Chapter 131: Home At Last

Jay was an unrelenting chatterbox of nearly headache-inducing degree, and when I say that, be aware that I'm mostly going off by the way Irene was giving the bubbly intern with far too much to say death glares that could make even the gruffest and toughest sonuvabitch out there rethink their place in the food chain.

True to his claims, the elevators were busted, and according to him with got five floors worth of staircases before we reach where we wanted to go, so Jay, playing the hospitable host to an odd-looking bunch of characters, took up the mantle of tour guide, and weaved and winded us through the halls and stairs of the studio.

Before that though, clicking her tongue at the inconvenience, Irene asked, "Why hasn't it been fixed yet?"

To which Jay simply replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Who's going to? There's no one here."

Which leads us to the present day, present time, at the second-floor steps, walking corridors branching to rooms brimming with office cubicles, all the while, getting an impromptu history lesson about Jay's time working for the company. 

"Joined way back when Asteria was still just a work in progress - back then it was a mess, story's a mess, characters' a mess, didn't even know how the game was gonna play. Got to the point where we just standing in a circle throwing ideas at each other - I threw my fair share too, but it wasn't until Mr. Philips came along that everything just started falling into place."

Since he was doing us the favor of navigating the building for us, I, not we, I decided that indulging his stories was a fair enough trade as opposed to wandering about all by our lonesome.

So I engaged him, giving the social formalities that Irene simply couldn't be bothered to put up with, meanwhile Ash, trailed closely by me with ears wide open.

"So you worked on Asteria? How was the process like?"

"Oh, good times, fun times." He said brightly. "Everything was like smooth sailing - design-wise, it was an artist's dream. Mr. Philips would come in, tell everybody about this new thing we should add into the game, then we get right to work. The programmers weren't exactly too fond of every bright idea, but hey, work's work."

Speaking of work, whoever the architect was of this building definitely an unnatural obsession with monochromatic hues.

If you got white on the walls, then expect to see black rugged carpets beneath your feet, in the same vein, if you find yourself trudging through whites, then the hallway would be of the darkest black.

Every floor after the second followed along the same pattern, couldn't have told each floor apart if Jay hadn't kept voicing out tidbits and facts like a life-sized trivia audiobook.

"Second floor's mostly reserved for motion capture and the likes, making all the cinematics… not really been used all that much since Asteria."

"Oh here's the third floor by the way, server room… I.T stuff. Make things easier if they're in-between floors, y'know?"

"This floor's here where the magic mostly happens, and by magic, I mean the boring stuff. Human resources, finance, sales, Q.A, etcetera, etcetera…"

By the fourth, and eventually, the fifth rundown of the same exposition reiterated slightly different, Ash was barely hanging on to his words by a thread.

She was doing her best to keep up, but all these buzzwords like 'programming, and 'graphic design' were like mambo-jumbo to her fantasy-sensitive ears.

That's the fourth and fifth by the way, programming and the likes… in case anybody interested in knowing.

Irene certainly wasn't, her patience rising to limits rarely reached.

Once nearing our destination, Jay's ramblings did a full roundabout back onto Asteria, and how pivotal of a role he played as… uh… intern… assistant programmer.

Whatever the case he was proud of his achievement, and by all means, good for him, happy for him, won't take it away from him.

"Anyway, you probably already know the rest of the story from there," He continued, turning to us with a smile on his face. "Game got released, was a hit, two years of worth of slaving away and bone-grinding effort rewarded and for some reason I'm still inter - oh my God..."

Jay stopped dead in his tracks, dead into silence, and dead into a stare… so sudden and without warning that almost collided into him, and in turn, Ash nearly bashed into me.

Irene, safely out of harm's way, gave a little groan. "What is it now?"

"Sorry, sorry," Jay mumbled, his gaze unblinking. "It's just… wow."

That 'wow' stayed a mystery for only a second, what he was looking at - the image reflecting back from the shimmer in his glasses, those lenses, mirroring the bright greens of Ash's eyes.

Jay took a fumbling towards her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he did. "I thought you looked peculiar down at the lobby, didn't really get a proper look at you… but now up close is like - wow!"

Ash searched and searched through the shock and awe that was showing in his widened eyes, trying to figure out the cause for his spontaneous outburst, never once entertaining the thought that she might be the reason for it all along. 

"Oh man, you seriously got her down to a tee!" Jay said, spinning perfect circles around Ash, his jaw slacking to the floor. "You must be a hardcore fan - dyed your hair white and everything… oh hey, how do those ears work? Are they like attachments?"

His enthusiasm was almost frightening, and apparently, Ash shared the same sentiments, for she slowly took a cautious step closer towards me, throwing confused glances my way, hoping I'd do something.

"Seriously, they look so real!" He got closer. "Like they're actually your real ears or something. How long did it take you to do this? You use makeup? Wait, no, don't tell me you actually did surgery for it."

"I… I, uh… I beg your pardon, sir?" Ash said, shielding her ears from view, as if fearing he'd suddenly out and reach for them. "Sur… surgery? Whatever that is, I know not of that term, but I most definitely assure you I have not participated in it."

"Holy - you even sound like her too!" Jay broke into resounding applause. "Look, there's actually talks of a movie adaptation, probably won't happen but I'll keep you in mind to the higher-ups in case if it does. You up for it? Oh! And can I get a photo real quick?"

"You're freaking her out, dude," I said, stepping in and obscuring Ash from his scouring eyes. "She's camera-shy too, so it's a no-go on photos."

"Aww…" frowned Jay, already with a phone in hand. "Can I know your page at least? You got Instagram? You do other cosplays?"

Ash titled her head. "Insta…?"

"None," I spoke for her. "Look, she's not much of a talker, prone to getting nervous around people quick… so you mind easing off her a bit? I'd appreciate it."

Jay didn't strike me as a bad guy, like Amanda said, people do like him, and it's not a mystery why that was. He was friendly, easy to approach, could hold a conversation for long, and very much sparkling with enthusiasm… perhaps a little bit too much in this case.

But again, not a bad guy, he complied with the request, stuffing his phone back into his shirt pocket, a sheepish expression on full display. 

"Alright, my bad…" He said, sighing. "Sorry if I freaked her out. Eshwlyn's a personal favorite of mine, you see… was there myself when Mr. Philips came up with her design, since then she's always been number one in my eyes."

The fondness in his tone, that more than anything, probably was the catalyst for getting Ash to truly understand how unique of a position she was in - she started to look, drifting her eyes, quick glances wandering through the halls, to the many rooms surrounding us. 

Computers whirring on standby, blotched whiteboards hung on walls, the faded writings, and smeared sketches, a marker uncapped laying off to the side there.

I watched her stare away, deep and lost in silent thoughts, that head of hers was probably going through a raging whirlwind at the moment… as realization, true realization finally sunk in.

Within this building, within these walls, laid the foundation of where she truly belonged, her true home. Her conception, her origins, mere lines of code written a computer screen, a rough sketch drawn in black marker - pixels and polygons for millions to enjoy.

Even for a normal person, that'd already be too much to even comprehend. 

There was a poster, a small one, pinned to the side of a cubicle. And In it, displayed front and center, Eshwlyn the Elf-Knight stood with her trusty sword in her grasp, her emerald greens meeting eyes that shimmered bright in much of the same way.

Ash blinked, her face, her deep stare speaking words unsaid, 'That's me, that's who I am.' 

Finally, she realized that.

But despair didn't come, there wasn't sadness, emptiness… she breathed in deep, and let out a breath of simple acceptance.

I think she might have realized something else too… from the way she looked, from her calm reaction.

It was what I was looking for… the reaction I was hoping for.

"Anyway," muttered Jay, scratching his head. "Sorry if I came off as weird to you Miss - uh… what's your name again?"

She was here now, her choices were hers here, her story was hers here. Ash turned back to him, and bowed, smiling faintly.

"I'm Ash," She said, raising her head. "Just Ash."

She realized that being here now, in this world, she could be so much more.