[The fuck is she talking about?] Ember thought. Everyone ignored her, staring at the yellow sticky note.
[Subscribed... world? client? NPCs?] Martin's thoughts collided against themselves. [Is this... a simulation? Are we just... non player characters? What?!]
[Are we... holograms?] Ember thought, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. [Is this a... giant holodeck? What the shit?!]
Katherine didn't think anything. She pointed her railgun directly at Revolution's head, ready to press the trigger at any moment, standing perfectly still like a guard dog by Alexa's side.
[Yes and No. You're very... real,] Alexa shot back mentally. [Everything here is real, physical, solid... as solid as it gets anyway.]
Revolution nodded.
"Do you think that you can just bribe me with a door out?" Alexa asked the System Wizard. "Do you think that I can't leave this timeline or something?"
[What?] Martin looked at his friend. [You can leave?! How?! Didn't the Surgeon and Multiplier destroy the bracelets your dad made?]
Alexa didn't answer him. Her eyes became thin lines as the glared at Revolution with a look of absolute revulsion.
"It's not a bribe," Revolution said. "It's... an educational experience."
"What?" Alexa blinked, looking unfocused for a second.
"Stick the owl to a door and turn the handle," Revolution instructed. "Once you're in Manchester, you'll be amongst your kind."
"My... kind?" Alexa repeated.
"Narrative-makers," Revolution smirked. "And, narrative-breakers."
"What," Alexa looked more stumped Martin has ever seen her.
"NPC, NPC, NPC," Revolution pointed at Martin, Ember and Katherine one by one. "A Wizardling!" The System Wizard's finger stopped at Alexa.
Alexa didn't say anything to the revelation.
"You don't belong here," the female Che Guevara impersonator said. "You've outgrown this place. It's time for you to leave my world."
"Leave... and abandon everyone, everything here? Where will this door of yours take me?" Alexa demanded.
"Manchester," Revolution replied. "The City of System Wizards. You can break as much as you want to there, even go to school."
"A school for...?"
"A school for System Wizards," Revolution said. "For anomalous... programs, like you."
"I am not a freaking program," Alexa hissed.
"You can label yourself as whatever you want to, darling," Revolution laughed, her figure woven from ink dots glittering in the sunlight. "System Wizards come in all sorts of shape and sizes. Just go to Manchester, you'll see."
"Is this door out... one way?" Alexa asked, glancing at the yellow sticky note in Ember's hands.
"Yes," Revolution nodded.
"And if I don't leave?" Alexa asked, her knuckles turning white.
"Then Three will come to you for the third time," Revolution said. "And he will not fail to nullify you again because he will not come alone."
Alexa gritted her teeth, her hands shaking.
"Everyone on Earth knows about Agent Three now," she said. "I told everyone! Is he going to erase eight billion people?"
"No," Revolution shook her head. "The locals will simply assume that he's a hero, someone trying to stop you. It's not that far outside of the narrative parameters, honestly."
"You can't silence the truth," Alexa threatened. "I will..."
"You will take the ticket and go to Manchester," Revolution said. "Or you will be deleted. Please stop being so stubborn. This is for your own good."
"Why should I? You think I don't have... contingencies for you?" Alexa growled. "You think I don't know what you kittening Wizards do? You..."
"I'm offering an olive branch," Revolution shrugged. "You can take it or keep going down this path of screwing with my build."
"Your build?!" Alexa demanded.
"I'm in charge of this place," Revolution nodded. "You're my pretty little spark, a signature of my creation that I leave on all of my work. Feel free to think of me as your mother. It's my job to keep the client entertained. Your father was a mid-tier difficulty villain."
"You're not my mom," Alexa simply squinted at the System Wizard. "You can't just show up out of the blue and claim parental rights and tell me what to do!"
"Not directly, no," Revolution grinned. "But you're are a manifestation of my creativity. It's not often that one of my sparks burns brightly enough to stand up to Three twice and walks away... mostly unscathed."
"And I'll do it again, don't tempt me. What happens if I destroy Three?" Alexa asked. "And whoever comes with him?"
"Then the bobbies will come from Manchester and take you by force to be judged," Revolution said simply. "Or... I could uninstall this town out of existence. Saint Mary isn't that important to the overall narrative. The client won't even notice it gone. I'll blame it on a villain."
Alexa's face twitched.
"It's against the rules... and an inconvenience," Revolution shrugged. "But... it will get this world rid of you."
"You THINK that it will get rid of me, do you?!" Alexa snapped.
Revolution rubbed her head tiredly.
"You're really wearing my patience," she said. "I still have to fix the stuff you broke."
Alexa's hand with the pink hair dryer came up, pointing it directly at Revolution's chest.
"No," she said. "Think again... mom, cus I'll just leave to 2424 and come back here in greater numbers!"
"If you leave elsewhere, I'll define your conceptual state and ban your ass from my world," Revolution said. "I'll leave no holes this time, be extra diligent. The way back will not let you pass. You'll stay in the Dead Zone, forever... until something devours you. It won't be nice."
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"I'll find a way back," Alexa hissed. "You can't stop me forever!"
"I'm not here to fight you, girl," Revolution said. "I'd like to reach a compromise. I'm aware that you're going to keep being a thorn in my side if I simply let you do whatever."
"Bugger off," Alexa snarled, her finger on the death ray trigger. "I will not play by your rules."
Revolution tilted her head at Alexa. The System Wizard's red, triangle-shaped pupils examined the supervillain girl who simply refused to stop.
"What do you want?" She asked.
Alexa's mind winked out from the spidernet, became nothingness.
"Can I bring my... friends with me?" She asked, waving a hand at her trio of minions.
"Yes," Revolution nodded. "Just beware - they will be treated as NPCs in Manchester. They will not have rights nor privileges. If someone accidentally uninstalls them it there..."
"Is that a threat?" Alexa asked.
"No," Revolution smiled. "Just a warning based on a probability estimate. There's no law protecting NPCs in Manchester. Not all System Wizards are lawful or nice like me. You seem like a capable Wizardling though... I'm sure you'll be able to bring them back into existence or find others like them on some doomed world. It might give you the necessary push for you to be more lawful perhaps."
The System Wizard pursed her lips as if she was lost in thought.
"Can I come back here... after I visit Manchester and... learn the rules?" Alexa asked, her mind empty of thoughts.
"You may," Revolution nodded. "You were born here, so you can return here... on vacation."
"What's the catch?" Alexa asked.
"The catch is that you'll be bound into obeying the local narrative," Revolution explained. "So that you don't upset the client."
"Uh-huh," the supervillain girl nodded. "I see."
"You can even buy this world, when the subscription expires, if you so desire," Revolution sweetened the deal. "Or try to keep as many people alive here as you want to. It'll be a good experience for you, I think. I predict that you might save about 1-4% of the local population, depending on the odds."
"Buy the world... with what currency?" Alexa asked.
"Eurekan credits," Revolution said. "You can earn them if you get a part-time job in Manchester as a System Wizard."
"I can get a job... as a System Wizard?" Alexa asked.
"Only if you study in my University," Revolution grinned. "If you graduate with honors you can get a job and buy this doomed world or a small piece of it. Maybe just this lovely town. The rest will most likely burn to ashes, freeze, wither away or encounter an apocalyptic end, I'm afraid."
"Why?" Alexa asked.
"Because clients don't live forever," Revolution replied simply. "Plus, a client can get bored, stop paying for their dream world. Once the local subscription runs out, it won't be protected anymore and the Dead Zone will get in and devour all life here."
"How likely is this scenario?" Alexa asked. "What is the Dead Zone?"
"The Dead Zone are... corrupted systems, corpse worlds and broken apps that refuse to die," Revolution said. "The great filter that consumes everything that we create. You've been there often."
"Right," Alexa said.
"99.99% probability of everything here expiring when the client's credits run out," Revolution said, staring at Alexa. "This world is already doomed. Either let it go or get a job to pay for its upkeep."
Ember choked.
"I... see," Alexa's gaze was hollow, empty, a void of pure nothingness as she examined the Wizard. She was seemingly not affected by the bewildering revelations.
"Are you satisfied with your inquiry?" the System Wizard asked. "Will you depart now, or do I need to...?"
"I... I need time to think over your offer," Alexa said, her voice hollow. "Time to say goodbye to everyone."
"How long?" Revolution arched an eyebrow.
"One hundred years," Alexa said.
"One day," Revolution shook her head. "Twenty three local hours. The client already got a refund for today due to your... interference. I will return in exactly twenty three hours. Please don't destroy anything else big and be gone by then."
"Fine," Alexa nodded after another tense second.
Martin sensed pure empty nothingness in Alexa's mind. Lack of thought... lack of anything, of emotions, of information. Zero. It was as if Alexa wasn't even standing there, wasn't part of his spidernet at all. It was a concerning, akin to suddenly missing a tooth.
“The pact has been made,” Revolution smiled ever so slightly. “Although I do wish there was less of you. Not a big fan of hive minds. Whatever. I’ll see you at Orientation... whenever you find your way there in the next 23 hours of local time.” She winked at Alexa and folded away into nothing at all, the ink dots comprising her vanishing as if she had never existed to begin with.
Ember looked up at the sky. She saw a starship there. An impossibly big starship, shaped like a pyramid woven from pyramids, glittering in colors she could not name. She blinked and it was gone.
“I’m not a clueless patsy, young lady,” Dean Otter resumed his speech. “I’m the Dean of Hero Academy!"
“Riiiight,” Alexa said, her expression tired as if there was immeasurable weight put onto her shoulders. “Anyways. I got my owl, you can go now. I'll see you at the Academy.”
Martin felt stress pouring from Alexa now. Perfectly mundane, human stress. He relaxed a little. It was somehow better than the nothingness she was projecting previously.
Dean Otter rubbed his head. “It's a matter of your application, Miss Terranova. You’ve been declared a villain by the Superstate. I’m afraid you can’t attend the Academy.”
“I hope you like being poor then,” Alexa shrugged.
The Dean stared at her, looking annoyed.
“Here’s the thing, Otter. I’ll do what I want. Do you know why?” She asked.
Dean Otter blinked, confused.
“There are no rules against villains attending the Academy. I have a whole slew of lawyers booked and ready to sue the hell out of you. My contract with Hero Resonance is legally binding you into taking me. Resonance already paid the full price tag for my educational experience!"
“Hrm.” Dean Otter swallowed. “I’m sure we can work something out. We can refund the fee and...”
“No. We aren’t working kittens out, Otter. The Superstate will be bankrupt in about 5 minutes. There’s nothing you can offer me. You can’t give me a refund when your money is worthless. You’re going to accept me. I’m not offering you a choice in the matter.”
“What does she mean… Bankrupt?!” The Multiplier muttered. “How?”
Alexa looked at Martin’s wristwatch. “Correction. You lost five minutes while we were talking to a god. I’m afraid your time’s up. The Superstate IS bankrupt. S-credits are worthless and so is gold. A-credits are in. Everything else is out.”
“WHAT?!” The multiplier tapped on his SCA wristwatch. “Shit. Shit. Shit. FUCK! The price of gold has plummeted! How?! How did I lose five minutes?!"
“Yeah. Try and multiply that, kitten! A billion times zero is still zero!” Alexa laughed dryly. “Now get the kittens off my property.”
“I… you’ll regret this!” The multiplier hissed. He looked back at his companions for assistance. Cottie's black railgun was pointing at his head now, her finger on the trigger.
Chalice and the Surgeon were already heading back to the cruiser. They’ve had enough of Alexa ten minutes ago and didn’t want to deal with the trigger-happy Equalizer. Without Nonpareil there was almost nothing they could do to Alexa, could not stop or arrest her while the Equalizer Executioner defended her.
Dean Otter looked forlorn as he glanced at his watch. His S-credits account was nearly worthless. He somehow missed buying A-credits when they were still cheap, somehow lost five whole minutes. He didn’t understand what Alexa had done, how she had frozen time and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Out of my city,” Alexa said. “And don’t come back until you can afford to live here. And don't threaten me with nonacceptance or my lawyers will make sure the Academy won't exist by next week.”
“We’ve existed for centuries. You can’t just…” Dean Otter muttered.
“Can and will. Either you allow me to attend or you stop being an institution. Thems the beans,” Alexa said. “Oh and I’m not coming alone. These three are with me. They’re an inseparable, vital part of me. Like my heart, liver and left toe.”
“But…” Dean Otter tried to argue with Alexa.
“No buts. I don’t think you understand exactly how poor you are right now. Four new prospective, paying students will make sure you’ll be able to afford rent and food next week!" The villain said. "Martin and Dixie are recently awake - you can check him with your hexagram scanner or whatever and Cottie can go wherever she wants because of the Accord made between Equality and the supers. She is my observer. Interfering with her is a big no no.”
“Very well,” Dean Otter nodded in defeat. He turned around and retreated back into the cruiser.
The doors snapped shut and the cruiser shot off into the sky.
[Are you... leaving us?] Katherine projected mentally. Her face didn't show it, but she was utterly distraught.
[...] Alexa's mind was silent.
[Can I come with you?] Katherine took a step forward.
"Why?" The supervillain asked.
[I want to be by your side,] the Equalizer declared mentally. [Wherever it is you go. If this world is doomed to burn to ashes, then you're the only person who can stop it... the only one who knows what's going on.]
Alexa sighed. She went to her taxicab, pulled out a huge bag full of something, grabbed Cottie by her elbow and walked to the cathedral. Cottie pressed on her gun and the colors vanished as Alexa shoved the large, double doors open. Martin followed.
Ember held the drawing of the owl.
She didn’t understand. She was starting to feel chilly in her PJs. She sighed and followed the trio. She had nowhere else to go. Madness and inexplicable, terrible, impossible things followed Alexa like a plague.
Ember didn’t like it one bit, but she was now a passenger on the burning train that was falling into the sun as the planet beneath it was collapsing into a black hole.
The ex-hero shook her head, chasing away the metaphorical evaluation of her current existence as Alexa's minion. She refused to think of herself as an NPC.