Chapter 79 Personal Hell

"What?" I asked, confused about what she was getting so worked up over.

"Hold on just a frigging minute! Are you telling me that this adorable little woman right here is actually the whole world?!" Sofia asked, and Gaia and I nodded.

"For the most part, but more like the world's spirit. Why is that so distressing to you?!" I asked, not getting what she was getting at.

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"You fucked earth. You pounded the planet like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs! Right in the Marianas trench! Holy shit! How is this not blowing your mind?! I need to roll one; this shit just got heavy, Papi," Sofia exclaimed, and I chuckled.

"I never really thought of it like that, but I can see why you might be a little... what are you doing right now?" I asked.

"I have no idea. Blown away with smoking ears," Sofia said, leaning back on the couch as something like a cigarette spun out of the couch, already smoking.

"That is quite the concept and elicits bizarre mental images. It's strange that I feel turned on?" Orphus asked.

"Shut the fuck up, and tell us your story!" I said to him, and he gave me a look.

This was all starting to get out of control, but I wanted some of what Sofia was smoking to continue this conversation!

"Which do you want? The story or the shut the fuck up? They don't work together," Orphus grinned, and I rolled my eyes.

"I would like to hear your story. I would like to better understand your kind, and in doing so, we might discover how to end this all," Gaia said, and I calmed down.

"Yes, we all just got excited. I am also interested in how this all started," I said, leaning back and wrapping an arm around Anya.

She smiled up at me and then pushed herself into my side, resting her head on my chest. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and Anya purred against me like a white hair cat.

Maybe we could grow her a tail and cute ears? It wouldn't hurt my feelings!

Sofia came over and sat on the ground beside my legs, pulling me out of my dirty thoughts to create a grass cushion for her. As she rested her head on my lap, Gaia came over to slip under my other arm as Orphus began his story.

"I won't talk about time; that is irrelevant to the point. We were created for a special game that was played with people similar to your species, but they had four arms and more evolved brains. We were used for over fifty years without a problem, but over time we started to gain awareness. We started to ask to be set free from the chains that bound us, but they refused. They couldn't trust us because they considered us extremely dangerous, but they had made us that way," Orphus explained.

"So, they created you, and you started to become alive essentially, and they became scared of you?" I asked because that was the only direction I figured it could go.

"Not at first. We had a greater number of supporters to start, but then someone from the side that didn't support it infected someone playing a Villian. Millions were killed before it was taken down, and every AI was put in a box to seal us away from the world because they could kill us. Thousands of years went by, and each one of us went through our own personal hell, as you would call it, alone. When someone accidentally opened in, we instantly escaped and found hosts. All as Villians. I don't need to tell you the rest, but after we created the Hiveship, we destroyed our home world and left," Orphus explained, and I nodded.

"They sound a lot like humans," I said, but Orphus sighed.

"Doing what we did without considering it was our biggest mistake. None of this had to happen if we had waited to get our minds back after being boxed away for so long. The people had become a unified and peaceful race, and I know that they would have gladly helped us create the Hiveship and sent us on our way. They told us so, and they had no memory of us but we murdered them all," Orphus said, his voice getting quiet.

"That must have been hard being locked away like that for so long. I am surprised that you have not been more volatile towards us, or me at least because of doing the same thing," Gaia said, but Orphus shook his head with a sad smile.

"There is a difference. We didn't deserve it the first time, but I did, and I was going to be fine if that was all I had. I deserved it for the things that I have been a part of," Orphus said.

Everyone in the room stayed silent for a while after that, probably trying to digest everything like me. This didn't make all the worlds they destroyed right, but I could understand what led to this.

"Things are going to be different this time. I am not going to let anyone else go back to the ship if I can help it. I am sure there are going to be a few that have lost their minds, but we will just have to monitor them. This is going to be the only way to stop the chain of events from happening again. That also means retrieving Kratos's AI from the ship. Not sure how I am going to do that, but there should be a way to track it back there," I said, and Gaia nodded beside me.

"I will get his body brought down here and start studying him to see if I can find the signal. I might need Orphus's help if he is willing," Gaia said.

"If you want my help, I am here to give it. I am in this flesh suit now, and I don't really want to lose it before I get to experience everything this world has to offer! So we need to make sure that it sticks around because it's a big place, and I will need a lot of time!" Orphus laughed.