UA7: Brothers in Spirit

 

Chapter 7 - Adrift in Forever

"Is there anything to drink?" Obie asked as he looked around.

"Yeah, um, no. Sorry, I didn't think about that." Jinx quickly apologized.

"I could get us some pitchers of water, like how we do at the camp." Jason K tentatively offered.

"Yeah, that'd be good. Thanks K." Dylan said sincerely.

"I saw a big bucket of sweet tea, already made up, in the walk-in cooler." Paul announced.

"Why didn't you bring it out here?" Ronny asked curiously.

"I didn't think about it." Paul easily admitted.

"How could you not... never mind." Ronny trailed off, seeming to run out of steam.

"Do you want to go and get it now?" Donny quietly asked.

"I may need some help. It's too big for me to carry by myself." Paul reluctantly admitted.

"We'll get a pitcher, so we can dip some out." Ronny said patiently to Paul, then asked, "Will you show me where it is?"

"Oh, wow! Yeah. That's really smart!"

"I'll get glasses of ice while they're doing that." Teddy hurried to volunteer as he walked around the service island to the drink station.

"Do you want to sit over here?" Arlo asked as he carried his completed plate of nachos to one of the bigger tables in the dining room.

"Yeah. This is good. We'll want for everyone to be able to sit together. We've got a lot to talk about." Dylan said seriously.

"Before we start that, is it my imagination or is it getting darker outside?" Donny asked cautiously as he looked out the window at the view of rough cavern walls.

"Yeah. It looks like the outside lights are dimming... maybe to simulate the time of day." Arlo ventured to guess.

"Why would they do that? I mean, it's already dark outside. Why would they bother to make believe that it's still light out and just starting to get dark?" Dylan asked in puzzlement.

"The first thing that comes to mind is what if something happened so that the natural length of a day had changed? It could screw with our circadian rhythms and make us sick or depressed or something like that. I really don't know too much about it. It's not something that I've ever actually studied, I just came across some articles when I was reading about other things." Arlo reluctantly admitted.

"You still know way more about it than I do." Dylan said frankly.

"If the moon is so large in the sky, that might mean that the sun could appear differently to us, too. I can't even begin to guess how differently." Arlo said honestly.

"So maybe the underground base is something more than a good hiding place. It might be a way to survive in this mixed-up universe we've ended up in." Donny slowly suggested.

"If that's really why we're underground, then why would they create a world so drastically different from ours?"

"How sure are we that all of this was just created?"

"I guess that could depend on how you interpret what they mean by 'creation'. Going by what Alistair was saying before, it sounds like this entire reality could be another alternate of the 'prime' universe that already exists. It's not exactly the same... none of them are, but it follows the same basic pattern as a full-sized, fully functional universe." Donny said uncertainly.

"So maybe they didn't have a choice about how it turned out. When you adjust one thing up, another automatically goes down to balance it or the whole thing stops working. So even though the days and nights may be messed up, they made it work well enough so that we could live here." Arlo said speculatively.

"Fourteen stars doesn't pull the same as millions of billions." Teddy said matter-of-factly as he placed ice filled glasses around the table seemingly unaware of the profundity of his statement.

After a long silent moment, Dylan finally said, "When they created the new universe, they were either short of materials or there was another reason that they only included certain stars and planets and not all the others. That made for different stresses pulling at each other, leaving us in a world that can almost support life... if we live underground."

"Or, maybe... hear me out." Donny urged them, "It could just be a failing lightbulb."

"Do you really think that in a high tech place like this that they'd let that happen?" Dylan asked seriously.

"Um... yeah. I do." Donny said honestly..

"I think that with all the craziness that's happened, that we're allowed to make a few off-the-wall guesses about what's going on.." Dylan said frankly.

"I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just saying that before we accept such a 'universe defining' explanation, we could try changing the bulb." Donny cautiously suggested.

"You can if you want, but I'm betting that it will probably be more trouble than it's worth." Dylan said half-jokingly, then continued more seriously, "As long as we all agree that this is just a wild guess and that we shouldn't think for a minute that any of this is actually real, I'm willing to listen to everyone's ideas."

"I guess it's a place to start. That's more than what we had a few minutes ago."

"True."

"Here we go... we have pitchers of sweet tea and water. Do we need anything else before we sit down?"

"No. Most of us are ready to dig in. Get your nachos and have a seat so we can tell you about what we've dreamed up so far."

"Did you come up with something new while I was dipping tea out of a bucket?" Ronny asked dubiously.

"Look out the window." Donny said simply.

Ronny turned in response, but obviously didn't immediately recognize the difference.

"We already figured out that it's artificial lighting. I think it was Kole and Ryvan who came up with that. But now it looks like the artificial light is mimicking the time of day, except that it's not the same time inside as it is outside." Dylan carefully explained.

"By itself it's no big deal, but think about 'why' they might go to all that trouble and then add that to everything else going on." Donny said in a cautioning tone.

"Fourteen stars, a 'too big' moon, a computer controlled underground base..." Arlo said distantly, obviously trying to fit the seemingly unrelated pieces together.

"...A hangar and a dock, just waiting to be needed..." Kole added.

"...All our stuff here, already in our bedrooms..." Obie said frankly.

"Didn't you say something about a dark place?" Donny asked cautiously.

"Yeah. I used to would'a said that it's the blackest darkest place you've ever seen in your whole life but now... it's just dark. It's the same as where we were before the lights came on." Obie explained.

"We'll have to check it out, but from the way Obie described it, this could be some kind of a portal into limbo." Donny said seriously.

"Is Johnny still here?" Jason K asked curiously.

"Yes. He's decided that he likes riding piggy-back." Dylan said with a smile..

"Is that okay with you?" Donny asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. It's fine." Dylan said easily, then explained, "He literally weighs nothing and it actually feels kinda nice to have someone who cares about you hugging you. Five stars. Would recommend."

"To me it looks like you have a halo." Randolph timidly observed.

"What about Ginger and Mary Ann? Do you think they ran off to explore?" Ronny asked seriously.

"I've heard them a few times. They're around here somewhere." Jinx said as he looked around.

"Johnny's seen them too. He's pretty sure they're not too far away." Dylan confirmed.

"So we've got people who can 'hear' spirits and more than one who can 'see' them. What else do we have in the way of psychic or paranormal gifts?" Donny asked seriously.

"Teddy, obviously." Dylan said frankly.

"Jinx, just as obviously." Donny countered.

"Yeah, but we're accepting a lot of things that we've seen and heard as being what they appear. I don't know if we're being deceived. Considering how preposterous all of this seems to be, I think we should be extra careful not to take anything for granted. In other words, question everything." Kole said seriously.

"All of us can cast a spiritual light, but I think Arlo is the only one who can see the other realm without trying." Dylan said speculatively.

"If it's already lighted with spiritual light, I can see it. If I know that there's something there that I might want to see, I can cast my own light on it." Randolph quietly clarified.

"Johnny just said that he can see it all the time. It's our realm that he has to try to see." Dylan informed the group.

"Does he know what we're saying?" Obie asked curiously.

"Right now? Mostly, yeah. From what he's told me, he can only hear us when there's spiritual light present, even if it's his own, and that's only if he's interested. If he doesn't care, then it all sounds like distant muffled noise to him." Dylan said seriously.

"Yeah. I know how that is." Obie timidly admitted.

"Before I forget, there was another curious thing." Arlo said urgently.

"About hearing the spiritual realm?"

"Not exactly. It was more about the computer security. It said each of our names before it opened the door for us, but it didn't seem to know that Johnny was there. That suggests that the computer can't sense beings in the spiritual realm." Arlo said seriously.

"So that means that if we can figure out how Obie's 'limbo portal' works or how to recreate it or maybe even find another instance of it somewhere else, then we might be able to do something with it."

"I'd like to get an up close look at that doorway to see how it works. With all of us looking at it and trying different things, we might be able to discover something about it." Arlo said determinedly.

"Usually, I'd wish you luck with that and then go back to minding my own business, but I get the feeling that if we don't come up with some new talents and strategies fairly soon that we might end up in a situation with no one to depend on for help, not even ourselves."

"On the other hand, we must have someone on our side. We're still alive. I get the feeling that someone, besides Alistair, made that decision and invested a lot of their thought and effort to put us into a position where we can have a fighting chance."

"Do you think that maybe they just get their jollies out of watching 'lesser' beings suffer and fail?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, that's no sillier than anything else that we've been considering about them."

"So, what can we do about that?"

"Be on the lookout for it. Question things. Find ways to prove our theories right... or wrong."

"If someone's just being a god-level jerk, this is an awful lot of trouble to go to for a prank."

"There are people who are that twisted and evil, trust me, I worked for them." Donny said earnestly.

"I don't think it's a prank, but it still won't hurt to be on the lookout for signs."

"My nachos got cold." Obie said as he stood.

"There were a couple microwaves in the kitchen if you want to nuke them for a few seconds."

"Naw. There's a salamander right here. That'll do a better job anyway." Obie said as he carried his plate from the table back to the serving line.

"Get a hot mitt when you use the salamander. You don't want to burn your fingers." Kole hurriedly cautioned.

"Yes Mom." Obie said with an exaggerated eye roll as he placed his plate into the tiny oven.

Ronny had to fight to keep from laughing at the exchange.

A long moment later, Obie was carrying the warmed plate, with a hot mitt, back to the table with the cheese sauce still slightly bubbling.

Without a word, first one, then another of the boys got up from the table to take their turn at bringing their nacho creations up to full heat, some adding more chips, cheese, or other toppings before quick broiling them.

* * * * *

"So what are we going to do next?" Dylan asked the group in general.

"I was thinking that maybe you could take Johnny to Obie's limbo door and see what you can discover about your abilities." Donny said seriously.

"Why us?" Dylan quietly asked.

"I just want to see what you guys can do if you're put in the right environment for you and Johnny to try different things out and get more comfortable with what you've discovered." Donny said seriously.

"No. I don't think so." Dylan said distractedly.

"No?" Donny parroted in surprise.

"I mean, I don't mind if Johnny and I go into limbo and try things, we might even come up with something interesting. But we haven't finished discovering all the weird things about this place yet. Instead of doing supernatural calisthenics, I think we should explore this new world so we'll know what tools we have to work with. Once we have the tools, we can better decide what we want to do next." Dylan calmly explained.

"Did you have someone in mind to work with?" Donny cautiously asked.

"Jinx." Dylan said simply.

"Why me?" Jinx asked cautiously.

"A couple of reasons. First of all, if we can come up with some ways to predict or control outcomes by understanding how your 'luck' works, then we will have gained a tremendous advantage no matter what situation we get thrown into.

"Second, if we can devise any way to get Ginger and Mary Ann on our side, to willingly help us, then maybe we could call on them when we need help or even find a way to work with them somehow. Imagine us getting attacked and being able to 'sic' the demons on them."

"That sounds scary and crazy, but amazing too. I can't promise that I won't chicken out, but if we can make it work, it could be something really great. I'm willing to try." Jinx reluctantly agreed.

"To be honest, I thought you were going to pick Arlo to go with you." Donny said frankly.

"I wouldn't mind working with Arlo, but I don't see what he could gain from being with me and Johnny."

"Using that logic, who do you see fitting together?"

"I'm not sure. I see the people who have partnerships that work sticking with those, like Kole and Ryvan. I think our best shot at discovering anything will be with Randolph and Arlo working together. They're like pieces of a puzzle as they work to discover each others' worlds."

"Jason K, do you want to team up with me?" Teddy asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I bet we'll be able to figure out all kinds of things working together." Jason K said confidently.

"Who am I teamed with?" Ronny asked uncertainly.

"Me." Donny said simply, then explained, "From what I've seen of our problem solving skills, not only do we work well together, but we're also excellent at putting together other people's clues."

"So you decided this all by yourself?"

"I thought about it enough to have formed an opinion." Donny said frankly, then cautiously continued, "Am I wrong? If you have another idea, I'll be happy to listen to it."

After a long reluctant moment of consideration, Ronny finally admitted, "no, you're not wrong."

"Where does that leave me and Paul?" Obie asked warily.

"You're the keepers of the lore. Not only will you work to recognize familiar patterns in what we discover and compare them to fables, movies, TV shows, and even what you know of different religions. But I'm sure that you'll also end up doing some discovery of your own. You two with your energies combined are bound to shake something loose." Donny finished with a smile.

"So what you're saying is that Obie and I are a team. Right?" Paul asked to confirm.

Before Donny could find his voice, Ronny cautiously said, "Yeah. That's what he's saying."

"Hey, Jinx, this taco meat is great." Teddy said appreciatively.

"Thanks." Jinx said sincerely.

"Yeah. I really like it too. Do you think you could show me how to make it sometime?" Paul asked hopefully.

"I just followed the directions on the taco seasoning." Jinx said simply.

"Cool! I never would have thought of that." Paul said in amazement.

Ronny gave an absent nod of acknowledgement at the statement, having no trouble believing Paul's words.

* * * * *

Not much more was said as everyone devoted their attention to the nachos that they had created.

Finally, once finished, Dylan cautiously said, "I was thinking that maybe it's time for us to find our beds and call it a night."

"We don't have to be up for classes or anything like that in the morning, do we?" Jason K asked cautiously.

"No. It's nothing like that. But it was already getting late when we started the sleepover back at the camp. If we stay up any later and push ourselves to do more, we're likely to get sloppy and start missing things." Dylan said frankly.

"He's right. Besides, it'd be good for us to take a break and think over everything that's happened today, each on our own. In the morning we can compare notes and maybe we'll come up with something that the group didn't think of." Donny said seriously.

"I don't want to go to bed yet. Can't we stay up and watch a movie or something?" Jason K asked hopefully.

"There's a TV in each room. I don't know what shows they have on, but as nice as this place is, I bet they have all the channels." Obie said happily.

"Before everyone takes off, someone's going to need to do the dishes and we still have all this food that needs to be put away." Ronny said firmly.

"If all of us work on it, it should only take us a few minutes." Donny said easily as he stood.

"Stack the dishes in the dropoff window over there and I'll knock those out really quick." Ronny said as he scraped his plate into the garbage, then placed it in the bus tub in the window.

"Is it okay if I put this nacho cheese straight into the cooler or what?" Paul asked curiously.

"Honestly, I'd rather have it in plastic. I don't know for sure if it'll make a difference, but I wouldn't want to take the chance of the cheese sauce picking up a metallic flavor overnight." Ronny said seriously.

"Yeah. I can do that." Paul said easily.

"Everything's turned off, but you might need to give it a few minutes to cool. You wouldn't want to scald yourselves." Ronny warned.

"We'll be careful." Paul promised.

"What did everyone think of the salsa?" Ryvan asked as everyone worked collectively to dismantle their nacho assembly line.

"It was great. The best part was that it tasted so fresh, not mushy like the stuff in a jar." Obie hurried to assure him.

"Yeah. Good stuff. We need to have that even when we're not having nachos." Jason K added appreciatively.

"Thanks guys. I can't see the spirits of the dead or change people's luck, but I can do this."

"Making salsa is your superpower?" Paul asked with delight.

"Yeah. I guess so." Kole said not altogether certainly.

"I can't wait to see your costume." Obie giggled with delight.

"Is Ryvan going to be your sidekick?" Jason K asked hopefully.

"I don't know. What'd'ya say, Chips?" Kole asked his long-time friend.

"How about 'no'?" Ryvan responded firmly.

"Don't worry about it, guys. I'll work on him."

* * * * *

As everyone was putting the final touches on their cleaning, Donny loudly asked, "Obie, would you like to show us the bedrooms that you discovered?"

"Yeah. Sure. There's a stairway right across the hall from here." Obie said excitedly as he led the way out of the kitchen and to the left.

The rest of the group followed, interested to see what he had discovered.

* * * * *

"I guess the first thing you need to see is the dark place. It's right up here." Obie said as he waited for the last of the group to make their way to the top of the stairs.

"Do you think it's a doorway into limbo?" Donny asked curiously as he noticed the large number of floor to ceiling mirrors positioned at an angle to each other around the brightly lit room.

"You tell me." Obie said as he motioned to an infinitely black interruption in their reality.

"Should we go in and check it out?" Dylan asked uncertainly.

"I think we should, but not right now. It's too late to start anything new and this looks like something that we'll want to devote a lot of time to." Donny said consideringly.

"What about all these mirrors? Do you think they do anything or are they just here to be spooky?" Ryvan asked cautiously as he looked around.

"Considering what we could do with the mirror over the fireplace, they probably serve a purpose. We'll have to work on that, too." Arlo said speculatively.

"Let's check out the bedrooms and worry about this in the morning. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm slagged." Dylan said frankly.

"Obie. Is there anything else up here we really need to see before we go to bed?"

"There's a gym across the hall from the bedrooms. It has hot tubs and showers and stuff, in case you're feeling nasty about yourself right now." Obie said as he led the way out of the heavily mirrored room.

"I don't know. I feel like I could fall asleep standing up." Dylan said frankly.

"You said that each bedroom has its own little bathroom, didn't you?" Donny quickly asked.

"Right. A toilet and a sink." Obie confirmed.

"Do you know whose bedroom this is?" Donny asked curiously.

"These along here are empty. I checked them out when I was up here before. When you turn down the next hall, the rooms on the left have people's stuff in them. On the right is the gym I was telling you about." Obie explained seriously.

"But do you know who the first bedroom belongs to?"

"No. I think it's the one with a black wall. None of the rest of them that I looked at had that." Obie explained.

"Anyone have a black wall in their bedroom back home?" Donny asked seriously.

After a long silent moment, the group came to the door and Donny reluctantly said, "Let's all take a look and if anyone recognizes their stuff, just tell us."

When no one responded, Donny reluctantly led the way into the bedroom.

The most noticeable feature of the room was indeed the black wall.

"Hey! That's my old hoodie from Chicago. I loved that thing." Dylan said in surprise.

"That desk looks like the one I used to have in my bedroom, the one the plane engine fell on." Jinx said seriously.

"A plane fell on your house?" Jason K asked dubiously.

"Yeah. Just a little. I mean, not the whole plane, just one engine. It fell on my bedroom and destroyed a bunch of my stuff, but at least no one got hurt that time." Jinx explained with difficulty.

"'That time?' Does that mean that more than one plane engine has fallen on your house?" Kole asked with surprise.

"No. Just the one. I was just saying that in that disaster, no one got hurt." Jinx calmly explained.

"So does anything else look familiar to you?" Donny asked curiously.

"Yeah. Most of the stuff on this side of the room is mine, even though a lot of it was lost in the fires and mudslides and stuff." Jinx said seriously.

"Do you know anything about the black wall?" Dylan asked curiously.

"No. I never had anything like that in any of my rooms before."

"Is it another doorway into limbo?" Donny cautiously asked.

"I think it's just a wall." Arlo said uncertainly, then stepped forward and placed his hand against the wall proving that it was solid.

"Maybe it's for Johnny." Teddy said simply.

"Is that something sent to you by Alistair?" Dylan asked cautiously.

"No. I just figured that you might be able to see Johnny better if he lighted himself up while he was standing in front of a black wall."

"He's got a point." Obie said frankly.

"So we're decided, this is definitely your room?" Kole asked seriously.

"Yeah. There's other stuff in here that's mine." Dylan confirmed.

"I've got lots of stuff here that was lost or destroyed a long time ago. But I don't know why it's here now." Jinx added uncertainly, then explained, "Most of this is stuff that I never really wanted or needed. I just had it because... I had it. You pick up stuff."

"Do you guys want to hang back here or go with us?" Donny asked curiously.

"I think we'll go with you to see if there's anything else weird, like the black wall, that we can help you figure out what it's for."

* * * * *

"Does anyone know whose this is?" Donny asked as he stepped fully into the bedroom.

"Yeah. It's mine." Teddy timidly answered.

"Are you okay?" Jason K asked with concern.

"This stuff reminds me of home." Teddy hesitantly admitted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Donny quietly asked.

"I don't know. I feel a lot of different ways about it, all at the same time. There was good stuff back there, but there was a lot of bad, too. I don't know if I want to be reminded of it." Teddy fought to explain.

"Does anyone recognize the stuff in the other side of the room?" Paul asked with forced cheer in his voice.

"Yeah. It's my stuff from the camp." Jason K quietly admitted, then thought to add, "It looks like everything."

"You sound about as happy as Teddy about it." Dylan said simply.

"What do you think all the stuff is? It's what's important to us, it's the things we'd miss if we were in a whole new place without the people we depend on." Jason K said in a pleading tone, urging them to understand, then added in a whisper, "Mine's all junk."

"And from the look of it, your stuff is literally what you've picked up since you've been at the camp." Kole guessed.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I don't have any friends or never did anything since I've been there. It's just that I don't have any..." Jason K stopped, at a loss for words to explain his point.

"Artifacts." Arlo suggested.

At Jason K's uncertain look, Arlo further explained, "Trophies and mementos to represent the pivotal moments in your life."

"Yeah. Looking at this, it's almost like I never existed." Jason K muttered dejectedly.

"Well, we happen to know that you have existed and are currently existing in no fewer than three parallel universes. To top it off, you probably exist in a lot more that we've never heard about." Arlo said confidently.

"Yeah. In fact, I got a peek at a future where you and me are friends... maybe best friends. I don't know too much about it except that we're older then and wherever we are, it's cold. But still, it was like the warmest place I could ever imagine because you and me and all our other friends were there with us." Teddy finished happily.

"If I'm someone's friend, I guess that proves that I existed." Jason K said half-heartedly.

"You're someone's friend across time and dimensions. I don't know how common that is, but I bet not too many people can say that." Donny said seriously.

"Yeah. It's like you being a friend on the 'ultimate' level instead of the 'champion' level like the rest of us." Paul said excitedly.

After a long moment of flabbergasted silence from the others, Obie finally explained, "It's a Digimon thing. Just roll with it."

* * * * *

"I thought these were all bedrooms. This looks like a library or a research laboratory. Maybe both." Dylan said frankly.

"No, it's my bedroom." Arlo quietly admitted.

"Can you guess who his roommate is?" Donny asked with a chuckle.

The group turned as one to look at the hardwood furnishings with leather upholstery and other rustic embellishments.

"There are things that are mine on display, although the room itself is unfamiliar to me. It is, perhaps, a compromise between your time and mine." Randolph said uncertainly.

"Don't you like it?" Arlo asked with concern.

"I like it very much." Randolph immediately responded, then explained, "I simply didn't want you to think that the place where I lived before was anything like this. What you see here is a recreation of my time as seen from yours. It supposes a life that I never lived and eliminates many unpleasant realities of my time. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not recount them right now."

"Yeah, no. That's okay." Arlo hurried to assure him.

"Arlo, does this mean that you were created in a lab or something?" Donny asked cautiously.

"No. I had some of this equipment at different points in my life, but I never had a collection like this all at once before." Arlo said slowly as he looked around.

"Arlo, tell me honestly, are you a book hoarder?" Dylan asked playfully.

"I'm an avid reader. But I can't begin to estimate how many books we're looking at here. I can't wait to get started." Arlo said frankly.

"I wonder if there are any overlaps with the library downstairs." Donny said speculatively.

"Why all the books? Can't we look up whatever we need to know on the computers?" Jason K asked curiously.

"We might be able to. But depending on what you're reading, you might want to relax on the couch or read in bed." Arlo gently explained.

"Also, the computers may not have all the information that you're expecting. There's a very good chance that there's no other computers for us to connect to. ... you know, with us being the only people in the universe and all." Dylan said frankly.

Arlo looked at Dylan with surprise, but didn't disagree.

* * * * *

"Okay, let's see who's next." Donny said as he led the way into the next bedroom.

"I think it's mine." Ronny said uncertainly, then continued, "Yeah. I mean, some of the things on this side of the room are mine. But there are other things, like that weird picture, that I remember liking when I saw it but didn't end up buying it."

"Maybe another you in another reality did." Arlo cautiously suggested.

"What about the other side? Any guesses?" Dylan asked cautiously.

"Maybe no one lives there." Jason K cautiously suggested.

"The other side is mine. See that baseball cap on the bed? That belonged to me, a long time ago." Donny said as he stared at the well-loved cap, but made no move toward it.

"Don't you have any stuff?" Obie asked with concern.

"I learned from an early age to travel light." Donny said simply, then added, "It's fine. I don't need much."

"You should have stuff." Obie said firmly.

"Your stuff brings back memories, right? There's not a lot from my past that I want to remember. But, I have a feeling that now that I'm here with all of you, I'll start collecting some good memories." Donny said frankly.

"You and me both." Ronny assured him.

* * * * *

"This next one is Kole and Ryvan's. I recognized their stuff." Obie said as he rushed ahead of the group to the next door.

"So, for us it's going to be the same as our room back at the camp." Kole said consideringly.

"Except that we won't have Nathan flashing his big dick at us every time we turn around." Ryvan added.

"Yeah." Kole agreed, then thought to ask, "Do you think that after a while you'll miss it?"

"No." Ryvan immediately responded.

"Yeah, me neither." Kole agreed.

* * * * *

"So, by process of elimination, this next one should belong to Paul and Obie." Donny said as they left Kole and Ryvan's room.

"Yeah. It's the one with the fish tank." Obie said happily.

As the group entered, Dylan said, "You get a fish tank and I get a black wall? How's that fair?"

"Life isn't fair." Obie informed him.

"Oh yeah. I should have figured that out by now." Dylan chuckled, then playfully continued, "At least I can talk to Johnny and he can talk back. I doubt that your fish can do that."

"I don't know. Considering how weird this world is, it wouldn't surprise me if they could." Paul finished with a smile.

"Who else is ready to try out the beds?" Donny asked the group cheerfully.

"Yeah. Goodnight everyone." Kole said immediately and didn't wait to see if Ryvan was going to follow.

To Be Continued..

Editor's Note:

Well it is nice to see a new chapter.

things seem to be moving forward, albeit somewhat slowly.

Thank you, MM for bringing us farther along this strange but interesting timeline or timelines.

I only added one lonely comma to this chapter.

Darryl the Radorancher