Chapter 1: I sold my soul to something worse than a corporation
Veronica
Maybe the world I knew would forever be a memory, as hazy as the heat rising off the horizon. This one I live in now, the one that was terribly gifted to us, has granted me an opportunity by selling my soul to the institution that keeps the current state of affairs locked down to a dreary reality that I can no longer abide by. As long as I have this opportunity I must give the generation after me the opportunity to thrive in a world I will not be long to see.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡea28dMz2Yq
“Congratulations, Veronica Spruce, for receiving your Interloper Research License.” Robotically read the letter, “In trade for all your research going forward, we will supply you if your research request is approved. If you cannot supply us with your own objective we will assign one to you.” Signed by the Investigative Interloper Institution. I fold up the letter defeatedly and crumple it in my pocket. The town they posted me in was the closest in proximity to an Interloper portal on their record, some say the scientists before me went mad just by being too close to it for so long. It’s recorded here that people have a higher mental resilience to the presence of Interlopers due to the exposure of the portal.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJs27rjaCH
…Oh! What’s an ‘Interloper’ exactly? Well… They’re creatures kinda like animals, but they’re not of this world, they flew in through portals all over the world and destroyed the ecosystem, and supplanted in a new one. The Investigative Interloper Institution, or I3, was created at the end of the old world by a bunch of old Billionaires who are dead now to keep control of the world, and they did! They control food and water supplies, even housing is all moderated by the I3. I gave in, I took this long shot of a position to defy them, yet if I don’t help them I can never gain enough research to undermine them.
Praline
Rocker and I raced to the new professor’s lab. The building had been abandoned for a while after the last professor broke down, we were hoping that the fresh-faced professor will give us an interloper of our own.
We barge into the dark empty building to be greeted with nothing.
“Boo…” Rocker mumbles under his breath.
“I thought they’d be here by now-”
“Expecting someone?” A tall pretty lady came up from behind us lugging a huge bag.
“Uh- Sorry-” Rocker panics. I step out of the way to let the lady come through.
“What are you two doing here?” She walks past us and heavily plops her bag on the center table.
“W-Well…” Rocker speaks up first but we look at each other, nervous at our own request. The lady raises an eyebrow.
“We want our own interlopers!!” I blurt out. Rocker shrinks his body language from embarrassment, the lady in front of us nods and puts a hand on her hip.
“I suppose that makes sense…” She says lost in thought. She turns towards her bag and back to us. “Who are you exactly?” She asks.
“I-I’m Rocker, and-” He started frantically.
“I’m Praline, it’s nice to meet you.” I said stagnantly out of nervousness.
“Nice to meet you both!” She smiles. I smiled back untensing, Rocker still looked nervous. “My name is Veronica Spruce, your new local Interloper Researcher.”
“So we were right!” Rocker became excited over the course of seconds, turning to me and the professor rapidly.
“Correct. Actually…” Ms. Spruce shuffles through her bag and pulls out a container. “I study type triangles on the Interloper Type Chart, maybe you two would like to help me raise the Interlopers that were given to me?” She offers.
Rocker and I share silence with the professor. My eyes locked with hers and my mouth softly hung open in gleeful shock. The professor’s expression shifts her face with a raised eyebrow.
“W-Well-” Rocker started.
“We’ll take it.” I said a little too loud for my own good, I’m not going to have Rocker bungle this for us.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoyaVZLyQg
“Yes.” Rocker nods.
“Perfecto, which ones would you like?” She opens the case.
“Wait…” Rocker starts again.
“Hmm?” The professor holds the open case in front of us.
“These are real interlopers?” He asks.
“Yeeees?” The professor said confused. My eyes widened.
“THAT’S SO COOL!!!” Rocker and I exclaimed excitedly. We high five.
“Huh??” The professor continued.
“The last professor studied Interloper Projections, he said they were safer and really pushed that interlopers are dangerous.” I explained defeatedly.
“What??” The professor scoffed.
“Ya…” I continued.
“Well…” The professor trails off, “How dangerous is an animal really?” We share another silence.
“Animal…?” Rocker asks. The professor's mouth opened, but only a creaky hollow noise came out. And sighs.
“They’re only dangerous if you treat them badly.” She rolls her eyes at her own comment.
“Oh-” I slip out saying.
“So we can have any interloper we want if we’re nice to them?” Rocker asks. The professor leans her head left to right thinking about the question like it rocked her brain.
“Ehhhhh, kinda. Don’t go up to dangerous interlopers please.” The professor explains. Rocker and I look at each other with a grim expression. “These ones tho? These will be your friends for life, so please treat them kindly, okay?”
“Yes ma’am!” I gleam. Rocker nods.
“Okay, let's take a look at them!” The professor was getting excited too it seemed. She shows off the capsules the monsters came in, explaining that all interlopers are made up of the same fundamental ‘stuff’ and so they can compress it. She says they don’t seem to mind when this happens to them, and that interloper tamers that gain a bond with their interloper notice them preferring the capsule as a space for resting. She held the capsules for a moment longer than I expected, we waited with bated breath. First one she sent out had a burning red mane who seemed skittish.
“This is Apolleo, a fire type.” She sent out the second interloper, a blue slippery thing with a snout and flippers that looked kind of sad.
“This is Pinnipeo, a water type.” And finally the last interloper seemed sleepy when she sent it out and very calm.
“This is Stagly, a grass type. Have your pick first.” she offered.
“Well…” I think about it for a moment.
“Why don’t you pick first, Praline?” Rocker offers.
“Oh, sure, thanks.” I was going to pick what my gut told me until a thought crossed my mind, “So… You study type triangles?” I ask.
“Oh- Ya I do.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRfVJXEEk6
“What does that mean?”
“Well. On the type chart, some interactions with set types create a triangle, or maybe even different shapes depending on how many interactions you include. But the simplest example is the one we have here.” My eyes scan the three interlopers again, “Fire is super effective against Grass, Grass is super effective against Water, and Water is super effective against Fire. In this example they also resist each other when you go backwards, but that’s not always the case.” My face scrunches in computation, then something clicks.
“You were offering me to go first so you could get the advantage!” I turn around.
“Ah- No that’s not what I was trying to do.” Rocker whines, “I like Stagly but I wanted you to keep it in case you liked it too.”
“Oh- Well I was going to choose Pinnipeo… but maybe…” My eyes shift from my initial option to the scared little furry creature.
“Well remember Praline, if you choose Apolleo the one that’ll be left will go to me, is that what you want?” My eyes shift back.
“You’re saying I could win against you if I choose this one?” I walk toward Pinnipeo and squat down to meet it. Pinnipeo shuddered a little.
“Well Rocker, does she?” The professor asks. Rocker looks back and forth. He starts giggling and runs toward Stagly and pets it softly.
“Hi Stagly, it’s nice to meet you!” Stagly rubs its head against Rocker’s hand. Pinnipeo and I turned back to each other. I slowly stretch my hand toward it. Pinnipeo waddles up, I could feel it sniffing my hand, then it looks around and starts shaking.
“Oh…” I realize, “Professor, can I have a capsule for Pinnipeo?” She seemed confused, but complied regardless. I returned Pinnipeo to the capsule to hopefully reintroduce myself later.
“Why would you do that?” She asks softly.
“It seemed scared, so… I think I wanted to give it personal space for now.” I responded thoughtlessly.
“Huh…” I heard from the professor.
Chapter 2: Making friends is hard
Praline
Pinnipeo cowered in the corner of my room. I sat on my bed looking at it confused. I hope this isn’t how taking care of all the interlopers is going to be like. Stagly seemed so nice though, I wonder what’s wrong with it. I wonder what I could do to make it like me. The gears churned in my head until a solution came to me, it’s the water type, right? In the type triangle Ms. Spruce mentioned. I returned Pinnipeo to the capsule and headed for the beach.
I shuffled my feet into the cold waves and stared at my interloper capsule. I rub my thumb along the side of it before pushing the button to let my interloper out. The Pinnipeo scanned its new surroundings and up at my face. It saw the vast horizon next to it and stared. Its face looked back at me. I slowly get down to meet it at eye level, but it darts off into the ocean.
“PINNIPEO, NO!!!” I pushed the button of the capsule to return it but it's too late, it was out of range. I mercilessly watched it swim away from me. The setting sun burned the beautiful skyline into my brain watching the most tragic thing of my short life happen to me, my very first interloper running away.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKVSkh9zdW
After some thorough screaming and crying at the beach, confirming with absolute certainty that Pinnipeo was gone, I ran to the professor’s lab with snot and tears running down my face.
“PROFESSOR!!!!!” I bang on the door. “I’M SO MESSED UP PROFESSOR I’M SORRY I RUINED EVERYTHING.” I screamed and cried. The professor opens up the door.
“What happened, are you okay!?” She said stressfully. I calmed down a little and nod.
“It's just…… Pinnipeo…” I choked, “Pinnipeo is gone!! It ran away from me!!” I cried the hardest I've ever cried in my life. The professor gasped and put a hand on her chin.
“Hey…” The professor said calmly, and pulls me in for a hug. “It's okay.”
“But your research!” I exclaimed.
“I'll just tame another water type, it's okay.”
“Really?”
“Ya, we live right by the ocean it's fine.”
“Okay…” I whine.
“I'll make you a deal too.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted you and Rocker to help me be my lab assistants.”
“Really?” I beamed.
“Yup. After I teach you two how to tame Interlopers, I'm going to give you a very special assignment, okay?”
“Special… Assignment?”
“Ya, can I tell you what it is?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“It's to… beat me at an Interloper Battle, and become the strongest Tamer in the world.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQANy0qoha2
Chapter 3: I want to be the very best
Praline
I woke up the next morning with renewed determination, today I’d get my own Interloper for real. I went to Rocker’s house and explained what happened. He felt sorry for me and hugged me just as the professor did. I really appreciated him in that moment and firmly hugged him back. I was okay now however at the news that we could learn how to tame our own interlopers.
“Professor!!” Rocker and I barged in and screamed in unison.
“We’re ready for our lesson!” I exclaim. I froze right after however, noticing that Ms. Spruce had been petting her Apolleo just a moment before we were loud on the scene. “Oops-”
“Huh?” Rocker asks.
“Ms. Spruce was trying to bond with her interloper and we scared it!” I gesture to the cowering maned creature, hiding behind Ms. Spruce’s chair.
“No, it’s okay.” Ms. Spruce said casually, she returned Apolleo to the capsule. “Rocker, I assume Praline here has filled you in on what’s happening?” Rocker excitedly shakes his head.
“Great, if you want to be my lab assistants, then you’ll at least need to be familiar with a few concepts we use to interact with interlopers. Since Praline lost her interloper, we’ll learn to tame new ones today.”
“I’m-” I blurt out.
“Hey.” Veronica cuts me off. “It’s okay, there’s nothing you could’ve done. I just want you to have a way that lets you achieve your goal. No matter what, okay.” She puts a fist out. My eyes focus on the fist in front of me. Calculations run in my brain as my head drifts up to meet her eyes.
“Okay…” I fist bump her.
“Great. Now let's get out there!”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgkcuTVyvO
We made our way outside towards the field just before the trees thickened. We stood there for a moment keeping an eye out for interlopers. We scanned the perimeter before concluding that interlopers wouldn’t stay this close to society, we get closer to the woods. Before entering the mouth of the forest, I hear rustling in the grass. A grey fuzzy creature emerges from the tall grass.
“Who’s that??” Rocker said excitedly.
“Rocker, quite.” The professor asked.
“Oh- Sorry.” Rocker shrunk, I heard the grass shuffle, watching the creature step away, but before it was too late, I threw a Treat that the professor had given us. It had a strong smell and wasn’t too loud to scare off the interloper further, instead it drew its attention to the food and sniffed it. The interloper and I made eye contact. I threw another treat in front of me, half way between us. The interloper sniffs the treat at its feet again and nibbles on it. I fist pump towards the other two and they give me a thumbs up. The creature continues walking up towards me with a waddle. Hesitantly I reach out towards squatted down to meet the Interloper, it just sniffs it. Softly, I grab another treat out of my satchel and it ate it right out of my hand. It nibbled with expediency, and when it was finished it nuzzles the top of its head on my palm. Its fur was soft, short, and could probably use some grooming. I touch the top of the capsule I was given to the Guinimini’s forehead. Willingly it entered, the capsule was still when it enclosed the Guinimini in it. I stand back up and examine the capsule to make sure I did it right. The capsule doesn’t seem to be reacting in a weird way so…
“Did I do it?” I show the professor the still capsule. She and Rocker turn to each other, then back to me.
“I think that’s it, good job Praline!!” She confirms with confidence, my cheeks flush red as I vibrate in excitement.
“You were so cool, Praline!” Rocker shuffles over to look at the capsule in my hand closer.
“Is it okay if I bring it back out now? I figured it’d be nice for it to see where we’re going instead of just bring it somewhere in the capsule.” I suggest, the professor nods.
“Sounds like a good idea, Praline. Let’s head back to the lab to debrief.” The professor agrees, I bring out Guinimini back from its capsule. It takes form facing away from me, but realizes soon to turn around to face me. I squat down and it waddles up to me, I engage with petting it. I attempt to wrap my hands around it to pick it up, but it squirms so I don’t try very hard and just let it walk beside us as we go back to the lab.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KJ6wLQqBJ
When we return to the lab, I get a better look at the space. The space where we chose our initial Interlopers was this kind of lounge/foyer area, with an open hallway leading to the actual research area. I peaked in there but I didn’t want to encroach on the Professor’s space when I think the tools in there might be fragile or something. We sit around the lounge, I invite Guinimini to sit on the couch with me, Rocker sits on a beanbag chair, and the professor sits in an office chair. I idly pet Guinimini.
“So, how was that, Praline, taming an Interloper?” Asked the professor.
“Well, it was a lot easier than I thought it’d be to be honest.” I admit, staring at Guinimini.
“I was wondering about that too, I didn’t think that Interlopers were this amicable.” Rocker wonders out loud. A soft sigh of laughter left the mouth of the professor.
“I think this was so successful for a combination of reasons tbh. One, choosing a target interloper to tame first that is easily swayed with food and a low threat level to a person was intentional.” Rocker and I nod in agreement, that makes sense to me at least, “Two” the professor continues, “We three at least are more predisposed to not freak out over approaching an interloper right, and that kind of helps with the location we’re in, or so I think at least.” The professor shrugs, “But on top of that…” The professor turns towards to me with intention, “Praline, you seem to have some… above average perception, did you notice that?” The professor comments…. I do?251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0k7qq10dTK
“I do?” I ask, echoing my thought, that seems weird that-
“It’s true, you’ve been on the ball with noticing the moods of Interlopers, whether it be your sympathy for Pinnipeo’s anxiety, or even befriending Guinimini so smoothly.” The professor elaborates.”
“O-Oh….” I mumble to myself.
“Maybe that’s why you’re such a good friend to me, Praline.” Rocker beams.
“Huh?”
“Well, you’re so much better at handling my feelings than the other kids in town, you know?”
“Aww, Rocker.” I can’t help but feel honored by the way Rocker talks about our friendship.
“Your ability to read emotional cues like that might actually help out a lot, Praline.” The professor hypothesizes. I grow flush again, accidentally squeezing onto Guinimini’s fur a little tighter.
“Thanks… guys…” I let the moment linger as a smile plays across my face.
“Professor.” Rocker speaks up seemingly excitedly, “Do we want Stagly and Apolleo to come out and say hi to Guinimini?” He asks.
“That’s not a bad idea, Rocker.” The professor concurs, taking out her Interloper Capsule, Rocker follows suit. Apolleo and Stagly appear in sync and stretch. Stagly gets comfy on the carpet, while Apolleo sits on the professor’s lap. I decide to sit on the carpet and invite Guinimini with me just for the sake of having us all sitting closer, the professor and Rocker follow suit and we make a small circle with the six of us. Guinimini waddles in front of me. Apolleo perceived Guinimini before Stagly but kept close to the professor out of nervousness it seemed, but when Stagly opened its eyes it moved closer to Guinimini. They sniff at each other as a greeting.
“Wow…” I softly let loose, Rocker nods.
“Oh!” The professor stands up and walks deeper into the lab, Apolleo follows behind idly to see what’s up. “You two are probably going to need these now that we’re officially collecting more Interlopers, or at least for the sake of keeping track of the ones you see even if we never physically come to care for every single Interloper ever.” She hands us some sort of device that’s attached to a wristband.
“Is this a screen?” Rocker asks, the professor pauses.
“...Ya?” She says hesitantly.
“I didn’t think screens were that common of a need anymore.” Rocker asks. I tap my chin thinking about the types of technology we’re familiar with. I mean we have stuff like blenders and airfryers, and we’re familiar with the idea of Interloper Projectors and now these Interloper Capsules, but Rocker is right, I don’t think I’m familiar with what this is supposed to be. I put the strap on and stare at the mildly reflective black square staring back at me.
“Wow, Rocker, that’s an interesting observation.” The professor thinks on it.
“Ya I associate screens with fancy people to be honest.” I confirm. The professor chuckles.
“Maybe that’s fair. Screens are primarily used to help display complicated information that might… not have a super high need considering where we live. But!” The professor visibly shows us how to turn on our devices, “These are called Interloperpedias, they’re fancy wrist watches that help keep track of Interloper information that you gather with the camera on the side of the device.” I turn mine on according to the professor’s example. I see some sort of listing for registered Interlopers, but it’s blank. I press some buttons and find the camera function the professor talked about, and aimed it towards the group of Interlopers in front of us. After some notifications told me the device was working, I checked back to the registered Interlopers, and looked at the list. Apolleo, Stagly, and Guinimini. I couldn’t help but let out a frown accidentally.
“What’s wrong, Praline?” The professor asks.
“Because I accidentally lost Pinnipeo we couldn’t register it in here.” I groan.
“Aww, that’s okay, Praline. I promise it’s not that big of a deal.” The professor comforts me.
“...Where did you get your Interlopers from, professor?” Rocker asks.
“Ohhh… Well. They were provided to me by the I3. I said I needed it for my type interaction research.”
“It’s cool they let you have a bunch of real Interlopers!” Rocker beams. I’m inclined to agree but I end up being lost in thought about why the professor doesn’t seem upset about losing Pinnipeo.
Chapter 4: This Whole ‘Friend’ Thing is as Easy as Science
Praline
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLQktkcydSI find myself wandering in the woods surrounding town today for the sake of making more Interloper Friends. It’s true. I invited Rocker to hang out but he didn’t seem interested in the excuse to go explore and stuff. It’s true. If I can find another Interloper Friend, I’ll be able to call my method repeatable, and thus call it science. It’s true.
I can hear them super active at night sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve actually paid close enough attention outside town to notice how many Interlopers are actually in the area. Being alone in the woods is kinda nice, Rocker’s anxiety about leaving town kinda made me a little worried about how dangerous it is out here, but I can still see town in view and I haven’t seen anything yet. That is until…. Tall white ears, and a cute little face appears in my view. I squint, but it seems too distracted to notice me. I don’t know whether to throw food at it or approach but- I try approaching first to see the scenario at hand, but it just seems to be hanging out. I try to take it one step at a time, but one loud foliage shuffle from my misplaced step alerted the creature before I could scan it with my Interloperpedia watch. I continue further to follow it, scanning extra carefully. I didn’t think I walked that much deeper into the forest but I turned around at some point and lose track of where I entered from. Before I can finish making sense of where I actually am, that white furred Interloper crashes into me. Instinctively I push it off my body but it doesn’t seem to like that by the way it started growling at me right afterward. I hesitate for a moment, but just in case I bring out Gunimini to defend myself. Guinimini immediately senses the danger and provokes the Interloper across from it, causing the opposing interloper to swipe at Guinimini.
“Uh oh-” I hurriedly point the camera on my watch at the Interloper attacking us. It’s identified as Rabbear, closer inspection it has a white cute top half with small paws, and large heavily clawed hindpaws. The way the legs constructed, along with the way it crashed into me makes it seem like it’s good at jumping. “Cute…” I say hesitantly. I fumble with my watch, it directs me to a new menu UI element, a bunch of numbers that I don’t quite understand but one stat seems to be some sort of stamina bar for Guinimini. “Okay, Guinimini, can you help keep us safe?” I ask rhetorically. The Rabbear tries to swipe again, but Guinimini sidesteps it and retaliates with a headbutt. “Woah!” I admire in mild fright. I try to find an escape route but every way I turn looks nearly identical, Rabbear could be blocking the way for all I know. “Okay…” I sigh. I wonder the logistics of using a capsule on an Interloper that isn’t necessarily willing to comply by not getting out of my way. But by the way the professor described capsules it seems like they only work because the Interloper consents to stay in there. I don’t know what to do right now, I think given the circumstance, I might, “Guinimini, we have to KO this Rabbear, are you ready?” I direct my question at Guinimini even if I don’t know it understands or not. Its intense gaze doesn’t leave the opposing Rabbear, but I could swear I saw a glint of confirmation in its eye. Guinimini dashes forward with a headbutt. It lands directly in the face of the Rabbear! The Rabbear lets out a cry, when even worse, a new Interloper jumps out of the brush, pinning Guinimini to the ground. My nerves magnify the intensity of danger in my body. “Guinimini!!” I aim the camera on the watch at the new intercepting Interloper. It’s identified as Jagzag. A slender interloper with sharp claws and a black zig zag pattern on its body with orange base fur. Because both Interlopers were positioned right in the camera it seems to do some sort of number comparison between the two…. Guinimini’s numbers compared to this Jagzag thing’s numbers are not as great let me tell you. Guinimini’s stamina is draining fast, but I’m honestly more worried about its life right now. My eyes glance towards Rabbear, freshly recovered from the last attack as it lines up an impressive kick on the side of that Jagzag unpinning Guinimini. “Are you okay?!” I run to Guinimini to check its condition. The stamina bar visualized on my watch was reading at 15%. I return Guinimini to its capsule. I stand and turn to Rabbear, glancing at the recovering Jagzag and back. I need to get out of here, but I don’t think I should leave Rabbear alone with this thing. I really am struggling to think of a way to help, but… With not enough time to think, Rabbear was nearly unprepared for Jagzag’s lunge, but I interrupted it by having a well timed throw of dirt into its face, making it miss Rabbear. Unfortunately, Jagzag just gets mad at me instead, with my life in danger. Before I could move out of the way for the follow up attack, Rabbear delivered a powerful kick right to Jagzag’s jowls. It starts whining and running away after that thank goodness. Rabbear and I stare at each other in the clearing, fleeing in the same direction away from the wild Jagzag. We find the edge of the forest where the town is in view again, I physically feel myself un-tense. I turn to the Rabbear I fled with and dump a whole pile of food in front of it. Its face lights up and digs in. “Thanks, Rabbear. You saved the day.” I express, in hopes it’ll understand.
Chapter 5: Two of- Three?? Of Them???
Rocker
“Professor?” My voice echoes into the empty lab. I didn’t think I’d be barging in here without permission, but I guess I’m going to now. I peek further down into the lab section of the building, the lights are on but nobody is here still. I was wondering where the professor had gone but my eyes got distracted with some sort of antique map. It was a little bit intimidatingly big. Neither Praline nor I have been this far into the building before so I don’t think either of us had a chance to see this. I tried to find where we were on this huge and detailed map. My eyes traced the coast, but none of the names seemed familiar to me despite being able to read it. Actually, I probably could try to find the capital on this map but it doesn’t seem present either. This map also seemed like it was missing some other detail but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Not to mention… My eyes wandered to find professor Spruce’s desk, with a framed photo on it. Walking closer, I noticed the photo was of what seemed like a noticeably younger version of the professor with a friend, and an enormously large mountain in the background. Looking back at the map again, the landmark of the mountain in the photo lined up with the map on the wall. But referencing my own knowledge…
“Hi, Rocker. I didn’t realize you had come over.” The professor’s voice cuts in.
“Oh, hi.” I turn my attention to her, I left the door open and the professor walked through, “I didn’t realize you weren’t here, sorry.” I feel a little embarrassed looking through her stuff now.
“No, it’s okay I was just in the pasture attached to the building.” She explained.
“Pasture?”
“It’s basically a big backyard in case we end up with that many Interlopers we need to take care of.”
“Oh.” I said blankly, my eyes wandered back to the map, then back to the professor. “Professor, why is this map weird?” I ask, needing immediate confirmation.
“The map?”
“Ya, is it yours?”
“I think that was here when I got here.” She mumbled, walking closer to see what I was looking at.
“Isn’t it weird?” I try to confirm.
“Well…………….” The way that the professor drew out that one word did not settle my ease.
“If there was a big mountain as this map implies, why can’t I see it? Even in your photo over there.” I point to her desk.
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh” The professor became visibly uncomfortable, or at least maybe didn’t know how to answer the question? “There used to be a mountain.” She spills.
“Huh?”
“It’s true.” She drills in. I literally can’t compute.
“So a mountain… used to exist? And just doesn’t anymore?”
“Y-Ya… That’s the truth of it. It was so big you could always see it no matter where you were on the landmass, but-”
“Now it’s not there anymore…” I finish for her.
“Ya, and nobody really knows what happened. It collapsed and sent a huge earthquake everywhere.”
“Collapsed???”
“Y…Ya…” She sputters, silence tenses us for a moment, but she continued anyway, “Shortly after Interlopers started flooding the world…”
“WHAT??”
“It’s true… You can tell kinda too because there aren’t a need for threat zones on the map either.” She elaborates. I turn back to the map and concur, modern maps have colored sections, or ways to make sections distinct depending on how likely you’d encounter danger from an interloper. Not to mention,
“This map is also like twice as big. Are you saying that if we kept travelling east from here we’d encounter a giant hole in the ground?” I ask, the professor nods.
“There hasn’t been a need to document the east side of the landmass for us because there’s no way we can cross there right now.” She concludes. I scan my mind for ideas, but it was hard to conceive of a way to make some kind of flying transportation machine. I didn’t even realize that the need for transportation was so critical. Our most travelled road is the one to the capital, but I can only really remember seeing a transportation device one time that supposedly cut the time between places by a ton. I feel like I’m getting knots in my brain. A rustling echoes from deeper in the lab, my attention reels in fright.
“What was that?” My voice peaks a tad from the sudden presence.
“Ahhh, shorts…” The professor mumbles.
“What’s the matter?” I press further.
“We might have a rat problem…” The professor says walking towards the sound.
“Rat?” I ask. The professor groans.
“Just keep your eyes out for any small interlopers scurrying around.” She says, examining the wall and nooks formed by the furniture placed around.
“Hmm…” I let creep out vocally. Okay, so… Small scurrying interlopers? That’s weirdly specific, how would she… know? My eyes trace a path and land on a small red glowing thing with a skinny tail. I squint to get an idea of what I’m looking at but… It sees me- it has a little triangular face with a round nose, whiskers and big round ears.
“Professor-” I try to call her attention but the interloper scurries away, turning around the professor is facing me having heard me call her, but above her in the raptors I see a yellow one with pointed ears scurrying in the opposite direction.
“Did you find it?” She asked.
“Uhhh-” I can’t seem to form a thought. “There are two of them.”
“Two??” The professor turns back around to see where I was looking. I look back towards the lounge area and walk towards it.
“Maybe we can get them out through the front door and just lock them out?” I suggest.
“We could, but…” The professor’s thought wanders off. My idea pivots slightly. I shuffle through my bag and throw some interloper snacks on the floor. Three more different looking interlopers shuffle from various corners of the room to feast on the food I laid out. The sudden reaction triggered some sort of fear noise from my mouth, the professor notices and her eyes widen. She points her watch at the group of interlopers, making my own watch light up. Checking it I see that the interlopers were registered into my interloperpedia as well. “We need to be careful, Rocker.” The professor says, taking her capsule out. I hesitate, but the professor’s stare becomes more intense when I just stand there, I mimic her and take out Stagly’s capsule.
“What’s the plan?” I can’t help but whine.
“When I send out Apolleo, step out of the way to force them out of the building, and then send out Stagly to help me battle them. Ready?” She lays out, I nod. She starts with opening the capsule to summon Apolleo, who immediately takes interest on the three small interlopers, I side step out of the way of the door frame, but the three interlopers don’t run in fear like we anticipated, instead they stand their ground and provoke the professor’s Apolleo right back. I send out Stagly.
“Rocker, aim a grass type move at Riffrat!” The professor calls out. I check my watch, Riffrat is the rat that has a giant chunk missing from its back, creating some sort of illusion like it’s a giant maw of some kind. Quickly flipping through the watch screens to figure out what the professor meant by a grass move, I see a list of words that seem to be associated with Stagly. The screen notes Stagly’s type as being grass, and each move seems to have an associated type in the list.
“Uhhh… Stagly, use Leaf Shard on that one!” I point at the Riffrat in the group of interlopers. Stagly stands up, shakes its cute little body, and jagged leaves shoot out of its fur, landing right on the Riffrat. The other two interlopers turn their attention toward Stagly and me. One runs up, but the other one stays in position. I hear a clicking sound coming from it and something appears in its mouth. Apollo intercepts the approaching interloper and shakes it around in its mouth.
“Apolleo, go take it outside!” The professor’s interloper does exactly what it's asked.
“Oh hi, Apolleo, what’s that you got there?” I hear a voice from outside of view as Apolleo leaves the building.
“Praline, watch out!!” I call to her.
“The interloper in Apolleo’s mouth is going to explode!” The professor warns her.
“It is??” I can’t help but say, why didn’t she say that earlier?
“Apolleo, drop it, I have an idea.” Praline says surprisingly calmly. Apolleo listens. I notice that the interloper Apolleo had in its mouth was trying to get away, but before it could, a different interloper reveals itself through the door frame, kicking the interloper away from the building. I heard a loud boom just seconds later. Praline pops her head in and a thumbs up. “Got it!” She smiles with a thumbs up. I feel inspired to take action because of her.
“Stagly, use Leaf Shard again on the Ammouse still standing.” I call out. Stagly listens and more leaves fire out at the Ammouse. It seems to to not like that, but the thing that was in its mouth fires out like a projectile and lands right on Stagly, it lets out a cry. “Oh no, Stagly! I’m sorry…” I return it to the capsule, feeling bad. That’s when the glowing red interloper I saw earlier darts out between my feet and bites at the Ammouse. The Ammouse reels but it loads another projectile in its mouth, but is interrupted by the yellow interloper from the rafters landing on its head, causing the projectile to shoot into the ground and causing Ammouse fly backwards. Apolleo catches it in the air, spinning around and throwing it outside the lab, Praline’s new interloper kicks it away for good measure.
“Get the last one, Apolleo.” The professor calls out, Apolleo does, but when contact is made, Riffrat’s chasm in its body snaps shut, causing Apolleo to be forced back into the capsule it came from. Riffrat however lays knocked out on the floor afterwards. “Hmm….” The professor, just like me frankly, seems to be at a loss for words.
“What happened here?” Praline asks, walking into the room.
“We seemed to have encroached on some sort of territorial dispute.” The professor wonders out loud. I scan the red and yellow interlopers, the red one is named Flarrat, and the yellow one is named Moustricity. “The two that helped us out seemed to be vying for the same space as the three we took care of.” The professor mumbles walking closer, Flarrat and Moustricity were nibbling on the leftover food on the ground.
“Don’t we have to kick these guys out too now, professor?” I ask.
“Well… Maybe but we technically resolved the territorial dispute for them.” The professor’s voice wanders off.
“If you went through all the work helping them, why not be friends?” Praline offers.
“A second… Interloper?” I mumble.
“Ya, look guys I got one all by myself today!” Praline brags, her new interloper stancing up in a similar way that she is.
“I guess that’s not a bad suggestion.” The professor admits with a sigh. I didn’t really consider the possibility of having to take care of multiple interlopers but I walk over to the pair. I kneel and tap one of my empty capsules to Flarrat’s back. It vibrates softly before calming down, the professor follows suit, bending over and touching a capsule to the other one. The professor and I stand up in unison. “Cheers!” The professor smiles, holding her capsule up.
“Cheers.” I smile weakly holding mine up in return.
“What do we do about this guy then?” Praline walks up, gesturing towards the knocked out Riffrat on the floor.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBEmCTfEJd
It took the rest of the day, but we gathered up our knocked out opposing interlopers and built them a little cabin in the pasture with some food and water for when they woke up. When our work was done, we couldn’t help but mull around in the pasture for a while. The air was pleasantly cool, the professor seemed enamored with the sky. Praline was hanging out with our interlopers: Apolleo, Moustricity, Stagly, Flarrat, Guinimini, and Rabbear.
“What’s up professor?” I ask her.
“Hm?”
“You seem distracted by something.”
“Oh… No not particularly, I just haven’t gotten to appreciate the sky here that much.” She admits.
“Because of the portal?” I ask.
“Well, that, but…” Her gaze goes back up, “In the capital there are always so many lights on you don’t really get to see the stars like this.”
“Really?” I look up at the sky with her, stars twinkling and dotting the sky. I turn back to the professor, watching her still staring up, resting on a solemn expression.
Chapter 6: Stupid Work Trip
Praline
I leave my house to meet up with Rocker when I see the professor walking back from the coast.
“Good morning, professor.” I wave. The professor seems to shudder in surprise from my call, turning to me she looks at me, and then my house.
“I didn’t realize you live right here.” The professor notes to herself, I chuckle. “I hope you’re well, Praline.” She smiles at me.
“What are you doing coming back from the beach?” I ask.
“I went to catch a fish to recomplete our type triangle for my research.” She clarifies, I nod.
“...A fish?” The thought just settled in.
“Ah, um, an interloper I mean. I meant an interloper that lived in the ocean since we needed a water type again” She stutters.
“Oh really.” I perked up, “Would you want me to take care of it?” I ask.
“Oh…” The professor hesitates, “No, it’s okay, taking care of fish can be a pain in the ass.”
“Okay…” I longed defeatedly, “...What is a fish?” I ask. The professor groans, after a second she just shakes her head.
“It’s an old person term…” She slumps out, walking back to the lab.
“Hmm…” I thoughtlessly reacted, closing the front door behind me and prancing up to the professor. “Professor, what should we do today?” I ask excitedly, “Is there something we should be doing?” I continue, the professor seems to wince.
“Uhh…” She rebuts, “To be honest, you and Rocker might need to keep yourselves entertained for like a week.” The professor grumbles. I stop in my tracks.
“Whaaat?”
“Ya, the I3 are calling me back for a status report.”
“But didn’t you just get here?” I complain.
“Like… twoish weeks ago maybe…” She concurs, her forehead wrinkled. I feel bewildered, and sigh. “It’s a stupid work trip, that’s why I’m saying you and Rocker are going to have to figure out something for yourselves.” She resolves.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYx2DR7Rc4w
“But if you’re going to the capital, Rocker and I are going to want to come too!” I grin. The professor stops only a few paces ahead of me before turning to meet my mischievous stare.
“Is Rocker going to want to come to the capital?” The professor presses.
“Well if I convince him he’d want to.” I spin, the professor sighs and continues walking. “Please?? It’d be so much fun!!” I whine, catching up to her. The professor’s eyes shift around, expressions phasing between each other.
“Just… Grab Rocker, and make sure to talk to it about your parents before meeting me back in the lab. I need to think about this.” She presses her temples together. I softly giggle.
“No problem, professor!”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIWvUqxDUg
After fulfilling the professor’s request, I return to her lab with Rocker in tow.
“Professor!” My voice joyously hums against the walls.
“One sec.” A weak response creeps its way from deeper in the lab, “Come in.” She offers. We help ourselves and settle into our seating arrangement in the foyer. The professor dimly shuffles from the back of the lab and sits in her chair. “Okay’ The professor exhales, “So” her finger tips form a peak and touch her mouth, “On the subject of you two coming to the capital with me” She wastes no time.
“Both of our parents said it’d be okay to come.” I gleam. The professor’s eyelid twitches.
“Really?” The professor confirms, “And they told you about how we’d have to stop at an outpost half way there for the night?” The professor further elaborates. Rocker and I nod. “And you want to come too, Rocker?” She asks Rocker directly, he nods.
“I think it might help me with something I’ve been thinking about.” Rocker wonders outloud, voice wandering off. The professor’s face flattens, eyes squinting.
“I guess if nobody has a problem with it, then there’s no reason you two can’t come.” The professor concedes.
“Alright!” Rocker and I declare in unison, high fiving each other.
“It’s really not going to be as exciting as you think it’s going to be.” The professor insists.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplbQCRvCbV
Veronica
Dear Lord, what am I doing? Taking these children I met within the month to see my boss I hate under the guise of being my research assistants. Although yes, I guess they do qualify as my research assistants, having assisted me in research since they joined. Is this child labor? I whine to myself.
“Are you okay?” Praline asks so innocently. My face can’t hide my worry, and yet,
“Yes.” I sigh, “I am okay because this will be fine.” There’s no other way around it either. These kids are either going to stay here without knowledge of how the world is being operated, or ignorantly get absorbed into the system that will take advantage of them. My eyes linger on the portal overseeing the ocean out in the distance before I turn to walk on the path ahead towards the capital.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi36LjS4NJM
The path lazily traces forward across the horizon for hours, little shade covers the direct sunlight, but thanks to the breeze the brightness was more annoying than the heat. The trail we’re walking on runs parallel up to the capital with the coast line, creating a steep precipice, leading for spectacular views of the sea. The kids mention to each other about the air quality feeling a little different the further away from town. Pantentaeu is the name that the I3 designated to Praline and Rocker’s hometown, but without the need for marketing itself or tourism, do the locals actually know the name of their town? I don’t expect it to be something mentioned frequently in conversation, but without the need of embracing a shared label like that, does emotional connection actually apply to the name itself? After all, there’s no real name for the capital I didn’t think, people just refer to it as the capital.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkIiGUkLcS
Daylight stretched into a red horizon, signifying dusk would be here soon. We made it to the outpost by the predicted time. The building itself seemed decrepit, but being a building directly tied to the I3 means the inside was kept air conditioned and tidy. Rocker and Praline went to check out the sleeping situation, surprised to see a whole room of empty bunkbeds. I claim a bed by setting my stuff on it and unfurl on one of the common space’s couches.
“Kinda feels like a hospital in here.” Rocker posits. I sit up and look around. Granted, maybe I was used to it, but the only examples of federal buildings I could think of in Pantentaeu were my lab, kinda, and the aforementioned hospital. Not to mention I haven’t been in the area long enough to locate a post office so it makes sense that the kids wouldn’t be used to this kind of architecture.
“Maybe it’ll help us feel safe.” Praline comforts.
“What about a hospital makes you feel like that?” Rocker wonders.
“Because it’s the place I go to feel better!” Praline beamed.
“But it’s the place I have to go to when I feel sick...” Rocker groans.
“The hospital doesn’t have games though, does it?” I comment, gesturing to the other room. The children scurry over to the room opposite to the bedroom that I gestured to. I get up to meet them and see what was in here myself. I remember I turned the lights on and glanced in here on my way into town, but the only thing that stood out was,
“What’s that?” Praline asked.
“It’s a pinball machine.” I explain. There aren’t any tvs in this building. I was curious about that on my way into town the first time around, how tvs haven’t reappeared yet in spite of their use for spreading propaganda. Since screens weren’t seen as something super useful for reconstructing society, there are no video games, which I guess leaves us with…
“There’s a bocce ball set in here.” Rocker informs us, digging through a shelf that faces away from the door way I peaked in.
“Oh, I’ve never played bocce ball before.” I reveal. Praline and Rocker stare at me with heavy stares.
“What do you mean?” Rocker asks. Never did I ever consider why I haven’t done something so seemingly obvious. I chuckle.
“Nobody in the capital plays bocce ball I guess.” I feel embarrassed by my privilege of having tv and video games in my youth.
“Life must be so different in the capital.” Praline inadvertently asks. If only this child knew that life in the capital is just an echo of all the bad decisions the old world made.
“Don’t let it discourage you.” I ensure, “If the capital is so great, they really should’ve taught me about bocce ball growing up.” I nod and chuckle.
“Can we play?” Rocker asks.
“Sure.” I shrug.
“Oh, but…” Praline lingers, “I wanted to try the pinball machine.” She turns towards it.
“Alright, Praline, here’s the rundown.” I walk into the room very serious sounding, “See the ball here?”
“Ya?” She responds.
“You pull the hilt of this back to shoot the ball forward, and then” I click the buttons on the side to make these flippers hit the air, “keep the ball up for as long as you can with these.” I gesture to the number display, “To make this number as high as possible, got it?” I rundown.
“Got it.” Praline gives a thumbs up.
“Good, because when Rocker and I are done I’m going to come in and beat your score.” I tease.
“Whaaaat?” Praline whines.
“Look,” I gesture to the number display above the currently zeroed out one with the labeled ‘high score’, “That was my score on my way into town.” I admit and giggle. Praline lets out an exasperated gasp. She pulls the hilt of the pinball machine back a little bit and watches the ball bounce a little, and nods to herself.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc8ziL96Oc
Rocker and I wander outside behind the building to play when Rocker asks,
“What’s that building?” Rocker points.
“It’s an outhouse.” I squint at it.
“An outhouse?” Rocker doesn’t know.
“The bathroom.” I sigh. Rocker turns over there and back.
“We have to go to the bathroom out here?” Rocker complains.
“So it seems, definitely not thrilling news.” I admit. I shrug and place the bocce ball set on the ground, “Okay Rocker, how do we play bocce ball?” I ask.
“Why do you say bocce ball?” Rocker fires back.
“Isn’t… that what it’s called?” I ask further.
“No, it’s just called bocce.” Rocker explains, “Kinda redundant to call it bocce ball.” Rocker thinks aloud. I stare at the set of bocce balls.
“Maybe so.” I admit. Rocker explains that the small white ball is thrown away from us underhanded, and our goal is to bowl our two colored bocce balls as close as white ball as possible. We play until we finish our turns and look at the result.
“You win.” Rocker comments, looking a little bashful, “I guess more people typically play than just two, but,” Rocker smiles, “My dad would be thrilled knowing that I tried to teach you bocce.” Rocker giggles.
“Really?” I ask, Rocker nods.
“He makes all the other parents play with him, sometimes they get really competitive.” Rocker admits. I smile wryly. “I can’t wait to tell him when we get back!” Rocker exclaims. My smile fills more naturally with his excitement. We pick everything up and head back inside. It’s probably good our game of bocce didn’t last too long as dusk was settling in.
Rocker held the door open for me while I walked inside holding the set of bocce balls and walked into the game room to see Praline mashing the buttons on the side of the pinball machine.
“Are you winning, Praline?” I chuckled to myself.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGnmDSBzam
“No!!” Praline huffs and steps away from the machine, her score was almost pretty close to mine to be fair.
“I’m tired.” Rocker whines.
“We just got here!” Praline strikes back.
“Well, apparently bocce is a full body activity.” I comment.
“Is it really tho?” Praline skeptically pierces my facade, but I didn’t want to admit I was also tired and would like to sleep. I feared the noise of the pinball machine might keep me up at night if Praline continued to play. Not to mention the mismatched hours to travel before we can comfortably rest like this again.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9FlGF4qwD
Chapter 7: Haven, City of Interlopers
Veronica
I was kind of anxious to leave the safe house that day. I woke up groggily, and my confidence drained of making the trip with two children in tow. If we had to walk at night it could be dangerous, I remember feeling like it was dark on my way here the first time. Regardless we walked and walked. Idle conversation when we made an observation of the horizon or the flora. Luckily this path must be walked enough that interlopers don’t draw near us. So many hours we hiked and I can tell the children are getting tired, but I start seeing some familiar surroundings.
“We’re kinda almost there.” I mumble unprompted.
“Really?” Rocker whined. I nod. All that I hear is Praline panting.
Dusk broke when we saw the city in the horizon, we cheered and picked up the pace. The city grew larger in scale the closer we got, and before we knew it we were at the gates. They let us pass through easily thanks to my privilege of being a professor, they’re not allowed to check our stuff. Security is provided by the I3 around the city, but professors and accompanying party pass the identification check needed to enter since they’re I3 personnel technically. I’m mainly just on edge of our real interlopers causing a problem in the city. But now that we’re here, I can’t really think of an explanation for why people don’t like real interlopers. I mean obviously 30 years ago now Interlopers invaded the world, but how could these two possibly understand something like that.
“Hey, want to battle?” A voice cuts through my thoughts. It’s some rando looking to cause trouble I guess.
“Battle?” Praline asks.
“Have you never battled with your interlopers before? It’s the most fun thing ever.” They proclaim.
“You can do that, Professor?” She looks up at me with some confusion.
“I mean, ya but I don’t think they realize-” I try to clarify a feature of our interlopers, but it falls lost when,
“Praline is the strongest tamer I know!” Rocker blurted.
“Oh ya, is that true, squirt?” The stranger antagonized Praline.
“....Ya, you’re on!” Praline proclaims. Oi vey. So, the two get in position to fight, frankly I’m a little scared and decide to scan my sight for an exit strategy for when this eventually goes south. There are cameras, and we did just pass security but- surely…
The stranger projects a very impressive and articulate projection of a strong looking interloper, frankly maybe this random off the street is pretty good at battling and that’s why they’re harassing people coming into the city, but thanks for Praline, she sends out her interlopers and immediately,
“...Wait, is that a real interloper?” The stranger asks.
“...Ya?”
“Oh… Nope, nope, nope. Screw this, kid, you’re not worth dealing with. Get out of here!” The stranger poorly turns off their projector and flees the scene. Praline blinks in confusion, her Guinimini just watches the stranger walk away and turn to Praline. Praline returns Guinimini to the capsule.
“How was your first match?” I ask, kind of surprised how cleanly this interaction played out without trouble.
“Wait, so people really fight each other’s interlopers?” She asks.
“Sure, but usually people use Projections, not real Interlopers.” I explain. Praline stares at her capsule.
“Real interlopers…” I hear her mumble. We shove off from the scene and make our lodgings at an I3 sponsored hotel. I had to ask for a bigger room with more beds because my boss didn’t anticipate me bringing along my ‘assistants’. They were accommodating and the building is typically more expensive than somewhere else in the city given that I3 staff use the capital as a home base of sorts to bring home data they’ve collected. A sticky little thought crossed my mind sitting on my bed, watching the children hang out with their interlopers on the floor of the hotel room. However, it passed and I sleep easy that night.
When the interloper crisis was happening, as they were invading I remember panicking for days on end until I actually was forced to come in contact with one. My fight or flight response broke into stillness, but luckily this particular interloper wasn’t territorial, as most seem to be and continued on its way after glancing my way. I had hoped deep in my heart that day that perhaps interlopers are just like animals in a way, yet the power they hold is undeniably terrifying.
Chapter 8: Loyalty
Veronica
The alarm goes off and we all groan from barely enough sleep and sore bodies from the long walk yesterday. We take turns using the bathroom to get ready and dressed, and scoot out the door to head to the I3 HQ. Even though we complained about waking up early, Praline and Rocker seem pleased with the view of the HQ, gawking at every little thing we pass by on the way and inside. We walk up to the front desk and are greeted by an employee. I hand her my ID.
“Oh, you have an appointment with Director Steelman?” they ask.
“That’s correct.” I confirm.
“Perfect, you’re right on time, would your kids like to hang out in the Interloper classroom while you’re in your meeting?”
“Ah- No, sorry these aren’t my kids they’re uh…” I turn and look at them for a moment, “They’re assistants I met in the town I was posted in.”
“Oh…! My, how young.” The desk person’s tone almost squeaks. How old do they think I am? “Ahem.” The desk person cleaners their throat, “I offer because they’re going to have their weekly Interlopers 101 course for the youngsters in case that was something that would interest them.” They elaborate. I turn to Rocker and Praline and they both nod at me.
“I’m sure they both don’t need to sit in for the whole meeting but having them be acquainted with who I work for would be ideal.” I offer.
“Yes…!” Praline whispers. I hear Rockers shoes squeaking on the floor.
“Director Steelman can see you now then.” The desk person smiles and gestures for us to walk through.
We take the elevator up to a really high floor in the building, and walk to the director’s office. Greeted by his secretary we are let inside.
“Director Steelman, Professor Spruce is here to see you for your designated appointment. The secretary announced to him. The director looks up from his work.
“Ah yes, come in!” He stands up, “Why, Veronica Spruce, top student and fine professor of I3 Academy I am so glad you have finally come to see me face to face.” The Director declares.
“Truly, the honor is mine.” I speak politely.
“And who are these two with you? The research assistants you wrote about?” He inquires.
“Yes, this is Praline.” I gesture to her, she waves, “And this is Rocker.” I point to him, he avoids eye contact.
“It’s amazing to meet you two, Professor Spruce speaks highly of your potential. I hope to see you bloom under Veronica’s care.”
“Thanks! I’m really excited to be working with Interlopers, sir.” Praline admits.
“Now isn’t that just the sweetest? Oh but I also heard, you lost an interloper we assigned you with, isn’t that right?”
“Yes sir, that is correct. The water type, Pinnipeo. However there is no need to fear, for I have already replaced it thanks to the abundance of water types by the Pantentaeu beaches.”
“And can you show me this interloper?” He presses. Uh oh.
“Uh, sure.” I did technically prepare for this but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I clutch the interloper’s capsule, “Here.” I release the interloper in question from the capsule and it flops on the ground. This catches Rocker’s attention.
“Wait, you needed a Swimbiscuit for your research, Professor?”
“Are you familiar with this interloper?” The director asks.
“Ya, we eat them. The skin is flakey and delicious, they’re also easy to catch with large nets in bulk.”
“Well isn’t that interesting, Veronica, have you tried this delicacy?” The director asks, he makes this seem kinda like a joke by the way he’s saying it. Swimbuscuit continues to flop on the ground.
“I have to admit, Director, it is quite tasty, the flesh of a Swimbuscuit is almost nostalgic to fish, and definitely a nice change of pace compared to standard rations, as grateful as I am that food is provided.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRDQU14BaY
“Well, maybe I’ll have to try then.” The director seemed genuinely interested in trying. The noises of the struggling Swimbiscuit did not let me let another moment pass before asking.
“May I return my interloper now, sir?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SfpSZuDxd
“Oh, yes! No need for a fish carcass on my nice floor, am I right?” He jokes but no one laughs.
“Very funny, sir.” The secretary chimes in as I sigh relief and return my interloper to the capsule.
“Oh, you’re still here! Isn’t there supposed to be an intro class that’s happening today? Would your assistants want to sit in for that?”
“Yes, Praline and Rocker seemed interested in attending if you wouldn’t mind them leaving now.” I offer.
“It was nice meeting you.” Praline excused herself, Rocker nodded and left with the secretary. It’s just us two now.
“Now that formalities are out of the way, do tell how your research has been going.” The Director seemed bored.
“Well enough that I could’ve continued without seeing you in person.” I grumble.
“Well… Ya but I don’t think I can afford to be lenient on you, I mean those poor children, I asked you to come here to bring you somewhere else.”
“Already??”
“Of course, Your registered data implies that you’ve caught every type of interloper available in that area, so it’s time to move you.”
“Huh?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHi3d4dKtGx
“You have the Interloper Types of Water, Fire, Grass, Basic, Soil, and Electricity. Simply, you need to go somewhere else if you want the last three types you’re looking for.
“Ice, Air, and Stone…?” I think to myself. I suppose that’s technically true, it’s just, “You sent me here without telling me you were going to reassign me?”
“Why did you need to know beforehand?”
“For the sake of the children…” I try to say.
“But they’re your research assistants, you have proven they help you do your job. They know what they signed up for in helping you right? I mean of course.” He keeps going on and on and it’s the worst possible case I can imagine. I have kidnapped two children because my work was reassigning me and I didn’t know it. I think I want to cry actually. Holding it in however, I stare at my boss, my evil terrible boss and I say, “Okay. So you’re sending me where?”
“To the remains of Mt. Forever. As you know, Mt. Forever used to host the tallest peak in the land before… The interlopers arrived. However the remains are still theoretically cold enough to house different types of Interlopers than where you were just researching.”
“...Okay, cool.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR86XinS5hp
“Good pun, Veronica.” He jabs.
“May I be excused? Is that it?” I ask.
“Yes I suppose that is all, thank you for coming back and speaking to me, and good luck on your trip!” The Director proclaims. I just nod and turn around and leave.
Chapter 9: Why didn’t our parents tell us this?
Praline
The room we were whisked away to was peculiar to say the least. It had rows of desks all facing a board with markers on a ledge. Mounted on the ceiling was a large projector which I thought were just used for interlopers but? It’s pointed at the board. We were surrounded by kids much younger than us. I turn to Rocker and make a flattened face, he responds with a shrug. Nobody seems to be older than us, what kind of lesson is Interlopers 101? We were seated in the back as stragglers. The secretary left, and a different adult who also was wearing some sort of gray on dark gray uniform and introduced themselves.
“Hi kids! I’ll be your teacher today, Ms. Meyrl. It’s so good to-” and she kinda keeps going on and on, making all the nervous kids introduce themselves, including us. It seems like they’ll have to be back but luckily we’ll be going home . “Now for today’s first class, we’re going to have to show a kind of scary video-” Huh? “But it’s okay because this happened a long long time ago now.” The staff member winces at her own response. Why would they need to show us something scary? I notice Rocker tensing up too. The room goes dark, and the projector lights up, some sort of moving image displays on the board thanks to the projector.
“30 Years Ago-” 30? “A catastrophe hit the globe, Interdimensional Interlopers invaded our world and destroyed the ecosystem as we knew it. Even small Guiniminis reigned supreme as we did not know how to handle the threat of catastrophic levels.” Then footage played of Interlopers causing havoc in populated areas, which was quite disturbing not going to lie. When they showed a huge mountain collapsing I heard Rocker audibly gasp. I knew we had to keep our distance from interlopers but they’re really this dangerous? The screams from the footage made it seem awfully convincing I might if I didn’t have real interlopers in my possession. “Our most primitive forms of Interloper Projections could only manifest the spirit of interlopers, essentially containing type essence without much form. Thanks to the great minds of the old world collaborating together, they created the Investigative Interloper Institution, formally known as the Interloper Defense Committee, and invented highly articulate projections that can more fully shape our previously projected interloper spirits. Now, we can fight back against the Interloper menace, and so can you!” Then the video goes into how Interloper Projectors work, which Rocker and I are already pretty familiar with when we bugged the old professor. After the video ended they passed out our very own… Interloper Projectors?
“We’re just allowed to have one of these?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Of course! How else would you protect yourself from a vicious interloper?” The staff member asks, kind of rudely. I don’t think I can tell them what I have in my pocket right now. They walk away and Rocker and I turn to each other, I inspect the projector we got more closely. It was kind of small, or at least much smaller than what that rando was using against me. Not to mention the old professor did not let us mess with any of his projectors, but has it really been that long since they started giving these to kids?
“Something’s not adding up, Rocker.” I can’t help but sigh.
“Well something makes sense for me now.” Rocker glances away. I tilt my head, and gesture for him to continue, he sighs. “The map in the professor’s lab…”
“You mean the painting?” I clarify.
“No, it’s a map, Praline.” He further clarifies.
“Huh?”
“The professor has a map from… from when before interlopers came into our world. There’s no danger zones on it or anything.” Rocker points to an example map on the wall that shows where we are right now is very safe, while even places where we live might be considered some threat. “Even the mountain is depicted from the video that we just watched.” Rocker points his fingers together.
“I’m going to have to look again when we get back.” I mutter.
“Even the professor…” Rocker continues.
“Hm?”
“Even the professor seems freaked out by the mountain being gone, but I’ve never seen it in my life, was it really that important?” Rocker whimpers. The person that led the presentation today also seems freaked out by what happened, is the professor really affected by the same event? She seems fine against real interlopers now at least. The session of Interlopers 101 and we were let go, Rocker and I decided to wait outside the elevator lobby where the professor would have to come down to meet up with her again. We made it just in time, because when the elevator doors open, it’s the professor! And she’s… Crying?
“Praline…” She mumbles.
“Ah-”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OYy3vGX3Q
“Professor!” Rocker shouts.
“Rocker…” She continues. She steps out of the elevator and hugs both of us as best she could. “Children, I’m so sorry-”
Chapter 10: We’re not going home, I’m so sorry
Veronica
“What??”
“We’re not going home?”
The voices of the Praline and Rocker overlapped as I had to explain the situation to them back at our hotel room.
“Yes… Yes it’s true, I can’t go back home now, because… my boss never intended for me to stay there. I was naive thinking they’d let me go back, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry if I had known I never would have agreed.
“Professor…” Praline seems shocked. Rocker is trying to hold back tears. Praline turns to him and then back to me. “Will… we be okay?”
“Hm…?” Through the noise of my heart, that one innocent question cut through the noise I was feeling. I sigh, “Yes, we will be okay… The trip is safe, we're not doing anything too crazy, but,” I return my head to my hands, “It’s not okay to have roped you two into my business, and for that is my most grievous error I could have made. I am so sorry…”
“But-” Praline spoke up with tears in her eyes, “This is the only thing I wanted to do ever!” She storms off out of the room and slams the door behind her, the energy ricochets into Rocker crying.
“Praline!” I stand up, but then turn towards Rocker and sit back down. “Rocker… it’s going to be okay, I didn’t mean to stress us out, I promise we’ll be safe.”
Rocker hiccups through the tears, “I just wanted to be friends with interlopers, I didn’t know this would be so stressful! I wanna go home, I want to hug my dad.” Another bell in my soul was rung, to be friends with interlopers. I breathe deeply and exhale firmly, I put my hand on Rocker’s shoulder.
“I can hug you if it means anything, Rocker.” I offer, he slows down his tears, looks at me, and nods. I bring him in for a firm hug. “It will be okay, I’ll protect both of you.” I had no choice to say, for them and for myself. After the moment sank into our souls, I separate and look Rocker in the eye. “Let’s go find Praline.” Rocker nods.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X3d94P5CE
She was just sitting right outside moping with Guinimini in her lap. When I opened the door I immediately saw her.
“Professor…” She whines.
“It’s okay, Praline, I promise.” I try to be direct.
“Ya, but how can something so cute be so dangerous?” She holds Guinimini up to me like a trophy. I sigh.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvY0fEh4cV
“That’s the complicated thing, isn’t it? Guinimini didn’t cause the end of the world, the introduction of them did.”
“People really see it that way? The end of the world when I’m still here now only finding out about it for the first time ever?” She asks further, I actually start to feel embarrassed.
“Ya… People think it was the end of the world, because it kind of was. Life used to be different, now would seem crazy to me at your age if you can believe that… and well.” I sit next to her, “Interlopers came into this world when I was your age, if you can believe that.”
“Really?” She seems curious, I nod.
“Interlopers aren’t supposed to exist in our world, but they do and because of that they were forced to make room here, supplant things that couldn’t fight back their raw strength, animals of the past didn’t have a standardized move list like we have now. Animals couldn’t be compressed in a tiny capsule, and we certainly didn’t have a type chart.”
“Your whole line of study…” She mumbles, I nod. “I was so scared of interlopers, but just like you and Rocker when I got older I realized that now that they’re here, we’re going to have to be allies with them, not enemies.” I sigh, “People still see interlopers as enemies, after all these years, but they’re almost… just… animals 2.0, now with super powers.”
“Animals, huh…” Praline’s face twisted at the concept.
“Yup, and you know they’re still trying to have complete control over them just like they used to so- more stuff changes, more of it stays the same.” I say, standing up, reaching down for Praline. “Ready to do some research?” I ask. Praline stares at my hand for a moment.
“Ya, lets get this work trip over with and go home.” She says, grabbing my hand and standing up.
ns216.73.216.45da2
and then Add to home screen.