I observe the room carefully. No one is present at the moment, which is a little curious in and of itself. The only creature in the room aside from me is a grumpy-looking white cat. It sits up as I get to my feet, testing my limbs. I seem to be in perfectly functioning condition.

[Null? Oh, good, you're back. Katrina's arguing with Baby and Alice downstairs - you've been knocked out for about half an hour.]

[I think I just met Noah's mom. Or I was hallucinating.]

Joule goes very quiet for a moment. [That... would have been very dangerous if that's the case. I don't know if this is a good comparison since you haven't seen Noah go full force, but she's literally infinitely more powerful. From what Noah's told me, she once slapped someone.]

[What happened?]

[Nothing. The universe ceased to have ever existed. Don't worry - she fixed it.]

I process the information, nodding. [I almost told her Noah was a nutjob.]

She gasps. [If you thought of it, then she knows about it. I'm surprised she didn't annihilate you.]

The cat suddenly talks in an incredibly bored female voice. "Are you done? I've been instructed by Charles to watch you until you woke up, and now that that's done, I'm going to find a juicy mouse to play with."

[Don't you mean eat?]

She waves a carefully manicured paw in the air. "Tomato tomato. It's all the same to me. Excuse me."

Saying so, she leaps through the open window behind her, thick tail flagging. Before she hops down and out, she turns. "Don't try anything stupid, by the way. Katrina will rip you in half."

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And she's gone.

[How many animals in this town can talk? More importantly, how many animals have I eaten that could talk?]

[Well, quite a few for the first question. As for the second, I honestly have no idea. You probably shouldn't bring it up.]

A man enters and sees me standing, and jumps slightly. "Oh, you're up. That hot dog really knocked you out."

[What did it taste like?]

He grins. "No one remembers enough of the experience to tell anyone, but the triple stat gains are insane in and of themselves."

I wish someone would just tell me what stats are already.

Walking around to the desk and comfy-looking chair accompanying it, he sits down and smiles at me a little forcefully. "So! Baby and Alice already deposited their reports, but I'd like to hear it from you personally. Do you have any plans regarding the destruction of humanity or any other sentient races?"

My mandibles fall open. [Wait, what? Why would I want to destroy any races? I have no desire to make enemies unless I have to.]

His smile widens. "Well, that's excellent to hear. Would you mind telling us what you know about Noah?"

I don't mind. I know barely anything about him to start with. [He's extremely powerful, slightly childish, and unpredictable to a point. Anything else?]

It's important to answer questions at the moment. I'm literally surrounded by potentially hostile humans, to say nothing of the already hostile Katrina. Besides, I doubt there's any information I can give that would cause any particularly dangerous things to happen.

He nods, writing down what I said. "Thank you. Unfortunately, that's nothing we didn't already know, but since you know him a little more personally, we can consider this a confirmation rather than a solid theory."

Placing the papers face-down on his desk, he steeples his fingers. "Now then, what are your plans for the future?"

It's a bit of a loaded question, but I answer honestly. [I'm not totally sure. I'm going to Lymphadra to try and live with the giant ant colony there, but if it doesn't work out I'll probably join Barabar.]

That catches his interest. "Really? I can see you doing rather well there."

There's a short, but not awkward silence.

The door opens and Baby pokes his head in. "Null? I got some serious liquor down here, and even managed to nab a bottle of the good stuff, the fhuma kick that'll knock some nonsense into your head."

He had me at liquor.