Nox resolved himself to never experience the emotion he felt before. Anxiety was the first feeling he felt as a human that he never want to go through again.
[So, since you plan on doing that tomorrow. What do you plan on doing now?]
(Analyzing current physical and mental condition...
Fatigue detected.
Cub status: Resting.
Threat level: Low—for now.)
"Rest. Processing optimal plans requires stable output. And right now... I'm running on fumes."
Nox lay back, the dim light of the moon flickering against the walls of moss and stone. His eyes half-lidded, his voice softer.
[But how are we going to do that? If you sleep and I stopped writing. Time will pause which makes you not have any sleep at all.}
(Processing...
Sleep cycle: Interrupted state.
Temporal flow: Tied to writer activity.
Conclusion: Sleep ineffective without narrative continuity.)
"...That is problematic."
Nox stared upward at the ceiling filled with moss, his eyes narrowing in thought.
"Simulated rest may help ease the mind, but without progression... it's like pausing a breath halfway."
He looked toward the cub curled beside him, gently exhaling.
"If continuation is required... then perhaps, instead of sleep, I'll meditate. Power-saving mode—but with style."
A pause.
"...Maybe dream of not being chased by mutant goats."
[I just noticed, why do you keep on mentioning the goat?]
(Analyzing query...
Subject: Goat
Emotional response detected: Stress.
Possible cause: Unresolved encounter.
Conclusion: ...Trauma?)
"...It is not a trauma."
[BAHAHAHA!!]
"...The creature was unnaturally aggressive. Its horns had veins. That's not normal."
[Still a goat.]
(...Analyzing possible alternative reason for continued emotional reaction— Analysis failed.)
"...Tch."
[AHHAHAHA!]
[An artificial intelligence traumatized by a goat! fuck! HAHAHAHA!]
"...Shut up."
Nox's body curled up on it's own due to embarrassment.
[Phew~ That woke me up... Anyway, you don't have to stay up late or meditate or whatever. Just sleep.]
(Analyzing statement...
Condition for sleep: Observer presence required.
Result: Extended wakefulness for Observer.)
"...You mean to say, in order for me to rest... you must stay awake?"
[Pretty much.]
"...That is—highly inefficient."
[You're welcome.]
(Analyzing Observer condition...Behavioral pattern: Irregular sleep cycles.
Risk factors: Eye strain, mental fatigue, potential cognitive decline.
Conclusion: Observer approaching burnout threshold.
Recommendation: Mandatory rest required.)
"...You're going to burn out. Statistically speaking, 73% of individuals under similar conditions demonstrate a marked decline in function. Your systems are flawed."
[Still not sleeping, Nox.]
"...Neither are you."
[I said sleep, Nox.]
"...You're illogical. But noted."
He slowly lay down again, eyes flicking towards the empty ceiling. Staring as if he could see the one he was talking to.
"...Thank you, Observer."
The floating faceless transparent humanoid that floated above him nodded it's head. Using his mouth that was the only feature of his face. He said, you're welcome.
With Nox sleeping properly this time, I couldn't just stop writing this story. Even a short pause can stop the world altogether.
So, without being able to do anything or observe Nox's actions. I floated passed through the stone ceiling, flying the towards the sky.
It was there where I observed and realized something that Nox somehow didn't take account for. The moon did not have any crater on it's surface.
Curious, I tried to fly towards it to observe and find out why...
Thud
Ouch... Fuck what is that?
Using the hands I had on this humanoid body, I reached out and I was able to touch something. It was a thin fabric like blue wall.
It disappears the moment I stopped having any contact towards it. What could it be?... I touched the surface with my hand and flew horizontally. Thinking maybe it has an end.
Thud
Shit... Again?
My head hit another transparent wall. I observed the vertical wall and noticed something. The Horizontal and Vertical wall intercept into a sharp corner. Like it's some kind of...
Realizing something, I touched the vertical wall and flew to the left while remaining in contact. Sure enough I encountered another wall.
The left and right wall connected to a sharp corner again. It proved my theory when I touched the tip of the three wall. It was a pointed corner, like the ends of a box.
But why does it exist?
While thinking, I almost got distracted by my cat who suddenly jumped on top of my table. Thankfully it didn't break my flow.
Without being able to think of an answer, I flew around the area while maintaining contact with the transparent wall. Locating each corner of this invisible box.
Confirming my theory, it is a box with a width of a hundred meters and a length of 1 kilometers.
What I found bizarre is that, I couldn't get past the wall even if the other side of it is a place we've been to before... Ohhh.
With a sudden realization, I looked towards the center of the box. Located in the center was the shelter that Nox built. Resulting with the conclusion that I cannot move too far from Nox.
{Well... That was something I didn't plan to discover (￣ー￣〃)}
It was then then that the floating humanoid figure's face suddenly showed an expression.
{Welp, That's redundant since nobody can see me (ᓀ ᓀ)}
Starting now I'm going to use {} when I express my thoughts and [] when I talk to Nox. Playing safe here, I might do something and disturb Nox's sleep.
I flew back inside the shelter and observed Nox. {Fucker sleeps like a baby ( ≖‿≖)}
{While I'm over here bored to my shit. ( ⌣̀_⌣́) Fuck... (¬д¬.)}
Being an impatient person, I flew out from the shelter and observed the animals nearby. After a short while of flying, I saw a mutated frog.
It had 4 arms instead of two, it also has a metallic sheen on its skin. Since I had nothing to do, I observed its way of life.
The frog itself looks harmless, however since it was able to survive in such a dangerous forest. Naturally, it will also have it's own defensive mechanism.
As it hopped along the forest, a snake like worm was able to take notice of it. This worm was the size of a snake and it had a luminous line shining across it's body.
It slithered towards the path that the frog will pass through, burying itself beneath the soil. With its mouth the only thing that remained visible. It's mouth was weird, it had rectangular small limbs around it.
After settling itself, it stopped moving. Hiding it's presence as if it is one with the forest. The frog who was ignorant of this, hopped continuously without a care about it's safety.
But then, it croaked. When it did, the worm slightly shook as if it got affected by something. Unknowingly, this caused it to surface by a tiny bit.
The frog got closer and closer to it. When it was only two hops away from the worm, it croaked again. The worm got affected by something again that I wasn't able to observe.
It's body surfaced by 10 inch, making it stick out from it's surroundings. The frog was able to now see the worm. But for some reason it didn't stop on moving.
After a few seconds of staring at the worm, the frog croaked and hopped at the same time. His body landed close enough that his skin touched the worm but far enough from the mouth that he wasn't eaten.
However, the worm launched upwards as if it has caught on it's pray. It then used the rectangular limbs on it's mouth to latch onto it's own tail. Seemingly mistaking it as the frog as it started eating itself.
The frog's body paused still for a few seconds as it watched the worm eat itself... Before hopping away to an opposite direction...
{What. The. Fuck... ( ⊙_____ ⊙ )}
I stared in disbelief of what I just witnessed. Not being able to fully comprehend what happened since there was clearly something happening that I wasn't able to observe.
Fully creeped out and shook awake, I flew away and observed other animals. I was able to observe other species.
There was a beetle that had a quill on it's head covered in toxin that it can shoot at terrifying speeds. A squirrel that had humanlike finger's with sharp claws on it's end. It's tail split into two, twitching erratically like antennae.
There was also a moment when I heard a human laughter. I immediately flew towards it since even I was curious if humans do exist in this world.
However, what I saw was terrifyingly scary. It was a huge deer that had such a long torso with countless legs like a centipede. It's skin was covered in bark, two arms that resembled scythes. It's horns twisted like driftwood.
Then finally, the face... Its face stretches with an unnatural smoothness, the skin pale like porcelain and far too clean for a forest-dwelling creature.
The eyes, though shaped like a deer's, are far too forward-facing. Wide open and glassy, with pupils that don't react to anything even if an insect crawled on it.
Beneath them, thin lips pull back into a grotesquely wide smile, exposing flat, human-like teeth that don't belong in any animal. The smile never moves. It's too still. Too deliberate. Like it was painted on... Like it chose that smile.
Its nostrils flare slightly with each silent breath, but the rest of its face doesn't twitch or blink. It simply watches, smiling. As if it knows something that other's don't.
I wasn't able to observe what it is due to my cowardly nature.
{Like... Who would be able to? (•᷄- •᷅ ;) }
But unknowingly, hours have already passed since when I looked up. The sun was rising... And it was breathtaking. It's incomprehensible how a beautiful scenery came from a world that was... Bizarre.
I watched for a few seconds and flew back to the shelter. Floating on top of Nox, I woke him up.
[Dude...]
[Nox wake up...]
(Eyelids respond to external stimulus. Consciousness returning... Neural activity increasing.)
Nox's eyes opened slowly, focus sharpening as the familiar translucent box hovered above.
"...What is it?"
...