Kahli tried to pull her arm out of Lloyd's force field, but it was impossible. Her arm reacted as if she were but frozen in a strong block of gelatin. What could she do? Would she... by the love of Theseosus, would she join Lloyd?
Awful as he was, didn't that mean she'd stay alive? What about Froufrou? Wasn't Froufrou going to destroy the world anyway?
What about if she waited? It was the most tempting option, her impulse was to put off deciding... But it still felt like a weighty decision.
----------------------------------------
There she was, in the void.
Ah, welcome back, boomed the deep voice of a familiar, giant jellyfish.
Kahli had forgotten she'd enabled this [skill] without disabling it afterwards. But, for a moment, she was very happy about that. If there was ever a time where she would've been served well by something that she generally considered more than slightly obnoxious, it was this [skill] at a time like this, where her decision obviously had a huge impact on what would happen.
Ah, yes, but as we've debated before, it's hard to say what really matters, isn't it? Especially when time, like so many other passing, transient concepts, is but another blade of grass in the universe's great echo chamber.
Kahli didn't like it when the jellyfish slipped into its musings. They seemed to get less coherent every time she met with the strange, aquatic entity, and at this point she had no doubt that this behavior would continue on as thus.
She looked at her big, left foot and concentrated on the first of her three scenarios.
[Now viewing scenario 1]
Kahli had her arm firmly planted in Lloyd's force field. She knew she couldn't get it out without making some sort of a decision. Or at least, that's what she thought at first.
But what if this situation required a bit of, well, lateral thinking?
Kahli didn't want to play into Lloyd's sick little alien games what with how evil he was. What if she did this her way? What if Kahli didn't have to answer this alien guy at all? That she could just do something else? Something completely unexpected.
"Hey, um, Omar! Omar, come over here quick!"
Omar fart-blasted his way over to Kahli. "What's the issue? Other than being trapped in the evil alien force field, I mean," he added with a wink.
It was time to put her new [Tale Teller] [skill] to the ultimate test. "I think you're right."
"What do you mean? Of course I'm right, I'm right about literally everything, Kahli, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll get your shit together."
"Okay sure whatever. But what I'm talking about is, well, I think that I actually do have Curr on me."
"Fucking duh. How else would Brahd back at the restaurant have gotten Curr all over his feet? It's obviously all your fault, Kahli."
"Yes, I agree, Omar, it is all my fault that I have all of that Curr on my fist."
"On your FIST?!" Omar and Lloyd gasped in unison.
Lloyd squealed at the pitch of a young child as Omar raised his flaming arm and sliced Kahli's hand off at the wrist.
"You're welcome, and perfectly cauterized, too," replied Omar with a smile.
Only, it was not perfectly cauterized. Well, it almost was, but then Kahli's clothes had caught fire. And, indeed, Kahli was catching fire.
[End scenario]
What a waste, thought Kahli. That timeline had almost seemed cool, at first. But it was the first timeline, and of course, she always died. Just like then, obviously she'd been about to burn alive when the scenario ended. How sad.
[Now viewing scenario 2]
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Kahli looked at Lloyd. He was a disgusting, horrible, obnoxious alien that had a penchant for cackling in an evil manner that was altogether unnecessary and distracting, it lacked discreetness and professionalism and it indeed made him appear to be a bit of a novice. Of course, considering Lloyd's backstory and his goal of using the destruction of Nomachiato as a chance to prove himself did also align with him being fairly new to the whole evildoing charade. With all that considered, it was probably an ideal time for Kahli to partner with him.
After all, Kahli had just gotten herself a system with the Harbinger of Doom as her [paired] entity. That was a huge change in her own life, and indeed it also afforded her some leeway and lots of room for growth. With that growth in mind, this was probably a situation that she could really stand to benefit from more than someone might expect. If Kahli did this now, if she took this leap and really went for it, how far would she be able to go in the future? What would the future even look like if she decided that she needed to join this evil alien's side?
Would she be okay with destroying her own home? Would she be able to live with herself if she acted in such a manner that would doom essentially everyone she'd ever known to, at minimum, instant erasure from conscious experience? What about slow, painful deaths - would she be inflicting those, too? Part of Kahli hoped that she would... And then again, there was a large part of her that also hoped that she didn't. That is to say, Kahli felt very divided about the whole thing. It felt impossible to make a decision.
That meant, she should probably just wait. Shouldn't she?
Then again, would locking herself to a timeline really be the ideal move here? If Kahli agreed now to allow Lloyd to wait five days, didn't that mean that she'd only be putting off the inevitable? And what would happen on day five? What havoc would the consequences wreak on Nomachiato, regardless of her decision? And, was Lloyd even being truthful? What if he was just planning on killing her regardless if she chose to wait?
Kahli looked at Froufrou. What a cute yet disgusting little Harbinger of Doom. She definitely didn't want this terrible little thing to die, even though it was destiny to wreak havoc on all taumanity.
Then again, if she allowed it, indeed, if she facilitated Froufrou having a part in the end of all taumanity, then, would Froufrou be free from the title of Harbinger of Doom, and thus be able to live a normal life as an endearing yet disgusting house pet? Would Kahli be able to have a house if her planet was destroyed?
"Lloy, I have a question."
"Oh, sure," Lloyd smiled. "Anything to help you make up your - BWAH hah HAH - your mind."
"Great. So, um, I'm wondering what exactly will happen to me after I join you. If I join you, of course. I am considering it, but, like, what all will happen to me afterwards? Where do I go? I mean, this is my home, after all."
"Well, you must surely know, Kahli, that there are vast multitudes of planets in the universe that are habitable for life, indeed, there are many beautiful planets with beautiful life, some of which you might be surprised to find you'd be well suited to. Sentient life, too, is not terribly scarce, if you know how to find planets that are teeming with it as I do. Worst case scenario, you could always become ruler of Nomachiato yourself, which might be ideal to you if you consider your familiarity with it. Either way, know that, if you join me, you will have comfort, and security, and of course, you will not have to worry about being annihilated."
Kahli considered this proposition. She had to do what was right for her in this moment. Maybe she'd learned too much from Unit 5a23, she considered for a moment.
"You know what, Lloyd? Alright."
"Alright?"
"I'm in. Let's destroy Nomachiato. End of the world, right now, right here, you and me."
"Oh, great! Wow. Okay, so let me just go get the world destroyed and we can start by-"
[End scenario 2]
Kahli sighed inwardly. Classic scenario 2, not giving her the end resolution of the choice she'd made. Still, she'd never chosen scenario 2, had she? And this didn't seem all that enticing, despite some of the mentions of security and power, due to the fact that she'd have to be surrounded by, or at least accompanied by, Lloyd. Lloyd smelled, and he was a creepy little alien.
What's wrong, Kahli? You seem like you're struggling a lot with this. It's almost like this isn't always a cut and dry situation.
Stop trying to engage me, jellyfish, thought Kahli.
Wow. Rude. I was just offering thoughtful conjecture. I'm here to be your sounding board, your confidant, I'm here to get you on the right track and keep us all headed in the right direction here, that's all. If you don't need or want that, well, okay, but I don't have to be happy about it.
Look, I'm sorry, I just-
Don't you 'I'm sorry' me, Kahli. I can see your thoughts. I'm a giant, psychic entity appearing in the form of a jellyfish in order to ease your conscious, and what are you but rude to me! It's, honestly, insulting. I put a lot of effort into being here and doing my best to support you, and what do I get but a proverbial mental middle finger! I just want to make sure you are considering all of your time branches correctly, and that you are making a decision that is right for you! That's my job here, Kahli, that's what I'm here for! Choosing time is a serious responsibility, you know.
Kahli sighed inwardly, again. This big jellyfish was absolutely exhausting to thought-speak with. Couldn't it just tone it down a little?
No, no I cannot just tone it down a little, Kahli. Regardless of the immateriality of the timelines that you are viewing, your decisions have a tangible impact here, and I implore you to choose wisely what path you tread.
There was clearly no use in expressing herself or engaging with the jellyfish if Kahli did not want to get into another painful, one sided mind argument. With that, she focused to the third scenario.
It was time for her to see that third choice, the choice she always picked. It was time for her to see the right timeline.