Nowhere To Go But Up

Hours, Persons, and the door

"No, no, you've got it all wrong. If I was going to shoot someone in the chest six times and then tell them 'you're not wounded too seriously', I'd save the line until after they died. It sounds way more condescending that way." Magolor spoke into the monitor with a lighthearted smile on his face.

"Are you really trying to tell me that you're not like him because you're worse?" Taranza was in his room at Castle Dedede, speaking to his desktop computer.

Magolor had been away from Popstar for several weeks, and although he didn't disclose where he was or what he was doing, he kept in touch regularly. "Or better, depends on how you want to look at it. You should continue, though. The credits haven't rolled yet."

Taranza continued the game he was playing quietly. "Okay. If I wasn't hooked before, I am now. That was really good."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, because it only gets better from here. The true ending is- hold on a minute." Magolor moved out of the frame.

It sounded like he was talking to someone at the door. "Ah, hello. What brings you here at this hour?"

The voice that responded wasn't one that Taranza recognized, but it sounded like it belonged to a woman. "I've been working on another phase of the defense. I'd like your help designing it. You would remember more about it than I do, after all."

"I'd be happy to help you later, but I'm in the middle of some important business at the moment. I don't know when I'll be done, but I don't imagine it will be any more than another five hours."

"Five hours? What important business could you have that would take that long?"

"I'm investigating some blueprints of ancient societies. There's definitely a link between the three of them, and it could be a major breakthrough if I find it. This could explain so much that we don't know about my origins!" Whoever Magolor was talking to, they weren't hearing the truth from him. Taranza could tell by the general situation and his tone of voice that he was completely ad-libbing the whole thing.

"Very well. I will contact you tomorrow. Bye!"

Taranza heard a sound of the front door closing, then Magolor re-entered the frame. "I hate that bitch."

That comment was so unexpected, Taranza couldn't help but laugh. "I sincerely hope you don't say similar things about me behind my back."

Magolor grinned and cocked his head to one side. "If I did, you'd never know."

"Any chance you'll tell me who that was or what she was talking about?"

"Ah, yes. That's Susie. She's talking about some security system for her company, which I am keeping a very close eye on because I will be robbing them shortly." Magolor was consistently unnerving the way he can say the strangest or most disturbing things without changing his tone of voice at all. Even to Taranza, who found he could read him better than most people, Magolor's way of saying something so out of left field with such natural contentment felt like a slap to the face.

"I... where do I even start with this?"

"Maybe try the start." Magolor offered.

"Okay, isn't Susie the name of-"

"Yep."

"And is she the same-"

"Yep."

"But now you hate-"

"Yep."

"And she owns a-"

"She's a secretary."

"And you're helping-"