Kevin lined up his feet with mine. “Last time we couldn't get any leverage because we had no footing and you were just holding it in place.”

I leaned forward and gripped a portion of my side of the hole while Kevin did the same on his. “You think this will work then?”

“Yeah, this way we can both exert force evenly,” he said.

There was still so much more I wanted to know about the Architects but I wasn't sure I could trust Kevin’s schooling. I got the impression it was just his grandfather telling him old stories.

Raccoon, I'm still seeing Zix even outside of the server. Do they use the AR network to appear to us? I asked.

I'd always thought they only communicated with us through our implants. Perhaps they had to get on the town's AR server to share between people.

Raccoon jumped on the bed and lay down watching us. That's pretty much how it works, since you're in the AR server you can see them. Though I don't think Molly can see them. I'll have to ask her.

“Are you ready?” Kevin asked.

I nodded. “Together?”

“Yup,” he replied. “Three.”

“Two,” I followed up.

“One!” he said.

We exchanged glances for a millisecond before starting.

The hole stretched about four centimeters before it began to resist our persistent tugs. It had doubled in size and I had to lean over pretty far because he was pulling much harder than I was.

My head wasn't in the game. There was still more I wanted to know about him. Who were the Essentialists? Were they like the ones from the past? I hated that I forgot to ask while we were connected.

Raccoon gave me a little shrug when I glanced at him.

Getting the hole any larger seemed futile so I went back to holding my ground. We might as well save our progress.

“What are you doing?” Kevin asked.

My arms strained as I held on. “Trying to secure our expansion.”

“You gotta tell me what you're doing so we're on the same page,” he suggested.

“Sorry,” I replied.

He relaxed his grip and I was able to go back to a normal sitting position. The hole expanded another ten or so millimeters. It was big enough for me to put my hand in now.

Once it blinked he yelled, “Yeah!”

Privacy mode, please, I asked.

The yellow light popped up and I sent appreciation Raccoon's way. “Can we talk about your home?”

Kevin's body stiffened. “Y-yeah. What do you want to know?”

“About the Essentialists,” I said. “Like, do they have rules you have to follow?”

He sighed. “They preach that we must live simple lives without using AI.”

“Using old tech is okay though?” I asked, remembering his old bones equipment from when I first met him.

He nodded. “Yeah, no nanobots though.”

“You know there's nanobots in the air right?” I asked.

“What?” he questioned.

I gestured through the air while giving Raccoon a mental nudge.

The air glimmered as trillions of glittering specs danced around us. It was only a representation and the real ones were invisible to the naked eye. “They've been there for a long time now. I think it was one of the first things we did after the Architects left. Anyone on the planet can use them to stay alive. All you have to do is think about lighting a fire for survival and it'll cause a spark.”

“I don't think they know about that,” Kevin said, his face troubled.

“Can’t you message them?” I said. “Where's your phone?”

He pulled back, running his hands along his pants till they hit his thigh then tapped his right leg with his thumb. “I dunno.”

“Can you show it to me?” I asked.

His eyes caught mine and he shrugged. “I have all of my private things on there.”

I knew the basics on how older tech worked. Files, photos, programming, and incessant tapping on screens. You know, all the things I associated with choosing school.

It took him a little while but he got up and went to the bathroom.

Out of curiosity I reached out and pulled on two edges of the hole. It expanded easily.

Raccoon's eyebrows sank, he blinked and shrugged. Yeah, that makes sense.

Had I broken the game? I thought back wondering if anyone had done that to me. I spent a few seconds thinking about it but I couldn’t remember.

I let go of the hole and it snapped back in place.

Kevin walked in with the slab phone I'd seen the first night we met. He sat across from me again, his feet against mine, and leaned over and offered it to me.

As he handed it to me I felt a shock and almost dropped it.

It was lighter and thinner than I thought it was going to be. Then I thought about the handoff's logistics and failed to wrap my head around it. The device was real so was it on the floor or still in Kevin’s hand? Raccoon?

His hand, Raccoon replied.

There were a couple of buttons on the side and I pressed all of them. The screen came on and I felt like I’d seen the wallpaper before. Raccoon why—

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I had to make a copy of it so it's technically downloaded onto our server and since you’re connected to it… The information is already accessible to you, he said.

Instead of prying, I handed it back. “I’ll look at it later. I wanted to show you something though.”

I expanded the hole like I did before. It was about beach ball-sized before it resisted further expansion. When it blinked I let go.

“W-why can you open it so far alone?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve always been pretty independent. Why don’t you try?” I suggested.

He did the same and it resisted. “It’s not working.”

“Maybe you should tell me more about the Essentialist?” I suggested. “That might be why I was able to open it farther.”

When he didn’t reply I decided to try another tactic. “What if we do a quick data drop?”

“What’s a data drop?” he asked.

I smiled. “You tell me about it quickly so it’s like ripping off a bandaid.”

“I guess…” he said but didn’t sound sure.

“Blacks my favorite color,” I started.

He leaned back. “They like keeping things simple.”

“Lizards kind of freak me out,” I said.

“They are self-reliant and like nature,” he said.

“Me too, to both,” I said.

He took a moment to think. “We have a collective government where everyone gets a say.”

“We do too,” I said. “Votes are coming up in a few days.”

“They prefer close-knit communities,” he offered.

“Do you?”

His thumb started its little percussion on his leg again. “Kind of.”

“Is this place too loud for you?” I asked.

He shrugged.

I couldn’t hear anything but the standard buzzing of the fridge in the next room. Spheres were built to be soundproof, giving as much comfort as the people in them wanted.

“I like green,” he stated. “And the woods, where I can escape from everyone.”

“Tall, dark, and handsome.” I counted out on my fingers. “Plus you have an ancient technological artifact. They write books about people like you,” I said.

Kevin's eyes went wide. “Says the walking anime cliche!” He bent forward jutting his hands into the air. “Oh, look at me, I'm stuck in the system!”

We both fell back laughing.

The hole started flashing and we both got up and quickly returned to our positions.

Barely suppressing a giggle I said, “Let's try and pull at the same—”

“Force?” he finished my sentence.

I nodded. “Use my feet to brace yourself.”

Together we lifted the hole and pulled from each side.

It resisted as Kevin pulled me in his direction. “It’s not working.”

“Don’t pull so hard, it’s not a strength contest,” I suggested.

He let up and I was able to push on his feet. “Pull with me.”

The blinking intensified and we both leaned back letting gravity pull us backward.

I hit the floor as the hole stretched to encompass my whole body. A little melody played and the blinking stopped. It was so dark it reminded me of the void so I tossed it away. “I think we won.”

Kevin was completely covered by his end and I couldn’t see him.

“You still there?” I asked.

The comforter-sized hole flattened to the ground as I got up.

Raccoon stretched.

I circled around the hole and lifted the side where Kevin was at. Nothing was there.

The weird physics of these things always confused me.

“Did he go inside?” I asked.

Raccoon shrugged. “Dunno.”

I examined the area and could still sense his mom in the other room. The people above and below us were still there too. The little girl was asleep now. Her Zix was still out and stroking the kids' hair.

That was interesting, I'd never seen a Zix—

Suddenly Kevin's door slid open and I screeched.

It was Kevin with two juices in his hand and the biggest grin I’d ever seen on his face. “I owed you a juice.”

“Raccoon!” I spun to face him. “You blocked him so I couldn’t see him?”

He rolled onto his side chittering.

“You little brat!” I said then ran over and tickled him.

The little guy squirmed and kept up his giggles. It was cute as hell. He was playing along and I loved it.

“Thanks, Riley,” Kevin said.

I turned to him. “You knew?”

“I figured it out once I found out he is sentient,” he responded and sat next to us.

He took a sip from his juice and offered me the other one. “It’s a digital one but I told Raccoon what you like. He already knew but wouldn’t tell me if I got it right. I think he wanted to find out if I remembered.”

When I took it both of them turned and watched me.

I took a drink and let it roll across my tongue. It tasted exactly like how I ordered it at the vendor but was different from the way I got it delivered to my house. “It’s good.”

“But?” Raccoon said.

Running my hand through his fur I replied, “But what?”

“That's not her actual favorite, her actual favorite is slightly different. You just made her the one she gets from the vendor,” Raccoon said.

Raccoon looked to me for verification and I shrugged and took another drink. A slight pang of hunger interrupted my drinking causing me to swap back to Inethiel’s point of view.

I was alone in the house we'd been in with part of the real world revealed because of the AR slider. It was weird trying to wrap my mind around being in the real world but also in the game world that was half game half real. I’d never experienced being in real life in two places at once till now.

Everything seemed okay as I checked in on my character. It was the scent of food from the people eating near the thermobots that caused my pangs. To be sure it wouldn't happen again I fully immersed myself back into Dark Offerings.

Then I swapped back to Kevin's room and took another drink.

“That was weird,” Kevin said. “You just paused for like thirty seconds.”

Raccoon, you didn't add idle animations for me? I asked.

You didn't back my reveal that it wasn't your favorite drink, he said.

I gave him a good scritch. You don't insult people who bring you gifts. Telling him it wasn't my favorite would have been insulting. Plus, I do like the vendor version too.

“Yeah, sorry, I checked in on Inethiel,” I said while taking a large swig of fruity goodness. I missed my daily routine.

Kevin took in a breath. “So what does this hole do again?”

“Wanna find out?” I asked.

He nodded and set his juice on his desk.

“Okay, grab the edge of the hole and rip it,” I said then drank the last of my juice.

As he did what I said the hole split into two smaller versions halving in size. Then they shrank into quarter-sized holes again.

I stretched out a hand. “One is yours and one is mine.”

He handed one to me and I pocketed it.

“What do I do with it?” he asked as he spun it in his hand.

“Toss it on the ground,” I suggested.

The hole expanded as it hit the floor. After about three seconds it began to glow around the edges making it look like a more traditional black hole.

I stood. “Now we jump inside.”

Kevin reached for my hand and I took it. I placed my cup next to his.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yup—”

I screeched as he jumped pulling me in with him.

***

Raccoon shook his head and leapt into the hole after them.

A silver spider no bigger than a raindrop pulled itself from Azerails discarded cup.

It jumped from the desk to the chair and then to the ground.

The black hole shimmered in front of it. The spider tapped the edge of the hole and it glitched showing the flashing body of Kevin.

Illusions, it thought.

It approached Kevin and climbed up the teen's body until it reached his head. “Memories, such sweet memories.”

The spider leapt off the boy into the hole.

It hungered.

***