Sunset swallowed nervously as the robotic dragon glared at her, trying to repress the urge to move for her lightsaber and antagonize it. Unlike most of the other drones she had seen, this one didn't have Isis's warm pink accents, but ones of sapphire blue, and it was looking at her like it wanted to rip her throat out. She didn't know that a machine could manage to have malicious body language, but this one somehow pulled it off. It was much larger than Isis's repair drones, even with the low, ready-to-pounce position it seemed to be constantly standing in its head easily reached the midpoint of her chest.
"So let me get this straight, Penn..."It growled in a low, male voice that sent shivers running up Sunset's spine.
"You... YOU killed a dragon? AND STOLE her child?""Noir... you of all people should know that if I was willing to do it, it was more nuanced than that. We had no choice. The dragon was feral and bloodthirsty, and it was standing between us and getting home." Penn folded his arms over his chest. "We took the egg because we knew it wouldn't survive without help, and I called YOU because you're the best one I could think of!"
"Oh, so if I were to kill a human, would you expect me to send YOU the infant to raise by yourself?""If you'd prefer Sunset and I raise it, I would be happy to! But we don't know what it needs in order to hatch!" Penn leaned in closer as the robotic dragon began to growl. "If you just want to be our consultant rather than an actual force in the life of this dragon who's the last of its kind due to overhunting, fine! But I would expect you to have a little more empathy about the whole situation!"
Penn didn't flinch as a panel in the dragon's back opened up, revealing a dangerous-looking weapon mounted on an articulating arm.
"Don't you DARE play that card with me! And WHO, exactly, was the one who just polished off the last one? Congratulations on joining the ESTEEMED league of dragonslayers, by the way!"Penn reached out and knocked the gun barrel to the side. "Then get that THING out of my face! We both know you're not going to use it!"
Sunset turned to the small drone perched on her shoulder, which was thankfully under Isis's control, rather than this "Noir" individual. "So... THIS is your creator?" she whispered.
"Negative. That is a specially designed remote drone the Administrator is piloting from his home.""But he IS the one who made you?" Sunset clarified.
"Affirmative. Administrator Noir built all of the original hardware of the Integrated Superior Intelligence System, and my original virtual synaptic network was built upon a framework derived from his own brain scans.""You're based on HIS brain?" Sunset glanced back as she watched the two boys devolving into a shouting match. "I... hardly see the resemblance."
"I have gone through many, MANY updates and revisions since Version 1.0.""Should we... try to get them to calm down?" Sunset gripped the egg a little tighter against her chest. "And are you sure that we can trust him with the egg?"
"While he comes across as aggressive towards humans, the Administrator would gladly die before seeing harm come to a dragon under his care again."Sunset blinked. "Wait... again? I thought Penn said that there weren't any dragons where you come from?"
"That answer is complicated, and cannot be given in full as it relates directly to my creator."Sunset groaned inwardly as she found herself crashing headfirst into that ever-present barrier to learning more about Isis.
"Don't worry too much. Noir's a misanthrope, but he's not a mis-draco-pe!" Missy added as she floated past. "And what's the point of keeping it secret, Isis? She already saw him once in Penn's head when we pulled him out of that coma!"
"Wait... what?" Sunset blinked a few times, trying to remember what Missy was talking about. "Missy, the only people in Penn's head were me, you, and Penn!" She shuddered slightly as an unpleasant memory came back to her. "And your big sis..."
"And Nooooiiiiiiirrrrr...." Missy sang as she floated away, drifting past Penn and Noir's argument as if they weren't even there.
Sunset looked more closely at the larger drone, her eyes narrowing as she felt it tugging up an image from deep in her memory. "Wait... No. NO! It can't be!" She looked over to Isis for affirmation. "HE was that tiny dragon at the bar with-"
She cut herself short as a bolt of light whizzed past her head, singeing off several strands of her hair as it passed. Slowly and carefully she turned back towards the larger drone, seeing the weapon on its back now pointed in her direction.
"Don't. Call. Me. 'Tiny.' Or 'short,' 'diminutive,' 'miniature,' 'fun-sized,' or ANYTHING else like that! I AM A PERFECTLY HEALTHY SIZE FOR A FULLY-GROWN ADULT!""NOIR, ARE YOU CRAZY?" Penn screeched, grabbing the gun and giving it a hard yank in a clear attempt to rip it off. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID NAPOLEON COMPLEX!"
"OH, RIGHT, AS IF I'D BE THAT STUPID, SHE'S HOLDING THE EGG!""SO HELP ME, PETITE OMBRE NOIR-"
"ONLY MY MOTHER GETS TO USE MY FULL NAME AND YOU KNOW IT!""WELL, QUIT ACTING LIKE A CHILD AND I WON'T HAVE TO ACT LIKE YOUR PARENT!" Penn punctuated the statement with a heavy slap to the top of the drone's head. The drone yanked back on the gun, stowing it back inside its body before sulkily walking up to her. It lifted its wing and exposed its side to her. The metal panels slid away, exposing a hollow glass tube where its ribcage ought to be.
"Deposit the egg here. This space is climate-controlled, outfitted with emitters for the entire electromagnetic spectrum if it requires a certain wavelength of light native to its home, fitted with state-of-the-art shock absorbers and impact compensators, and lined with enough lead to safely walk through a nuclear reactor."Sunset gripped the egg a little tighter as she instinctively stepped back.
"I... don't know if I trust you." she whispered.
"Do you think I trust YOU, Secretariat? Now, unless you want me to bring the world one step closer to realizing Peter S. Beagle's timeless classic novel, 'The Last Unicorn', then you will place the egg into the specially-prepared incubator I built SPECIFICALLY to keep it safe!"Sunset blinked, needing a second to fully process the threat to her life before she gripped the egg a little tighter, beginning to feel the sharp corners of its pixelated surface digging into her.
"Penn... I really don't think this is a good idea..."
Penn sighed and walked over to join her, standing by her side.
"Look, I know he's a little... rough around the edges, Sunset, but I promise we can trust him. He's- well, he's a lot nicer when there aren't any humans around. The egg couldn't be in better hands- claws. Besides, we can't get it to hatch... Noir is the best chance it has at living."
Sunset looked down at the egg one last time, trying to convince herself to part with it. Finally, she took a deep breath and carefully placed it into the glass tube. As soon as her hands were clear of it, a glass panel slipped into place, followed by the sound of pressurized air.
"About time... At least ONE of you is rational. If there's anything I can do about it, the Ender Dragons aren't going to go extinct today."Another set of panels in the drone's back opened, exposing an instrument that looked like an oversized cotton swab, a pair of scissors, and some kind of probe with a glowing tip.
"Hands out, both of you."Sunset raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told. The swab began to carefully rub itself across the skin of her hands, working its way quickly and efficiently across every square inch of skin, even down to the spaces between her fingers. After a few passes up and down her forearms, the swab moved on to Penn while the scissors and probe moved in, making her more than a little nervous. She stayed still as a statue as the probe scanned her up and down, and several spots on her shirt began to glow violet, as if under a blacklight. The scissors moved in, cutting out samples of the glowing portions and stowing them inside the drone's mouth.
"H-hey! My shirt!"
"Don't be childish, Sunset. I need samples of the mother's DNA to cross-reference with the child, and you two still have her blood all over you, despite your feeble attempts to wash it off."That was a heavy enough dose of guilt to shut Sunset up as the drone finished its work and moved on to Penn. Once it had finished cutting out patches from their clothing, it moved on to their armor, collecting more samples before finally moving on to the portal. The mouth opened up again, scanning the portal with a grid-like array of lasers.
"Fascinating data... I'll get to work replicating the space-time effect this portal creates, just in case it can't hatch outside of its home universe."Sunset watched it pace back over to them giving both of them wary glances, like a predator staring at its competition.
"Don't expect any more help from me. And I'm not going to let Isis waste any VALUABLE resources on you. Don't expect me to sacrifice any more HENVEX units to save you, and definitely no more custom drones like this one. I only came here THIS time because there was another dragon's life on the line."Penn didn't seem intimidated by Noir's declaration, but Sunset didn't feel any better as she watched the drone spread its wings and whir the engines embedded inside to life. A few seconds later, they were watching it disappear into the clouds. Sunset felt her heart sink as she realized she'd relinquished any ability to make any positive impact on the life of the child inside the egg.
"Are... you sure we did the right thing?" She asked quietly.
"Isis, we're going to want daily updates about how the egg is doing, and notifications on any developments regarding it."
"Affirmative."Penn smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a careful grip. "Better?"
Sunset nodded, but she couldn't shake the dread of thinking she could have made a mistake.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Administrator, the portable incubator has arrived.""WHAT? Already? Isis, why didn't you give me more warning?" Noir cried. He had been working himself into a frenzy over the past twenty-four hours ever since Penn had called and informed him of the situation regarding the Ender Dragon egg. After a very (understandably) angry conversation regarding the necessity of the Ender Dragon's slaying, Noir had insisted on bringing the egg directly to his own workshop, refusing to leave it in the hands of two humans.
"I have given you warnings in five-minute intervals for the past hour. You chose to ignore them.""Don't back-sass me right now, young lady! I'm stressed out enough as it is! First the ONLY human I think of as a friend comes to be telling me he KILLED a dragon and stole her egg, which is a bag of worms I am NOT ready to open at the moment, and now I'm the only one capable of making sure it's properly taken care of!"
"I believe the expression is 'can of worms.'"
"What did I just say about back-sassing me?"
After approximately a half-hour of infuriated brooding, he had set himself to the task of personally constructing a "nest" for the egg. It had taken only a few hours for him to create a more-than-luxurious location for the unborn dragon to hatch. The remaining twenty hours had been spent pacing back and forth with greater and greater anxiety, raking his brain for ideas of what more to add to the already-completed chamber. So far, it had been moved to three different locations in his workshop before finally settling in a corner of Isis's medical bay on their not-yet-mobile base of operations, "In case of emergency." He'd also employed lethal defense mechanisms and added three different biometric scanners to the entrance. There were fire suppressants, flamethrowers, both acidic and alkaline sprays to act as neutralizing agents in the event of the baby displaying its mother's trait of poison-spitting, near-absolute control of the climate and atmosphere composition and blankets of every conceivable fabric at the ready. The entire wing had been quarantined and set as a "clean room," with airlocks and disinfecting chambers. Any hard, pointed, or sharp surface had been covered in soft foam, and any glass covering lightbulbs or other sensitive devices had been replaced with a bulletproof equivalent, making them impossible to accidentally break and expose a source of electricity. Even the outlets and cables leading into the walls had been either sealed with fire-and-acid-resistant foam or removed entirely. All drones had been issued a command that the area was off-limits unless specifically directed.
Isis had never seen "baby-proofing" in action before, but Administrator Noir had pushed himself to new heights of paranoia in his efforts to protect the egg and the dragon inside. In fact, she had not seen him act with such fervor and passion for anything in several years.
Isis surreptitiously sent an order to one of the repair drones, sending it to go and discretely disable Administrator Noir's personal fabricator. This level of stress was usually accompanied by a relapse into his drinking habit, and with this egg under his care, such inebriation could not be afforded. This was no time for menthol juleps.
The incubator drone was allowed to enter the wing, a pair of articulating arms emerging from its back and gingerly placing the egg into the swaddle of blankets intended to keep it sitting upright. Given the egg's geometrical nature, the bottom was perfectly flat, but Administrator Noir still refused to remove them. A glass dome descended, sealing the egg inside the controlled chamber. Dozens of measuring instruments moved into place, creating a comprehensive readout of the egg's status on a screen mounted on the wall nearby.
"Administrator, I have good news. The egg has been safely deposited in the hyperbaric chamber, and all sensors are functioning properly."Noir nodded, his eyes transfixed on the egg. "Let's just start with picking up all sonic frequencies and some scans using infrared, lowest frequencies possible. If this baby's sensitive to light, I want to avoid hurting it at all costs."
"Affirmative, Administrator."There was a moment of pure silence as Isis performed the requested scans. A second later, a live feed of the results was being fed to the display above. A heart rate monitor and a visual readout of the egg overlaid with a red heat map in the definite display of a curled reptilian fetus, showing the hottest temperatures at the body's core.
"Good news: I am detecting the sound of a heartbeat of approximately one hundred beats per minute, and there is a low heat signature in the infrared spectrum coming from inside the egg.""It's alive in there..." Noir's eyes widened and he stepped back a bit before falling onto his haunches. "I really wasn't sure it would be, but... It's ALIVE!"
"Affirmative. Do you have any theories on how to prompt it to hatch?"Noir shook his head, dispelling his awe and returning to his serious demeanor. "For now, it looks like it isn't fully developed, it needs time. Elevate the temperature in the nest to match the core body temperature, I want an around-the-clock infrared camera on this egg. When it stops growing, we'll start testing different triggers to spur it to hatch..." He walked forward, pressing his head against the glass and closing his eyes. "Don't worry, little one... You'll be safe here."
"There is one other matter, Administrator."Noir pulled himself away from the glass, a momentary flash of the expression matching fear on his face. "What? Is something wrong with it?"
"Negative. I merely wished to bring up the eventuality that, should we continue to care for the hatchling past its incubation period, we will be tasked with naming it. Would you like me to begin generating possibilities?"This seemed to cause a processing error in Administrator Noir's thoughts, and his entire body tensed, as if afraid.
"We'll... cross that bridge when we come to it, Isis."
"Affirmative. One more inquiry, if I may?""Yes?"
"Have you considered establishing communications with a contact in Radian? There may be more knowledgeable individuals on the subject of hatching among the Chiracian dragons-""No." Noir made the declaration in the tone Isis recognized as beyond debating. "If I have my way, this kid isn't going to so much as HEAR the name 'Chirac' outside of my expletives. Is that understood, Isis?"
"Affirmative, Administrator...."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All was silent as the three of them sat around their campfire. Penn had made stir-fry tonight. Missy had passed out soon after finishing her meal, relieved at finally being home, leaving Sunset and Penn as the only ones awake. Isis was occupied projecting an image of the Ender Dragon egg onto the side of the Oldsmobile, showing them a hazy silhouette of the creature developing inside.
Sunset couldn't take it, any more.
"Okay, are we just not going to talk about it?" she asked, setting her half-finished plate to the side.
"Talk about what?" Penn asked, not taking his eyes off of the egg.
"I FINALLY get to meet Isis's creator, and he's a dragon that I already met inside your head?" Sunset folded her arms. "I thought Isis was from a world where dragons don't exist? I read her story, myself! And what was he DOING in your head if he's a REAL person out here?"
There was a long pause as Penn shuffled uncomfortably in place.
"Yup, we're not going to talk about it."
"Penn. We literally have saved each other's lives more times than I care to count. We've been traveling together for months... Do you really not trust me? After all this time?"
Penn shifted again, and Sunset could see a pained look on his face. "It's not that I don't trust you, Sunset! I just- I'm still trying to figure this all out, myself..."
"Then let me help! Two heads are better than one, right?" Sunset reached over and gripped his shoulder reassuringly. There was a long pause before Penn finally gave a defeated sigh and nodded.
"The truth of the matter is... I wrote Isis's book. And then we were stuck in Aperture, and she was there! I used to imagine my cards would talk to me to help me think, and then Missy showed up out of nowhere in the middle of the night! Is she the ACTUAL spirit of the Ghostrick Angel of Mischief card or a realized figment of my own imagination? And then, when I get put into a position where I have to kill a dragon, a character from the story I wrote in middle school shows up to actually yell at me about it!" He flung his hands up into the air in exasperation, only to settle again with his face pressed into his hands.
"I- I think the things coming to life aren't just tv shows or movies... I think the things I've written or imagined might be tracking me down, whether they know it or not."
"Oh..." Sunset sat back, trying to wrap her head around what he was saying. "So... you're telling me that YOU wrote that story about Isis's world?"
"Yeah."
"And you wrote a story about Noir?"
"Yeah."
"And... they found you?"
"Yeah."
"And you're WORRIED because of that?"
"YES!"
"WHY? Penn, that's AMAZING!" Sunset jumped to her feet with excitement. "I mean, think about it! That means you CREATED them! You created an AI as powerful as Isis! You made a REAL dragon! You-"
"EXACTLY!" Penn cut her off with a shout, his eyes wide with fear. "Sunset, can you IMAGINE how scared that makes me? Between the trauma of being tortured and my depression getting worse and worse, I can't even THINK straight! I'm not a god! I just like telling STORIES! I'm not even remotely qualified to be creating LIFE!" He joined her up on his feet, beginning to pace circles around their campfire. "I mean- what have I ever done to deserve that type of power? Is it morally right to even exercise it? When I write a character with a tragic backstory, am I held responsible for their suffering? If the villains I wrote are real, does that mean I'm responsible for the awful things they do? Where does the line get drawn? Can I even have a dream without it becoming real for someone out there in some reality? What about my nightmares? What if the characters I've written HATE me because I put them in a bad situation? Will they come after me for revenge? Am I just supposed to STOP writing, even if it's what I love to do most in this world? That's where I even GOT my nickname, it's a HUGE part of who I am! If the things I write are real, should I just sit around writing happy, fluffy stories about people being happy, or unbeatable superheros who fix everything? Do I have a responsibility to, even if it's unrealistic and bad storytelling? What if-"
Sunset rushed up to him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight. As... unique as the problem he was facing was, she'd seen this reaction before. Heck, she'd FELT this reaction before.
"Penn... breathe. You need to calm down, you're having a panic attack."
She felt his arms wrap around her to return the hug, his head pressing into her hair as his hyperventilating began to slow and regulate itself. The rise and fall of his chest became more spaced out, and she could feel a wet patch soaking through to her scalp.
"I- I'm sorry... I didn't want to say anything be-because I don't think I can just write you a way home... And I'm afraid to try. Afraid of what it could make me into. I'm just human, and I'm not even always good at THAT! I don't think I SHOULD have this kind of power... Please don't be mad at me..."
Sunset couldn't hold back a chuckle. "That's why you've been keeping all of this bottled up since Aperture? Penn, I'm your friend! Of course I'm not mad. I'd never ask you to do something you're so afraid of just to bail me out of the problem I caused, myself!" She gave him a gentle pat on the back before finally letting go of the hug. "I don't think you should stop writing if it makes you happy. We still don't KNOW that writing CREATES stuff, as opposed to just finding a world out there in the infinite multiverse that happens to match it. For now, you're worrying too much. We'll work it out together when you're feeling more like yourself, okay?" She smiled as Penn nodded, showing that he was listening to her.
"Now, do you want the tent tonight? You're pretty stressed out."
He shook his head. "I'll feel safer in the car..." he mumbled.
"Alright, then." Sunset wrapped her arm around his shoulder and walked him across the campsite. "Isis and I will clean up dinner. You just get some rest, okay? That panic attack probably wore you out..."
"I'm sorry."
"Hush. This is what friends are for. I'm just glad you finally got the truth off of your chest." Sunset gave him her best reassuring smile as he sat himself in the driver's seat and reclined the seat as far back as he could. "Sleep tight, bud."
"Sunset... thanks for being such a good friend."
"Right back at you, Penn."
Sunset felt oddly somber as she went about cleaning up the rest of the campsite and getting herself ready for bed.
First his trauma, then his medication, now this... I just wish he didn't think he needed to hide when he's hurting. But we're making progress. He's opening up, slowly but surely. And seriously? His reaction to finding out his writing might have godlike powers or creation is to worry about his creations and how they might affect other people? His biggest fear about it is being responsible for someone else's suffering and not even know it! She shook her head and smiled. It was hardly the reaction she was used to seeing from people suddenly finding themselves with inexplicable, seemingly magical powers. As much as he says his world is full of people who don't care about others, he sure does an awful lot. Sometimes INFURIATINGLY so, considering how much he tries to protect me when I don't need it, but... I guess it could be worse. I just have to reign him in on that.
She smiled a little more as she dumped the leftover food into the fire. Guess I lucked out with who I found when I first turned up in his world, didn't I? Couldn't ask for a better friend to help me get home.
"Why don't you two just kiss already?" Missy mumbled, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.
Sunset rolled her eyes as she reached down and took Missy by the hand, lifting her up into the air until she started floating on her own. Missy didn't seem to want to fly by herself, however, grabbing Sunset by her shoulders and clinging onto her from the front as they walked to the tent.
"Because that's not how we are, Missy. I don't like Penn that way." Sunset chuckled and stroked Missy's hair.
"But you two are so close... and you're so cute together..." Missy mumbled.
"Missy, we've been living in a car together going through life-or-death scenarios for months. Of COURSE we're close, it would be weird if we weren't!" Sunset chuckled to herself. "But loving each other doesn't mean we're in love. We're family here, remember?"
"Hmmph..." Missy grunted and clung a little more tightly as they passed through the open door of the tent. "I stand by my ship..."
Sunset chuckled and lifted the young girl off of her and guided her down into her pile of blankets, tucking her in before slipping into her own sleeping bag.
"And you can sail it straight to dreamland. Night, Missy. Sleep tight."
"Don't let the kuribohs bite..."