“It’s asking me to hand the device over to the person who introduced me to the DEM,” I said and Leo took the device from my hands.
“Okay, this should do it. Let me get the book as well.” He continued mumbling as he prodded the screen and once he handed me the device, it looked exactly like the Windows operating system I used at work. “The device adopts an interface that’s suitable and easy-to-use for you. You can find the book in your Documents folder.”
“That is…” I searched for the right word for this weird amalgam of magic and technology. “That is some great technology. I see a browser too. Can I use it as a regular tablet as well?”
“For fuck’s sake, Alex. I just gave you an opening to the Dark Energy Marketplace and you’re interested in knowing whether you can watch your Linus Tech Tips videos?”
“It’s just a question,” I said. “I’m not sure I plan on having anything to do with this world at all just yet.”
“Then no, you can’t use it as an iPad. The browser is specific to Apocosmos sources, or websites if that makes it easier to understand. Whatever you can think of, and a lot more, exist online and are accessible with this device. But only Apocosmos content.”
As he was talking to me, I had started browsing through the wares on sale and my eyes were filled with wonder. There were objects I had read about in fantasy and science fiction books, anything from immovable rods and rings of storing to photon torpedoes and mech-suits. All were available for sale here. In dollars! Some of them had unbelievable price tags: $43,250,000 for a teleportation ring, or $3,850,000,000 for a luxury villa in a place called Risa. The Trekkie in me stirred before I was literally stirred by Leo.
“Hey, you can check those later,” he said and started pacing in the apartment again. “I said, have you considered moving to a smaller place closer to work?”
My excitement over the magical items in the DEM and the possibilities they brought with them was immediately eliminated by the thought of what he had just proposed. I wasn’t going to leave our house. Why would I? This was the perfect apartment.
“No, not really,” I answered casually. “I like it just fine.”
“But the prices in the neighborhood must have risen a lot,” he continued. “Maybe you could start fresh in a studio closer to the office.”
Start fresh? Who the fuck said I want to start fresh? Why would I want to do that? I had it all and I was happy. This was our place. Our home. Why should I just leave and forget her? What would that make me? How would it affect Louie, who still waited for her to come every night?
No, I didn’t want to move. This was my house and I was just fine with how I lived my life. I didn’t need anyone telling me I should move on. I didn’t want the excitement. To hell with it. I didn’t ask to be pulled into this shit.
“Are you okay, man?” I heard him ask. “You blanked out for a moment there.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need some sleep, I think. Thanks again for healing me,” I said as I moved to open the door for him to leave.
“Cool,” he said, kind of awkwardly and headed for the door. “We’re playing D&D tonight and we’re going to stream it.”
“I know. The Exandria one-shot. How come you’re streaming it though?”
“No, no. I canceled that since you had your little accident,” he replied with a smile. “This is a special table. Apocosmos only. I’ll send you an invitation by email later.”
“Okay. Have fun.”
“Take it easy, ragazzo,” he said as I closed the door on him.
Having slept in the hospital, I wasn’t feeling tired at all but I couldn’t stand yet another “you have to move on” and “life goes on” lecture. I had deliberately distanced myself from all the people who had insisted on telling me that, full-heartedly believing something of the sort was possible. I didn’t want to have to completely cut off my relationship with Leo as well…or rather whatever was left of it after three years of almost only interacting at work. He might push it a bit sometimes but I remembered having fun when we used to go out. He also took care of Louie whenever we went on trips. He was taking care of him the night I didn’t return home.
I made sure Louie’s bowl was filled with water and then got into the shower to clean myself of the dried blood and dirt. While in the shower, I experimented a bit with the text interfaces that kept appearing in my view, trying to make them almost translucent while I hid most of the unnecessary things. I didn’t need my vision cluttered by the damage logs and experience logs.
I also had to do something about the carnival of hair I had now. It wasn’t as if my usual long hair was the epitome of style, unless the person judging was in a 90s power metal band, but at least it hadn’t attracted much attention. My shaven side where the doctors had stitched me up now screamed “look at me” and I’d rather shave my whole head than look like an attention-whore. For now, I shaved the other side as well, trying to at least make it as symmetrical as possible.
When I was done, I’d collected enough hair to weave a blond sweater for Louie. I flushed it down the toilet and dared to take a look in the mirror. My head didn’t look that bad, but my beard wasn’t long enough to pull off a badass Viking look. I’d always kept it trimmed short, lest I invoked a styling intervention from my boss.
