"So much information," Rughorn said. "Tiny got access to a whole civilisation's worth of information."

After firing a shot in BoB's general direction, doing absolutely no damage, the building-sized A.I. got stuck into the blob's side. At least the micro bug he left on Tiny worked. What Rughorn did not understand is why he was not a puddle of goo yet. It has been three days, and the corrosive slime did not even chip away his paint.

"The possibilities are endless," Rughorn continued. "I'm pretty sure I could recreate some of the technology these homo sapiens thought of as fiction. What imagination, what creativity, it's incredible what a solitary species can come up with."

The green smile around him bubbled happily.

"And that Curiosity individual seems to weaken the walls of reality wherever he goes. Can you imagine the ability to stretch reality? Ground-breaking."

The slime began moving the building-sized A.I. up and down as if agreeing. Because it was.

BoB, contrary to popular belief, was conscious. Not exactly what we think of as consciousness, but close. He was created in a lab experiment, a biological weapon, with the sole purpose of devouring organic life and growing bigger. Bob was the size of a small country now, whole civilisations, including the people who created him, were part of him. This was 100 years ago.

In this day and age, it was just wandering around aimlessly. BoB wanted to devour more life, but what was the point? Grow even bigger? Then what? Cover the entire planet. Then? What will be left? Loneliness. That's what.

"Your slime," Rughorn mused out loud. "Does not affect machinery as much as organic, but by now, it should have destroyed my delicate insides."

The A.I. was moved up and down again.

"Why didn't you melt me down yet?"

Bob was not sure how to express the fact that it did not want to consume the A.I. The slime moved Rughorn around him in a circle.

What was happening, in fact, was Curiosity's fault. He left the walls of reality weakened whenever he went. Bob was following the crack unconsciously. Slowly, the residue from these cracks seeped into is slime, shifting, opening up possibilities, self-control, cohesion.

"I guess that means you don't want to absorb me." Rughorn began heating up, trying to process everything. "That means you are developing a personality. How is that possible? You are just a virus."

Rughorn started turning red, and wisps of smoke were coming off his metal hull. Bob helpfully began absorbing the excess heat, letting the A.I. achieve feats of overclocking never possible before.

"Wait!" Rughorn processors were starting to melt, but the mucus just clung closer, turning from green to a soft red. "I know! It's the walls of reality! That must be it! They are weakened, and you are near the cracks!"

The A.I. was moved up and down again.

Rughorn may be the smallest and weakest of the A.I. superpowers, but he was the smartest. He had to be; Tiny had his power, Asmodeus his magic and Lucy money, Rughorn, on the other hand, had information and a willingness to evolve. Rughorn was not one entity, but millions of small programs absorbed and merged together.

What if he took it a step further? He may be just a subprogram of the actual City of Rughorn, hidden in the Arazian deserts, but his mission was to try to merge with Tiny. Keyword merge. The slime was not the giant robot, but...

"B.O.B.?" The slime compressed around his frame, hardening/. "Wanna try to see if we can merge?" The slime moved him up and down again.

The walls of reality were thin enough.

Rughorn began shining even brighter, BoB compressing around him even more. The slime shrank in size, turning redder each time. When the ooze became the size of a small house, it started shining too, vaporising the grassland around it with its excess heat.

When the compressed form of BoB and Rughorn could not get smaller, they exploded, showering everything around them in red ooze and pieces of metal.

The word had no idea what hit it.

Stacy, dead to the word, was sleeping soundly. Curiosity was sprawled sideways on her back. The only sign of life was the claw that occasionally poked the young man in the side.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" A cultured voice yelled, banging heavily.

Stacy sat up instantly, blinking rapidly. Looking at her side, she found Curiosity sleeping curled up a few feet away. She kicked him in the ribs. The man groaned and rolled off the bed with a thud.

The door broke next, exploding inwards, revealing Ralesh, veins bulging on his pale face, a staff clutched in his hands.

"Why did you do that?" Curiosity said, gathering himself. "I was experiencing dreaming for the first time."

Stacy pointed toward Ralesh.

"Good morning." The elf ground out between clenched teeth. "There are people on their knees, blocking the traffic in front of my club asking for Curiosity. Gather your things and get out of my club."

The elf left. Crouching under the bed, Curiosity put his hand under it and began fishing. A few seconds later, he pulled his left shoes out, and after a bit more searching his right one. Cherry was sleeping soundly in it.

"Come on let's go, I think we pissed off the elf royalty," Stacy said, barefoot. "What happened yesterday? Can't remember anything" She cocked her heads to the side. "Do I hear chanting outside?"

"Where are your shoes?" Curiosity asked, deposing Cherry on his head, hair automatically transforming into a sofa. She did not even twitch.

"Probably lost them. Now come on, let's get on with it. My senses are telling me that we should leave as quickly as possible."

"Aren't you gonna get shoes?"

"Nah, barely feel anything really. My skin is stronger than I expected really."

On their way down a flight of stairs. They turned towards the door to the club, but the door was barred. Yellow and black vines were blocking the path, and the massive form of Rod, who was just glaring at them. His body and the door behind him were full of holes.

"Morning Rod," Curiosity greeted cheerfully. "How are you?"

Rod pointed with a finger towards the exit.

"Just go," the giant said. "Before I throw you out myself."

"Okay," Stacy quickly grabbed Curiosity and began dragging him. "We get it, no need to get aggressive. Sheesh," She added more quietly. "This guy's needs to masturbate, he's way too frustrated."

"Really?" Curiosity asked. "Why?"

"Masturbation is good for you."

"Why?"

"Because. Now shut up. We are at the door."

Stacy was right; indeed, there were people in front of the establishment chanting loudly. At least 100 were gathered on the road, while the rest were hanging from branches, grinding traffic to a halt. All of them were dressed in long purple robes and hoods, obscuring their faces.

"What the…?" Stacy muttered, shielding her eyes. "It hurts just staring at them. Who the fuck are these?"

"Esteemed Curiosity," one of the robes said in a voice so raspy it sounded like sandpaper with a smoking problem. "We are the cult of chaos." The figure stepped closer to Curiosity, a second one following close behind. "We have come to decide your fate."

"Who are you?"

"We are the leaders of the organisation," The one slightly behind and to the left said. "It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance, though we were not talking to you."

"We are here to conduct business with Curiosity," the raspy one said. "We are here to decide his fate."

"What?" Cherry sighed in disappointment. "We are having a fight this early in the morning? Do we have to?" Despite saying that a gun was already in her hands while she searched through her pockets.

"What fate?" Curiosity asked. "I have a fate?" Curiosity turned towards Stacy. "Isn't fate a concept organics came up to explain the ineffability of death and the slow degradation of the universe by the forces of entropy? Why do I have one?"

"Why are you asking me?" Stacy glared. "Do I look like someone who knows and cares about fate?"

"She has a point there, boss," Cherry said.

"Ahem," the second robed figure coughed politely. "I am sorry to interrupt, but can we continue?" His voice was smooth as silk in contrast to his colleague. "We were in the middle of deciding your fate."

"Oh, sorry." Curiosity whirled around. "Continue."

"As my colleague was saying," the first figure rasped. "It's time to decide your fate!"

"Bring the wheel of chaos!" the second figure shouted.

"WHEEL OF CHAOS!" echoed the cultist. "WHEEL OF CHAOS!" The one hundred or so individuals began shaking in a frenzy. "WHEEL OF CHAOS!"

Behind a bend in the road, a strange sight greeted the travellers. A massive wheel of fortune made of wood and canvas was being carried by two cult members holding it by metal poles.

What was written on the wheel of fortune, however, left Stacy, Cherry, and Curiosity speechless. Broken into five sections, the top one read: Kill Curiosity. Cherry's gun was already aimed at the goons carrying the wheel.

"Boss," Cherry said. "Want me to get the flamethrower?" She began searching with her other hand in her skirts. "I'm sure I have it here somewhere, and a quite powerful one as well. Melted a mountain with it once."

"Not yet," said Curiosity. "Let me read the rest of the wheel. Let's see, Kill Curiosity, Serve Curiosity, I can get behind that, "Curiosity smiled. "And Give Curiosity five credits? Why only five?"

"What can we even do with five credits," Cherry said. "It's not enough for a bottle of beer.

"Read the rest," Stacy said, scratching her head. "The last two says: Dance naked on the main street and Sing sad songs for an hour."

"Alright." Cherry lowered her gun slightly. "I would pay to see that."

"SPIN THE WHEEL!" the cultist on the left boomed.

"SPIN THE WHEEL!" echoed the rest of the members. "SPIN THE WHEEL!"

"This," rasped the cultist in the front, "is how we decide your fate."

As if on cue, the wheel began spinning rapidly, the sound of creaking wood and things barely holding themself together mixed with the sound of chanting creating a very unforgettable sound that grated on the ears.

"Now what?!" Stacy shouted, covering her ears. "I can probably laser a few to death, but there are at least a 100 of them here!"

"Found it!" Cherry shouted, pulling out a massive blue flamethrower, 3 inches, and hefting it into Curiosity hair that helpfully arranged itself into a tripod. "Give the word boss, and I'm gonna roast them like chicken."

"Not yet!" Curiosity was staring intensely at the spinning wheel.

"We are gonna die!" Stacy screamed above the noise. "We can't fight all of them!"

The wheel was slowing down now, and proportionally, the chanting was increasing.

"Now!" Cherry screamed. "Before it stops."

"What!" Curiosity ordered. "Not yet!"

"Who are these people anyway!" Stacy screamed. "Why do they wanna dance naked in the streets?!"

The wheel was coming to a grind now, the chants of Chaos! Increasing proportionally. Stacy readied her lasers. Cherry gripped her flamethrower with both hands and kneeled for better stability. Curiosity crouched.

"NOW!" the cultist in front screamed. "WHEEL OF CHAOS! REVEAL YOUR VERDICT!"

Finally, with the sound of creaking wood coming to a stop, the wheel stopped. The chanting stopped at once. Feeling like his heart stopped beating for a moment, Curiosity collapsed into a heap. Stacy followed suit. Cherry began laughing.

"Shit," Stacy said. "I was not expecting that."

"The wheel has spoken," the raspy cultist said, voice easily carrying over the silence.

"THE WHEEL HAS SPOKEN!" the rest echoed solemnly.

"We serve Curiosity from now on!"

"WE SERVE!"

Instantly, the gathered cultist fell on one knee and began bowing.

"From now on!" the raspy cultist bellowed. "We are a cult of chaos no more!"

"NO MORE!"

"From today onwards, till the day we die, we pledge ourselves to our new master! To the cult of Curiosity."

"CULT OF CURIOSITY!"

"Master," the raspy cultist bowed as well, head touching the ground. "Command us, what are your first orders?"

"Amm," Curiosity looked at Stacy for some kind of help, but the blonde just shaved her head vigorously. "Cherry?"

"Do I look like I know what to do with a cult?" The two-inch bodyguard began laughing. "These are your people now, order them."

"Yes," the second cultist said. "Order us!"

"ORDER US!" echoed the rest of the kneeling members.

"Umm…" Curiosity looked around in a panic. "Breakfast?"

"BREAKFAST!"

The cult wasted no time, dragging their new master and the bewildered Stacy to the city centre, near a massive tree, at the newly opened Leaf Burger. Sadly, there was not enough space for everyone in the small establishment. Half of the cult members were outside, congratulating each other on a job well done.

Inside the restaurant, each table was filled to capacity by the cult members, squashed together on plastic benches like sardines. The family sitting at the biggest table in the middle was gently but firmly ushered outside by the two cult leaders.

Curiosity, Cherry and Stacy followed behind, all five of them sitting down in the vacated place. A scared-looking elf in an apron materialised next to the table, notebook in hand. In less than a minute, everybody had food in front of them.

Stacy was looking in disgust at the tomato, lettuce, and some kind of soya in her bun. They did not sell any meat. Not even fish. What kind of place is this? She glared at the two elven cult leaders.

"We can't eat meat," the male cultist said. "It makes us physically ill."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Curiosity was looking in disgust at his burger, too, but he was not sure why. He never felt disgusted towards anything before. Cherry was munching on lettuce, thankfully, on the table.

"It's quite decent," the pale elf rasped. "Not exactly as good as some of our traditional shops of course, but for two credits." She let that hang in the air.

"What exactly does your cult do?" Stacy said, taking a bite from the burger.

"We serve Curiosity," said the half-elf automatically.

"Yes but like, what does a cult of chaos do?"

"Spread chaos?" The elf lifted an eyebrow. "You know, I thought that's pretty self-explanatory."

"Aaa." Stacy was beginning to get frustrated. "Why the fuck would a cult of chaos decide out of the blue to follow the idea of curiosity itself?"

"The wheel has spoken!" A cultist nearby shouted.

"The wheel has spoken!" Echoed the rest.

"See" Curiosity beamed. "The wheel has spoken, no need to worry."

"Fuck off." Stacy flicked lettuce in the general direction of the cultists. It ended up on the floor with a splat.

"This was surprisingly good," Curiosity said, licking his fingers. "I want more."

"It can be arranged," said the raspy woman, snapping a finger.

A young cultist was already at the till buying up all the sandwiches in the building. The manager had no idea how to cry or laugh.

"Can I have some?" Stacy asked.

"No."

"Yes," Curiosity said.

Someone screamed outside. Heads turned. Shouts, slaps, screams, and then a few cultists smashed through the restaurant windows, spreading shards everywhere. The door caved inwards, slamming on the floor with a thud.

Zed, scars pulsing erratically stood there. Darius was behind him, his eyes searching left and right. Once his eyes landed on Stacy, he calmed down, stepped back, and fished out a tablet from his coat.

Ignoring everything in his path, Zed marched forward.

"Sir!" A staff member stepped in front of him. "Please leave; you are disturbing the customers..."

He was interrupted by Zed grabbing him by his uniform, and with a swift motion, chucked him through the window.

A few cultists clapped.

The diplomat arrived at the table. Nobody dared to make a sound. The bald professor slammed his palms on the table, scattering papers and bits of food. He leant forward and said in the calmest voice he could muster:

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"Breakfast?" Curiosity said, cheerfully waving a packet. "Want one?"

Zed ignored this and focused his glare on Cherry. The bodyguard just continued chewing on her lettuce.

"You!" he grumbled through clenched teeth. "You almost caused an international incident!"

"What?" Cherry stopped chewing for a second. "Me?"

"Yes! You! What were you thinking! Proposing to a pixie prince and then shooting the place up when he refused!"

"I don't remember this," Cherry said. "Entirely possible, though."

"I remember," Curiosity said proudly.

"What?" Stacy spluttered. "How did this happen? I don't remember this."

"You passed out the moment you finished drinking that strong liquor," Curiosity supplied helpfully.

"Oh, right." Stacy hid her face in her hands. "Damn this body and low alcohol tolerance."

"And you!" Zed whirled on the young man. "If you knew, why didn't you stop her?"

"I was busy trying to get drunk," Curiosity sighed. "You know it's harder than it looks. This body is monstrous. I'm pretty sure I drank every bottle of liquor the bar had, and I barely had a buzz. Monstrous I say."

Stacy began crying.

"Uh guys," Cherry interrupted, looking outside. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think the police are here."

"Wonderful." Zed sighed and looked around as if seeing the cultists for the first time. "And who are you bunch?"

The elven police force was a new thing, established just a few decades ago, to deal with the ever-increasing and expanding problems the kingdom faces in this new era of capitalism. So in the spirit of the thing, the whole force was composed of grim-faced men and women who took no shit and asked questions later.

A grim-faced elf with a scar across his face stepped forward and adjusted his cap.

"Are you Zed Nez, diplomat of Tiny?" he asked in a rough, no-nonsense voice.

"Yes," Zed sighed. "Apologies for the damage caused by my charges, and I promise, we will compensate handsomely as an apology."

"Sir, I'm not here to negotiate, I'm here to take you to the councillor. You can discuss your people's horrendous and disrespectful behaviour with her.

Zed winced audibly.

"What about this cult of chaos?" Stacy said, stepping forward. "These are your people, no?" She gestured widely around the milling cult members. "They did most of the damage."

"According to my sources," the policeman said, "the cult of chaos does not exist anymore."

"That is correct," Silvia rasped, stepping out from the broken door of the leaf burger. "We now serve a new master, Curiosity."

"CURIOSITY!" the cult began chanting, but a sharp look from Zed quickly changed their mind.

"See!" The policeman smiled widely. "Not our people, not our problem. Now where this Curiosity fellow, we will take him into custody."

Curiosity who was studiously pulling out bits of glass from his unfortunate cult members who found out what it is like to get kicked through a glass window looked up.

"Boss!" Cherry shouted from her usual position. "It's the authorities! They wanna arrest us!"

"Noo," Curiosity wailed. "I am too young to go to jail. Quick, we need a distraction!"

"On it, Master!" Silvia said. "Men! Protect our Master!"

The cloaked figures cheered, and as one, began rushing the elven police force.

"Men!" the elven police officer yelled. "Defend yourself!"

They were prepared for this kind of eventuality, and with a flick of their wrist, full-sized shields made out of leaves and vines appeared in front of them. The cultist crashed against them, a tide of purple madness against a line of disciplined and grim men and women.

"Curiosity!" Zed yelled. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Shit!" Curiosity began panicking. "Shit, Cherry, do something!"

"Should I burn them?" Cherry was already pulling out the blue flamethrower from her skirts.

"No no, no, distract Zed!"

"Curiosity!" Zed was pushing through the cultists like they were paper, and the unfortunate ones who did not get away in time were sent screaming into the air. "Stop this madness!"

"Hmmm," Cherry said nonchalantly. "Want me to shoot him in the head? Or maybe I could shoot him with a flare?" She began searching in her skirts. "I might have a flash grenade somewhere around here."

Curiosity wanted to scream in frustration, Zed was a few feet away, and his legendary bodyguard was useless as a rock. Just then, an idea hit him with the force of a sack of bricks. He grabbed Cherry by the torso, ignoring her yelp of protest, and threw his arm back.

"Boss," Cherry cried in protest. "What are you doing!?"

Curiosity hurled Cherry with the force of a person who regularly threw bottles at people. The screaming pink missile flew in a straight line at the surprised professor, hitting him squarely between the eyes.

"Now!" Curiosity screamed. "Let's run!"

Two dozen or so cultists, the closest ones who could still walk, made a beeline for Curiosity, surrounding him like a cocoon and making a beeline for the end of the street.

"Curiosity!" Zed yelled. "I'm gonna skin you alive!"

Before he could take a step forward; however, the elven policeman was behind him, tying his hands behind his back with vines.

"You're coming with us master diplomat," the policeman said.

"Ahhh," Cherry complained from her position on the floor. "That hurt."

"You're coming as well," the elf said, picking a protesting Cherry up and depositing her in his pocket. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Stacy was sitting in the staff toilet, smoking a cigarette, trying, and failing to calm her nerves.

Somehow, she had no idea how she knew what was coming. Well, it's not exactly her that she knew, it was her body, all bunched up, tense, while a horrible sinking feeling settled in her stomach.

She should get some toiletries, she really should, but where to even start? She can't just walk up to someone and be like, hey, I think I am gonna start bleeding any second now, and I have no idea what to buy and how to put it in, can you help me? It would be suicide.

Why not, a part of her brain whispered, ask Darius? He is technically your father, so he should know how to deal with a distressed daughter. Worst-case scenario, you can always grab a woman and ask for help. That's how the sisterhood worked, no? God, she needed help. Or Alcohol.

Stubbing her cigarette out on the well-kept sink, Stacy squared her shoulders. It was now or never. She exited the small bathroom into the corridor connecting it to the central area. Police and staff members were everywhere, questioning cult members and cleaning up the mess of broken tables and glass. Darius was standing alone near the exit, typing furiously on his tablet. Stacy walked up to him. Gently, she grabbed the lapels of his lab coat.

"Aaaa?" she said helpfully.

"Yes?" The professor turned his head.

"Hum." Stacy was not sure how to begin. "Could you, ahhh, could you, like, help me?"

"Of course." Darius put his tablet away and gave Stacy his full attention. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Well." Stacy was beginning to fidget. "I was thinking, well, I need some toiletries." She gestured helplessly. "You know…" Her face was on fire.

"Ahhh." Darius' metal face became even more impassive if that's possible. "You mean menstruation?"

"Don't say that!" Stacy whacked him with her claw.

"Why not? It's a perfectly normal thing to be concerned with. Truth to be told I was not even sure if you could even do that anymore, seeing as your body was kept in stasis for the past seven years."

"I didn't want to know that!" Stacy's head was burning red. "Are you gonna help me or not? Or at least point me in the direction of a shop or something."

"Sadly, there is nothing of the sort around here."

"None?" Curiosity overtook her embarrassment. "Don’t elves... you know?"

"Not really. Elven women menstruate once every one hundred years or even less. It's considered as a sacred and holy thing, and whole rituals and traditions sprang up around it."

"Really?" Stacy lifted an eyebrow. "What about a magic spell?"

"A magic spell that stops menstruation? Nothing of the sorts exist." Darius' tablet appeared in his hand. "How would that even work?" His claw began typing furiously. "Maybe a void spell variant that would target the area and erase it from existence? At the same time, we don't want someone's intestines to disappear with it."

"What about pixies?" Stacy quickly changed the subject. "Don't they give birth?"

"Pixies have a special dust converted from pollen called Xantis that they take to stop menstruation. It only works on their biology."

"So Tinkerbell snorts cocaine to stop menstruating? Great. Now, what do we do?"

"We should have something to solve the issue in Tiny's market." Darius began walking the tablet still in hand. "If I remember correctly, one of Hidara's friends has a shop specialising in sanitary items."

"Great." Stacy ran to catch up. "Lead the way."

Councillor Alina was not happy. The giant monstrosity shows up, then every member of that damn cult of chaos pops out of the woodwork, and now this! They were making a mockery of interrogation.

They were in a proper interrogation room too. Spacious, with an open ceiling, tastefully decorated with elegantly crawled wooden chairs, a soft rug, and paintings depicting elves eating meat. There was even coffee prepared. Coffee! People these days did not appreciate an excellent elven interrogation.

The bald professor was sitting cross-legged on a table, meditating, the delicate cups of coffee placed carefully on the chair next to him. The little she-devil on the other hand, because that's what she was, was sitting on the rim of the coffee cup, in her undergarments, dress and shoes next to her, making a dent on the table.

"Please," Counsellor Alina said through gritted teeth. "Take your feet out of the coffee cup!"

"Why?" Cherry whined. "This is excellent coffee! My tired legs have never felt so energised in ages!"

"Ambassador!" Alina whirled around. "Tell your she-devil to stop desecrating our sacred traditions! And get off the table! Chairs were invented for a reason!"

Zed did not respond at first, deep in meditation. For a few seconds, the only sound was his rhythmic breathing and his chest rising up and down. The only reason the counsellor didn't go up to him and slap him across his bald head was the myriad of scars pulsating in every colour of the rainbow on Zed's body.

Finally, when the pulsing subsided a bit, and the colour turned a dull yellow, Zed opened his eyes and said, "Esteemed ambassador, I apologise for me and my associates' behaviour. We had an extremely stressful day, in no small part of that cult of yours, and as I stated previously to your chief of police, we will pay for every damage done to your fair city, including the price of your coffee."

"Yes! Tell her angry bald man!" Cherry added helpfully. "That cult of yours is insane! They managed to seduce my boss! Besides, did you know all of them are naked under those robes! And I thought elves are supposed to be the paragon of dignity."

"Naked?" Zed raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"After bouncing off your hard skull and falling to the ground I saw some things," Cherry shuddered. "And I thought I was a degenerate."

"That is beside the point!" The counsellor looked ready to explode. "The cult of chaos, or more accurately, the cult of Curiosity, is not our problem anymore, seeing as they swore allegiance to your citizens!" Alina stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "In conclusion, every infraction that the damned cult ever committed is now your responsibility! And trust me, even your damned nation can't pay for the thousands of years of terror those bastards committed. It took years to tear down the castle they built out of excrement. Years!"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Cherry put her hands up. "Don't you think you are jumping the gun? Those members swore allegiance to the boss today. You can't just pass their past misdeeds on us."

"The runt is right," Zed said. "We will pay for any damage caused today by us, and we will only reimburse you for the mayhem the cult caused from the moment they joined Curiosity. Don't overstep your boundaries, counsellor."

"Overstep my boundaries?!" Alina said. "Overstepping my boundaries?! It was your people and that damnable giant robot who came to our fair city bringing destruction! I still don't understand why we tolerate your damn kind. I should execute you on the very spot and put that bucket of bolts to rest already! You are a disgrace for civilisations everywhere!"

Cherry, senses honed from years of hunting dangerous beings, jumped out of the cup and dove for her clothes. Just in time as well, Zed lights up like a Christmas tree, tensing so hard the table he was on top of began creaking. Slowly, methodically, the bald diplomat clambered to his feet, eyes blazing with fury.

"Councillor Alina," Zed said in a deadly calm voice. "I know me and my acquaintances have been a bit careless." He took a step forward. "But as I mentioned previously, we will pay for any damage caused." He took another step forward, coming face to face with the counsellor who was frozen in place. "The question is, will anyone be left to pay after I'm done dealing with you."

Councillor Alina didn't even flinch. Squaring her shoulders, she widened her stance and took a step forward, coming nose to nose with the angry diplomat, his scars pulsing erratically making the councillors face shine with a soft red light.

"You dare threaten me?" Councillor Alina whispered. "After coming to my home, desecrating my sacred city, and making a mockery of my interrogation! You have the gall to threaten me!?"

They were nose to nose now, so close you could not even put a piece of paper between them.

"Threaten you?" Zed's scars while turning a strange purple. "If I wanted to threaten you I would have mentioned how Tiny would have stomped your civilisation to dust if you dared harm any of us. No, I was merely saying what I would do to you."

"And what would you do to me?" Councillor Alina breathed. "I am millennia-old by your standards." Their lips were almost touching now. "What can you do to me that I haven't already seen?"

"Alright, alright," Cherry said, jumping off the table with a loud thud. "I can see where this is going." She began walking stiffly towards the door. "You are not making me jealous at all."

Zed and Alina, one looking like a Christmas tree and the other deep green, watched in silence as Cherry arrived at the door, looked at the handle, turned, gave them a despaired look, and began running towards the window. Easily jumping up to the open window, she stopped and turned around.

"Do you know how hard it is to find good partners in my size?" Cherry said, looking Councillor Alina in the eye. "You want to treasure these moments because when you are my age, you will be lucky to get laid every century." She looked down at herself dejectedly. "My size definitely does not help."

Zed wanted to say something. As confused as the state of his scars would indicate, this is what he came up with.

"I'm sure Darius could make you an enlarging potion or something?"

"I am not small!" Cherry head snapped up, fury blazin in her eyes. "I'm going back to Tiny."

With that, she jumped out, leaving a confused Zed and Councillor Alina gaping. Thankfully, Alina was not bluffing when it came to experience. In her long life, she had been in some strange situation, like that time with the lizardman... Better not get into that though, it was time to use her favourite tactic.

Grabbing a thoroughly confused Zed by the neck, she pulled him in a deep, passionate kiss, pulling even harder when the diplomat, scars turning purple, pulled back out of reflex. Slowly, knowing how long humans can hold their breath, Councillor Alina let go.

"You promised me something, no?" Alina said. "Is your word as weak as your nation?"

"We are a nation now?" Zed pulled her close. "We got promoted?"

"You still haven't proved your word."

Zed smiled, and before worries of Curiosity's cult could cloud his judgment, went for a kiss.

Curiosity, followed by half of his cultists, had the sidewalk for themself. That was because the members surrounded Curiosity, like bees protecting their queen, cursing and pushing everyone who came in a 5 feet radius.

"Where are we going, master?" The male elf asked, being one of the only ones who got the privilege of walking next to his master.

"What's your name?" Curiosity said. "I can't keep calling you male elf in my head, that's probably sexist I think."

"Or racist."

"Or that."

"My name is Aidan West," Aidan west smiled.

"Yours?" He gestured to the other person allowed to walk next to him.

"Silvia Barret," came the raspy reply. Curiosity had no idea how such a beautiful elf sounded like she ate cigarettes for breakfast. And smoked rocks.

"I am your master, right?" he said.

"Yes," Aidan said.

"Of course," Silvia added.

"Master!" Chorused the rest of the cultist faithfully.

"Yes," Silvia said firmly.

"YES!" Chorused the cult.

"Good," Curiosity clapped his hands together. "That means we need new attires."

"A new look master?" Silvia said sharply. "What is wrong with our current attire?"

"It's shit."

"What?!" Silvia drew herself to full height. "It's the latest fashion imported directly from Asmodeus, made from the finest magic conducting nanofiber!"

"It's still shit," Curiosity chirped. "It's not the actual robes that are shit, they look pretty good as far as robes go."

"What is wrong, then?!"

"It's the colour. It's shit."

"Purple?" Silvia was instantly on the defensive. "What is wrong with purple? I will let you know that purple is the traditional colour of chaos!"

"Exactly!" Curiosity said. "Purple is the colour of chaos. Seeing as now you are the cult of Curiosity, the colour must go."

Curiosity stopped at the end of the street. The rest of the cultists stopped suddenly, bumping and hitting each other. Opposite them on a massive tree was located, banners made from fine silk hanging from its branches, advertising clothes and food.

"Alright." Curiosity lifted a hand. "I want people to go in and buy clothes."

"What kind of clothes?" a cultist piped in.

"Any clothes that catch your fancy, really. Pyjamas, cowboy hats, stiletto heels, fishnets, anything really," He shot Silvia a look. "Expect purple robes. I will not have my members dress in purple."

Silvia frowned in disapproval but said nothing.

"Sir!" Aidan West lifted his hand in the air. "What about money?"

"What about it?"

"Clothes are expensive. Sir!"

"Don't you have any money?"

"We spent it on you, sir" Aidan snapped his fingers. "As per your instructions."

With a bit of pushing and pulling, a cultist member was trusted in the circle, holding a massive bag. It was full of sandwiches. There were at least 50 or so buns squashed together, bits and pieces of lettuce and tomatoes flailing around.

"Fair point, fair point," Curiosity said, seeing nothing wrong with this. "Hmm," An idea was forming in his head. "Do you guys have credit cards or something similar?"

"You mean credit chips?"

"Probably. Show me."

"It's in our wrist," Aidan presented his arm.

"In your wrist?" Curiosity peered intently at the offered appendage. There was nothing there, not even a tattoo. "I can't see it."

"It's implanted in our wrist master; it contains all of our personal information and credits."

"Oh! That's pretty cool," Curiosity said, gripping the half elf's wrist with both hands. "Right, this probably won't hurt," He took a deep breath. "I'm curious," A heavyweight, like a sack of bricks, settled on people’s shoulders, almost knocking them to the floor.

As fast as the feeling came, it was gone. Curiosity let go of the wrist. Aidan was staring in confusion at his hands, clenching and unclenching them.

"What happened, master?" Aidan said.

"Gave you infinite money," Curiosity said. "Alright, who's next?"

The cultist did not need to be told twice, especially not when the words money and infinite have been used in the same sentence. If not for Silvia, who with a few finger snaps directed them into a queue, there would have been a blood bath.

One by one, each wrist was firmly grasped with both hands, and Curiosity muttered the magic words. After the fifth, the cults began getting used to the sudden appearing and disappearing weight. It took less than five minutes to finish with everybody, Silvia closing the line.

"Right," Curiosity said, clapping his hands together. "Now that's done, go nuts, and meet me by Tiny in two hours or so. If you need any supplies besides clothes, this is the time to buy them."

"What about clothes," said another. "Can we really buy and dress in anything?"

"Yes." Curiosity paused. "Except purple robes. I will send you away if you don't change your robes."

One by one, each cultist member scuttled away. Only Aidan West and Silvia Barret remained.

"You guys can go," Curiosity said, looking pointedly at Silvia. "Go and get new clothes."

"Master," Silvia said through gritted teeth. "We can't just leave you here, who will protect you then?"

"Don't worry about me." Curiosity waved them off. "I will be fine."

"But, master!" Aidan protested.

"It's an order!" Curiosity snapped. "Off you go now!"

They left. Curiosity rubbed his hands together. A cult. For him. How awesome is that? The only thing missing is a bodyguard, a proper one that will stick to him through thick and thin. Tiny is pretty awesome don't get him wrong, but he's more like a patron of sorts than an actual bodyguard.

Now what to do next, he still has a few hours to burn before evening. He should get some kind of attire for himself, and maybe a weapon or two. He turned and started walking towards Tiny. A massive market was set up between the giant legs, and Curiosity did check it out yet.

He could feel the hundreds of fairy folk gathered around it, peering wondrously at the contraptions and weapons set for display. He could practically taste curiosity in the air.