Kahli screamed as the sleeve of her tunic ignited in flame, and the severed stump where her left hand had been fizzled with smoke billowing off it like it was a freshly shot gun.
"Oh FUCK!" said Omar. "I am so sorry, Kahli, I thought I had better control, it's just, I was nervous! You had fucking Curr on that hand of yours, I had to chop it off!"
Unit 5a23 rocketed over to Kahli with the jets on his feet and immediately patted her arm with a wide, robot hand. When that didn't suffice to do much other than cause Kahli pain and possible bruising, he grasped her tunic arm at the furthest unburnt point and tore it perfectly in a cold, calculated rip - only it caught and tore a little bit more of her tunic off, too, so that it was if Kahli was wearing a tunic with a cold shoulder.
"Thank Theseosus!" said Kahli with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Lloyd was screaming inside his force field, hopping around the enclosed sphere like a hamster in a wheel avoiding a miniature chainsaw.
"Wow, he's really terrified," said Kahli.
"Well, of course he is! There's Curr in there, Kahli, he doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to, to use one of his own terms, he doesn't want to get gloamed, now does he?"
"Oh, yea," said Kahli, unsure if she wanted to give away the truth just yet. After all, the worst thing that could happen right now would be Lloyd figuring out that this was all just a trick. She would have to keep up the charade.
A small part of Kahli wondered if she should ever reveal the truth of this situation to Omar. Was it worth it?
No, Kahli decided then and there, and she swore it to herself, on the grave of her severed hand, that she would not tell a soul of this. Not ever. There was no need for her to.
She decided to change the subject.
"I didn't realize that his force field was static," said Kahli. "I mean, to clarify, that I am surprised he can hop around it like that."
"I'm surprised he can hop at all," said Omar. "Did you see how tiny that fucker's legs are?"
"Oh yea, they're small and stubby all right," said Kahli.
They watched as Lloyd struggled and squirmed, finally generating a smaller force field around Kahli's severed hand.
"Whew. There. What a - bwa HAH hah - what a relief."
Kahli and Omar looked at each other uncomfortably. Was the annoying little alien about to attack again? And, Kahli wondered inwardly to herself, would he figure out her trickery? Just how smart was Lloyd? Sure, his personality made him come off as little more than an obnoxious buffoon, but that didn't necessarily mean that he actually was just an obnoxious buffoon, now did it? It wasn't like Kahli could see his character sheet or look at all his [attributes], now was it?
"This is... so... fucking... fucked!" Lloyd spat saliva all over his force field. "I cannot believe what you've just exposed me to! I would - and the lack of consideration! Not really for myself, but just, but for everyone in your entire world! You must really, genuinely, want to destroy your own homeworld. Honestly, that is terrifying to me, Kahli. If we're being wholly transparent here, I cannot rightly believe it, and yet here it is, the truth before me! You'd really seek to destroy your own world! You went to some frozen archives and brought back a deathly ailment that could truly kill your entire world, it could suck out all conscious life from your existence, and you treat it as lackadaisical as possible! Indeed, it looks like you're closer to laughing at me than to taking this seriously! I swear to gods, what in the hell is wrong with you? I will never fucking understand. You are sick, you are ill, you are a demented and demeaned tauman being that I cannot, and will not reconcile my assumptions with! You terrify me, Kahli, and you send my psyche into a state of constant and endless torment and recoil! Your behavioral sensibilities are absolutely revolting!"
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Kahli smirked. "Are you done, Lloyd?"
"Oh, I'm done - at least for now," said Lloyd. "Trust me, Kahli, you haven't seen the last of me. But I need to get to safety, and to decontaminate myself from this vile appendage of yours. I don't want to wake up with half of my face turned into the concept of the quadratic equation, now do I?"
"I don't know." Kahli shrugged. "Do you?"
"Fuck no I don't! I'm getting the fuck away from you Kahli, you, you demented psychopath! You know, before now, I really did think that you were just blowing smoke about ending your world. I thought it was all some ploy to keep me from destroying it, that you were putting up a front, but this has me convinced. You're at least as much of a figurative monster as I am, and you might be even worse."
Kahli wanted to say something to Lloyd to the tune of implying that he was also a literal monster to her, but she didn't want to waste her own energy, so instead she just smiled as the cruel little alien summoned up a large boulder with a wave of his large, purple claw-hand. Then, she watched as the boulder reshaped itself into a sleek, beautiful airship that Lloyd slid into as if it were some sort of a flying glove. Then, with a boom and a zoom, he disappeared into the horizon, leaving but a small cloud of dusty clouds in his wake.
"Wow," said Omar, turning to Kahli. "I do think the whole Curr thing is fucked up, but it wasn't intentional like that alien guy thinks, is it?"
Kahli thought of this for a second. She knew that her main objective here was to keep Omar from knowing that the whole thing was a charade courtesy of her new [Tale Teller] skill. That considered, she really didn't want to risk establishing any concrete rule either way regarding what should and should not be added into her 'backstory' for how exactly her hand had gotten infected with Curr. In fact, it was best if the details were as fuzzy as possible, because that meant she wouldn't have to remember any of them. Kahli knew that if she didn't remember the lie correctly, it would probably weaken, so she figured that if she was going to keep this ball rolling forever, she'd make sure to commit as little to 'canon' as possible in order to hold up the deception without using up too much energy or brainpower.
So, instead of answering Omar's question, Kahli just shrugged. What was the worst reaction she could get from that?
Omar looked baffled by her response. "Really? A shrug? Gods, Kahli, you're... You're an enigma wrapped in a mystery, dotted in question marks and drizzled all over in sweet and sour sauce."
"Sweet and sour sauce? What?" Kahli gave Omar a quizzical, uncomfortable look of confusion.
"Sorry, I just keep thinking about that restaurant down there that I was eating some delicious food at before you ruined my evening by infecting everyone there with Curr," said Omar. Then, he turned to Kahli. "Speaking of which... I'm suddenly remembering why I came up here, and it wasn't to deal with an obnoxious little alien man." Omar cracked his knuckles menacingly on the side of his head - it wasn't like he had another hand to do it with!
"You've got to be kidding me," said Kahli. "You seriously want to fight me after all that? Omar, can't you take a hint?"
Omar had no idea what she meant, and he indicated as such to Kahli with a countenance of complete aloofness and confusion.
"Look, Omar, mister flaming arm, I get it. You're a powerful man. Super powerful, some might say."'
"Others might say incredibly powerful," Omar added thoughtfully.
"Yes, super incredibly powerful," Kahli agreed with a slow nod. She could feel herself really slipping into and embodying the power of her [Tale Teller] [skill] in this moment. "So powerful that you let that power cloud what could otherwise be some rather astute judgment. See, there's something I need to clarify here with you that I think will really help put this whole situation into perspective."
"Oh?" Omar raised an eyebrow.
"You see Froufrou? This... Uh... thing that I've [paired] with that gave me the system?"
"Yes, I see her and indeed I also smell her. She smells fucking terrible, by the way."
Kahli grimaced. "Yea, well, anyway, Omar, what I want you to focus on is this - she's the Harbinger of Doom. Do you know what I'm saying? Do you really recognize what I'm saying here, and what I'm referring to when I say this?"
"Hmmm... Harbinger... Doom..." Omar stroked his facial hair thoughtfully. "Hmm. No, no, I can't say that I do recognize what you're saying here."
"Well then," said Kahli with a nod, "I suggest you think about it. Because there is something to consider here. If she's, if Froufrou is the Harbinger of Doom, well... then whose fault would me being infected with Curr be? It surely wouldn't be mine, would it? Sure, sure, it came from the archives." Kahli was impressed by how well she could lie with confidence. "But why is the Curr able to infect people that should be, effectively, immunized? Unless it is by some strange power, or some strange [skill]. Perhaps... A [skill] owned by the Harbinger of Doom?"
"Are you shitting me?" asked Omar. "That disgusting monster you're carrying around in your purse has created Curr that's resistant to tauman medicine?"
"Stranger things have happened, Omar."
And then, the lie backfired.
"Fuck you and fuck your gross, eldritch pet!" Omar growled and ignited his flaming arm. "And to think I used to think you were so cool! Well, fuck you, Kahli! I'm going to fucking kill you and that gross little monster!"