Adventure Forward : Feel-good Fantasies

Knowledge

Recently exiting Arrolin's world, they now tried making it out of the library while producing as little noise as a half-dragon and robloxian could.
This proved to be difficult when you're trying to exit as quickly as possible.
Not to say it was an easy feat, but it took them less time than expected.

"Heyhey, I gotta tell you something." Tailor said, looking around to try and find a certain someone.
Glancing at them, Arrolin asked. "Yeah? What?"

"I need you to give me a bit of privacy if we find Anshine on our way there, yeah?"
Her symbol compressed a bit, much how you would express suspicion with the exception of not having an eye.. Or eyes.

"Why so? I know the guy's cool, but is he that cool?"
Their expression turned serious.
"It's not 'cause he's cool, it's because I need to ask him something."

She dragged out a long 'ooh', looking at them with a smile.
"I see, I see.. Well, good luck with that then!"

Fortunately, they did see Anshine sitting on a chair with his arms folded and head placed between them. He probably dozed off.
Tailor stopped in front of his table, which caused him to wake up and rub his symbol, so their light returned.
".. Mmh, hello?"

"Hey, Anshine, wake up."
He yawned and rested his head on the wooden surface. "Is it important?"

They looked to the other end of the room, only to find that Arrolin was gone. "A bit, yeah."
He yawned once again before sighing.
"Go ahead, tell me."

"So.. I heard you and Cyalm talking earlier-"

At that, he shot up and turned his head to them, a horrified look on his face.
"You heard what?!" He whisper-shouted, unable to bring himself to yell in a place where they'd get punished for doing so.

Tailor brought their hands in front of them as a defense.
"Whoa whoa, wait, I don't plan on telling!"
Anshine looked at them, then at the table he was sleeping on, then at them again.

"You listened in?" He asked curiously, wondering how they managed to do so without getting caught.

They nodded. "I just went to look for Cyalm, and then you two were arguing, but I didn't hear the whole thing."
Anshine sighed and put his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, I was just sick of not getting any answers from them."

They gave him a pat on the back.
"Trust me, it's alright. But I'll tell you one thing." As Anshine stared up at them, they looked down.
"It was kinda messed up, how he said he didn't value your faith."

"Eh.." He looked to the side. "I've learned to not question it now, it's always been like that with him."

"Geez, sounds rough.. Well, I need to go find Arrolin, see you soon." They gave him one last pat on the back before leaving.
"Goodbye, Tailor."

Exiting the library, they were met with a sight they shouldn't have been so surprised at.
It was Arrolin talking with Ploque, Tailor assumed they were in their own world and tried to walk by without interrupting them.
They couldn't really make it past two steps until the Point of Myths called for them.

"Oh, hey Tailor!"
They really wanted to curl in on themselves as they approached the two, preferring collecting threads and symbols over talking for long periods of time.
It grew on them, they'll admit.

"Hey, you go ahead and talk to Mino first, I'll catch up with you, is that alright?"

Oh. They didn't expect that, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless.
"Sure, Arrolin. See you there!"

Reaching the portal to the next world, they felt quite uneasy, for a reason they couldn't put a finger on.
Brushing it off, they entered the portal and the first thing they saw were many, many pipes.
Looking to the side, they observed how large the fall would be if, hypothetically, they did fall.
And man would it be nasty, even with water below to save them.

They climbed on the first few pipes and got onto another gray platform, seeing a robot, who also had a symbol displayed on the inside of their 'face'.
Looking at them a little closer, they wore gloves and attire you'd usually see a librarian in, which felt quite strange to Tailor.
Approaching them, they were surprised when the bot started speaking.

"All data systems online, user interface restored.. Initiating 'WELCOME' message.."
They didn't quite know what to do, so they stayed there until Mino was finished.

"HELLO! Welcome to CELL BARRANCA. Please attempt to enjoy your experience, as it gives me JOY."
They didn't know how to say it, but they were terrified. Something about the certain emphasis on words just unsettled them.

"I'll.. Try?" They said, unsure if their response would be recognized by them.
The Point-bot fusion didn't have a mouth, but their response,
"Your attempts will succeed, I know this." Made it sound like they had a smile while saying it.

Sending themselves off, they went to explore as much of the world as possible, narrowly avoiding water puddles that were too near electricity despite usually being quite brave.
They found a mini library stored away somewhere, in a small hut hidden away from all the big objects.
"What could this place be used for? Looks kinda old, like nobody's been here for ages.."

As they left the hut, they thought about the robot more as they went to collect threads around the place, running around from area to area in search of loose threads or anything else they might have missed around the world.

Once they made sure that yes, they had every thread, loose or not, with them and that they were qualified for Mino's challenge course.
Walking up to Mino, they gave Tailor the head tilt of acknowledgement.

"Client has collected ; 48 threads.. Processing.."
Their symbol spun like a loading icon, which they found quite creative.
In those little seconds, where they waited for them to process- something, they felt an unreasonable feeling of being stared at.
They glanced behind them, focusing on their own breathing and the turning of gears behind them.

"Is the client ready for the challenge course?"
Mino looked at them, waiting for an answer.

"Yep! I'm good to go."
They responded, still slightly on edge from a few seconds ago.

"Well then," Their voice suddenly changed, to something more organic sounding.
"Let's begin!"

They teleported back to the start of their world, and they decided to perform an impromptu 'speedrun' through Mino's world.
Honestly, every thought besides getting through the challenge course was abandoned in exchange for full focus on what was in front of them and how they could get past it.

To say that it felt like mere seconds since they were at the beginning would be an understatement, even Mino seemed surprised.

"Challenge course completed. System has recognized the client as 'New Tailor'. User asks; how did you manage to do that?"
They paused, looking at them, then their symbol, then at their surroundings.

"I'm.. Not quite sure."
A mechanic hum came from them as they stepped aside.

"Take the symbol, proceed to Disorder Nirvana."
And so they did, the heat barely affecting them now.
After being transported back, they stayed around.

"Why is the client still present?"

They sighed, looking at the start with tired eyes.
"Arrolin was supposed to come along with me."
Tailor failed to notice the lighter hue that came to the bot's symbol.

"Client recognizes Arrolin?" They asked curiously, stepping closer to them.
They chuckled, "Quite well, yeah. Her world was pretty fun."

As if on cue, footsteps came from their right and she was running toward them with a large smile.
"Heyah there you two! So what'd I miss?"

Tailor's face warmed up. "Nothing much, just talking with Mino.. Hey, are they really a ro-"
Arrolin hushed them up quite loudly and even placed her hand near their mouth.
"Don't!" She leaned closer, confusing them and Mino.

"C'mon Tailor, don't say the 'r' word!"
They leaned back, placing their hands in front of them.

"The.. R word?"
They looked to Mino, who was more confused than anything else.
Turning their gaze back to Arrolin, they made a very bold mistake.

"You mean- robot?"

Chaos erupted right then and there.