Loomian Legacy Veils of Shadow

Clank versus Clank

Thane was once again lying in bed, in the same room he had woken up in five days ago. In that time, he had only gotten up to use the restroom. The feeling of walking was strange. His eyes filled in the gaps, but with everything being a silver outline, he had gotten lost once. Maybe it would have been easier to navigate with Via, but Thane hadn't laid a hand on the case yet.

His meals were delivered to him, but he really didn't eat. When his parents had called, he had ignored them and given them a crap excuse about training for his upcoming battle with Faust. He was doing nothing of the sort. He could feel his body growing as weak as his spirit as he insisted on rotting in bed. He knew he had to crawl out of this bed, but he didn't want to. No matter how much it took a toll on him.

His Loomians could see that. When Thane heard the door creak open and saw a black rectangle open up in the white wall, he groaned and tried to ignore them. It was proving to be a challenge. Paratweet fluttered up and took a spot at the end of his bed, and soon after he felt Embit's ears and Slugling's vines tug at his arms while Geklow paced around the room loudly. Whispup was also there, unbeknownst to anyone.

When Thane sighed and began to speak, Embit and Slugling stopped. "Guys." He began, and his team held their breath. "Go away." They deflated. Those weren't the words they wanted to hear. Embit crossed his tiny arms and tried to reassure his trainer. To his surprise, he got a laugh out of him, but it was a laugh full of bitterness and scorn. "Embit." He began after a small chuckle. "Don't do that. You act like it doesn't bother you anymore, but I know it does. I saw it when you battled Jake's Searknight. You're still upset at your inability to evolve." Embit's eyes widened at the low blow and the room went silent. Thane waved at his team dismissively and turned in bed so his back faced them. "I let you wallow in self-pity, so do the same for me."

Embit stared in shock at his trainer's back for a few long seconds. Then, without another word, they all exited the room. Whispup stayed a few seconds longer, but he too phased out of the room quickly after. The Loomians left Thane on his bed, on the verge of physically impossible tears.

An hour later, Thane was beginning to regret what he had said. He wanted to get up, go find Embit, and apologize. He wanted to train with his team, talk with his friends, and his parents, and thank Dr. Vanta. There were so many things he wanted to do at that moment, but he had no strength to see them through. Baby steps. He told himself and with a groan, turned in bed. His hand shot out, and after a few seconds of fumbling, found what he was looking for. His hands grasped the Via earbud case. He held it in his hand for a few seconds, then, he flicked the case open, grabbed the earbud, and shoved it in his right ear.

He really didn't know what the expect. The room was still silent. "Hello?" He tried softly. Immediately after he asked, a robotic female voice spoke softly from the earbud. It sounded the like voice that narrated the Loomipedia. "Hello, Thane. I am Via, The Visual Impairment Assistant." Thane paused for a long moment, "Um, hello." Thane said unsure. "Uh, Dr. Vanta said that you're here to help me out with, uh, my situation." He said while tapping the metal eyes. "Yes, Thane," Via responded. "I am designed to improve your quality of life and access the multitude of features your cybernetic enhancements offer."

Thane was beginning to feel queasy. "Uh, okay. Uh..." He trailed off as he looked around. "Via, can you describe this room for me?" Without missing a beat, Via complied. "Your bed is in the far right corner of this room. It has light blue sheets with a nightstand to you're right. On the nightstand is a small lamp. The walls of white and there is a black floor. Your Loomiwatch and other items are inside the nightstand drawers, protected by a digital lock." She paused, giving Thane enough time to process this information.

"Would you like me to connect to the lock and deactivate it?" If Thane could have blinked, he would have. "You can do that?" He asked. "I can do many things," Via responded. "I assume Dr. Vanta informed you of my capabilities." Thane nodded slowly. "Yeah, he did." He muttered as he listed them off. Somehow, Thane managed to remember them all.