(February 17, 2020: Week 6 of the pregnancy of the quadruplets)
In multiple births, it is usually the case that an egg has been divided into multiple or different eggs have been fertilized, and this is usually possible until the third child. In the case of the quadruplets, there are usually different combinations of fraternal and identical brothers, whether three identical and one fraternal, two identical and two fraternal or two identical pairs.Your case, Erika ... is especially rare in something especially rare, such as being pregnant with quadruplets. All your daughters are fraternal or twin sisters if you prefer, each fetus growing in its own amniotic bag, with all the risks that it carries.
Alanna's alarm rang at its own time like every day, 07:30 in the morning.
"Good morning, my love ..." She whispered waking up instantly, more than willing to carry the whole weight of the house with fierceness and determination, taking advantage of Anne's snoring softly to crawl on the bed until she kissed me on the lips. (discreetly grabbing my generous, if not my giants, boobs in an attempt to endure the lack of physical contact that I am forcing her to go through)
"How are you today?"An innocent question, more for courtesy and affection for me than for really waiting for an answer.
"As always ..." It's all I can answer, hating myself (deeply also) for not being able to raise my voice more or give it a more lively tone. A sad smile crosses her lips, kissing me gently again as if he were going to break me before getting up. I don't usually say it, but my wife's curves were getting more and more erotic, her previously butt had become a damn work of art (not that it wasn't before, but now that she had reassessed her tenfold original value), the top of juicy, huge and bulging asses with forgiveness of my own ass. (Of which after so many hours of gym throughout my life I feel especially proud)
People often say that we are becoming goddesses of fertility with our huge breasts, generous hips and buttocks just as huge ... if it were only true it would be all that easy. "I don't know if I'm going ..."
"Don't worry, my love" My wife answers me quickly as she crawls through the bed, running over me to take the box with my pills and my water bottle, placing them directly almost in my mouth (Specifically the pills on my lower lip and the bottle of water in my hand). "The protocol Overcome the darkness is for these days, nobody is going to tell you or throw anything in your face"
Alanna gets out of bed with agility and ease by putting on her robe, picking up her work and personal phones and putting on her slippers all in the blink of an eye (My blinks may not be especially fast lately, but I surely it's easy to understand what I mean). As usual, Anne ends up waking up after 5 minutes after the alarm sounded, sitting on the edge of her bed and opening her hands until Alanna came to pick her up. Cuddly girl ...
"Good morning my sunshine, let's say hello to Mamma Erika too, okay?" My wife whispers while Anne yawns and rubs her eyes, bringing her to bed and sitting both next to me.
"Good mornin, mamma Eri ..." My little girl still says between yawns, dropping on my chest in an attempt to keep sleeping. I don't know who has gotten out of being so lazy in the mornings, but for now I will let it go by being so adorable.
"Good morning to you too, my lazy sunshine… don't fall asleep!” I have to raise my voice to wake her up as soon as I see her begin to close her eyes, shaking her gently until she shakes her head when she realizes there were no options for keep sleeping. "What do you do now when you get up, Anne?"
“Washwash…” My little girl explains by simulating the gesture of rubbing her face with a towel, turning to her mother and opening her arms again to be picked up. My wife can't help a little giggle at the lazy behavior of our daughter, taking Anne in her arms and going both to the bathroom to prepare for a new day. I really want to follow them, I want to go with them, get out of bed and put my 2 meters and 80 centimeters high in operation. There are so many things to do ... clean the kitchen, fix the garden hedges, make a general scrubbing of all the bathrooms in the house, prepare the meals of the weeks, make inventory and prepare the shopping list ... besides I have too many days without training late and too many unfinished games that accumulate. I want to follow them so much ... if only ... I could get up ...
I'm not like this, I'm not the one who stays in bed defeated by the invisible enemy ... but I can't stop hearing him, thinking again and again.
You are a big woman, Erika. Bigger than any other quadruplet pregnant ... hell you're the tallest human in history! Hopefully that would help us to create tranquility on the issue of childbirth. The quadruplets usually weigh considerably less than a normal baby, and a quadruplet pregnancy usually lasts about 30 or 31 weeks for the safety of the mother and children. Your case is more extreme, since as you can see on ultrasound the 4 fetuses are larger than normal following a simple table of equivalence between a normal mother and you, Erika. They are bigger because you are bigger, so even though they weigh more than their human equivalents we have to be aware at all times of the present and possible risks that may exist.
Yes. Risks.
It is better that you go to the idea, you need to have all the data in your head to be able to decide correctly: First and most obvious all the risks of a premature pregnancy as much as for the mother as for the baby ... which I suppose you will have in head after we review them so much during Anne's pregnancy. Then there is the risk of cerebral palsy, exponentially higher in multiple pregnancies as more children are. In the case of quadruplets like yours we are talking about 45 out of every 1000 babies according to the study that the other gynecologists have passed me ... it is a low percentage but you have to be prepared for everything.
As for the worst of possibilities.
...
Alanna and the children have already left, it may even have been several hours since each one left for their daily tasks. I think it is half a day to judge why the stomach roars ... a strange sensation feeling hungry and hearing my stomach roar like a dark monster.
Nellie and Fraje have brought me breakfast to our bed before going to school, it is too easy to read the concern for me on their very expressive faces. Fraje hates so much when I treats him as a child, and strives to highlight things likes and his first hair on his beard (which wasn't so much, since he shaved it at the moment so as not to seem "idiot") or that his stomach is slowly losing baby fat.
... And of course I can't help seeing him as what he is, my little brother and now my son. I don't care that his body is finally entering adolescence, for me he, Nellie, Anne and the quadruplets will always be my little ones...
Williams has taken Anne to the weekly review for the second week in a row, and then Evangeline will stay with her until Alanna doesn't return from work. Nellie and Fraje while they will stay at Cascadio's house studying with Elizabeth until six in the afternoon, that Roland has offered to pick them up and bring them home. All because of my current state ... I can't blame her either. I am very ashamed to say this ... but I understand them perfectly... Especially after the last afternoon.
Without a telephone, without a clock ... I don't know what happened to me the other day ... I don't know how I could walk to the border of the dome without realizing ... that the soldiers themselves had to approach me to get me out of the trance I was going on.
The worried faces of Alanna and the children ... another one of the things that I keep seeing every time I close my eyes. I don't usually be like that ... I'm not like that! I don't know what's wrong with me ... every time I close my eyes ... over and over again ...
"Mortality ...?" Alanna and Erika asked at the same time, all glimpses of love and affection fading instantly to hear those 4 syllables.
Theo sighed slowly, nodding without pleasure or pleasure. “It is… one of the biggest and at the same time less likely risks. But a possibility after all for which we have to be prepared. There are no reliable studies that show a higher probability of mortality in multiple pregnancies than in single pregnancies ... but at the same time they are 4 times more likely. Four fetuses growing in four amniotic bags in the same space is extremely dangerous, Erika ... for you and for them. I doubt that there is physically space for a correct development of all them in your body ... and if we let time pass the thing can get seriously worse ..."
"W...what d...do you mean?..." Alanna asked trying to contain the tears and anxiety of his wife, who was tensing more and more every second.
"...Selective reduction..." Two simple words that fell like a bomb on marriage. "Yes ... if one of the fetuses is making the growth of the others too difficult ... t...the most correct and least dangerous as much for the mother as for the others is... to reduce the number"
Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ... Selective reduction ...
How...how can they... even ... It's not f...fair ... it's not fair... n... it's not ...
(February 17, 2020: Week 6 of the pregnancy of the quadruplets)
"It's not ... NOT FAIR!-"
"And then the elephant goes and sits on the car!-"
"H...how ... can ...-"
"And of course, the elephant weighs much more than the flimsy structure of the car can withstand and gradually destroys everything!-"
"They can't ... they can't do this to me ... I can't do that to them ...-"
“And the human in the car keeps recording it! These videos of humans receiving their deserved are simply great ... you should see some of the ones I've sent you, Alexander!-”
“SCREW YOU, GYESEUNG! SCREW YOU! IT IS ALL YOUR GUILT! YOURS AND YOUR DAMM NEPF!... It's not fair ... simply ... it's not fair to do this to us ... I have not done anything to you..."
“They would help you a lot to hang out between surveillance and surveillance! God knows that humans are really bored with all their daily tasks that are only repetition after repetition… how could they be placed on top of the evolutionary chain…?”
One laughing at the misfortunes of others, the other plunging into absolute misery. Was this part of his Master's punishment for not following the established script? Alexander could only imagine that it was.
“Watch them day and night, always keep an eye on my King and do what you have to do to protect them. Jackson has received and I hope he understands that his role as an infiltrator in Handshake has to continue working, so you will become my guard dog, my dear Alexander. My Reality King has to arrive in perfect condition to the storm, at any cost. The weight of the world falls on your shoulders, Alexander. Make me proud”
Gyeseung's words before giving him all the necessary equipment to set up an outpost between the walls of the Barlow Holm marriage house resonated even in his mind from time to time... although not as much as Theo's words did in Erika's mind, Alexander thought to himself as he chewed one of the pipes he had stolen from the kitchen. They weren't an especially nutritious food and the mouse could perfectly leave a few minutes to prepare something that really effective in the task of filling his stomach ... literally 2 minutes to reach his temporary base.
And even then, the mouse didn't find the courage to move beyond the vent duct. It was strange ... but something inside him told him that he couldn't leave the bereaved and depressed mother. Although she never knew, she deserved to have someone by her side to hear the pain in her heart.
That position was completely for Alanna, but as Alexander well understood the vice president was an essential piece for his workers and departments at the same level or more than his uncle ... and although she could reduce her day to only 6 hours it was still 6 hours that he should spend working to the fullest... so why did the mouse feel so compelled to hear her cry? It isn't as if he had something to do with the goal of all of Erika's rage, since although Gyeseung was its creator and master, the mouse was another product of his ambition as Anne and the other neohumans could be.
"Alexander, are you still there?" Bartolomeo asked for the communicator once again, trying to get his dear brother's attention. “If you have gone to the bathroom then you will hear this, I will send you the link to the playlist that I have made with my favorite videos. I hope they make your work more enjoyable! Good luck watching the Reality King!”
Anne... the mouse thought as Bartolomeo hung up the call. For his safety and privacy, the mouse had allowed himself to turn off and start all the Gyeseung locators of his tools ... since work wasn't an option, the minimum was to do it as he saw necessary. That same excuse was to which Alexander clung not to watch over Anne, telling himself that a girl needed to learn and explore the world for herself without her shadow keeping her in control.
"Carry the weight of the world... Rather the weight of his ambitions" The mouse told himself speaking for the first time all day. “In my case, what I assume is that means to protect Gyeseung's investment… for a mother, the weight of the world is to protect her family, a weight that doesn't carry by obligation but by own decision whatever the origin…
Does that mean that one's perspective is what decides how we perceive our duty? Is that what we carry with us that decides the fate of the world? Can a person carry that weight?”
Erika continued to curse and shout, crying and blaming, drowning in a sea that was born from a river that Gyeseung redirected. Every scream, every cry... so deep that the Amazonian mother herself forgot to eat and drink... None of the information the mouse had gotten about Anne's pregnancy suggests such behavior of any of the mothers. So what was that thing is now drowning her so much? That question, like Bartolomeo's previous one, didn't expect any direct answer.
The laboratory mouse knew well that it was an emotional response caused by the anxiety of the risks of a quadruplet pregnancy along with the responses born of the lack of his mother, all combined with the traumatic attack of Gyeseung last January and his own Theo's traumatic episode telling them about the option of selective reduction if the situation got too bad.
Everything he had read about psychology in recent weeks led to the same outcome based on the personality of Erika herself: A slow recovery of self-esteem and safety throughout pregnancy if nothing went off the rails... that in which case it would be an extension of the depressive episode capable of becoming a chronic depression. Again another beep of his communicator interrupted his thoughts, only this time the light on the screen indicated that it was not Bartolomeo who was calling."Master, is something wrong?" Alexander asked as soon as he picked up the call, running on all fours as deep as possible in the duct so there was no chance Erika would listen to him.
"Routine call, Alexander," Gyeseung whispered quietly, allowing the mouse to know that his master was in his relaxation room. “I have been investigating a bit the family trees of both mothers of my Reality King and I have found some things that you should be aware of and solve if they even occur, especially a more than likely allergy to pollen from her maternal family… Of course, both are maternal in this case. The Barlow branch of her family”
The mouse nodded silently, mentally pointing everything his Master was listing. The vast majority were just allergies or small things like a propensity for migraine, nothing that was really a matter of concern to anyone except Gyeseung himself. "Master-" Alexander ventured to interrupt him. "May I ask you something?"
"Of course, my Alexander ... shoots"
“Erika's four daughters ... potentially the 4 can be carriers of the NEP due to inheriting it from the remains left in Alanna. We shouldn't keep them safe even if it's substitutes-”
"You don't need to say anything else, Alexander." Gyeseung interrupted him back, changing his tone to a much more serious and severe one. "I know perfectly what you are thinking"
The mouse swallowed to himself, keeping silent while the sound of holographic screens opening and closing sounded on the other side of the communicator. “I have thought and thought about that possibility myself, so I am glad to see that you have followed me on this path. It is more than likely that any of the 4 fetuses have traces of the original NEP-” Alexander's heart beat a thousand a second, forcing him to sit against the duct wall. "But I don't see any use in allocating resources in keeping them as reserves"
"...What? Why?! More NEP carriers means less chance of error in our plans!”
"Alexander. There is no likelihood of error” The sound of a stomp through the communicator helped the mouse understand how much his master wanted to emphasize that. “Now we know that my Reality King can create her own Sindeul neurons in anyone… which means that by waiting for the storm we can already have as many reserves as necessary. I can't create more like you or Bartolomeo, so I have to manage it as I can: Which means that you should focus all your attention and efforts on what really matters. Do you remember what it is?”
The mouse bit its tongue for a few seconds in empty protest. "I remember-"
"I want to hear you say it. Now. Please, Alexander, say it"
"... Protect and keep the Reality King safe, no matter what you have to do for it"
"Exactly. Don't worry about anything, my dear Alexander... we will have so many NEP reserve carriers as you need so that you feel that our plans are safe. All in due time, okay?” Gyeseung whispered trying to put his voice more reassuring, really trying to calm any fear that his apprentice had internalized. "I know it hurts now, but you must feel your mission. No one but the Reality King is really important to the destiny of this world, not even myself. That's why you need to focus on watching and protecting my Reality King, the weight of this corrupted world is on your shoulders , my son. Make me proud"
Gyeseung hung up the call convinced that the mouse had internalized his mission to the point that he did not find it necessary to ask for explanations about deactivated location chips. Gyeseung's confidence was dazzling and guilting, a skill that the mouse had accepted that his master had from his first hours of consciousness. 9 years had passed since the last time his master called him son. 9 years working tirelessly side by side in the NEP, thousands and thousands of animals like him that had given their lives during the tests.
"Given? ... They gave their lives..." The mouse repeated itself loudly, returning to its lookout in the duct rack. Erika's cry had not stopped or lost any intensity in the entire time he and his master had been talking. "Their lives for a corrupt world ... none of them are worth more than the Reality King. It has ... it has to be true"
"Hali ..." Erika whispered, pressing her head against the pillow. A simple word that the mouse wasn't expecting, two syllables that made him approach until slightly open the grid and peek directly. "Anju ..." Another totally new word, a word that the mouse had not heard once in all the time he had been listening her laments. Slowly and without a sound Alexander searched through his work bag. "Makenna ..." Three syllables this time, spoken by a voice so broken and dry that the mouse was too clear that the Amazonian mother had not drunk water since breakfast. Without wasting time Alexander withdrew a little more from the rack, digging his retractable hook into the floor of the duct. "Elysia ..."
After ensuring a third time that the hook was correctly connected to his backpack the mouse clenched his teeth, jumping into the void. The fall was gigantic for him, the noise of the pulley sliding down the cable deafened his poor ears, the sparks that jumped burning his back slightly. The intelligent system of the gyocha teduli activated correctly, the fall slowing down just before the mouse got close to the other end of the cable. "I can't ... they can't ..." Erika continued to whisper more than ever in a continuous loop, much more serious than the mouse had seen in the previous days.
With the press of the button that hung from one of the straps of his backpack, Gyeseung's device was quickly picked up, allowing the mouse to walk along the bedside table next to the Amazonian mother. Memories of his last meeting came to mind of mouse, his bones and muscles hurting only to remember the brutality of the punch. Every memory of both it and his master was set aside in his mind as Alexander approached the edge.
"You shouldn't choose names so soon ... and less in your case..."
Words that wouldn't help, but that the mouse was forced to remember her for pure scientific and medical ethics.
"I can't ... leave them in the dark... I can't do that to them, I don't ..." Erika replied without raising her head from the pillow, coughing from the dryness of her throat. The mouse clenched his teeth again with such force that he was afraid of sanding them from friction. “They deserve to smile… they deserve to meet their mother, meet their brothers and grandparents… I want to teach them so many things… I can't even think of having to part with one of them”
""That's a selfish thought, you know? Even if you risk your own life?... you can't carry that weight, I know you didn't want to say goodbye too soon to your family...-"
"It's not about saying goodbye ... my family needs me here.."
"Then?! You may be depressed but you must remember what really matters! A life ... the weight of a life that isn't yet a person ... damn it. You cannot put the most absolute risk ahead of those who are here already!"
"My mother ... my mother ... knew the risks that Fraje's pregnancy would pose to someone with such fragile health like her..." Alexander was starting to bleed his teeth by putting them under too much pressure. “My mother could choose… and chose to trust her heart and bring Fraje to our world. There was no need, it wasn't advisable ... and the doctors were so furious that my father had to prevent one of them from reaching the hands of so much contained anger. It was… it was stupid…”
“And then why do you risk doing the same to your family!? Look at your father! Today he is still devoured by your mother's bad decision! A child must learn from his parents and not make his own mistakes!-”
"If you think my father hates my mother's decision ... you just don't know him..." Erika snorted, turning around until she lay on her back (with the pillow still on her face), not being able to avoid containing a small meaningless laugh. “My father misses her more than anyone in this world… not a single day he has left or will stop thinking about her… and that is why he has not lost his smile. You know why?"
"Sorry to say no ..."
"Because my mother hasn't abandoned us ... has never done it" Another second laugh without reason, breaking all the mouse schemes. “As long as we keep smiling she will take care of us… and that's why I will bring them into the world, so they can smile and that their grandmother will smile for them-"
"There is no logic in your argument, there is no logic in saying no so soon. You put your life before hers without knowing them ... they may hate you! Maybe they are real demons! Psychopaths, abusers ... there are too many factors that say that you are making a bad decision that I don't know how you can name them. Risk everything for one person ... so many lost lives. So much risk, so much pain just to fulfill a dream A dream so terrible ... that has not even taken into account who wore such a black crown. I can't understand that you give so much value to an immaterial fantasy"
"There isn't just one person in here" Erika replied drowning the tears on the pillow, returning to reality the mouse that had just realized that he was speaking in the singular. "Hali is the one in the right-hand anmiotic bag... she is a good girl. Makkena is next to her sister's right ... she is very naughty and gives me terrible heat strokes to be winter, but I know he doesn't do it with bad intentions. On the other side are Elysia to the left at all ... I am sure that she provokes the shocks, dreaming that she plays with her older brothers and sisters. And then there is Anju in the center next to Makkena ... she is the most shy and silent of all, although my mother's instinct tells me that she has something to do with the sugar crash of the last days "
"... You're the biggest idiot I've ever met ... Not only have you done the least recommended thing possible, but you feel proud. Do you simply plan to protect them based on willpower?"
"Willpower, mother's love and trust in Addams and Handshake. Can you think of anything better?"
"... I can think of much better things, yes. You are ... a huge idiot ... who gladly carries the weight of your whole world. You only plan to bring love to this world, and only love moves you. I cant understand you..." The mouse lamented deeply, jumping to the ground while Erika burst out laughing.
"I don't know who you are ... but thanks for reminding me how idiot I am..." The Amazonian mother whispered as she removed the pillow from her face, looking down at where the voice had come from and where there was no one. "H...Hello? ..."
Erika asked confusedly about what had just happened while Alexander made his way to the vent under the bed. "...Thank you... really..." Erika shouted feeling more liberated from the chains that bound her. Unfortunately, a mysterious words that made her remember happy moments were not enough to get her out of depression so easily, even while sitting in bed with no strength at all.
And it was precisely because she did not see herself with strength that the Amazonian mother forced herself a little more to sit on the edge of the bed, taking the bottle of water that Nellie had left hours before and drinking suddenly. The darkness was still there ... but the actions to fight are what would bring about a change back to the light.
...
The darkness of the conduit was so deep that the mouse needed to walk close to the wall to guide itself on the way back to its base, stopping and looking back when listening to Erika thanking for the third time. "You are a good person, mister ghost... thank you..."
"Good person?..." Alexander said to himself silently, looking around as if looking for something he could not find. “I am not a good person… not even I know I am a person… Besides, she is just saying it because she has left the drowning loop she was in! She isn't thinking logically or with a correct perception... Willpower and trust won't help you ... and Gyeseung won't either”
The mouse looked back, grabbing its tail in its hands and squeezing it doubtfully. Something inside him was trying to tell him something, his instinct telling him that he needed to keep looking... something he didn't even understand.
For the first time in a long time Alexander began to run, first on all fours as he was used to until his instinct made him accelerate and run on all fours as his kind used to. Erika's footsteps made him run faster, but Alexander himself knew it wasn't because he was afraid that the Amazon would find him. No ... it was for another reason. Duct in twilight after duct, leaving behind fluorescent markings that the mouse had left to guide itself in the dark.
And finally the mouse found the light at the end of the road ... in a completely literal sense as well, since it was the entrance of the air conditioner. Slowly and carefully the mouse went through bars and the blades now turned off until they were on the outer edge, from easily climbed up to climb on top of the device.
His heart was still revolutionized while the mouse saw all the surroundings of the Barlow Holm family house. "...I am not a good person... I work for the man who destroyed the normal lives of this city and wants to bring a genocide to the righteous and innocent alike" Alexander said to himself as his communicator bracelet shone again, this time in the color of Bartolomeo. The connection within him was speaking directly, a connection that the creator of the NEP himself could not understand. Would neohuman children feel this way in the future? Will they feel the need to take the hand that asks for help at any cost? He and Erika were nothing alike, neither in kind nor in age nor in tastes. Only the NEP connected them both.
And yet someone had to take her hand even from the shadows.
Grabbing both straps of his work bag, Alexander stared at the houses 40 feet below, discerning the house where his instinct guided him. "I've helped my master too much to even dream of being a good person. And yet I don't think I need to be to do the right thing"
By pressing the second button on the strap, Gyeseung's mobile device is activated by opening the wings correctly. 3 seconds of waiting for the mouse to take the opportunity to calculate the force of the wind that day had been programmed, the device whistled again giving the mouse a green light to launch.
(Same moment)
“Goal! I win! Win Win Win!” Gideon shouted, jumping and waving his hands as Reed and Estela surrounded him celebrating.
The Gideon team celebrated the third consecutive goal of the cyclops marking the 4 to 0 in the makeshift marker that Gabrielle had assembled with toy blocks, marker that Ariah took the liberty of decorating with stuffed animals simulating the audience. Gideon as captain, Estela, Reed, Zhong and Sammy in a team against Lisa, Gabrielle, Naseera, Bobr, Selja and Anne as captain of the other in a game duel that Estela had explained to her friends as her brothers and mother's favorite.
At first, none of the children understood that he had fun kicking a ball and putting it between some cubes ... but after a first attempt the game that seemed so silly had become the most important thing in their lives.
"There must be something ... that we are doing wrong ..." Bobr said as his team gathered around Anne, the goalkeeper designated by Estela. "We aren't coordinating..."
“I don't understand the game… you only have to boot? Why when they kick they take the ball among them? Is that legal?” Lisa asked furiously to see what they were losing, the wolf's competitiveness shooting at record highs.
Bobr shrugged while Naseera apologized again and again to Anne for not being able to kick the ball. The neo-human weasel was especially awake and intelligent for his young age of 10 months ... which didn't help him especially at times like this, where the unbridled energy and coordination of his sister were what really stood out... if only Selja were taking advantage of her excess energy.
Instead the neo-human monkey had internalized the "words" that the supposed "Yesterday" had said through Ariah, staying on the right of the makeshift field and playing alone there. For once Bobr wanted her sister to do all the work she went and suddenly became obedient ... the neo-human weasel thought as he dedicated one of his first offensive words learned from his mother to his sister. "I doubt that the distribution of players has been fair!" Gabrielle growled stomping furiously for losing in her own garden. “They have Estela and Gideon who have long legs and know how to run… we are me, Bobr and Seera that we can't keep up! And besides Gideon is cheating! It isn't worth doing tricks if Lisa cannot teleport! And they have more people with tricks! Gideon's redirect ... Sammy's sparks ... and Zhong's sparks! We only have Lisa! I demand a… what is supposed to be said in this nonsense?!-”
"Gabrielle! That is why we are supposed to be one more!" Anne interrupted her friend who was starting to hyperventilate and get too red for her own good.
“But it's not fair, Anne! It's ... it's my ball! I want to win!” Gabrielle shouted, throwing herself in the lap of the giant giant crying, an act that triggered Naseera to start moaning enviously and to throw herself on Anne.
Cries aside Bobr knew that everything his friend had said was true. Estela had made the rules to benefit the team where she was.
The child's first option was to let theirs mothers know that Estela was cheating ... an option that vanished when he turned to look inside the living room through the garden door. Their mothers smiled and laughed shaking glasses of mom's special drink, so like the little good had learned when mom had a glass of juice it wasn't too useful to go to her with serious arguments.
The second option was that Anne, as leader of the group, declared a ceasefire and expose Estela's traps to others ... but Anne wasn't too lively since a few days ago and the last thing Bobr wanted was to make her best friend even sadder of what she already was.
The third and last option was to keep playing and beat them in their own game ... something extremely unlikely. As Gabby had stated, the Gideon team had three players who were directly using their skills ... while their team only had two options. His own redirection of the wind (nothing useful but to direct a bit of a shot) and Lisa's teleportation, slow, predictable and she didn't even take the ball with her.
The little boy sometimes wondered why his sister and other children like Anne or Gabrielle weren't able to use the skills that Uncle Addams taught them ... but at the end of the day that didn't matter. If they didn't have them for the game, it didn't matter to have them later.
The dead time was over when Ariah blew his whistle with a passion and love for the same that few of his friends had come to see. "Second half, Yesterday will kick off!" Ariah shouted as she kicked the ball to throw it halfway down the field, stopping right in the center.
“Aggg! There is no time! Lisa, with me up! Selja and Gabrielle, cover the sides! Naseera, stop those who come through the middle so that they don't reach the captain” Bobr shouted as he ran as much as his legs left him, waving his tail to keep his balance as much as possible.
Gideon did the same from his side running alongside Estela towards the ball, taking advantage of its larger size to get ahead faster than Bobr could run.
Cyclops against weasel, weasel against cyclops. The two boys advanced at full speed towards the ball, one regaining their honor and another increasing their advantage and ego.
What neither of the two boys seemed to care about was the object that fell from the sky on the ball, moving a few centimeters towards Ariah. The object, or rather being, bounced on it falling to the ground. "Damn it ... The descent system needs some adjustments ..." Alexander told himself as he rubbed his sore back without noticing the situation he was in.
What made him notice it? The kick with all his strength that Gideon gave him thinking that it was the ball, all due to being so attentive to Bobr and not having a great sense of depth for having only one eye.
The Cyclops launched his plan, shooting towards the goal directly. As soon as the "ball" moved far enough, the Cyclops used his ability to redirect it to the left and turn it into a curved ball to dodge Bobr. "Selja!" Ariah shouted, rising suddenly, a sign that the little neo-human monkey instantly understood. As Ariah had explained, Selja released all her energy to give one of the greatest sprints of her short life, jumping and catching the mouse in the air.
"Hand! She has touched it with her hand! Estela, that i ...” Gideon shouted happy to be able to boot again, looking down at the ground when all his friends pointed out that the ball was still by his side. "Wait ... what have I hit?" The Cyclops asked confused while Selja jumped up and down uncontrollably, screaming with joy for having done what Yesterday had asked.
"What have I done ... so that they always treat me like this ..." The mouse whispered in the hands of the hyperactive little girl, who, as soon as she heard him speak, stopped jumping, placing the mouse in her open palm. "... Thank you, Selja S-"
Before the mouse could finish the sentence Selja opened her mouth, putting the entire upper body of the mouse in her mouth, feeling with her tongue while the mouse was shaking scared and the other children surrounded the neo-human monkey. After a few seconds of licking it, Selja ended up spitting it back into her palm, grabbing it with one hand and waving it up and down. “It's real! It's a mini-Zhong!” The children approached the mouse curiously when Selja stopped shaking it, closely studying the animal with eyes full of curiosity.
"I don't like it ..." Zhong declared almost instantly, crossing his arms and sweeping the ground with his tail.
“You don't like it because it's also a mouse! But smaller and more adorable!” Sammy shouted pricking her friend's cheek with her two claws as Zhong tried to push them away.
Crashed on the ground, kicked, trapped and tight like a rubber toy ... almost devoured ... and again pressed with a force that little Semyon twin was evidently not aware of. Alexander felt dirty and beaten, reminding him of those same feelings as when Bartolomeo played with him before developing a complete conscience.
One part of him felt that what he was doing was a big mistake ... (And that he was kicked which ball didn't help to think otherwise), the other part was still relying on his decision. "I regret not being to your liking, Zhong Hai..." The mouse said among even a few groans, his words causing the children to open their mouths surprised (even Zhong himself) bringing their heads even closer to the mouse, to the point that Alexander could tell his warm breaths and the smell of orange juice from the food. "Please ... some space-"
"Lille mouse speak!" Sammy shouted clapping her hands (as much as her claws left her).
"Mouse! Lille mouse! Hello!” Selja shouted, squeezing even louder.
"Mouse! I have a mouse pupet lille mouse!” Reed screamed so loud and in a voice so loud that Alexander had to cover his ears.
Dealing with very young children, as difficult as Alexander hoped it would be. Their voices were so innocent and strident that with a little shout they became authentic fairground pitos. "I'm glad, Reed Howee ... I'm glad for your mouse puppet, it's a great honor" Flattering them wasn't something that Alexander was too clear would work, but the proximity of their mouths open and full of drool urged the mouse to think fast and worry after his words.
"How do you know our names?" Bobr asked innocently, taking his sister's mouse away. (Made the mouse greatly appreciated)
“That is a fairly simple answer, Bobr Semyon. I am…” The mouse fell silent, realizing that he had no simple answer to that question. The children were very young and innocent ... but if something stood out a child was to repeat words like parrots. Any misplaced word was a word that any of the 13 children (14 counting the curious Yesterday) could repeat to their parents. “I am… an invisible friend! Yes! An invisible friend who takes care of you! That's why I know your names!” The children looked full of confusion and curiosity at the mouse, looks that were terrifying the mouse. After a few seconds, the children began to nod among themselves, recovering the smile, a fact that the mouse took as if his plan had worked. "And as I want to take care of you! I need your help to take care of your families!"
"I wanna help!" Gideon and Lisa shouted full of motivation, followed by all the other children nodding ... except for, as Alexander could see, Anne and Gabrielle, who bit their lips thoughtfully.
It was at the moment of seeing that the mouse understood that both girls were loosely related to the night of the incident, which if either of them could clearly remember their cover was finished. Cursing his Master and Bartolomeo silently for his little number Alexander began to squeeze his brains thinking of another solution to get out of the problem about problem.
“I appreciate you want to help me children! We have a lot of work to do, so let's start by finding out who needs more help from your families, okay?” The children nodded again while Alexander jumped to the ground, opening his backpack and searching until he found his holographic projector. After a few quick adjustments the mouse climbed on top of the ball, projecting a roulette on the ground. "Well children, do you know what this is?-"
"To Loulete" Zhong shouted quickly, giving an answer that Alexander himself was not expected to have. “Mommy see a lot of loulete on her phone”
Temporarily removing the worries of such innocent words that began to germinate in his mind, the mouse continued to work on his projector. At first he made the names of each child appear in a different box ... but after checking that it was as if nothing had changed for them because they couldn't read, he decided to approach the matter from a different angle, projecting photographs of their faces on the roulette. (Silently Alexander signed up to ask his Master where he had taken such images of the children's, like police records)
“Well children, we will help all of you and your families. To do this today we will choose who to help first with this... ... loulete’”
“Yess!” The children (again except Anne and Gabrielle) screamed so happy without knowing most how the process would work, now surrounding the projected roulette. (And tried to touch it unsuccessfully, fascinated to see that part of the colors remained in their hands while they were on the ground)
Although Alexander's words of wanting to help children were (in large part) true, the mouse didn't enjoy tricking them into believing that the decision wasn't made beforehand. Many of them will surely need help more than insurance in the future, the decision that day was already decided.
"Let's go kids! Get away and let's get started!” The mouse shouted and clapped, his cheerful tone making the children take their words seriously away. By spinning the wheel, Alexander waited a moment so it wouldn't be noticed that the projection stopped spinning. (Made useless for the simple reason that none of the children understood how to win at roulette)
"And Anne Barlow Holm has won!" Alexander began clapping again, all the children following his example and clapping. "Tell me little ... who should we-"
"Mamma Eri!" Anne shouted after a few seconds of understanding why she had won. The giantess toddler didn't hesitate a second to throw hermself on the floor on her knees on the roulette wheel, gently grabbing the mouse in both hands. “Mamma Eri is sad an thad make me so sad… she cry a lot and I dont like that! Please, mouse! I like mamma Eri smile...”
The mouse smiled forcefully to try to maintain control, gripping the thumb of the giant's toddler in an attempt to comfort her. “I can see how much you want to help her, little Anne Barlow Holm… so it's time to do it! Little ones, it's time to demonstrate the power within us! I need you all to come here and grab Anne-” It wasn't necessary or finish the sentence, since all the children threw themselves on Anne to grab any free part of her friend. "...Perfect! Now Anne, I have to ask you a question before you start… you have dreams from time to time in which you see your friends and family… but are they different?” The giantess toddler nodded quickly as Alexander expected, since what the mouse was trying to confirm is that the NEP “Futures Simulations” were as real as his Master believed in them. (And as the mouse could see, Gyeseung was right again that simulations will only occur when the subconscious of the Reality King enters the REM sleep phase)
“Perfect once again! Anne, I'm going to need you to close your eyes and put on this-” The mouse explained as he pulled out a small headset too small for Anne but the perfect size for him. "In the ear. When you start listening to music you will have to close your eyes and try to sleep-”
"But ... I don't wanna sleep now..." The little girl complained as she took the cable between her fingers, obeying the mouse reluctantly.
“It will be just a moment, I promise you. Guys, in the meantime I need you to do the same, okay? I need you to be touching Anne and close your eyes in silence...” With all the children obeying without giving too much fight back the work of the mouse became much simpler. “Ready? Already!" Everyone closed their eyes, most of them sitting around Anne while still holding her. The improvised soundboard of the Reality King's energy was working as well as the mouse expected, its scanners all demonstrating a much higher level of efficiency than expected. "11 bearers of the NEPF ... 12 telling me as a bearer of the NEP... The idea of sound boxes to accumulate NEP energy is perfect."
After 120 seconds of preparation (although the mouse would have liked to try up to 360 seconds the threat that some of the mothers went out to the garden was too real) subtly without removing the children from their concentration Alexander passed to phase 2 of his plan, adding Erika's recorded audio tracks in recent days to soothing music (an act that necessarily disgusted him greatly). Anne's expression changed to one of sadness until she ended up on the verge of crying, at which point the mouse decided to turn off the music and slap.
“Good job everyone! You can now release and open your eyes! Anne, you've seen something sad, right?”
"Mamma Eri ... mamma Ala ... Äldre syster ... storebror ... they are so sad ... crying a lot ..." Anne lamented, still hugging herself on the edge of tears, receiving Naseera and Gabrielle's quick hug each for one arm.
“And… were they very different? Was it them here?” The mouse couldn't hate having to take the situation to such extremes, but unfortunately Anne was his best event simulator available outside the laboratory.
The giantess toddler nodded, touching her chin. “Storebror have hair here… a lot… mamma Ala have a crying things in her arms” With the revelations that Alanna had only something crying and that Fraje had had time to be beard, being currently with the first hairs of the same, the mouse ventured to assume that what the simulation had calculated was a moment postpartum ... much worse than he expected. "Mouse ... I don't like that ... I don't want that ..." Anne groaned again absorbing the few tears that fell.
“Cheer up that face, Anne! Of course we aren't going to let that happen!! We can avoid it… yes… of course we can!”
Was self-conviction before the dire future? Or was it genuine trust? Only time would tell.