Chapter 7- Mysterious Conversations and Time to Go! "You know you're not supposed to do that." The Programmer didn't even glance up from their work. "Hello, Lady." LSS-sama put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Don't 'hello Lady' me, kid. What do you think you're doing?" Now the Programmer did look up. "You look nice today." "Damn it, Anundrae…" "All right, all right. I'm fixing a problem you created." "Actually, you're making it worse. You can't just up and create a world like you are. It's way too dangerous." "Uh-huh. That sure stopped you and Miz T, didn't it?" LSS-sama stamped one foot against the cool, hard floor. "We knew what we were doing! We researched! All you're doing is trying to mix up Earth and the Bishie world by taking components from both. You can't do that, or you're gonna make a hell of a mess." "And all you two did was 'Mix fantasy and reality, and digitized it'," the Programmer responded. "Grow up, Lady." "No, Anundrae. You grow up. I happen to like you, but Tokio-san and I will fire your ass if we catch you doing anything else." The Programmer whirled about in their swivel chair, and glared at the creator of Bishoujo. "Unlike you two, I'm trying to help those half-Bishies find a place where they won't be pissed on by humans and Bishies alike." LSS-sama snorted. "Oh, please. If everyone could do that then the Native Americans would have kept the country to themselves, England and Ireland would have never warred, and Japan and China would have never had to deal with the rest of us. If everyone could create their own little worlds, then there'd be no conflict, and no change. We'd all die out like the dinosaurs, probably even more quickly because of boredom. Besides, who told you that all the half-Bishies want to be left alone? There are quite a few happy ones." "You're very cold hearted, Lady." The Programmer's voice was quiet. "No, I'm a realist. We 'allowed' the two races of people to have children for two reasons. One, because they would have been more eager to try if we'd forbidden it. Two, because people need to change." The Programmer was silent, staring at one of the many screens surrounding the little office they stayed in. LSS-sama nodded to one screen as it began to beep at the two of them. "There's a newbie coming in. Why don't you attend to your day job and find a new hobby?" With that, she muttered something under her breath and she was gone. The Programmer didn't move for a long while. "Are you okay?" Owwww… Naomi opened one watery eye cautiously, then the other. Blurry faces surrounded her, and for a minute she wondered if she was in a hospital after some sort of bad accident. Maybe someone slipped crack into my food and the Bishie world was a dream, she thought. But no… after a moment longer, her eyes cleared, and she found Anya peering down at her worriedly. Naomi found herself lying on one of the beds in Anya's inn room, with Chichiri's cloak as a blanket. She was tightly wrapped up in it, as was Erk, who was slowly returning to consciousness as- Wait a minute! The young woman looked about at the group of faces, sitting up and squirming a bit away from her new Bishonen, blushing slightly. "Wha' happened?" she croaked. "Easy," Anya ordered. "Ne, Kenshin, do you have that water handy?" The redhead nodded and handed a cup to her. For a few minutes, Naomi pondered that strange image of a samurai holding a plastic cup with tap water in it. Then she realized she'd been staring and accepted the water to cover her embarrassment. "Mm. What…?" Erk sat up as well, rubbing his forehead. "Good, you're both okay," Anya said with obvious relief. "You've both been out for well over an hour, n'da," Chichiri informed them. "What happened?" Naomi repeated. "I forgot to mention something new that the people here do to new trainers," Anya said. "It's called bonding. Have you ever read the Valdemar books?" Naomi thought for a moment, and then nodded. "All right, it's kind of like the horses in there bonding with their Heralds and stuff." "They're not horses, they're Companions," Naomi said, with a hint of annoyance. "Horses are horses," Anya said with a shrug. "Anyway, it's like in the books. You're the Companion, and he's the Herald to be. You Chose him, in a way. Now you need to bond and get used to each other. For a while, you won't be able to handle being much more than a few feet away from each other. Over time, as you get used to each other and the bond the Bishie-ball causes, you'll be able to be farther away. Eventually it'll reach that limit that was mentioned in your Orientation." "Oh," Naomi said. "But does that mean he's the only one I can choose?" Anya laughed. "No, of course not. Be ready, though. You'll have to go through this with every Bishie you capture, so I hope you capture ones that are really likeable." She poked Sano playfully. "Unlike this one…" He mock-growled at her. She poked him again. "So trainers are like Companions who can choose multiple Heralds," Naomi said thoughtfully. "Uh-huh. Or it's like that old movie, I think it's either Anna and the King or The Emperor and I or something like that. You know, where a teacher woman goes to Asia to teach the children of the Emperor? He says that a bee can go from flower to flower as it pleases, but a flower should not be able to go from bee to bee." "Actually, I think that was a supposed comparison between men and women," Heero informed then, typing on his new laptop. He sat on the other bed, facing away from them. "Shut up, Heero." "I think we're getting a bit far afield here," Chichiri murmured. "Indeed, de gozaru yo," Kenshin agreed. "You all right?" Anya asked Erk. The Anima Mage nodded, still rubbing at his temples. "Yes. I've handled worse headaches before." "Great. Listen, uh, I don't want to sound rude, but I think we ought to move you to your room now." "Our room?" Naomi and Erk asked. "Well, yeah. Duh. You have to get used to living with each other, now that you're Trainer and Bishie, ya know." "Please don't do that," Chichiri told Anya in a pained tone. "Why not… ya know?" "I hate it when she says that, n'da," the monk whispered to Naomi. "Don't know why, but I do, na no da." Naomi couldn't help it; she laughed. Chichiri gave her an injured look before grinning at the lot of them again. "All right, let's move you over. Then we can talk about what's what." It was easy to move the new trainer and her Bishonen into the next room; after all, Naomi only owned the most vital of possessions needed to begin on a journey. She had money, but it was hidden away in an account she could only access through her Dex, to lighten some of the trainer's worry. That was the only thing in the Dex Programming that absolutely required voice activation. She also had the Bish-belt and Balls, the Bishonen, and a small backpack that Anya pressed on her. Upon looking in the small backpack, she discovered a capsule full of foods that didn't require cooling or heating to be eaten; a capsule that had three outfits for her inside, thankfully in her size; a small notebook for whatever she chose to write in it; and a capsule with a fire-starting kit, a few blankets, umbrellas for rain, and a simple tent that came with a small set of cooking and cleaning utensils. "Wow, you don't have to give all of this to me," Naomi said wonderingly. Anya shrugged. "I remember when I started. When you're a newbie, you get free stuff from people for the first week simply because you're an innocent. However, I've discovered that most of that stuff is the worst quality you can hope to find, which is partially why it's so easy to get it free. Most of the stuff in that bag are of decent, if not good quality." "Thanks!" Anya grinned. "I'm sorry about leaving on you tomorrow, but you'll be fine," she said. Naomi looked up, startled. "How did you-" "I guessed. Look, don't worry about it. The people around here are really, really great people. Don't worry about running into unlikable types or anything. The worst kinds of people back home aren't allowed here. Those who have unhealthy obsessions usually aren't allowed here, either. Mostly. My point is, if you want help, ask and you shall receive. Just remember all that stuff they showed you at Orientation." Erk, who was seated nearby, spoke up. "And I shall be there, of course, to make sure you make very few large blunders upon your journey, trainer mine." Naomi blushed at that. "Thanks, Erk," she said. The mage bestowed a small smile upon her before pulling one of his tomes out of nowhere and reading it. Anya smiled at the younger trainer. "Ne, here's an idea- let's exchange Dex numbers." Naomi smiled. "Sure!" The two did that swiftly, with Naomi feeling very pleased about her quick mastery of the Dex programming. After that, Anya slipped her Dex back into a pocket as she regarded the younger trainer. "Well, look… when you get up tomorrow, I'm probably not going to be here, unless I can't get Sano up," she said into the quiet room. "So you probably won't see us for a while." Naomi blinked. "Oh. Uh, okay…" "It was great meeting you, and it's always fun meeting new people, but I really want to get back out walking places, and I want to try that teleporting thingy," Anya explained. "So it's nothing to do with you, honest-" "I know that!" Naomi said, laughing. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, like you said." She paused, then said, "Thanks for your help, and the stuff, and well, everything." "No problem! Just Dex me whenever you want, ne? Time is the same on every part of this world." "What?!" Anya shrugged. "It's weird, I know- it's kinda like that old thing they taught us in elementary school about how everyone thought the world was flat at one point. Only it's real." "How would the sun revolve about a flat planet? Or how would a flat planet revolve around a sun?" Naomi asked, eyes wide. "No idea." "Never mind that, how does the solar system handle having a continuously expanding planet, whether it's flat or normal as your old world?" Erk asked. "Waaah, no more questions about planets!" Anya said, suddenly ing. "I'm getting confused!" Naomi laughed. "You heard her, Erk." The Anima Mage sighed and went back to his book. "Well, uh, if you're leaving tomorrow, then let your Bishonen know I said thanks, okay?" Naomi asked. "Specially Sano and Chichiri." "Why Sano?" Anya asked, puzzled. Naomi remembered how Sano had pretended to be injured earlier that day and smiled. "Oh, no reason." Anya didn't look convinced, but let that pass. "Sure thing." "Thanks." The girls said their good-byes, Anya still puzzling over why on earth someone would want to thank Sano for something, and Naomi puzzling over what else her Dex could do. "Hey, look! Online gaming opportunities! Whoa! I don't believe it! They've got Sims in here, only it's like with every expansion pack ever made! And look! I can actually see what they're saying!" Erk sighed, and continued to read his tome. Well, at least she's calmer than Serra… A while later, Chichiri popped back into the room to say his good-byes to Naomi, actually removing his mask to give her a warm smile. The young woman nearly died of embarrassment when he grinned; it was almost like he didn't have a scar on one eye at all, but that he was winking at her. Smirking at her embarrassment, Chichiri turned SD and cast a few outrageous magic spells about before disappearing back into his trainer's room with a loud POP. Night soon fell, to Naomi's surprise. She and Erk didn't leave the room once since their first incident, instead calling for room service and watching television and reading. And, as they each climbed into a bed to fall asleep, Naomi couldn't help but wonder what else this wonderful world had in store for her. Bishies… Sims… Free food… What else do they have here?!