They continued to walk, and Carl finished the remainder of the spherical donuts along the way, deciding that it was a solid dessert to round out the spicy salad-y thing Mina had picked out for lunch. In-game food is awesome. I can eat all this and not have to worry about going extra hard at the gym. Though I guess I'm walking a lot here anyway.

"Carl, what do you think of Ir'alith?" Mina asked suddenly.

Carl blinked. "Hm?"

"She's…a fine lady, is she not?" she asked, looking to either side as they reached an intersection.

"Yeah? I guess she is?" Carl said, double-checking the street before starting across it.

"Quite attractive as well," Mina remarked, walking along next to him. "Her hair, that is."

Carl considered it. "Yeah, I guess it's a pretty color. Why?"

"I was simply musing upon our last encounter," Mina said, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I don't believe I've ever heard a person speak with such a pleasant-sounding voice."

"That's for sure," Carl said. She really does have an amazing voice.

"Quite smooth," Mina said. "Enticing, perhaps."

Carl frowned.

"Well, perhaps that's only my opinion," she said, dismissing the idea. "But her face is rather striking. Beautiful, even."

Carl shrugged. "Yeah, she's probably a real looker if she actually looks like that."

"What do you mean by actually?"

"Well, I mean, she can look however she wants when we see her here, right?" Carl said. He glanced down and saw that Mina's head was tilted and her brows drawn down.

"I…suppose that's true," she said slowly. "In which case there's no harm in saying that she's done quite a good job, is there."

"Hm. Yeah, that's a good point," Carl said. I don't think I've ever told her how cool I think her character design is. Or would she rather be told she looks pretty? Eh, I should probably stay away from that.

"So then you agree with my assessment," Mina said. She stopped at another intersection.

"Sure," Carl said, looking both ways.

Mina walked into the street. "And that tail of hers," she continued. "I should imagine it's incredibly versatile, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe?" Carl said as he followed, his thoughts shifting in that direction. She was using it to carry her axe around and pick stuff up. And I think she maybe emotes with it, now that I'm thinking about it? Gonna have to pay more attention next time I see her. It was also really soft that time she accidentally rubbed me with it. I wonder if the whole thing's that soft or just the end part. She—

"It's certainly the sort of thing a person would take note of when they saw her," Mina said, looking up at him.

"What's with all this talk about her, anyway?" Carl asked finally.

"The sort of thing a man might fantasize about," she said with a meaningful look.

"Wait, what?" Carl stopped walking.

Mina stopped a step later and stood in front of him. "Carl, you entreated me to speak with you if I had cause. I'll offer you the same."

"Er, but—"

"Do you desire her?" Mina asked, her expression curious rather than judging.

"I'm happily married," Carl said flatly, a frown forming on his face. "C'mon, let's get back to the workshop." He stepped around her and started off again at a slow enough pace that she could keep up. "I'm sure you've got—"

"That's not what I've asked," Mina said, hurrying to catch up. "I've not had the pleasure of meeting Annie, and I'm well aware of the high regard in which you hold her—"

"Annie's the best," Carl said.

It was just a fact.

"Yes, of course," Mina said in acknowledgment of reality, "and at no time would I contest this since it's not my place to—"

"Then when are you contesting?" Carl asked, his annoyance growing, tempered by his need to be a good dad. Though he wasn't her dad, he again reminded himself.

"I've not contested anything as of yet," she said in a too-innocent tone. "I'd merely asked whether you desired Ir'alith. As a woman."

Carl sensed that speaking normally wasn't going to cut it this time. He executed a quick Dad's Serious Now and added a Speaking Slowly For Effect on top just to be extra sure when he looked down at the eighteen year-old girl and spoke. "Ir'alith and I are just friends."

They came upon another intersection and waited for a moment in silence as a few cars passed.

"I can't help but notice that's still not addressed the question I've posed to you," Mina said when they began to cross. "And it's awfully strange that it's taken you this many attempts to address that question, isn't it?"

Carl sighed. How many times do I… He frowned. Why didn't I just say no the first time? He considered the question in full. The answer is no. If I ignore everything else, the answer is still no. Just friends. "I don't," he said firmly.

"And you're certain of this?" Mina asked.

"Mina. I don't," Carl said, executing the statement using his Are We Clear? finisher technique to—

"I understand," Mina said at last.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

What a weird thing to be so persistent about. Why… Well, I guess maybe she's trying to get to know me better, so she's trying to learn more about who I am? He started nodding to himself as he felt the thoughts clicking into place. Because I've said I'm married and have kids, but the only person she's seen me hang out with is a woman—one with an attractive character model at that. And this is a game where you can have sex, so… He nodded a final time. Yup, makes sense. She sure is clever, that's for sure. But I'm just a regular guy who's very content with his wife and—

"And you've said this," Mina said slowly as they approached the corner the workshop lay around, "yet I can't help but wonder why Phonia shares so many of Ir'alith's most defining characteristics. Surely you can see as I do that the thing's appearance was shaped by your desires upon its waking?" Her steps slowed, then stopped again when she was just in front of him, forcing him to stop as well. "Annie is very beautiful, as I assume the more human features are from her. She's a gorgeous woman, Carl."

He nodded, a small smile immediately coming to his face when he thought of Annie's appearance. Yeah, she's still—

"And yet, Phonia has some purple hair, does she not?" Mina persisted. "She has horns and a tail as well, and the spots in her eyes are surely not human."

Carl started to chuckle when he realized exactly what had prompted the entire conversation. The chuckles grew until they became laughs, and he continued for a short while at the ridiculousness of it. "No, no, I think you're misunderstanding," he wheezed. "Wow." Can't wait to tell Annie about this. Well… I guess I can't since I'd have to have the game talk, and I don't think she's gonna be in a mood for that until at least after Rebecca's gone.

"Am I?" Mina said, raising an eyebrow.

Carl nodded. "Yup. It's…" He grimaced when he realized what he'd have to explain for it to make sense. After waffling for a few seconds, he decided to press onward. Can't have her thinking I'm that kind of guy. "Well, Annie's got a great imagination," he began. "Sometimes we role-play a bit in the bedroom," he hedged slightly, assuming that Mina was clever enough to understand his meaning. "And sometimes that involves costumes. Like one time she dressed up as a maid."

"I'm familiar with the concept," Mina said in a patronizing tone.

Right, of course she would be since she's spent so much time in the stupid role-playing city. "Anyway, last week she happened to dress up as a succubus—"

"A what?" Mina gave him a quizzical look.

"Er, it's what Ir'alith based her appearance on, more or less," Carl said, not wanting to go into that level of detail about exactly what a succubus was or did.

That would be a little too far past The Talk for his comfort levels, the limit of which he was already butting up against.

"And this was coincidence?" Mina asked with obvious skepticism.

"Yup."

Mina stroked her chin with her free hand. "I see. And you had a good time, I'd imagine."

"You could say that," Carl said. Things got pretty out of hand. Haven't had to clean up to that degree in forever.

"I'm happy for you, of course," Mina said. "You and Annie are fortunate to share such a bond."

"Yeah, I'm a lucky guy," Carl said. That's a relief. I was getting worried this was gonna be some kinda lingering thing like—

"However," Mina added, "even allowing for this manner of coincidence, I feel my questioning wouldn't be complete if I failed to ask whether the attributes which were copied matched Annie's costume or Ir'alith."

Carl frowned. "Well, of course they're…" Can't really count the eyes since that's just Annie. The hair was the same color, so that's out too. The horns, though. Annie's were bigger than the doll's and in a different spot. I don't think I've seen those specific… His frown deepened. No, they do seem familiar. But where…

His eyes widened fractionally as a brief memory came back to him.

A plain, white room with clearly-defined walls had coalesced around him as soon as he'd touched the orb, and a girl in her early twenties sat on top of a white, wooden desk in front of him, her legs overlapping with the L of the word "welcome" which was emblazoned on the desk in blinding gold lettering.

The girl leaned back on her hands, a slight scowl on her face. Her legs were spread slightly in an un-lady-like fashion, especially given her attire. Her skin was dark blue, and she had small, delicate-looking, black horns which reached up and back over her ears under her light purple hair.

Carl took a breath. Alright, alright, but that's… The tail's…

Another collection of recent memories surfaced in which Ir'alith's incredibly soft, velvety tail lightly caressed his arm on a few occasions.

Carl pressed a hand to his forehead and leaned against the wall next to himself. Annie's tail was smooth, not velvety.

Mina tugged on his shirt a moment later, her expression distraught. "Um, I'm sorry, Carl. I had no intent to…" She chewed her lip, looking miserable.

"It's okay," Carl said reflexively, aiming to pat her on the shoulder and patting her forehead by accident instead. "Uh…" Wait, so do I actually… He struggled to come to terms with the idea that both an in-game sex doll and an eighteen year-old girl could know more about part of himself than he did.

Mina's lips began to quiver. "Carl, truly, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have…" She started to wring her hands while looking down at the ground. "So foolish," she muttered.

Before all else, Carl Weathers was a father. As such, he'd gained mastery over a number of skills and techniques which were unique to that particular class. None of them seemed particularly useful at that moment, however, so he pushed all those thoughts into the back of his mind for later deliberation.

He had to be a dad now.

"Hey, hey," he said, putting on a smile and ruffling her hair. "You're way too young to be worrying about my problems."

Mina looked up at him, her breathing shallow and blonde eyebrows approaching her hairline. "I grew too curious, and I couldn't prevent myself from asking, and I—"

"Shh, it's okay," Carl said, sensing that this was just a scared girl who could really use a hug.

Carl Weathers was great at giving hugs.

He proved it again at this moment, and Mina hugged him back even more tightly.

"I'm sorry," Mina said again.

Carl rubbed her trembling back as they stood next to the side wall of the workshop. "What are you so afraid of?" he asked.

Mina stiffened. "Everything," she said after a long moment.

"GET THE FUCK OUT HERE, YOU BITCH!" came an incredibly loud shout from the direction of the front of the workshop.

Carl grimaced.

Mina held onto him for a few seconds longer before backing away. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We… We can speak about this at a later time," she said, regaining some of her usual poise. "Pertinax claimed nobody would burglarize my workshop, but I've no desire to see whether he's the gift of foresight."

"Yeah, good point," Carl said with a sigh. Why do kids in this game have to be so freaking annoying? I mean, excluding Mina. She was a little annoying there, but… Nope, gonna save that for later when I can focus.

"OH FUCK! WHAT THEEAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIII!" the same voice screamed.

Mina shot Carl a bewildered look, and he started jogging towards the corner.

"Stop bugging me! I'm just waiting for master to return!" came a familiar, petulant shout.

More screams followed.

What the actual heck is going on here. Carl rounded the corner.

The doll was standing just outside the workshop. A gigantic ball of fire hung in the air over her head, which, Carl noticed, had been obscured by a black rectangle that approximated the game's censor bars.

The Reviewers were assembled before her. A couple of them, including the purple-vested girl, were cowering on the ground. Others was goggling at the smoldering hull of what looked to have been a car before its middle had been melted through and partially dissolved into a smoking puddle on the street. A second car was encased in a large block of ice and had the remainder of the kids staring at it. There was a growing contingent of people from Pertinax Protectives rushing to the edge of the shop to stand with Pertinax himself, who was looking on with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Uh," Carl said, unsure how to begin to regain control over whatever was going on.

"Um," Mina answered.

They shared a look.

"Master!"