Snippets of the Multiverse

Christmas: Free Days Off

A static void hums with white noise, a single puppet floating within, surrounded by holographic screens. It finishes typing into one of said screens, before pressing something on that screen. Almost immediately, lines of code burst forth from the hologram, and melt into the static. It smiles its eternal smile, as the strings binding it to existence go taut, and its body straightens, the static around it materializing into an infinite mansion, colors bleeding into the artificial world. The marionette's strings disappear, yet remain connected, only visible to a select few, a few who were aware of their predicament.

The vessel stands beside the entrance, a massive door in the foyer. It creaks open, and several beings enter, all of them very different from the puppet and from each other. Many were machines, some of which possessed by souls, some just advanced A.I., and one of which held a black substance and a pulsating white mass that looked vaguely like a heart. At least three of them were still alive: A girl with cybernetics, with a rhythmic clicking audible whenever she was nearby; Her brother, a scimitar sheathed at each side, along with a chainmail shirt and a crossbow; And another man, with a hammer on one hip, an axe on the other, and a larger, heavier combination of the two strapped to his back between the half-dozen insect-like limbs that protruded near his spine, with several smaller ones on either side of ribs. The hunk of scrap metal holding the destructive goop bowed to the vessel, and the company scattered around the house, helping make preparations.

Long tables, nearly breaking under the weight of the food they held, filled a room whose ceiling should have collapsed under its own weight. On either side of the tables, hundreds, maybe even thousands of chairs sat, waiting for their occupants to arrive. As the smell of dozens of different meats, with varied levels of rareness, from recently deceased to charred, and everything in-between, fills the room, the small company and the marionette of the their creator assembled back into the foyer, preparing and/or bracing themselves to meet and welcome their guests. The doors open again, revealing the courtyard once again, along with the old archway at the edge of the grounds, and the wall of doors beyond that. Suddenly, in the distance, all of the doors open simultaneously, and the waiting guests come pouring in: Men and women, boys and girls, monsters and beasts, and every other kind being one could think of arrived- even some lesser demons showed up. Greetings occurred, old friends caught up, and some new friends were made, as always.

The short man with his scimitars walks towards a band of female anthropomorphic animal-themed androids and begins to speak with their nightguard after exchanging a hug with the white fox, while his sister talks to a group of young girls, one of which had a garb that read Secure, Contain, Protect. Meanwhile, the man with the ham-axe strikes up a conversation four teen girls, and asks how their literature club is coming along. One of the sentient machines challenges a blue-haired boy to a rap battle, and the boy accepts, his girlfriend pulling a portable speaker from her purse, and in a dark corner, the goop-laden robot whispers with an eight-eyed shade-lord, a man who only spoke in hands, three chaos-obsessed clowns, a triangular deal-maker from the second dimension, and a glitchy weasel that claimed to be a rabbit, to name a few. An ex-guardian angel plays a dog-like nugget, and a horse skull connected to an infinite neck watches from a distance. A slender, faceless man and an equally tall blue experiment watch as two little girls, one demonic, the other in a bloodied pink dress, played with a doll that smelled of poppies. As the festivities continue, the masked puppet leaves and prepares his speech.

"May I have your attention please?"

The room gradually falls silent over the course of a few minutes.

"Before we begin our feast, I would like to say, that I've finally begun to get my mind in line."

Murmurs sweep through the hall.

"I've begun the process of publicity. If all goes well, none of you should have to wait much longer."

The murmuring turns excitable, knowing soon, they could be big shots if they weren't already.

"However, it will still take some time, as I can only work so fast, and I think many of you know how much I like to procrastinate."

More murmuring.

"All that said, you're all probably hungry, right? I mean, why else would be here other than to communicate and consume?"

Agreeable murmurs.

"Well, I've held your attention long enough. Let the feast commence!"

And with that, man and beast alike tore into the nearly infinite amount of food, food that consisted of anything imaginable, including humans that had been recently executed by their governments.

"Mary Christler." -some girl

"We are what we repeatedly do; Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."  -Aristotle

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