Avilien

Sunday

At three in the morning, after trying to pry more information out of Nebs, Luke gave up and finally went to sleep. Curled up in a ball on his bed, Nebs adjusted and did the same. He rested his claws on his new master's head as he took control of the pillow as his own little slice of heaven for sleeping on. Luke had pressed him for all sorts of knowledge and information about Avilien, but Nebs wouldn't divulge. As much as he and his sister were alike, in the end he would not willingly allow his master to become food for corrupters.

A code or protocol break—depending on the level broken—would activate a corrupter response. Should the corrupter fail in its mission to erase the lawbreaker, otherwise known as a cheater, then another stronger corrupter would be sent and the cycle would continue until something as strong as a dungeon boss showed up. That was the kind of danger Amilia had placed Anna in. Not that Nebs cared about them anymore, as they'd tried to delete him and Luke.

Waking to the sound of his "Go Big" alarm clock—that had hologram dancing girls from the hit anime show dancing in the air—he hit snooze on his phone. Four hours of sleep was not enough and the sharp needle-like claws stuck into his scalp hurt. As he peeled Nebs off his head and sat up with a groggy expression, Luke fell off the bed. Nebs had pushed him a little bit at a time all the way to the edge of his bed, and landing face first on the floor made a terrible bang around the house.

Never before on a weekend did Luke wake at seven. Around eleven or twelve was more like it. Seven only on a weekday. Now, wide awake and rubbing his aching face, he watched Nebs stretch as he slept. It had only been one day with the strange purple cat that he now called a friend, and he had faced two sets of bullies, a lot of otherworld gaming stuff, and discovered that Anna, for all her beauty, was eviler than Nebs. Luke sighed at that last part; he had always admired Anna and her sleek black hair from afar. As a teen, he couldn't help but daydream about some of the school's girls.

Attempting to learn all he could about Avilien, Luke would try one last technique on Nebs if the vegetable drawer would allow it. Opening it up, there weren't all that many potatoes left inside. Six, to be precise, and Nebs ate like a famished walrus. He would try to coax him to reveal more about Avilien with two potatoes. If that didn't work, then the entire six might work. And if that didn't work, he could always try and gain insight from Brit and her game guide, Squeeks. Two new friends who'd saved Luke from impending doom.

Back in his room and closing the door behind him, Luke rested his bowl of cereal on his desk and watched Nebs's nose twitch as he slept.

Is he seriously smelling the potatoes? Luke thought as he put down the spuds.

Little by little, Nebs curled and contorted into strange positions. He ran in his sleep, kicking his tiny legs as he shrunk smaller. By the time he reached hamster size, he sprung awake and leapt in the air.

"I smell them! I smell my delicious potatoes. Oh, how I sort of love you, master," said Nebs as he swished his tails and readied to jump to the desk where the spuds lay.

"Easy there, Nebs," said Luke, blocking the path of Nebs's jump with his body as he stood in front of the cat. "I want to make a deal with you. Two spuds and you tell me more about Avilien." Nebs grew huge in a second. The bed started to creak under his weight.

"You would bargain two potatoes that are not even jacket spuds for information about the game, causing me to break code? I have figured you all wrong, master."

"I have six potatoes, if that helps. But they are the last in the house. After them, there are no more." Luke watched Nebs grow even bigger, like an elephant sitting on his bed, as it curved downwards. It wouldn't take the weight much longer and would snap.