Chapter Text
You wake up, you don’t know what time it is but you know it’s still day time. You sit up from the couch. You look around. No sign of your mama still. You really want her to come home. You guess you should check the time.
You get up and go to the clock, your mama taught you time a little bit back. It’s around 4 PM. You don’t know when you fell asleep but you assume you’ve been asleep for a while. You had a really nice dream, you were back in the Glen and Refuge. It was comforting. You hope to have more of those dreams.
You think it’s time for you to check out the software that text gave you. You still don’t know who that was, but whoever it was, you appreciate them. You walk to your room, opening the door and going in.
When you look at your computer a rush of sadness washes over you. It wasn’t long, but it still made you uneasy. If you can really talk to them, then… You don’t know what you were trying to get at. There was a thought but you lost it. After a bit of staring at your screen, you finally go over to the desk. Your hat’s on your desk so you put it on. It’s comfortable.
You sit down in your chair, putting a paw on your mouse. You didn’t have this much of a struggle when the text was talking to you. It’s probably because you’re gonna actually talk to the people you shouldn’t be talking to. You turn on your computer since it shut off. You drag your cursor the application on your home screen.
You take a second before clicking on it. You’re ready. You know you are.
The application pops up on your screen, the purple-outlined screens appearing, just like how it was when you talked to The World Machine. You open up the cameras. You look at the ram girls rams, you remember when you helped her out with her rams. You think about who you want to talk to first.
Cedric. Probably Cedric.
He helped you out a lot, he helped you to the Refuge, he helped you with.. A lot. Without him you’d be confused with no way to the Refuge or.. You don’t know.
You click on the cameras labeled Cedric. He’s sitting under that tent thing he had. He’s drinking tea, he seems pretty chill at the moment. He’s always been chill. What are you on about? Anyways, you decide to not click on the microphone yet. You wanna check something.
You click on the music tab. It pops up with a pixel you next to a record player. There’s files of songs you can choose from. You click on the one named Aviator. It reminds you of Cedric, since he wears aviator goggles. It pops up next to the pixel you and record player. It’s actually very nice. You keep it on. You wonder if he would be able to hear it. Probably not.
You minimize the tiny application. The music still plays.
You finally put the cursor in the microphone button. You click on it. A sound plays and Cedric jumps.
“What was that noise?” He puts down his tea, he looks around. You’re guessing now it’s time to finally talk. You need to do this.
“Hi… Cedric.” His eyes widen. He looks up. You’re a bit scared, but you’re guessing he doesn’t think any harm is there.
He takes a second to himself, you assume he’s maybe trying to decipher your voice. Maybe he recognizes you, maybe he doesn’t. You would like it if he does recognize you. But the microphone might distort you. It’s only been a day or two. You.. think.
Finally, he talks, “Niko?” He does recognize you.
“Hi, yea.. It’s me.” He looks confused. Very confused. He’s probably wondering how you’re talking to him. If you were in his place, you’d think the same.
“How.. How? How are you talking to me? You shouldn’t even.. You should’ve remembered your adventure as a dream. Do you? Or do you not.” Cedric is obviously panicked, maybe not exactly panicked but more a tiny bit worried and extremely confused. Of course he is, anyone would be.
“My computer appeared with text and it gave me this software where I could see all of you guys and talk to you. I remember everything, I know it wasn’t a dream, something obviously got messed up but.. it’s okay. I asked to talk to you guys. I really didn’t wanna just… Leave like that. I hope that makes sense.” He takes a sip of his tea after you finished your sentence. You seems calmer.
“Well… Hello then Niko. I guess I shouldn’t worry. It’s nice to hear you again.” You smile to yourself. You wanna say hi to some of the others. You’ll tell him that, after you ask him how he is. It’s only been like.. as you said a day, but you still wanna know.
“How are you Cedric? Y’know.. the worlds fixed, do you like it?” He takes his time to answer, probably questioning himself. It’s like him to do so. You just hope he’s been doing alright.
“I’m fine, Rue’s fine and so is Proto. The world is nicer now. There’s no more squares to worry about and the world’s bright again. I appreciate you.” The music behind his voice is comforting. This is going better than you expected. Way better. You aren’t as nervous now.
“I’m glad.” You say, “I’m gonna go say hi to some others. I’ll talk to you sometime.” He nods at you, waving and sipping his tea.
“Bye for now Niko. I hope to continue to talk to you.” You click off his camera and turn off your microphone. You go back into the music files. You click on the one that says On Little Cat Feet. You guess the cat’s you. (You ARE NOT a cat.)
You think of who to talk to next. You’re nervous again, even though you shouldn’t be. You tell yourself it’s fine. You clear your throat before clicking on a camera labeled Lamplighter. He’s at the cafe with Ling. They seem to be having a conversation about something. You don’t know what. Lamplighter looks tired. Of course he does. He’s always tired.
You click on the microphone. It makes the same noise it did when you clicked it the first time. Lamplighter looks up, Ling does as well. They both look a tiny bit confused. You talk.
“Hi Ling and Lamplighter.. It’s me, Niko. I got a software from some text to be able to talk to you guys… So.. Hi.” Lamplighter looks very shocked, Ling looks a tiny bit happy. You remember when you cried while eating pancakes with Ling. That was a moment.
“Hey Niko! As weird as it is that you’re talking to us, I think I should still say hello and not make you answer tons of questions.” Ling says while making food for someone. Maybe Lamplighter, maybe someone else. You smile again. Ling’s always been a very nice person.
Lamplighter mumbles out a reply, you manage to hear it, “Oh… Hey Niko.. Thanks for uh.. Yea.”
“Hi guys! Lamplighter you look as tired as ever.” He drinks his coffee, Ling laughs a little.
“Yeah. Speaking of you being tired, you seriously need to sleep a bit.” Lamplighter rolls his eyes at Ling. He just smiles.
“No time, I got work.” You’re a tiny bit confused since he’s literally sitting in here and you assume he’s been here for a while. You giggle.
“You’ve been in here for 30 minutes, could’ve been sleeping the entire time.” Ling pokes Lamplighter and he just grumbles. You think it’s time to go talk to someone else and let these two hang out for a while longer till Lamplighter has to rush his way to work.
“Well guys, I’m gonna go talk to someone else. I’ll be back sometime.” Ling waves to wherever he assumes the sound is coming from and Lamplighter puts a thumbs up.
“Bye Niko!” Ling smiles and gets back to making coffee.
“Byee!” You click off and turn off your microphone. Now who next… First you need to change the music. You scroll through the files and find one named Distant Waters. You turn it on. It’s quite nice surprisingly.
You think you wanna talk to Rue. You click on the camera labeled Rue and see her sitting at the tree you met her at during you think your… First session? You think so at least. She laying there, curled up. You turn on your microphone. The sound makes her pop up. You feel a bit bad but you’re pretty sure it’s fine.
“Hey Rue.. Uh, it’s me Niko. Sorry if you were resting…” She seems happy and taps her paws on the ground. She knows this isn’t right, you know she knows that. But you’re pretty sure she doesn’t care at the moment.
“Niko! Hi hi. I was resting but it’s okay. I’m guessing you’ve talked to Cedric? If you haven’t then you should. There’s no explanation for this but… Still hello. I hope your time at home is going well so far.” She’s very sweet. You’ll answer everything.
“I have talked Cedric, he was confused. But uh.. My time at home is going fine. But everything was really confusing and overwhelming. Remembering everything and then.. Yeah you get it. My mama isn’t home yet. That’s really all. I’m just gonna talk to some people for now then I’m probably gonna get off and get something to eat…” She does a tiny twirl, her tail swaying.
“I am glad to hear Niko. You should go talk to some others! I’m very glad to say hello to you. Even though it hasn’t been that long.” She lays down again and you agree with her.
“I will. I think I’m gonna talk to Proto or.. Maybe Kip next. I’ll choose when the time comes. And for now.. Bye Rue!” You turn off your microphone, she says goodbye quickly.
You open the music files again, scrolling through them to see which one would be good for talking to Proto or Kip. You think you’ll talk to Kip.. Proto might be busy, he’s like that.
You click on Library Stroll. Since it’s like.. The library, and you’re pretty sure Kip’s in the library. She might be with George.
You click on the camera labeled her name. She is at the library, sitting in a bean bag talking to George. George gave her a coffee you assume. You have no clue what they’re talking about.
Before you can click on the microphone you hear a door open and your mama call out. You immediately shut down the application and hop up. You run out your door and your mama is standing at the counter. You smile widely and run to her. She turns around with a big smile, embracing you in a hug.
“Mama! Mama! You’re home!” Every bad feeling you had while checking out the cameras is gone. You’re very happy to see your mama.
“Yes yes, so sorry for being out all day! I was doing stuff with the neighbours and harvesting some stuff. I’m home now, Niko.” She let’s go of you and you back away a bit. She’s smiling at you. She goes to put on her apron and hat.
“For now, you want some pancakes?” You swear you see stars, you would LOVE pancakes right now.
“Yes yes yes!” You hop into a chair at the counter. She immediately starts to make her special pancakes. You no longer feel uneasy. You know you’ll have to go back and talk to others, but for now, you get pancakes, and you get to see your mama again.
It’s time to enjoy this. You can dread over that stuff later. You kick your feet back in forth. Just like in that dream you had. There’s no worries now. Unless something bad happens, then you’re all good.
For now.