"I shouldn't tell you this, but I've been having these weird dreams like every single night for three weeks now where I'm being contacted. Not by ghosts, exactly, but people from other histories, where things turned out differently than they did here. And they're all envious. And they all say: You are so lucky. You live in the best of all possible worlds. And you don't even know it."
― Dexter Palmer, Version Control
Evie was lost.
She was standing stuck in the middle of a giant, trashy, black and red city with nothing but a brown rucksack on her back.
There was the sound of loud buzzing traffic above her head and Evie slowly looked upwards. Her dark eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from bewilderment. Flying cars! Legitimate flying cars that one could easily find in a futuristic sci-fi movie were currently zooming overhead. Despite the oddity, the only thing that the blonde young woman could bring herself to wonder about was how in the world was the traffic being managed up there with no lanes?
Evie's eyes focused up towards the sky only to see... that there was no sky to see. It was completely obstructed by a thick heavy smog. Even the tips of the tallest building seemed to disappear into the yellowish brown nothingness. It was a hopeless and claustrophobic sight. Nope, she didn't like this place one bit. She turned around to go back where she had come from, but... where was the gate that she had entered? It was right there a moment ago.
Evie rubbed her eyes and looked again. No. It was completely gone! Reaching out about with her arms, she prodded the empty air as if making sure that it didn't suddenly go invisible. After a minute or so, she finally gave up and let her arms drop to her sides.
"What on earth?" she muttered, completely baffled.
Not knowing what else to do, Evie began to just walk. That is when she noticed that the streets were filled with the strangest of creatures. Robots, aliens, mutants, androids... she swore that she got a glimpse of perhaps a human or two, but then she noticed that they either had a tail or gills. Evie couldn't help but stare. Was there some sort of Star Wars or Star Trek convention going on? She heard nothing of the sort being planned. Nor did this look like Kyoto anymore.
Taking a deep breath to try and stay calm, Evie grimaced and covered her mouth with her hand. Ugh! The air was putrid! How could anyone just casually walk around breathing in these machine fumes?
The city was extremely dull and dirty. The only thing that was bright about it were the numerous screen projections of some black ogre with flames for eyebrows and branch-like spikes for hair. The screens were scattered all over the place with him advertising all sorts of commercials such as fast food and vacation resorts.
"That's one hell of a mascot..." Evie muttered as she eyed one certain projection of the ogre resting on a hammock at a white sandy beach while holding a martini and winking at the audience. In the meantime, the (why were they in English?) words "Aku Island Resort. You wish you were here, but you can just keep dreaming" flashed over it. She knew that Japan was weird but this was on a whole different level. It was almost like the devil himself rose up and took control over the government. She looked at another projection of the ogre and snorted.
"Aku is always watching YOU!" it said. His eyes were just staring down at the crowd below.
It was all so ridiculous that Evie couldn't help but give a soft giggle.
Deciding that walking around aimlessly wasn't going to help her find her way back to the To-ji temple, Evie tried to talk to a random passerby. "Umm, excuse me?" she gingerly poked his shoulder and he turned around. Evie tried very hard not to recoil away from the giant fish with big round unblinking eyes. It wore a helmet filled with water and it walked using its fins. But no matter how creeped out she was, it would be incredibly rude to behave so. Besides, it was probably only a costume.
"C-can you p-please tell me where I am? I-I am rather lost. I'm looking for the To-Ji Buddhist Temple?"
A very... VERY realistic looking costume. She could make out every fish scale!
The creature stared blankly at her and a few bubbles escaped its unmoving mouth.
"... It's in Kyoto? ... In ... Japan?" Her voice kept growing softer and higher pitched as she kept adding on words. At the same time, she began to shrink back. The lack of any response was nerve-wracking for her. "Uhh, Planet... Earth?" Speaking of which, did he even understand English? Goodness, this was becoming awkward real fast.
The fish gave a sudden wheezing laugh, startling Evie. He stood there holding his belly as he laughed before finally calming down and giving the blonde a soggy pat on the head with a fin, causing her hair to stick up. "Good one, kid." Evie gaped as he stalked off, chuckling to himself while muttering in a gurgling voice, "Japan, ha! What will they think of next?"
Once she had gotten over her initial shock, Evie patted down her hair back into place.
Well, that certainly did not go the way she had planned.
Evie didn't have time to come up with a plan B when she was suddenly shoved aside. She yelped as she fell to the ground, landing painfully on her butt. She felt something crack beneath her weight and she cursed her bad luck. 'Ugh... it was a new iphone too.' And to top it off, Evie was certain that she was going to have a rectangular bruise down there too. She looked up to see a rather peeved looking robot. "Wha-?"
"Move it, skin-bones!" the robot snapped at her with a mechanical voice.
"I'm... sorry... I didn't mean-"
The robot didn't listen to the rest of Evie's apology and just motored on.
"Oh goodness, dear me! Are you alright?" a concerned voice with a British accent spoke up.
"I think so, thank-" Evie turned her head until she was face-to-face with a blue dachshund dog wearing a safari hat and a red bow tie, "... you."
Did the dog just talk?
"Here now, can you stand? I would assist but I'm afraid that you would be too heavy for me. My most sincere apologies."
Evie's eyes became wide as saucers! The dog was most certainly forming human words with his mouth. Not only that; he was standing upright on his back legs! No matter how much she racked her brains for an explanation, there was just no way that it was a person wearing a costume. It couldn't be a robot either. His movements were too fluid.
She screamed. "AHHHH!!!! A demon dog!!" she scrambled backwards while pointing.
"Good heavens! Where?!" The blue dog turned around, ears perked up in fearful alert.
"She's talkin' abou' you, ye dimwit."
Evie gasped when a black Scottish Yorkshire Terrier smoking a pipe appeared, followed by a yellow bulldog. All of them stood on their back legs and wore safari hats.
"Me?" the British dog exclaimed in surprise before giving a hearty chuckle and turning back to Evie. "My dear lady, I assure you that I am no demon." He did not seem at the very least insulted.
"But... you can talk!" Evie accused.
"Quite so," he agreed with a pleasant nod.
"And you're walking on two legs!"
"Quite so."
"And you're wearing clothes!"
"A perceptive young lass, aren' che?" The Scottish dog crossed his arms.
Evie's pale cheeks turned pink at the sarcasm and she stopped pointing, feeling rather foolish. She cleared her throat, "sorry, I'm from... out of town."
"Clearly," the Scottish dog scoffed. "You don't see me fussin' over yer appearance."
"Now, now, no harm done," the British dog brushed off the apology with a wave of his paw. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sir Colin Bartholomew Montgomery Rothchild III, Rothy for short. And these are my associates, Sir Angus McDuffy..."
"Aye," Angus nodded in greeting.
"And... ugh...Drifus, you're drooling again."
The bulldog looked sheepish before giving his head a vigorous shake, sending drool flying everywhere including his two friends and Evie. Noticing what he had done, Drifus gave a low "sorry."
"That is Sir Drifus Alexander." Rothchild finished dryly before pulling a handkerchief seemingly out of nowhere and wiping himself off.
"Right..." Evie shook her wrists as she stood up, trying to fling the slobber off. That's disgusting...
"And may we have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Rothchild asked.
"Evelyn Atwood. I go by Evie." She replied, finally calming down. "Please, can you tell me where I am? I am really lost."
"Most certainly," Rothchild beamed. "We are currently located in the Central Hub of the city. Sector D."
Evie frowned slightly. "This city wouldn't happen to be Kyoto, would it?"
"Ki-yoto?" The dogs looked at one another and Angus shrugged. Rothchild turned back to Evie, "I'm afraid I have not heard of this Ki-yoto. Is that where you are from?"
Evie's stomach sank like a rock. "N-not exactly. I was touring Kyoto before I found myself here. But at the very least, this country is Japan, right?" Now that she thought about it, she had yet to meet anyone who even spoke Japanese. So far, everything was in English.
"Well, it used to be called Japan several hundred years ago," Rothchild said and scratched his chin in thought. "But now that you mention it," he pulled out a random electronic contraption and began pressing buttons until he got the result he wanted, "aha! There it is. Kyoto! The once thriving capital of Imperial Japan."
Evie looked over his shoulder at the screen. It showed a map of Japan and the red dot, she guessed, was Kyoto. She was about to correct Rothchild that Kyoto wasn't the capital when she remembered, "oh yeah, it was the capital, before they changed it to Tokyo."
"Tokyo?" Rothchild typed that in and pressed search. An error screen popped up. "Hmm, I'm afraid that Tokyo isn't part of our history. You must be mistaken."
Evie couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh as she straightened back up. "How can that be right? It's the current capital of Japan."
The dogs gave her strange looks.
"No, no, Kyoto was the last and final capital before the Aku era." Rothchild explained, though he studied Evie with a confused eye. "And like I said before, this isn't Japan anymore."
Not Japan anymore? How was that even possible? Did she miss something? Evie frowned, the skin between her eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement. "Aku... Aku.... I keep seeing and hearing that name everywhere. He's that derpy ogre on all those ads, right? What's the deal with him?"
The dogs visibly became very disturbed by her words and began to look around nervously. Rothchild took her hand with his paw. "Here, come with me. Let's talk where it's less crowded," he spoke in a hushed voice.
Evie let Rothchild pull her along while Angus and Drifus followed. Once they reached an empty street, the blue dachshund pulled out a different device and planted a scanner/muzzle onto his nose. Evie flinched when he sniffed at her with it but he quickly turned his attention to his computer. His eyes went round at the results, "well! As I live and breathe! Not only are you not from this town, but there are no DNA trace records of you anywhere!"
"What? Le' me take a look at that!" the Scottish terrier ripped the device out of Rothchild's hand and read it. He snorted. "Clearly this contraption is faulty. You have been scammed, Rothchild. I hope you can get yer money back."
"Nonsense!" Rothchild snatched the device back from Angus. "This is of my very own invention and I'll have you know that my inventions are always fault-free."
"Then why is it saying that she doesn't exist?" Drifus finally spoke up as he pointed to the screen.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Perhaps I may have forgotten to adjust the stabilizer..." the blue dog shook the device next to his ear, as if to check for loose parts.
"Uh... I don't mean to be rude," Evie began, growing more and more uncomfortable with the situation. "But what are you all talking about?"
"That is what we are trying to figure out," Angus grumbled.
Rothchild hummed in thought before shrugging and stuffing the device away into his bag. "I suppose we will have to do this the old fashioned way." He turned to Evelyn with a concerned look and asked, "tell me, my dear. Is it true that you do not know who Aku is?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I have heard stories..." Evie pondered for a moment.
Rothchild smiled in relief and nodded to his friends, seeming to accept that answer.
"Isn't he that one demon who terrorized Japan until the Emperor's son finally slain him after becoming a full fledged samurai warrior? It was one of my favorite fairy tales growing up."
...
"Alright then, question number two," Rothchild changed the subject so fast that Evie was certain that she had answered incorrectly. "When were you born?"
"February 14, 1997." There, that was easy. There was no way that she could have gotten that.... Wrong?
Judging by the dumbfounded looks on the dog's faces (aside from Angus; his hat and fur seemed to cover up all possible traces of facial expression), they seemed to believe that it was. Evie began to doubt her own memory. Surely she couldn't make a mistake regarding her own birthdate, right? She knew for a fact that she was born on Valentine's Day, maybe that's why they were looking at her like that? It wasn't the most beloved holiday...
"What country do you hail from?"
"The United States of America."
"I have never heard of such a place!" Rothchild was astounded and pressed further, "Who is the ruler of that land?"
"Uh... we don't have a ruler. We do have a president, but it's mainly run by the federal government."
That seemed to stun the dogs even more. Rothchild even pulled out a notepad and began to jot her words down, like a psychiatrist or even a detective." Who was the first person to step onto the moon?" he finally asked.
Okay, that was a random question.
"Neil Armstrong."
Some more scribbling until finally, he stopped and slowly closed the notebook. "My dear, Evelyn..." he said seriously before with a bright smile, he flung the pen and notebook away as he spread his arms in a 'eureka!' fashion. "I think that we have found the cause of your conundrum!" Rothchild told her with a bright smile.
"We have?" Drifus asked, looking rather lost.
"I thought it to be strange when I saw you. Purebred humans are so very rare in this day and age, especially in a big city such as this one."
"An endangered species," Angus added. "Practically extinct, you are."
Now Evie felt like she had heard and seen everything. Talking dogs... Japan not existing... endangered humans... This world was completely topsy turvy!
"Normally I would have said that you are from another planet but my device has clearly labeled you as an earthling, despite denying your existence. I still stand by my word that my invention is working perfectly fine. So this could only mean that you come from an alternative reality!" Rothchild looked completely ecstatic with the discovery. "A reality where Japan still exists! A reality without Aku in it!"
"Aye, either that or she's a complete nutcase," Angus jabbed in.
"Stop! Hold the phone..." Evie put her hand up, stopping him. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger as she breathed in and out. Taking this all in- well... It was a hard pill to swallow. "So what you are trying to say is that I'm in a different dimension entirely?"
"Precisely!" Rothchild wagged his tail in excitement. "It's the only logical explanation as to why my invention couldn't trace your roots."
"Okay..." Evie breathed out and nodded. "I guess that makes sense." Honestly, no. Nothing made sense. She had half the mind to claim that this was all a dream. Nothing else would explain the extreme change in the setting. "So who is this Aku character you've been going on about?"
"He is the source of our troubles," the blue dog said sadly. "He is our demon overlord. The shogun of sorrow. And unlike the story of your world, he has taken control of our poor planet and has terrorized countless others."
"I wish we had a samurai hero..." Drifus moaned sadly.
"Gosh...." Evie looked over at a projection of Aku biting into a Subway-like sandwich. Sure, he looked freaky but... he also was rather comical munching on that sandwich. Somehow, she couldn't imagine someone like that taking over the universe. If it was true, the name 'Aku' fit him perfectly - it being the literal meaning of 'evil' and all. Evie had taken a year of Japanese to recognize that much. Taking that into account, it probably would be for the best if she did not stick around much longer. "You wouldn't happen to know a way for me to get back to my world, do you?" she asked. 'Or how to get me to wake up?'
The three sentient dogs shared a few worried glances at one another.
"Well, the thing is lass..." Angus began hesitantly.
"While space, time and interdimensional travel is not unheard of here..." Rothchild added slowly.
"You'd need special permission," Rifus finished.
"From who?"
"Aku," they all answered simultaneously.
"No one comes an' goes without his say-so," Angus said. "Yer lucky that he hasn't noticed you. That is, if he hasn't already."
Evie swallowed heavily. That was certainly not the answer that she was looking for. Her only hope of going back was by asking the devil himself? "And what are the chances of him helping me?"
"Not very likely," Rothchild shook his head sadly. "And even if there was the slightest chance, I would not recommend it. In fact, I would highly advise against it. From the sound of it, your world has been pure and untouched by his evil for generations. If he were to find out that such a world exists..." he shuddered.
Evie's eyes lowered to the ground, distraught and her hand tightened into a fist. So dealing with the devil was out of the question; not that she wanted to. She was actually quite relieved that she didn't have to... but at what cost? "Then what can I do?" her voice was broken. "I have a family. A home. A future..." She could feel a lump forming in the back of her throat and she tried to push it back down. Dream or not, she wanted everything to return back to normal.
Her three new friends watched her in silence, pity written all over their faces. They could see tears forming and it was breaking their poor doggy hearts.
Rothchild walked over to Evie and patted her on the leg. "I am so very sorry. I'm afraid that there is nothing that can be done."
"If we had a way, we'd offer it to you in a heartbeat," Angus sympathized.
"But that isn't to say that you can't have a family, home and future here," the blue dachshund tried with a smile, hoping to cheer Evie up. "We can help you get settled in!"
"And how are we goin' to do that, Rothy?" Angus asked, biting his pipe.
"She's going to need a place to stay," Rifus drawled.
"And a job. She can't live if she doesn't work," Angus added.
"I know of just the place." Rothchild snapped his fingers, looking quite proud of himself. "Come! Follow me. We'll have you settled in no time!"
Evie followed behind Rothchild in silence as they joined the crowded street. Angus and Rifus walked on either side of her in a companionable comfort. Her eyes were downcast and her spirits were in the dumps. She wanted to protest living in a filthy city like this one. She wanted to go home! How could she possibly live in a world where a demon ruled all and where humanity was the minority of the population? Besides, her family would be worried sick about her! Sure, she was supposed to be touring Japan for a few weeks, but when it came time for her to return to Los Angeles... how was her family going to react when she never arrived? They'd be waiting for her at the airport and she wouldn't be there.
A solo tear escaped and slid down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with the long sleeve of her black shirt. The longer she walked, the more it was starting to become clear that she wasn't dreaming. She could smell the exhaust fumes with such clarity that it couldn't possibly be a dream. Her throat hurt from the lump that formed inside.
"So, how did you wind up in this world in the first place?"
Evie blinked and looked down at Angus. He did not look up at her but kept his focus straight ahead. She realized that he was trying to distract her from her worries. "I'm not... entirely certain how per se," Evie began as she tried to pull up her memories.
<Flashback>
Evie was in absolute awe as she wandered about the To-ji temple grounds. Her tour group was taking a lunch break and so everyone was allowed to go where they pleased until the appointed time to regroup. It was a beautiful place. The autumn season had turned the canopy of trees into a mesh of gold, scarlet and brown. Evie relished the sound of crunching leaves beneath her shoes as she walked on the graveled path.
She took out her smartphone and was about to snap a few pictures of the scenery when it was suddenly snatched out of her hand.
"Huh? Hey!" she yelled in annoyance and whirled around. She wanted to give the thief a piece of her mind but she stopped when she saw a Japanese macaque sitting on the ground before her, poking at the phone's screen with wide-eyed curiosity.
'What is a monkey doing here?' Evie carefully leaned down as to not to startle the animal. The macaque looked up at her and tilted its head, evaluating her with intelligent black eyes. It didn't seem to be at the very least intimidated. 'Must be used to the crowds,' she thought.
"May I have my phone back please?" she asked as gently as she could, holding out her hand slowly. It was a long stretch to assume that it would just simply listen to her, but being nice was a better option than insulting it. Animals were smart and knew when they were being disrespected.
The monkey smiled at her and she nervously smiled back. 'Does it understand me?'
Nope. The monkey stuffed the phone in its mouth and high tailed it out of there before she could blink. "HEY!" Evie exclaimed and charged after it. She had just got that phone a few months back! She was NOT about to lose it! "Give that back! That's not food!"
The monkey cackled as it slipped through the thick shrubbery. Evie struggled through it, ignoring the prickly branches as they scraped and tugged on her blue denim jeans and her black thermal shirt. She stumbled into a glen with a narrow path that was overgrown with moss and grass. Clearly it had not been used for years. "Stop!" She ran after the monkey who was now leaping from tree to tree.
It was odd, really. If the macaque wanted to get away, Evie knew that it would have disappeared from view by now. Instead, to her bewilderment, it stopped and waited for her. Then when she was a few feet away, it jumped away again. It went on like that for a good ten minutes. The monkey led Evie further and further into the woods, but it never left her alone. When she began to fall behind, it stopped and waited. It even cooed at her encouragingly when she had to climb up after it over a giant pile of black rocks. The monkey bounced on its back legs as it watched her struggle, cheering her on.
Or mocking her... now that she thought about it.
But when the monkey began motioning her to 'come' in a very human-like gesture, Evie forgot why she was chasing him in the first place. Suddenly it was less about her phone and more about figuring out what the monkey wanted.
When she finally made it to the top, Evie sat down to catch her breath. By this point, Evie didn't even realize that she had lost track of where she was. The monkey was leading her up into the mountains. Evie's hands and knees were wet and stained from the dirt and grass and she thanked the lucky stars that the monkey was using a path that she could follow.
She nearly jumped into the air when her phone landed in her lap. The monkey made some soft noises and patted her on the head as if saying "good job."
"Thanks?" Evie watched as the macaque clambered towards a torii gate and ran through it, going deeper into the woods.
First things first, Evie checked to make sure that her phone wasn't broken. Turning the screen on, she sighed in relief before realizing something crucial.
The battery was at 1%.
"Ah! No don't-"
The screen went black.
"-die..."
Getting up, Evie groaned in irritation and stuffed the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She looked up at the brown torii gate. It was ancient and had long lost its vermilion paint, with only flakes of it left. Most likely it hadn't been cared for in a very long time, especially since it didn't seem to lead to or from anywhere. It might have been a sacred place once, but now it was forgotten. Japanese characters were etched vertically into one of the torii's posts and Evie traced the ones she could reach with her fingers, carefully as to not tempt any splinters. The kanji was too complicated for her one year worth of Japanese lessons back in college.
For no reason other than simple curiosity, Evie walked through the gate.
If she could have read the message engraved on the gate, she would have known that it said:
"Caution weary travelers. You leave today to enter a different tomorrow."
<End Flashback>
"And that's how I found myself here," Evie explained sadly. "I couldn't go back the way I came because the gate wasn't there."
"Hmm, sounds like one of those one-way portal gates," Angus said after a moment's ponder.
"That's a thing?"
"In legend at least. They take yeh wherever you wish to go, but the catch is- you can't use the same gate twice." Angus turned his head in Evie's direction. "Odd that yeh would choose this world to visit."
Evie felt ruffled by that comment and she glared at the small black dog. "I did not choose to come here."
"Where did yeh want to go then?" Rothchild glanced back over his shoulder at them.
"Nowhere in particular. I was just curious."
"Well, that answers that question," Angus snorted in dry amusement. "You didn't choose so it chose for yeh. That's what yeh get for bein' curious like a cat."
"But there has to be another gate then, right?" Evie pressed eagerly, clinging desperately to hope.
"Good luck findin' one. No one knows where they be located."
Evie sighed, but the hope that there was a way back kept her from falling back into a pit of despair. She lifted her chin up and straightened her back. No, there was no point in moaning about the situation. If life gives you lemons then you gotta make lemonade. 'I've got to change my point of view on things,' she thought to herself firmly. 'Perhaps I was sent here for a reason. It's a whole brand new world! I should think of this as an adventure! Just think, Evie. You'll be like Odysseus! Braving the strange and unknown while trying to get back home.' She nodded to herself with a tiny smirk forming on her face.
Now, truth be told, Evie didn't want to be anything like Odysseus. It is one thing to read about a hero's journey and the trials and tribulations that come with the whole shebang. It's an entirely different tale when you're the central character of your own story. The last thing that Evie wanted was any confrontation with cannibalistic monsters or find herself in the underworld. Evelyn Atwood was not known for her bravery after all. However, Evie had always been a curious human being. Exploring and learning new things had always been her main drive in life, in moderation of course.
"Ah, here we are!" Rothchild spread out his arms when they reached a metal black door that was illuminated by red lights. Evie stared at the building, her bravado failing at the sight of the shady looking joint. She could hear a distant beat playing inside.
'Is this a rave?' she wondered.
"The Busy Bazaar?" Angus was appalled almost as much as she was. "You want her to work here? But this is the red light district!"
"What?!" Evie squeaked and looked at Rothchild in horror.
"Angus, my old boy," Rothchild chuckled warmly. "This entire city is the red light district. Besides, you and I both know that this pub is nothing too atrocious."
"Define 'atrocious.'" Evie said through gritted teeth.
Rothchild noticed the death glare that she was sending down at him and he waved his arms about frantically. "Now, now, there! I wouldn't send you to do anything of that nature! Goodness me, no! Otherwise I wouldn't frequent this place! Compared to other pubs in town, this is the safest one."
"So... no prostitution," Evie confirmed with a stirn frown.
"Absolutely not!" Rothchild insisted. "They have a strict 'hands, paws, claws, fins, and tentacles off' policy."
'Tentacles...' Evie shuddered. Yup, this was certainly still Japan. "If you say so..." she finally muttered with nervousness. 'So this is just a normal bar? I can handle that... I think...'
The blue dachshund dog rapped three times at the door, his tongue sticking out goofily from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, three vertical eye slots opened in the door, one after the other. "Who's there?" the gruff voice demanded angrily.
"Why, don't you recognize me, Fuzzy?" Rothchild smiled brightly.
The three pairs of eyes looked downwards to Rothchild and they widened. "Oh! Just one moment." The slots slammed shut and seconds later the door was sliding open. Instantly music was blaring out from the inside with such an intensity that Evie could physically feel the beat pounding down at her. Instinctively, she covered her ears to protect them from the noise. In the doorway, just like she had expected, stood an alien with three set of eyes and four arms. He was large and completely covered in brown hair.
'I see where the name Fuzzy comes from...' Evie tenderly pulled her hands away from her ears as they slowly but surely adjusted to the volume.
"Fuzzy, how very nice to see you again and what luck too! I believe that I have found you a new hire," Rothchild motioned towards Evie and she flinched back slightly when Fuzzy turned his eyes in her direction. "You have mentioned that another one of your girls has quit recently?"
Evie gulped and forced a smile on. 'Yeah? Why did she quit?' she couldn't help but wonder. "Hello..." she said timidly, her voice almost being drowned by the music.
"Indeed," Fuzzy scrutinized Evie, clearly taking into account that she was human. At first, she thought that he was going to turn her away merely for that detail but then he stood aside, allowing them passage. "She will do."
Evie's eyebrows rose in surprise. That's it? No lengthy interview? She was hired just like that? 'Just how desperate is he for a new worker?' The longer she stood there, the less she wanted to go inside. Feeling a nudge, she looked down at Rothchild who nodded at her encouragingly.
"Go on, my dear. They will take good care of you."
"What? Aren't you coming?" Evie felt her knees start to tremble. They were just leaving her here?
"I'm afraid that we have to return back to work," Rothchild apologized. "But don't fret, you will be seeing us often. After all, this is the best joint in the city! We'll come by again tomorrow evening to see how you are fairing."
"Good luck, lass," Angus nodded at her. "And whatever yeh do, don't stare."
"O-kay...?" Evie was growing more and more uncertain by the second.
"See you later," Rifus had the last word before they waved to her and walked away. Evie stood there watching them leave. Her hands shook so much that she had to clench them into fists to get them to stop.
"Are you coming in or not?" Fuzzy gruffly rumbled behind her.
Seeing that she was low on options, Evie reluctantly walked into the bar. The door immediately slammed shut behind her causing her to jump a foot into the air.
"Skittish, aren't you?"
"I'm new in town," Evie rubbed the back of her neck, trying to pad down the hairs that were sticking up.
"What's your name?" Fuzzy towered over her and Evie couldn't help but inch away. He was large and she found him greatly intimidating.
E-Evelyn A-atwood," she managed to stutter out. "Please...call me Evie..."
The alien grunted and held out one of his many giant hands. "Fuzzy," he introduced himself. Evie carefully put her hand in his and he shook it with remarkable gentleness. Her tense muscles relaxed slightly at that.
'I guess he's more scary in appearance.'
"Lawrence! Fill in for me. I've got to get this kid settled in!" Fuzzy bellowed over his shoulder.
"Sure thing, boss," a shorter alien saluted.
Evie followed Fuzzy further inside and that's when she had a good look at the place. Her mouth fell open at it all. This was certainly the red light district. Stripper girls were dancing in colorful luminescent bubble cages wearing nothing but what Evie would call cosmic Lady Gaga swimsuits. Thankfully, none of them stripped any further than that.
"I don't have to do that, do I?" Evie swallowed.
"Hmm?" Fuzzy glanced up to where she was looking and grunted when he understood what Evie was talking about. "Part of the job. Don't worry. No one is allowed to touch you. We're not that sort of club."
Evie nodded mutely. Her face turned pink and averted her eyes from the girls. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but still! This was a wild change from her part time job at her local library.
"Ah, Gem! There you are." Fuzzy announced warmly as a platinum blonde alien waitress with three eyes walked towards them while carrying a tray full of dirty dishes.
She wore a revealing two-piece outfit, pink with a sparkling red jewels that adorned her skirt like planets revolving around the sun. She was very lovely, Evie had to admit: full breasts, round hips and long feminine legs. Her lips were like plump cherries, very alluring. Her hair was cropped short and neat. Overall, she was radiating sex-appeal.
"Hello Fuzzy," she greeted in a sultry voice. "And who is this?"
"This is the new girl. You'll be training her."
"Oh?" Gem scanned her up and down before sneering. "A human? Fuzzy, you need to up your standards. Imagine a gangly thing like her serving and entertaining the customers. It would be an insult!"
Evie's jaw dropped. Honestly, she was so shocked by the remark that she didn't know what to say or how to feel.
Fuzzy didn't appreciate the sass. "We don't discriminate in this building, Gem. The only reason why you're still working here is because of your high demand with the customers!"
Gem huffed and looked away with a pout.
"I just pray you won't chase her away as you did the others." Fuzzy turned to Evie and handed her a key. "This is for your dorm. I don't suppose you have a place to stay?"
"No, thank you, sir!" Evie took the key with gratitude.
"Gem will show you to your room and find you something suitable to wear. You can start work tomorrow." He gave her a small wave before turning around and walking back into the crowd, leaving Evie all alone with the three-eyed waitress.
Evie timidly looked up at Gem who in return looked down at her with disgust.
Gem 'hmphed!' and rolled her many eyes. "Let's get this over with. Follow me." She didn't say another word and began to walk briskly away, leaving Evie to scramble after her.