I know this because the Creator said it himself. Heaven will be here soon! And the Creator never lies!"
"Except for that one time he blew up the universe and didn't tell me about that."
Life
2024-12-31 02:13:40
Life Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:24:36
"But other than that, he has never lied to me! Heaven will be finished as long as no one stops us!"
Out of the corner of his eye he looks at the Creator.

"You have a lot of faith in him in spite of the lie he told you, and guessing from your answer, he has not explained how his Heaven shall come to pass. Do you really feel secure in the reality he has laid out for you? 8}"
"Hmmmmmm....."
"Yeah! That's how faith works. People tell you things, and you hope that they wouldn't lie to you!"
"You had faith that I existed, and that worked out, right?"
"Plus, it's not like the Creator lied to me for no reason. He was just trying to help me."
He pulls the Book of Limbo from his inventory, setting it down on the desk.

"The same faith that assured me of your existence had also poisoned me to hate you and those like you from as early as I could read. Not that I..."
He lifts a hand beneath his veil, clearing his throat.

"Having faith is good, but should it come without question? 8}"
"It's not like the book was totally wrong.... it's....editorialized by a person who really hates us. But I DID do a lot of things, and I shouldn't underplay that."
"But, I did it cause I wanted you people to get better! I wanted you to evolve and avoid Death as much as possible."
"I just, see people not like you do. I see you as species. Life is just a line of species, and it's ok if a lot of them fail as long as the line keeps going and becoming more powerful."
"Intelligent species don't like my game very much....because they stop doing things like...you know. Normal species stuff. Evolving! They want to stay the same species, even if Life keeps changing things up to help them evolve into better selves."
"I see now that Death is horrible and very upsetting for you all. That's why you all hate me. I've been feeding the failures to Death this whole time!"
N-414
2024-12-31 02:16:50
N-414 Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:26:49
He sinks down into his seat, slipping his hand up underneath his mask to scratch at the itching under his scalp again.

"I must confess, I had not expected understanding from The Neo. There is both relief and... a profound discomfort, not to discourage your efforts. This is... good."
"That's why even I hate them...I understand why all those people keep telling me that they want life to be filled with fighting and stealing and all that bad stuff! I...."
"Trained them for a test they can't do anymore. If you trained so hard and were told the test would be cancelled, you'd be upset too."
He nods quietly, twisting the prayer beads around his wrists.
"It is a lot to bear, Life. Even if peace has always been the desire for myself and others like me, the expectation and unrest in the name of conflict and struggle is as apart of us as the blood in our veins."
"Not that anyone should insist this is how the world should be, just that... It is how it was. And it is hard to move on from that."
"I don't know how to move on from that. 8}"
"I am sorry that things have been so hard for you, now. You are living just like any one of us. 8}"
"I don't know if you should be saying sorry to me. I kind of feel like I have to be saying sorry to everyone I meet. I'm kind of hoping that helping with this plan will sort of....even out all the billion years of evolutionary abuse."
"Is there anything else I can do to make it up to you? I sort of feel bad you came here with your own issues and I just kind of talked about my problems."
"You promise the notails from the union shall find comfort and safety in your Heaven?"
"Well...it's kind of the Creator's Heaven, and he kind of promises that...."
"But it's going to be good! Those two other notails seemed to like the idea. One of them I even turned into that cool dog!"
He thinks of O-7 for a moment. Even as she was, even attacking Death as briefly as she had, her existence did not seem like a struggle. He scratches at his scalp again, closing his eyes for a moment.
Life
2024-12-31 02:20:19
Life Profile
Posted by ID #25
Last edit: 2024-12-31 02:20:24
Life mistakes this pause as a sign of jealousy.

"Do you want to be a cool dog too....?"
"I'm not sure I'd have put it like that, but..."
"I crave freedom."
"Freedom from how I have been living."
"Underneath the face, the clothes, the morals and the thinking - there's an animal."
"A tired animal, that is tired of being a person."
Life
2024-12-31 02:21:29
Life Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:29:30
"WOAH! You're so intelligent, how did you know there's a literal animal under your skull that's really tired of all this nonsense?"
"What?"
"Oh."
"You were speaking metaphorically...."
"I was speaking metaphorically..."
He takes a deep breath, coughing a little as a result.

"That would explain the itching, at least."
"And my mind hasn't changed. This is not a wish for Death, but to enjoy Life in a more simple way."
"Can this be done? 8}"
Life
2024-12-31 02:22:59
Life Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:29:58
"Of course it can!!!!!"
"And afterwards, maybe I'll find a mate for you. Who knows what's in the cards!"
N-414 stands up out of his seat slowly, the tension in his body no longer from stress, but anticipation.
2024-12-31 02:23:47
Life Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:40:27
Life rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +20. A 25 is rolled.
Life stabs through N-414.

"Don't worry, this is the last pain you'll ever have to feel in your Life!"
"..."
He rests both hands on the wires stabbing through his body, bowing his head.
"Thank you."
Life rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +20. A 26 is rolled.

As the wires rip through N-414, the delethis inside of his head awakens, the power of Life allowing it to finally spread through the body, fusing with N-414 into a new creature. An ancient one, rarely seen.

Singer
2024-12-31 02:27:21
Singer Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-23 19:35:37
"Ewwww, did you really fuse him with his head parasite?"
"Well, yes. What do you think I do with all the parasitic and invasive bacteria in everyone's bodies?"
"Uh....I kind of didn't count those as things so I just assumed they disappeared forever and ever!"
"No way! That'd be murder! I just fuse everyone's parasites into the same body. It's ok, they were already there before and affecting the whole system so it's like nothing ever changed!"
The animal adjusts to his new form, quickly adapting to the new joints of his limbs and the great claws he would use to stabilize himself.
His antennae twitch as his large body shifts, turning to face O-2. Slowly he approaches, ambling forwards to something familiar, a homing instinct.
N-414 pays no mind to the pill bottle now on the floor, slowly lowering himself down besides O-2 into a resting position, as close to bliss in the simplicity of his new existence as he could be.
O-2 sighs after seeing N-414's new form. She places a hand on his back, petting him as she would a tailmic.
"What a way to get out of debt...... :D"
"I just think you're disappointed that you'll have no one to share your accomplishments with."
"How did you know? TvT"
"There's nothing worse than your greatest success being a footnote in the papers, below the section called 'footstool shortages.'"
"That seems rather specific. :D"
"Happened to me once."
END OF EXPO
No one is typing.