Brilliant Man/Vir Clarissimus (Latin)

Chapter 14 Borderline

"We're heeree!!" jingled Charles.

Before ending their journey, they made a pit-stop to Hail the Highlands! Cafeteria. LA, Sector NM of Center Quartz, Pyridoxine, feasting on milkshakes and crinkle-cut French-fries – or, perhaps, an aromatic, digital mush of neurotransmitter signals. The fattened pair then spent the remainder of the trip groaning and laughing hysterically like a drunken duo.

With another crash, boom, and ending crack, the pair reached their stop. Ozwald exited the pod first – its release of calming steam brushing off his lab boots - followed next by Charles. They observed their digital expanse.

The cloudy balcony was braced with a protective, golden ledge, the only barrier preventing a steep fall below. Lush grasses, bushes, flowers, and small groves covered this half-acre lawn. Ozwald hovered closer to its edge, captured by the crumpled Worchescher Belt area and neighboring districts strewn in brick and glass. Blinking beetles filled the skies, reaching new heights as the violence continued.

Then, while leaning in for a better view of a notable flavorists' university, Ozwald's grasp suddenly slipped.

Before he lost his footing (and his life, too), a faceless blur made four swift leaps to his side, and before dying or catching a glimpse of the masked figure, Ozwald felt himself getting jerked back with such a ferocity that his entire weight got thrown to the prickly, turf floor. It was here on the ground he achingly pieced together his pride.

"Not too shabby," came a shoulder-dusting, annoying voice. Learning that Charles had saved him only deepened his frown. Ozwald faced him eye-to-eye, his sour expression hardening when seeing him in perfect condition, as if he'd wanted him to die. In all this time, Ozwald had wondered if Charles was either a non-playing character or sentenced to Zed's digital Purgatory like him.

"Thank you..." he chirped, very reluctantly. Following this, he resisted the urge to grip his stomach in disgust.

"My pleasure," grinned the suited figure, whipping back his icy, salted hair. "It's just... you've got one more thing involving ledges."

"Never in the light of day," Ozwald said adamantly. His eyes roamed, diverting to the grass and away from Charles's burrowing, green emeralds.

"I'll need you to jump off the railing," he said.

~

"WHAT!!" Ozwald screamed.

"What is your concern, Ozwald? All I've asked is that you jump off the building." Then Charles began to laugh, adding insult to injury; his face burned. Why must he jump off at all? Hadn't the man already saved him once before? Zed's game of uncertainty had his every hair standing up on itself.

"Why should I jump?" Ozwald rebutted, warily glancing over the golden barrier. There was no absolute landing except skull-cracking concrete, which was far beyond his taste.

"Stop making things harder, ra— actually, hold on.. Tell me this, Ozwald.. if you've died in a dream before, did you wake up the same or differently?" Charles said, shaking him from his bloody trance.

"Not a chance..." was all he said, glaring at Charles. For a 1150 foot freefall, he wasn't crazy at all to refuse suicide. Charles smirked, lips parting in a way unnatural to him. Was Zed intervening through him?

"Tisk-tisk. Classic Ozwald." He leaned against a bathroom stall that come out of nothing. Sharp, neon-green lines overlapped then solidified to form both the stall's door and its other parts. "Don't you remember what I said?" His voice sounded annoyed. Condescending.