Blend the Light

Oh, Snap

When the next morning rolls around, I'm still just as tired as I was before the Wasteland guards left. I tossed and turned all night, apparently unable to fall into a wonderful, dreamless sleep. My mind is foggy with exhaustion, something I was hoping would be gone by now. It takes me a moment to realize that the iron bars have been fixed, and, just in front of them, there's a tray of food and water. Rex is examining it with wide eyes. I crawl over to him. "So they weren't lying," I murmur as my fingers scratch his shoulders. He looks over to me with a question written across his eyes. I nod, "Let's dig in. Shall we?"

We split part of the bread before eating some of the stew-like thing. "What even is this?" I let it drip from the spoon.

"I'm not entirely sure, though I believe it's made up of the day-old leftovers," Sarah replies.

"That was a rhetorical question, but thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome."

"So, have you ever met a Click 2.0?" I ask around a mouthful of bread.

"No. If Guthrie Harper made them, it can't be good."

"I guessed that much."

Neither of us speaks for a few minutes. After eating a few more bites of the bread and a bit more of the stew, Rex settles down next to me. I stroke his fur as he relaxes. "What exactly is The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils like?"

"It's-." I shut my mouth as I realize what I was about to do. No. Nope. Don't even think about it. No telling her anything. Who knows if she's working with Guthrie Harper, and was put there to try to glean a bit of information from you. "I'm not working for Guthrie Harper, I promise."

"Ok." What does that change? She could just be saying that.

"Come on. Tell me. I've heard of it, but I want to learn more."

"Hmm."

"I know that you're a part of it, and that The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils has been around for a while, and that you guys want to bring an end to Guthrie Harper and his Wasteland, and that-."

"How do you know that that's correct? How do you know that what you've heard isn't a lie? How do you know that anything anyone has told you is true? How do you know anything is true? Like, how do you know you're alive?" I interrupt her before she can continue.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sarah frowns.

"You could also ask other questions. For example, how do you know other people think? How do you know they are conscious beings? How do you know everyone else sees what you see? Huh. What if everyone sees a different world, but no one would know that?" I lean against the iron bars, adopting a thinking pose.

"What?"

"Huh?" I look up from where my head was resting on a fist. Sarah looks awfully confused.

"What are you talking about? Are these ideas from The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils?"

"Oh, no. They're not. I was thinking out loud."

"So I take it you're not going to tell me anything?" She looks a little sad.

"No, I'm not." That wasn't so bad. Well, yeah. You rambled on about who knows what, and made yourself look stupid. Hey, that was rude. It's true, and you know that. I didn't have to get stuck in that spot where she keeps asking me, and I keep refusing to answer, so that was good. I know.

"Come on! Keep moving! Ugh. You should've learned long ago to obey our orders." A Wasteland guard shouts the order from a ways down the hallway. They're answered by an animalistic cry, one that's half pain and half fear. The footsteps draw closer, and I find myself rising to my feet, craning my neck to see what the cry came from. "Click 2.0," Sarah hisses quietly, looking me dead in the eye. I hear the clink of chains being pulled tight, which is followed by a whimper then footsteps. Finally, after another minute or two, the Wasteland guards reach me and Rex. Don't forget Sarah. Yeah, yeah. Her too.