Herobrine refused to talk about Notch, leaving Stephanie with more and more questions every time the topic arose between them; yet he would bring her actions up, and even mention his own weakness and potential mortality so openly over that man?
Steph had been so distracted by the idea that the god before her could have been easily killed just a day ago; that she almost dismissed Notch from the conversation entirely. She made a mental note and pushed it aside for now as she responded to the man's insult by folding her arms defensively; Herobrine practically labeled her a moron for her actions, he clearly isn't used to being treated kindly, and until she came along? Probably not in a long time. He knows no kindness or compassion from the looks of it.
No wonder she fascinated him, she was his opposite; so much so that she was an enigma to him. He doesn't talk to anyone, and now that he has some company; he probably enjoys it far more than he lets on. Especially since she's a woman he seems to be attracted to, and considering that he hardly knew a woman's touch until now, she's probably his main interest, for now. But even this little opportunity of being in his favor could benefit them both, for her, time. Him, affection, and companionship.
The woman let out a heavy sigh, this wasn't a pleasant talk to have, but it needed to happen. It was still a shock that Herobrine could have been killed with her chunk of diamond ore of all things, it did cause him to bleed once. The thought disgusted her, attempting murder on a helpless person and causing them to suffer. As if she had the guts to spill blood? It didn't matter who it was on her couch or what they did, taking a life is something she knew she could never do and not suffer from it. She was a self-proclaimed advocate of life and peace, she believed in justice but felt as if she could never be the one to hand it out if it came to an execution. She was never sheltered growing up, it was the kindness of so many strangers throughout her young life that helped her and her orphaned brother make it into adulthood; that moved her to compassion. She only ever wanted to reflect the love and care she was given that she never really got from her parental figures, to pay it forward so that others would get to know that kindness for themselves no matter how wayward their lives may be.
Herobrine may not be an average human being, but he was still a person to her. Even as a god he was still like her, somewhat structurally but also emotionally as well. He feels pain like her, they couldn't be too much more different from each other except his power and command cube.
That cube he has; is more than just extra power, it's his own protection. His lifeline. For him to even tell her such crucial information regarding his mortality without it; that took a level of trust, even if he won't admit it. That thought made her anger with him fade a bit.
"Do you not have anything to say for yourself, woman?" He asked as he gently shook her shoulders and snapped her away from her thoughts.
Stephanie blinked and then looked away from him, her voice soft and quiet.
"No. I ... I didn't know that you were that weak without that cube." She paused, thinking of her words carefully. "But even if I did I wouldn't try and kill you." She briefly thought back to him on her couch, enjoying her combing her fingers through his hair as he rested, softly humming to her touch. He could be so human at times, he did seem practically afraid before she agreed to take care of him; that was something she couldn't forget. His humanity shows from time to time now.
"I know it would have been the 'right' thing to do but I couldn't, I- I don't have it in me to get that violent or aggressive. I mean, I've only ever killed a few mobs at most in my life, only a few spiders and a skeleton in self-defense; barely even managed that and you expect me to kill an actual person like you?" She shook her head and brushed off his hands from her. "I can't, it's just not in me no matter how easy it would be." She said, keeping her gaze off of his.
"You mean to tell me that you've blown your only chance to put an end to my plans because you're weak-willed, a selfish pacifist who can't do something as simple as taking that sharp rock of yours and slashing my throat open while I was unconscious?" He stared at her, still baffled. "You knew that diamond could cut me."
"Did you not hear? It's not in me." She angrily countered.
The man took a step back and angrily gestured as he spoke. "Then why not tell someone else? Why not have someone come and try to kill me? Your brother and many others surely wouldn't waste the opportunity if they chanced upon it. If not that, then why not take the power and keep it for yourself or give it to someone who could try and use it? You make no sense mortal.
I don't care for human morals and I barely know them, but even I know that any other person in that damn village would know to do the right thing in the name of preservation. Even a youngling. I may have threatened you into keeping silent and hiding me before I passed out, but when I was down I was the one at the mercy seat."
Stephanie frowned deeply, her eyes narrowing, feeling insulted once more she glared up at him. "Why should I be questioned about my morals? Why should doing the 'right thing' be solely in my hands or why should I pass burden to another and have to live with the thought that I'm the reason someone was killed? No one should tell me what I have to do to hold a perfect moral standard. And by what? Killing you? That makes murder okay? Because at the cost of one, it saves others? Because you're evil?" The woman countered back before her expression fell a little. "I have a good conscience, I care about people and creatures of all kinds, and I'm willing to help those in need. I want to do the right thing, but I can't if... ..." Stephanie sighed. "I had no such plans to hurt you, and though I didn't know that you were truly weak yesterday, you wanted to rest without disturbance; as a guest of my house, I obliged. Yeah, maybe alerting someone of your presence and condition at the time would have been the proper thing to do. But I- I felt something for you Herobrine. Maybe it is wrong of me to do so, but I..." The woman shrugged and gestured with open hands.
"I can't do the right thing if it conflicts with what I believe in, and what I believe in has no room for ruthlessness and brutality. Call me selfish, call me pathetic, foolish, whatever you want. It's too late to go back, but even then... I probably still wouldn't be able to do it even after everything that I know now. I don't want to kill, but neither do I want people to die. I don't want any blood on my hands no matter the reason!" Her eyes closed and she shook her head with disdain.
"Why do I have to carry the burden of knowing the fate of my village and every other person beyond it and be the only one who can do anything about it? It's unfair. I can't stop you, but I can't kill you either. I just don't have the strength in me to take a life even if it presents itself for all the right reasons, you don't know how much weight I've been carrying knowing that I hold the knowledge of your war plans and not telling anyone about it all week long.
You don't know how much it pains me that I am unable to do anything and yet be the only one who can!" Steph finished with a shout of frustration.
The immortal stared at the woman with light admiration and nodded, a frown on his face. "I admire the fact that you truly stand for what you believe in, no matter the cost, even at your own expense. You're strongly loyal to a cause, unwavering even. But you need to think more about your passive nature vs what you truly value, think about it. What if your brother was about to die by my hand? Or if you had a child that I was about to kill in my grasp? I barely run across humans who don't care about the life of their family more than themselves, especially humans with younglings; it's rare to find one who wouldn't fight tooth and nail for the life of their offspring despite knowing it was futile. Judging by who you are, you would jump at the chance to kill me if it meant saving either brother or child, otherwise, you're weaker than I even thought was possible."
Stephanie was at a loss for words, gaping softly with a distraught look at what the white-eyed man had said; not certain what she would do. Her expression showed conflict stirring in her head.
"But I'll tell you this Stephanie." He unfolded his arms, his movement causing her to look back at him. "If you don't build the courage to go against what you believe in; it will lead you and many others to more pain than you expect. If you can barely kill a mob but not even try to eliminate the greatest threat to your kind then you are the epitome of weakness and cowardice, many will suffer because of your sympathetic heart. A freshly spawned Zombie doesn't have a heart, it does not care, it does not think. It only kills and devours because that is its intended purpose; a programmed killer to maintain the human population and nothing more.
Perhaps one that has gained enough levels and becomes modified; will have some sentience that you could sympathize and even talk with, but even then it will try to kill you because it is a mob and you are its prey. Only a high enough level of fear would keep it in line from attacking, it is why most mobs won't touch you when I'm around. Other times, the disobedience of some is a result of corrupted data from bad spawning times depending on the location they manifest, you saw that already tonight with the spider; it looked like a normal mob but it was corrupted at its core. Likely spawned directly on the border of a chunk, the corruption typically messes with a mob's survival programming in removing fear and mental stability levels. I was aware of it the entire time." He paused when the woman looked at him with a bit of surprise, probably trying to take in and process all of the new information at once.
"You can chatter with the walking corpse for a minute or so but it's more than likely going to attack regardless because that is its nature and purpose with the intended program. If you could see the programmed coding in mobs, then you'd know to never approach, associate, or even care about them. Hostile and non-hostile creatures are different but not by much, even Endermen have to have a condition met in order to engage in hostility; if conditions are met by neutral creatures then they will attack regardless of who you are. The structure of your human code makes you a specific target to them and most other hostile mobs, to them you are a source to feed off of, just a few numbers make all the difference but it's survival and design for them and population control.
If my own code had never been altered, I wouldn't be talking to you at all right now; you would have been dead within minutes if not seconds when we first crossed paths. But I am not a simple modification anymore, I have free will and goals, that doesn't mean that I don't fall into old habits from time to time, but I am unrestricted and unrestrained by my initial nature and the laws of this world. You are not like me, you're a simplified creature with a will of your own but also with many restrictions and limitations.
You were designed to survive. Kill, or be killed. It's a basic instinct, all humans have the code written in them to live unless their emotionality level or mental stability number falls below zero and into negative digits. A brief glance at you tells me that all of your numbers currently match the average stable human, numbers close to normal levels. Yet you refused to take action to secure the future of your well-being as well as of others?"
He furrowed a brow, reaching out and carefully grabbing her by the arm and examining her numbers again but this time through touch. His eyes widened slightly. "Are you broken? Is there an untraceable error in you somehow?" He lightly shook his head in disbelief. "You're not corrupted by any means from what I can tell on a surface level, but your survivability isn't right. One minute you are terrified of me, the next, you willingly engage me with hardly any trace of fear?" He ran his thumb over the soft fabric of the sleeve of her dress shirt, there had only been a slight change in her data through the physical contact. "You are an anomaly Stephanie." He said quietly, gazing down at her.
"An anomaly?" She blinked, her heart racing from his words and gentle thumb running smooth circles over her tricep. It felt odd, but his thumb was nice and warm and felt as if were pulsating, like a heartbeat. This wasn't a normal touch from him she noticed, he was doing something to her but chose not to protest or pull away since it was pleasant and not harmful by the looks of it. "It's called being nice Herobrine, maybe you should look more closely at the meaning of those numbers and not just the numbers themselves. I can't see any of those numbers like you, but I know what compassion is, it comes from the heart." She placed a hand over her chest to emphasize her point. "You lack understanding in that department Mr. Know-it-all. What's the point of seeing numbers if you don't understand the meaning of them at all?"
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The man softly snorted at her response, he was knowledgeable in many things and didn't take too kindly to her attitude towards him. He did, however; notice her emboldened behavior when speaking to him, she had been so afraid and cautious up until now. Only gradually speaking more boldly as the days of the week went by, getting used to his presence while running out of time to escape her fate. Considering her time was short, this could bring about more courage or urgency. He kind of liked the small change, it's not often that one would dare to challenge him in battle or conversation; so long as she didn't push him too far that is. However; he wasn't interested in speaking about a 'lack of knowledge' as it was irrelevant.
"You may find yourself conflicted with your morality and the actions you should take or avoid, but failing to lean to one side is nothing but detrimental to your entire being; might as well be for the rest of humanity." He released his grasp from her, there wasn't anything that he could detect from her that wasn't abnormal. "I am glad that you have kept my plans to yourself and have obeyed my demands when I was weak, but they were not the best choices for you woman. If such an opportunity miraculously comes up again, be sure you really know what you want, it is unlikely that you'll catch me without my power again but who knows?"
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, the woman may have been naive and too good for her own well-being, but he was greatly intrigued by this unusual behavior. Perhaps there were more foolish humans like her out there? It was possible, but he just didn't care; she was the first intriguing specimen of a mortal in a long time, but she was his personal human to entertain and enjoy himself with. He wished he could feel her body and all of her numbers more closely against him, both at the same time, the feeling of just scanning through her arm though brief, was very addictive. He had never scanned a live human through touch before, it left a pleasant warm tingling sensation spreading through his fingers, up to his arm, and then coursing through his body as he had felt her heartbeat within him. It was strange but also very arousing, causing his body to unconsciously react with desire.
He suddenly wondered what it would feel like for them to mesh their data and feel all of her at once, if it were even possible. He felt a tightness all throughout him at the thought and turned himself around, he was on the verge of acting on his desires and needed a moment to regain control. Her innocent expression and beautiful features made it tough to ignore, but touching her beyond the flesh piqued his curiosity and fully awakened him.
He was very tempted to try to mesh their numbers or their bodies at the very least to satisfy his growing hunger, but he didn't want to scare the woman or make her hate him. Not yet. He didn't want to potentially hurt or kill her if he attempted the process of something he wasn't sure of yet. Sex was one thing, but data meshing? It was something else entirely. Only a theory that could possibly corrupt the woman's data if not outright kill or delete her in the process. Or himself for that matter. But his interest grew in the idea the more he thought about it, the lingering sensation in his thumb from ever so slightly grazing, burrowing into her code, and mixing with it further encouraged him to look more into meshing when he got the time. He needed to look more into data stability and sorting before trying something like that on a larger scale, ... if the woman beat his challenge and lived longer of course. Which reminded him of one of the reasons why Stephanie was even here. Herobrine sighed, he almost wanted the woman to win at this point, but knew he had a greater goal to work toward and was probably becoming too lenient in her presence.
It would be best if she lost.
But without even trying the woman was a temptress. He softly chuckled to himself and exhaled, squeezing his thumb into his palm to calm himself.
"There is nothing left to discuss, I merely wanted answers from this morning since your brother delayed them. Can't say that I'm pleased with the results, but you are an interesting human so I should have known better." He turned to the side to meet her gaze, his expression was now serious. "My advice to you Stephanie; ditch the pacifism and weak submissiveness, otherwise you'll die. This world is a cruel one, the strong devour the weak; there is no place for peace here. There once was a time for it, but it is long past. Stop living for a cause that won't repay you in kind. Be a normal human, get with your built-in program already, and fight to survive."
That wasn't going to change her mind, Stephanie wasn't going to stop whatever it took to change his mind, and she was determined to do it her own way whether the white-eyed man liked it or not. She softly ran a hand over the place where he had touched her, still feeling that strange warm beating sensation just under the surface of her skin underneath the navy cloth. She chose not to respond to his words, the last thing she needed right now was him putting her down for her weaknesses more than he already has. Herobrine might not yet know it, but she was a Stonewall and the Stonewalls were stubborn and dedicated to a fault when it came to ambition.
He expected a rebuttal of some sort like the woman normally did but got nothing, nothing but a quiet stare as she held her hand tightly over her right arm. This made him wonder if the woman had actually started considering his advice. It would benefit her a lot.
"Are you sending me home? Or will you watch me try and struggle to get out of this place?" She asked while looking around a little in the darkness surrounding them; only the light of his eyes gently reflecting off her and the walls that gave them light. She still had no clue where she was or how deep underground they were; she could barely hear the storm, it must have mostly passed by now. Steph was starting to feel tired and wanted to retreat to her bed for much-needed rest.
"I'll return you to your home, you'll need all the strength you can muster for tomorrow's challenge." He said blankly.
'At least he'll do that much.' She thought as she sighed in relief. "And just how do you expect me to beat the next challenge anyway? You're an immovable man Herobrine."
"An immovable man?" He repeated softly. Herobrine tilted his head to the side a bit with a hand moving over his chin in thought then smirked, liking the title and getting an idea from it. "I like that, we'll just make that the next challenge then." He lowers his hand from his face. "If you can find a way to move me; then you win, if not, you lose. I'm not going to tell you much more than that, however; I will allow you to bring anything you have, anything that you think will move me. As rules stand, no touching the eyes, you only have as much time as it takes before I grow bored of your endeavors like last time. How does that sound?"
"Impossible." Stephanie frowned.
"I had a different challenge in mind made previously after our first one earlier this week, your chances to beat it were slim to none. Trust me, this new one will give you much more of a fair chance, and it's safer than what I initially had in mind. I'm very curious to see what you'll come up with to move me, but you're a clever woman, I'm looking forward to a surprise." He grinned.
Stephanie narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine, I accept your challenge, but you must promise not to use any of your powers or abilities, and you can't use any commands throughout the duration of it or you forfeit." She expected the man to either become angry or at the very least protest like last time, but his grin only widened.
"Normally, I would object since you'd be taking some potential fun out of it, but fine. I'll still be allowed to use my hands and arms, my legs and feet so long as I don't leave my spot."
"What are you going to do then? Kick me or push me away?" She asked, her tone of voice hardened.
"Unlikely, but I might have to pull you off of me if you decide to try something too naughty." He chuckled, making her blush and look away.
"Like I woul-"
"It's your only chance to survive a little while longer." He abruptly interrupted. "I wouldn't put it past you to do something like that if it meant getting to live and spare your village more time, if I let you trigger any kind of desire in me; well..." He snickered darkly. "Let's just say that it might make it impossible to stand still, it's already a challenge keeping my hands off of you right now Miss Stonewall."
"I doubt charming you would work." She said quietly with her face warming a little, eyes still avoiding him.
"Not if you put your hands all over me woman, I can't risk you working that magic with those little fingers of yours. I must admit, for a creature with no real power, prowess, or physical strength; you seem to make up for it in other ways. Ways that may be unconventional in most circumstances, but do benefit you regarding me." His voice tones darkened when she looked back at him. "I'll give you credit Stephanie, you do have some kind of power over me; you sometimes stir a blazing fire within and it is not so easily extinguished. It is difficult to explain, but the way your skin, your very code feels against mine, it is enticing. A feeling so foreign and yet naturally familiar, my anomaly." He noticed her heart racing again and watched as her fingers squeezed over her tricep more tightly.
"Alright, I think I've messed with you enough mortal, until next time; if there is a next time should you manage to win the challenge." He said as his eyes flared brightly, temporarily blinding the woman as she threw her hands in front of her face and squeezed her eyes shut.
In an instant, Stephanie felt a cool breeze and tiny raindrops pelting her head and shoulders once more, her arms lowered and her eyes opened to the back of her house just a few feet away. She then looked up and noticed the weather had considerably calmed, she felt an ominous presence behind her and turned to see Herobrine standing by the treeline underneath a couple of large oak trees, smirking while holding the food container she brought him earlier. He then gave her a long stare before turning away and disappearing into the trees, as he left the rain came to a stop and the wind settled.
Her curiosity about that mysterious man never ceased, only growing more day by day. She then blinked in surprise as she turned back to her home and saw the place light up almost instantly, he lit all of the lanterns in her house for her so that she wouldn't be stumbling around. That was quite a kind gesture, she thought. She wished she had more time to learn more about him, he may have called her an anomaly, but he was the one who didn't belong. Stephanie frowned at the thought and pushed it away, he did belong, he lorded over the world now.
The woman entered her home and quickly grabbed a towel from the bathroom before retreating to her bedroom to get out of her wet clothes and into something dry and warm, a small chill from the still chilly house ran through her thin frame and made her shiver a bit. She first removed her boots and placed them by her bedside table and then moved over to her closet to retrieve a clean silky light pink nightgown and fresh undergarments. She set the clothes on the bed and pulled her hair tie from her hair so that she could dry it thoroughly. Once it was dry enough, she left her damp auburn locks to lay flat over her shoulders and back as she worked to remove her navy dress shirt.
Stephanie grabbed the ends of the shirt, lifted it up over her head, and tugged at the tight wet sleeves still sticking to her skin. Her ivory bra was soaking wet too, but it could easily be removed compared to the wet sleeves that clung to her forearms; by peeling back the fabric at the cuffs; the shirt finally came loose. The woman softly sighed and threw the wadded-up cloth into a small wooden basket with her other unclean clothes, she'd worry about taking care of them another time; assuming she gets the time that is.
Just as she was about to reach back and unlatch her bra, something caught her eye. A dim but noticeable glow on her arm; right where the tingly feeling was and where the man had touched her. Violet eyes widened in both shock and awe as she stared at a small thumb-sized spot on her. Her skin in that spot appeared to be missing as if rubbed away, like dust from a smooth surface. In its place, a glowing white and silvery sheen with squarish flecks of green, red, and yellow shimmering and floating around within a glowing white hollow shell that was the inside of her arm. She also noticed large immobile strips of white about one inch long that traced along the contours of the outside of her arm, like an outline.
The lady was speechless and gaping as she moved over to her desk and sat in her wooden chair, holding her arm as she stared into the hole; trying not to panic and to make sense of what she was even seeing. How was it even possible? She shouldn't be able to see into her arm, let alone it be hollow inside, the spider bite to her foot made that obviously clear that she bled when injured and had muscle tissue that was damaged.
Swallowing her fear back, Steph cautiously moved a finger to the small gap and watched as it slipped through effortlessly, her index finger glitched out while inside and became clear and hollow like her arm. It too had strips of white outlining the digit as well as a silvery-white glow with flecks of color and tiny white sparks moving about within it. Freaked out, she quickly yanked her hand away and her finger returned to normal the moment she removed it. She stared at her hand and rotated it front and back to make sure that it was okay. She didn't feel any different and it didn't hurt when she poked into herself, it felt strange to her arm but it didn't hurt.
Herobrine did something to her.
There was no way this happened on its own, the woman reasoned as she grabbed the quill pen from her desk and pressed the sharp point into her finger. With a hiss she pulled it back and watched as a drop of blood pooled on the surface of her skin, her eyes darted back to the gap and she marveled at the unexplainable thing she had just witnessed. Is this what Herobrine meant when he said there was a world beyond her eyes that she could not see? Steph couldn't make out any numbers on the inside of her arm, but she had a feeling that this was just scratching the surface of what she and every living creature were. Flesh and numbers.