A Wonderful World

Compassion for Passion

It was the third time this night that time seemed to slow down. I expected a slap in the face, a kick in the balls, or some words of profanity. Instead, the woman in front of me walked to me, fixed my boxers, and whispered something into my ear.

"I can understand what you are going through right now. You don't have to worry, no one is really judging you. Your reaction was too cute to have any bad intentions. Plus, I'm flattered. Do you want to become a man?"

I suddenly pushed her away. Not enough to send her flying backwards, but enough to tell her to stay away.

I...wasn't sure why I pushed her away. I knew she was teasing me, but was she really? I couldn't help but remember the time my high school crush came up to my ear and said "screw you" after I asked her to dance. It was in front of her friends too, similar to these other ladies laughing at my fashion faux pas. In high school, I didn't push away the girl. Instead I sunk my shoulders, slowly turned around, silently cried, and walked away. That's what a kid would do, right? I wasn't a kid now, so I would do something else, like push the girl. Right? I had to push this older, model-like, stranger lady no-named woman that told me not to worry after publicly fantasizing her.

Tears started to form as I was realizing how immature my response was.

"Hahaha!" she laughed.

Now I've done it.

She turned to Kato and said, "Daddy, I like this one."

I laughed too. Actually I couldn't stop laughing. Besides going crazy from all the bizarre happenings of tonight, I just couldn't stop laughing at the fact that this woman that made me feel so immature just called a 70-year old man daddy. Seeing her sincerity, all of a sudden I felt like I was going to be okay on this strange planet.

But wait, what if Kato wasn't her father? There were five other women around, could it be that kind of daddy? Was this the kind of family that Kato has? Way too many questions, I needed to get the story straight.

"Um." I stammered. "Justin. Um. I'm Justin. Don't mind me, I just got to this world today so I'm super weird. Nice to meet you and your family. I'm 25 years old."

Then I started to back away slowly. At this point Kato walked over to me and firmly grasped my hand. I was surprised at his vigor and couldn't reciprocate the strength.

"No," Kato said, "firmly grasp it!"

He was a little intimidating. I tried as hard as I could. Kato then looked me right into my eyes, as if peering into my very soul. As if he could see my failure-to-launch life. Those countless nights I spent on the VR headset looking at success stories and always comparing myself. The inadequacy I felt living with my parents while my siblings all purchased the newest robot additions. The stubbornness I had when I refused to live with my pampered relatives. The burning desire that possessed me to refuse living a life wage to find a new future.

"Welcome to the family, son." said Kato, as he patted my back with his other hand.
I would say pinch me I'm dreaming, but that pat on the back really hurt. That was like the force of benching 500 pounds. It made me second-guess if there was any side motive to that back pat. Still, he acknowledged me as his son. My own father hardly even looked at me. I mean, I respected my father for taking care of such a large family but other than that I barely ever interacted with him. I suppose in his eyes I was just the leeching son that stayed with him for 25 years.

I never really stood out from my other siblings, I was always the one escaping any conflict through the use of video games or books. The social media and intrusive ads would always irk me, showcasing the always-happy highlights of others. It was just like watching my siblings succeed in pretty much everything. It was like a dynasty - they each had their own specialty and combined, they affected the world in a positive manner. I suppose my specialty was disappearing. I sometimes wondered if my living was welcome in their eyes. My parents didn't even say goodbye when they put on their headsets.

"Justin, right?" said a woman's voice. "I'm Irinia. I'm Kato's one and only daughter. Are you always stuck in your dirty head?"

These words along with my pulsating blood being cut off from Kato's grip, I finally looked up. I saw Kato and both Irinia smiling at each other. They looked really happy, and that made me a little happy to see. Maybe I should finally let go of Kato's hand now.

"I uh.." I started. "I'm not used to seeing so many people, especially women. I was all by myself on Earth for a long time. I'm sorry that happened, Irinia."

Irinia laughed. "Apology accepted. You know, I've met a lot of people that like to hide a lot of things from me. And you, Justin, were hiding nothing at all. I like that authenticity."

I had a feeling that this exposure would never leave me. Although, what a weird response that was. I mean, she was right that I felt a natural attraction to her, but didn't people get turned off by those indecency pictures? Especially in front of their father? I guess my life couldn't get any worse now, might as well figure out the situation.

"I kind of wish I expressed my authenticity differently." I said, while scratching my head. "And you said you were Kato's only daughter? What exactly is the family, and am I really a part of it now?"

Kato stepped in now. "Well Justin, not everyone was happy with the First Adventure. Not everyone is as nice as the people you see here. Joni and I rescued a bunch of people that were in trouble. And now we are family."

"Ah..." I said. "I see."

Kato continued. "People were upset that they were thrown into this city because of their net worth. Even after the other cities built individual houses for each person, there was no end to some people's sense of inferiority. Everyone at this bonfire just wants to live a peaceful life in this crazy new world. It's not just women, but these ladies closest to me have experienced the hardest trials. Humans are a scary thing. Bringing them to this new galaxy was like introducing a virus into heaven."

I looked around at the other women. They were happily chatting amongst themselves, enjoying the bonfire. It was nice to see. Then I felt a pat on my back.

"And that's when we met." said Joni. "Kato asked his neighbor if he could move one unit down so that his daughter could live next to him. You know what he did? He actually got into a fist fight with an old man! You shoulda seen it. Luckily it was time for the cows to come home so I saw something weird happening and stopped in. By then it was too late."

Kato laughed lightly, but with no humor in his expression. "The poor man was on his last straw. His house was the last thing that he held onto. He was truly delusional because it was never his in the first place. His soul was dead so naturally he couldn't put up a fight. The scene must have inspired others to panic. Our neighborhood was then plagued by acts of greed, lust, and pride. Luckily Joni was here to help physically remove some of the sources of corruption. And that's where we are now."

"Wow." That's all I could say to that.