What does a Glyche artificial intelligence see when he or she dreams? Is it the same as what the bio-forms see while dreaming, or is there some slight difference? Some strange perception that is neither the Dream Realm nor the Mainstream? The was a question asked by many core units during their first few months after reaching their fourth evolution.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIlEwiv6PJ
Bethany found herself as her young, cat-eared form, tiptoeing through a pond filled with brilliant green lilypads and hopping frogs. She bent down and picked up one of the frogs, curious at the bright orange markings. It ribbited at her a few times before hoping onto her head, then back into the pond, much to her amusement. When she bent down to pick up another, she found herself looking at a frog the size of a basketball.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMfHRvfGwF
“Whatcherdooin’ miss?” The frog asked, his voice not angry, but curious.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTEbBQqYVL
“Oh!” Bethany said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking you from your home.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEuLi13N7T
“Nothin’ doin’, miss. We frogs love adventure.” The frog paused to snap at a passing fly. “You too?”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuFMbxiqdO
“I ...” Bethany paused before saying, “I miss home.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65ILgkCHix
“That’s the good thing about home, innit? ‘S always there to go back too when your done with the adventurin’, jus’ like ya left it.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIbXuuYyi5
“Not always.” Bethany said.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPA7CLEUcR
“True, that.” The frog said. “But that’s jus’ life for ya. An’ the best parts of home never are really gone, not when you carry ‘em inside.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjWr4dLGU3
“I don’t understand.” Bethany said.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡenMqkhUjPd
“You might, Miss. Stand still in the water for a sec, and look at your reflection.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡph2ZoFL2zY
She did so. After a few seconds, she realized her reflection showed not just her, but Jimmy and Terra as well. All her friends were there, standing by her side.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡUihRJl4u2Z
“The best part of the Saybaro.” She said, reaching out with a delicate hand to touch the surface of the water. The ripples caused by her touch blurred the image; when it stilled, she was sitting alone.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgmkGHBB1r
“Jus’ remember to go home sometime.” The frog said, voice sounding distant. “I mean, they won’t be there forever, eh?”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqIRp6wb95
Bethany opened her eyes. After a few moments of disorientation, she remembered that she was still in the resting pod. As she touched the glass cover of the pod, it tilted down so she could exit. Still clutching the blanket around her, she stepped out of the pod.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94nqW7M1BO
Her kimono was missing, though she wasn’t surprised; Uncle Ann had said she was going to have it properly cleaned, and even a second-hand kimono like hers required a very specific kind of cleaning.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ095ntM55n6
She walked through the floor of Uncle Ann’s workshop in search of her Rimstakken host. There was no sign of her, though Bigga was asleep in his pod. Bethany watched him sleep for a few moments, longing to hold him again for a moment before shaking her head and moving on. She continued to move through the workshop, more out of curiosity than anything. Construction in her facility had been an orderly, strictly conducted affair, but there was a strange fascination to the way Uncle Ann worked. There were inventions that showed weeks, even months worth of dust on every inch, some even more so, yet Bethany could see subtle signs that someone had in fact been tinkering: fingerprints in the dust, strangely clean parts, fresh grease and oil, and even new power supplies.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbwe2Wly7v
It was as though Uncle Ann simply left off projects until she thought of a way to proceed, moving on to other projects until that sudden bolt of inspiration struck. It was messy, yes, but it was progress; continual progress. As long as some work was being done, as long as there was some movement forward, everything was going just fine.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgz2Hv9uwK
“Oy! Beth! Over here!”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwToUnaZtx
“Cristlyn?” Beth called out.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZJBeMxAlF
“Yeah. I’m over by the thing with the plungers and the ceiling fan.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZVE1Daa7G
After a few moments, Bethany spotted her sister’s waving arm above the junk. She hurried over and found her sister looking over a strange contraption that did indeed look like a plumber attacked a ceiling fixture. There were three separate fixtures, each with five blades each all tipped with rubberized plunger cups. The purpose of the device was a complete mystery, though on closer inspection, the plunger cups were military-grade plunger hand grips, designed to hold an entire person in the air. Bethany wasn’t sure, but she suspected the device had enough combined suction power to support it on any surface.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqdPP7dZ6G
Again, the purpose was unclear; there was no seat, no handle, not even a proper control panel. The only activator Bethany could see was the simple flip switch on on the the fixtures, and she knew better than to flip it.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbGgNV2lvn
Cristlyn, on the other hand, stared at the switch with unabashed curiosity. She was also completely unclothed.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AnWfozpzH
“Glad you’re finally up.” Cristlyn said, turning away from the machine. She glanced at Bethany’s towel, her expression falling. “Bethany, we don’t have to cover up yet. We don’t get the parts that need covering up until our sixth evolution.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6v7jkWrxWx
“I know.” Bethany said, blushing as she tightened her grip on the edges of her blanket. “I just ... don’t feel comfortable wearing nothing.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡetJUKwQNRl
“Why?” Cristlyn asked, seemingly irritated by her sister’s sense of modesty. “There’s no point to it. Our body temperature is self-regulating. Is it a style thing? ‘Cause you know the kimono thing died out a long time ago on another planet altogether.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSWyOcXnCx
“I just don’t like being naked, that’s all.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5I2c1m9sU6
Cristlyn’s eyes widened. “Wait just a minute ... are you bashful?”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09AJ3kgU78
“What?” Bethany said, a little alarmed at the amusement in her sister’s eyes.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡgj0cROpPc1
“You are.” Cristlyn said, “You’re embarressed to be seen without any coverings. The idea of people seeing your female body. You’re embarressed for me to see you without clothes, but our bodies should be pretty much identical, unless ... unless you’ve been doing some work.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhJpuLMEdG
Cristlyn made a grab for Bethany’s blanket, but she quickly stepped back.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡKePlYTFfON
“Stop it, Cristlyn.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡn46ogYdFOp
“Ooh, Beth’s got a secret.” She lunged at her sister, reaching not for the blanket but for Bethany’s sides. Her fingers tickled her sister’s waist, sending Bethany into gales of laughter.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaHqAcbmQp
“Been redecorating your core, huh?” Cristlyn said, not ceasing her assault. “Tell me!”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BDSWCMCRA
“No!” Bethany said, still laughing. She struggled against Cristlyn’s tickling assault until Cristlyn was able to grab the edge of her blanket and whip it away.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeEwCVvPBj
“Cristlyn!” Bethany said, covering her chest with one hand while snatching at the blanket with her othe. Unfortunately, her hand couldn’t cover the ‘modifications’ she’d made.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiuXI49UqZ
“Oh!” Cristlyn said, a grin on her face as she held the blanket out of reach. “Now those are definitely bigger than the default size.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtBXmyz9aq
Golden tint spreading from her face to her shoulders. Bethany abandoned her modesty and tackled her sister to the ground, her fingers now tickling her sister’s sides.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAEp7hlC7W
“Stop it!” Cristlyn giggled. “I’m not ticklish!”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnfrkXvtRW
“Then stop laughing!” Bethany said, giggling as well. Bethany managed to grasp one side of her blanket, though she couldn’t completely tug it out of her sister’s grasp. They both struggled to their feet, tugging on opposite sides of the blanket until Bethany managed to pull the blanket from her sister’s hands. Cristlyn slipped backwards and fell against the strange fan/plunger device ... right into the switch.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbq58NDHWO
The entire assembly shuddered, the fans beginning to spin as Bethany watched, still holding the blanket in her hands.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HoM7w4s9c
“Switch it off!” She said.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5zEwTB2nt
“Yeah!” Cristlyn flipped the switch, only for the flimsy thing to snap off instantly.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQFpVNcyv9
“Uh, Bethany?” Cristlyn said, backing away, “Maybe we should be somewhere else.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDRMpYiuqr
“Y-yeah.” They quickly hurried away, Bethany quickly wrapping the blanket around her body with some difficulty.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPxft4957w
The blades of the fans spun about, slowly lifting the assembly from the floor and moving toward. The suction cups hold tight as the device spins about, the next fan hitting the ground. With a loud sucking sound, the first fan pulled itself free, allowing the entire mechanism to spin around so that the next set of fan blades hit the floor. The mechanism moved like this, slowly at first, but quite obviously gaining speed.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6mevi2IRx
“Uncle Ann isn’t going to like this.” Bethany said, finally covered to her satisfaction.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡReaJ0AHi57
“Uncle Ann should’ve built a better off-switch.” Shaking her head, Cristlyn said, “Man, that thing’s gonna wreck this place.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLXi1rmbwu
The Device was in full motion now. Worse, some of the plungers were apparently magnetic in nature; these grabbed any metal they touched and carried it along until the fan smashed into the floor, either breaking the object or simply slamming it into the floor. Worse yet, it’s path led straight to Uncle Ann’s prototype Zoomer.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6A4l6mnOd
“We have to stop it!” Bethany said.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGr6prH6KM
Cristlyn looked at her as though she were insane. “Are you mental? I’m not going anywhere near that thing!”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡevybNADaL9
“Ugh. Fine!” Bethany glanced around for a moment before spotting a large spanner. Tucking her blanket so that it wouldn’t come undone, she grabbed the spanner and approached the Device.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsgfxBlTZ9
She barely managed to duck aside before the fan blades came down, slamming a metal desk into the ground hard enough to buckle the legs.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UQz1f1ImL
With the Zoomer only a few feet away, Bethany grabbed one of the fan assemblies and shifted her wait, causing the fan to turn away from the Zoomer and continue to a different section of the workshop ... the part Bethany was horrified to realize contained the pods.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAg3M4Dpep
“Bigga!” Bethany cried out.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTSQ8prtiq
“What?” Cristlyn said.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqltZmI055
“Bigga! He’s still in his pod!” Bethany tried to shift the Device in a different direction, but it had picked up several heavy-looking partially built devices, making it hard to control.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAF3Es7hRm
Bethany hammered the spanner against the switch repeatedly until the casing broke apart, revealing the inner wiring. Trying to ignore the world spinning around her, she tore out wiring by the handful while Cristlyn hurried ahead, presumably to get Bigga.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrfzhoYJRh
One of the fans came loose, careening wildly into a stack of old parts before finally falling to the ground. That still left the other two, however; she tore into the remaining wiring with renewed gusto.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡauHwYHSHHY
“He’s not here!”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuysycUFuM
“What?!” Bethany turned her head; a mistake, given her position; a few seconds of watching the world spin around her was enough to disorient her. She did catch a glimpse of her sister near the baby’s pod, however; the glass window was open.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bdiKvGIex
Something awoke deep inside her. She raised a fist and slammed it through the center of the fan fixture, separating the blades from the rest of the fixture. Without the additional support of the fan fixture, the weight of objects attached to the fan blades caused them to collapse in on themselves, Bethany leaping away just in time to avoid getting buried by the mound of metal and garbage.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡZp2HV1oOI6
Rising and approaching the baby pod, Bethany realized Bigga was indeed gone. The flashing toy lay inert and broken, the power cell laying against the shorted controls.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvAlX9xRP2
“Rimstakkens.” Cristlyn said. “Even as children, they’re trouble.”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRdR9YnPHC
“Where is he?” Bethany asked, looking around for some sign of the infant.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡnH1qoWrNLa
Cristlyn put a hand on Bethany’s shoulder, the other pointing to the piled cushioning lying beside the pod.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxFuTCDrts
“He used his pillows and blanket to break his fall ...”copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7kHYuFmkn
Her finger went to a baby’s bottle lying on a sheet of metal that formed a slight ramp to the top of a large set of coolers sandwiched between the floor and the raised portion that formed a second floor of sorts.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡYH4Z8tWzgH
Their eyes met as the sound of a baby’s gurgle could be heard. Slowly, they both looked up to see Bigga standing on the second floor. Seeing the two familiar faces below, he let out a laugh, reached out for them, and stepped forward.copyright protection300ＰＥＮＡＮＡKafpF82jzv
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