theworldibuilt4you

[theworldibuilt4you]

"What on earth is with her?"

[Pumpernickle mumbled as the message popped up]

"Eh, cut her some slack... She's been kinda strung thin lately. I'm sure she was just worried when i didn't come back sooner and wanted t-"

[YOU HAVE: 22 MESSAGES]

'UHM..."

[theworldibuilt4you]

"hehe yeah of course you knew." [She yawned again]

"...I think I heard my computer beep earlier. I don't see anything wrong with it though..."

"Uhh... I uh... I wasn't exactly awake so... I didn't... seeeee anything..?"

[He scratched at the back of his head absentmindedly]

"Maybe it was nothing, I dunno if I heard anything, so-"

[Another notification pings the desktop- and this time, Sam seemed to jolt up a bit- this was more direct, aimed at him.]

[Sam you lazy butt get up we have a situation here. WAKE UUUUPPP.]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Reading into Casey's awfully familiar behavior, Addie glanced between them and Jade a number of times. It was a good thing they could see the cheesy grin that broke out on their face, the way their eyes crinkled in knowing.]

[Well. Casey helped them out so long ago by giving them a motivational nudge... Perhaps they'll do the same.]

"It does seem like a pretty good way to travel... Hey, maybe you two should travel together a couple times? Maybe by hanging onto you, Casey can learn the ropes better!"

[It was subtle... But hopefully a good effort.]

"Different worlds... That sounds really cool. And fun!"

-Addie

[Jade seemed to be quiet, Allowing Casey the floor as she picked at her nails.]

"Ah- You... You think? Maybe... I think I got the motion down but uh..?" [Case's hands go to their head, making a little whirly motion at the sides of their face]

"Its weird, Visually!! Like- I don't know how to even DESCRIBE it..!" [Then Jade perked up, piecing something together]

"....You did it with your eyes open, Didn't you?"

[...Embarrassed, Casey looks away.]

"Ahah..- No wonder you were so dizzy... It's not a sight for sore eyes. Tut tut..." [A shift of the jellyfish's heels]

"It was a bit more useful when there were other worlds to actually visit. Right now, from what i'm aware, there's only this one so far. Other than a map, you can go to the desktop, or between work devices on the network. I don't find much use in that, myself..- I... Urghh.." [Jade shifted her attention to a screen she had open]

"Give me a minute, I need to try to ping Sam again... If he's asleep, there's no way in hell we're getting him over. That little anemone sleeps like a baby."

"I was kinda like that when I was uh.... Alive..? Yeesh, kind of... Kind of weird to say it like that... Uh... Can... Can one of you go over what... Happened to Nito..?" "I'd like to wait until I get confirmation of Sam's whereabouts.... I'd hate to explain twice. Quite inconvenient..."

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Pumpernickle laughed a bit louder, chirping and nosing the screen]

"I was asleep too, silly. I didn't have time to miss you, you were right there when i woke up!"

"Ah..! ah.... right..."

[He laughed lightly, a bit embarassed as he slumped up. It took Sam a minute to get himself sorted, getting to his feet and making sure the folder was... mostly back in the right place. He didn't spend too much time "making his bed" persay. Messy.]

"Iiii knew that! I knew that... just uhhhh.... testing.... you... yup. Aaaand you passed! Congrats!"

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Addie nodded to indicate they were following Sonny's idea, resting their chin in their palms with concern still written on their features.]

"Okay… Let me know if I can help, 'kay?"

[They offered with a smile. It was probably moreso something that was more tedious than difficult, but they still wanted to offer anyways.]

"...?"

[The activity from Jade and Casey on their feed caught their attention, their head tilting with curiosity as they shifted their focus to the two of them.]

"What's going on over here…?"

[Looked like practice for… Something. Teleportation, perhaps? Or was this like going underwater...?]

-Addie

"I will... Thank you, Love. I just need to pay attention to it better I guess..."

--

[Casey looked up to where the sound was coming from, realizing who had been speaking to them- How could they ever forget the sound of Addie's voice? They were the one who spoke to them most frequently afterall.]

[They clear their throat, Scrambling out of Jade's arms with a quick look of... embarrassment?]

"Uh- Shit- Hey, Addie! Ah..- Uh, I... got your message..." [They rub the back of their neck, past their hair and the fur of their coat... Visibly glancing to the ground as Jade proceeded to speak.] "They wanted to get here quickly. Running over from their location would have been.... Inconvenient. So I showed them how programs like me and Kinito can travel through the map more efficiently." "How do you do that so easily anyway..?" "Practice, darling. Like I said, It's rather... Dizzying your first few times. You will get used to it. Then, I can show you how to warp to different maps- Ah, Different "Worlds"."

"I.... I think I might just walk..."

[theworldibuilt4you]

[She giggles, bug like chirping high in pitch]

"...Nothing. Just checking on you."

[The little folder icon seemed to spill open, little files scattering onto the desktop as Sam came rolling out of it. The critter's hand went up to his eye, rubbing the sleep from the corners.]

"Ehehhh... I'm all good, All uh... [Yaaaaawn] all good.... Uhh... Hell, i've been uh... Out for a bit, huh?" [He shifts to sit in his spot, piling the papers back into the folder icon with that sleepy "I just woke up" look in his eye] "Did I bore ya, Being out so long? Y' miss me too much~? Pfft.."

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Eventually, Pumpernickle opens an eye. Then the other, blearily looking around her tree before yawning. How long has she been out for? Sun wasn't down yet...but the exact measurement wasn't clear either. She shook her head a bit, wringing any leftover exhaustion from her mind before seeing if her anemone friend was up yet]

"Sam?"

[... Didn't seem like it.]

[The sound of the other's voice had atleast stirred him a little. He was a... pretty heavy sleeper it seemed like. Like he just completely shuts down when he sleeps. Hell, it would be comparable to mammals when they go into such a deep sleep you'd think they're dead.]

[After a few seconds the file on the other's desktop twitched, shuddering as he rolled over inside it.] "Mmm........? Yh.... Yeahhhhh..?"

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Pumpernickle stirred oh so slightly as the notification beeped at her. She blinked her eyes blearily and...closed it. In her sleep she must've thought it was jade or kinito asking to come over. Which, she didn't want while sleeping]

[Neither of the two seemed to really stir at the contact, the notification showing up in the corner of the screen aaaaaand.... Disappearing into the notifications tab.]

[It would probably take both of them quite a bit before they answered. Other than a tired whine and a "Five more minuteeeees" from the folder Sam had occupied, there was no response from him either.]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Addie cringed from the awkward interaction, rubbing their shoulder tersely. They felt hurt by Kinito's response with Sonny, seeing as how they played a major role in what happened. He was right though - now was certainly not a good time for Sonny to go sniffing at his wounds.]

[In the future… But not now.]

"...Hey. It was good to at least try. He's just too scrambled right now to handle a serious conversation, which is totally understandable. Poor little guy…"

[Addie offered Sonny a few words of comfort, their gaze sympathetic. They pondered on what was said.]

"A migraine, but really quick that leads into rather significant memory loss… Hmmh, makes you think something got suddenly removed…"

[They rubbed at their chin in thought, brows knit in worry. That dark thought lingered with vengeance, until they couldn't take keeping it within any longer.]

"G-god… You don't she had anything to do with this, do you…?"

[Addie groaned, fear and concern mixing. They didn't want it to be true… They wanted something to be found to prove otherwise. At least then they wouldn't have to try and think of confronting that virus sooner rather than later…]

-Addie

[Sonny winced at his lover's suggestion, a tension tightly knit in his brow. He tried to shove the hurt of rejection down aswell- he should have expected as such. After all that's happened...]

"I... I don't know... When we were watching her, she didn't... She didn't DO anything to the main servers.. I didn't feel anything abnormal...! All that pest was doing was rooting through the programming on that world file..." [He sighed, stress clearly on his face. There's never an easy day in here, is there!]

"I'll take a deeper look for any changes... My methods right now aren't very quick. I think the internet the servers run on is a bit outdated.... Looking through this stuff is uh... Slow."

---

On the other feed, There was a strange, warbling cloud of pixelation that had appeared by Jade's side. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, But Jade didn't seem alarmed about it... A mix of grey and pink scattering within the mess, before- "Urgh..!"

Tumbling out of the cloud of pixels and glitching colors came Casey- Stumbling right into Jade's arms, as if she had been expecting them. "There you go! Told you you could do it, Case.." They seemed a bit dizzy, trying to shake off how frazzled they had seemed. "You- Ough..- Didn't exactly say how... Disorientating that is..-!" "You'll get used to it with time. Glad you could make it... Now... Where is that Anemone..? Probably fell asleep somewhere again, as always... Siiiigh" It was a more playful irritation instead of actual anger.

[theworldibuilt4you]

Ohhhh they sound like a fussy lil baby,,, Seeing another secret sweet side of Sonny where it shows that he's so, so good with kids. Like so good with them. I mean, this whole project was supposed to be kid friendly after all..!

Imagining this big six foot giant of pure muscle holding one of his kids close, sweetest joy he's ever known,,,

wanted to mess around with addison kid designs........... me likey combiney traitses...

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Addie squinted at their screen with concern, tucking their chin into their drawn in knees. They weren't sure what they were going to be faced with, but it certainly wasn't this...]

Woah. Kinito, I'm so sorry... that seems really scary. It sounds like you had your memory screwed with...?

[They hit send, tapping the edge of their keyboard pensively. A dark thought brushed through their mind that made their heart lurch; could this be the work of the virus, gnawing at the server's code?]

W-we should get everyone here... Someone else might've seen something.

[They immediately chased the nasty thought off, replacing it with a much more productive and proactive line of thinking. They sent a global message, knowing the residents (and viewers) have been pretty spaced apart lately.]

Hey, everyone; Something's up with Kinito. He's fine... physically, at least. Come peek in as soon as you can, please.

-Addie

"It.... it IS scary.." Kinito screwed his eyes shut tight, tucking that tail of his behind his legs as Jade quietly rubbed at his back with her hand.

"I..."

[Sonny grimaced on his own side of things, feeling a bit sick to his stomach... so he's not the only one having messed up memory..?]

"I'll take a deeper look while we gather people... Its... Its a good idea to ask if more people have information that were missing here. Like Addie had said.."

[He lingers on his words, staring at the axolotl on his screen... And Kinito seemed to do the same, not making eyecontact with where the feed was being cast out. Away from the "Camera"]

"....Kinito... I-"

"Don't. Just... Just don't. N-Not... Not now. Please..."

[...He takes that hint, and.. doesn't try to speak to him again, voice catching in his throat as he just shuts up and tries to look into the code, try to find an abnormality.]

---

[Because Sam had already turned in for the "Night" (day, for Pump) he had not been there to recieve the message. Instead, the broadcast showed up on Pumpernickel's device for the both of them]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Addie absorbed his words with a quiet somberness. At his kiss, their tail rustled the blanket behind them as it gently darted side to side underneath.]

“I’m rooting for ya, Sunshine…!”

[They called out one last time as he disappeared into the screen, waiting for him to fully submerge before huddling in around the old device as they were used to doing. Clicking on their heater to a higher setting, they piled up the blanket even more around them as they settled down.]

-Addie

[As Sonny returned to his previous spot, He begrudgingly arose with a soft huff- Stretching out his back until a faint pop was heard. Going in felt worse than coming out at this point..! With a sigh, he quietly opened one of those black terminals with his hand, pressing fingertips against the surface to use it as a touch screen. He quickly opened up a feedback screen like what had been previously on Addie's own device, squinting at it.]

"Alright, Alright, I'm here... Jade, What's up?" "I-... Oh boy.. Okay, Kinito..? I'm gonna have... You tell him. Just... So he can get the details right."

"U-Uhm.... O...Okay..." Kinito had... Not entirely been willing to speak to this man again to be frank. He hasn't spoken to him since... Since- [He grimaced, pushing that back a bit. Jade had told him that this was something that he needed to bring to light, so... He'd do what she asked.]

"I... Don't.... Know how to describe it... I was just... in the house, When I just... Felt... Something weird happen..." "Weird as in HOW, Nits? We need details..." "I-I'm getting to it..! It's... It felt a bit like a migraine, but it was... really quick..? And then I tried to uh... Tried.... Ohhh see, this is what i'm talking about..! I-.. I can barely remember..! And It just happened...!" The little axolotl seemed... Rather worried about this, Frightened so bad he was shaking, that tail of his lashing. Jade stepped over, placing a hand on his own. "Easy... We'll figure it out, Nits..." "Ohhh but I might have been able to fix it myself if I was... If I was still..- What... What was it called...?"

"Admin, my friend... You were Administrator at a time." "R-Right! That.."

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Addie had simply waited for him to relinquish his grip at his own pace, finding it endearing he was holding on so tight. When he did pull away, they immediately nabbed the blanket he made for them, swaddling themselves in it to make up for their loss of heat source.]

[Jade’s sudden departure was just as jarring as her appearance, and Addie blinked in surprise.]

“Must be really serious…”

[They stood up as well, looking a bit ridiculous covered in that giant blanket, most of it piled on the ground around them due to its size. They padded forward to give Sonny a parting hug.]

“But, I have faith in you! You’re smart, and strong, a-and…”

[Their attempt at optimism died on their tongue, and was ultimately unable to hide the tension in their muscles, the shake in their voice… the way they shifted from foot to foot uncertainly.]

“…And you’ll be careful.”

-Addie

[One of those arms that had now been curled tightly at his sides had quietly snaked up their back, rubbing against the dip of their shoulder blades. Sonny was... Very quiet for a moment, trying to find words to comfort his partner properly.]

"....I will figure this out. Whatever is waiting for me in there, I will fix it. I'll get it done.... And then... Then I'll return to you out here, My Love."

[He bent down just for a moment, pressing a gentle kiss against their forehead oh so tenderly... One last thing to hold onto when he was in there. It was a little selfish of him, needy.]

"I'll be careful... I will. I promise."

[Another bit of lingering, Evident that he was really holding it off- Before a sigh escaped his chest, closing his eyes rather sadly]

"....Can't make her wait forever, I guess...." [Before quietly withdrawing, that same motion of slinking back into that screen as Addie must have gotten used to by now. It's strange how normal this had become at this point.... Something so unnatural, abnormal, becoming part of this reptile's every day life.]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[His cute little snake… Addie only melted even more in his embrace at the continued attention, giggling as he doubled down with his affections.]

[…Until Jade appeared – interrupting the moment with her curt message, the urgency in her voice sucking the warmth from the air immediately. Now Addie didn’t like being bothered any more than Sonny did, but if it was so important…]

“...Sonny, this sounds serious.”

[They hesitated at first, but eventually moved to pull away some to help redirect his attention. They tried to quell the gnawing anxiety her words wrought, to no avail… This was scary, no matter how they spun it in their head… Their core temperature dropped just a bit, but by no fault of the chilly air around them this time.]

"We knew we'd have trouble on our hands eventually..."

-Addie

[It took a little bit of pulling before Sonny had realized that Addie wanted out of his arms. It would have been hard to do it on their own. Despite how gentle he was with his touch, those arms were pure muscle. With a little disappointment frown, he curled those arms back inward to himself, releasing Addie from his loving grip.]

[Sonny then stood back up, sheepishly glancing away from either of the faces in his peripheral. Bringing his hand up to his mouth, coughing in a mix of embarrassment and disappointment. Those cheeks were rather red, too.] "....Right. Of... of course.... My... Apologies. I must have gotten caught up in-.. Ehem.." [Clearly he was a bit reluctant to leave the comfort of the outside to return to his self made prison, but Jade was right. He can't be out here forever when something serious is going on. He can't just be avoidant.]

"I'll... I'll be right there, Jade..." "Thank GOD you're still sensible... uff.." [She gave an evident little huffy sigh, a bit flabbergasted with what she was left to deal with. The little feedback window closed, showing she had "left"]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Pumpernickle's face scrunched in amusement before chirping in a fit of giggles that slowly faded as the cat-erpillar curled around her laptop. Wouldn't hurt to rest as well with sunrise so close to her tree hollow]

"Night-night..."

[Even though Sam had not been there in person to keep her safe and shielded from the things outside, the warmth of her laptop could be good enough to provide just a little comfort. She could pretend he was there]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[Pumpernickle tilted her head before nodding]

"I will! I don't think anything weird's gonna happen. We'll be ok."

[He shot back another wide grin, the messed up half opening just a little to accommodate how bright it had been. Then, he gave a dorky little two finger salute, and dove into the folder he had been hovering over.]

[theworldibuilt4you]

[After a second of processing all of what he said, Addie quickly devolved into a stammering, flushed mess, hiding their face in his shoulder.]

"Hhheheh… You… T-think that… R-really? Hhah.."

[They leaned back some, unable to help stealing a peek up at him despite their unravelled state, their tail wagging giddily enough to shake their whole body. At least they kept each other from despairing…?]

-Addie

[As Addie tucked their head to his shoulder, Sonny tilted his head to the side to get a few little kisses in, quietly breathing in their scent through their golden locks.]

"I know that.. Look at you, Hah! It's so easy to get you like this..."

[He chuckled softly, giving them one big squeeze like a hug- Like he couldn't resist.]

"My cute little snake, you!"

[Just as he was settling back in to holding Addie with such fervor, enjoying their presence- The screen lightly flickered before them. A new feedback screen had popped up, filling it with green.]

"Chamberlain! You need to get in here. I KNOW you went out there again."

[He let out a silent groan, eyes tightening in light frustration]

"Just- Just give me a minute-" "It's important. Something happened. Something concerning."