The Simulacrum

Hanging out after school hours was often considered to be the lifeblood of youth. It was a sacred time, carved out between the last bell and the dinner bell, a space for unstructured fun and burgeoning friendships. Or, in case of high school students and their significant others, it was a chance to get away from the prying eyes of their peers and engage in the subtle, often awkward, dance of adolescent romance.

Or at least that was the case with the mundane citizens of Timeus, which Joshua Bernstein, Angeline Dionne, Amelia Rhearn, and Michael Khurshid most certainly were not.

The context of their meeting after school hours was nothing especially extraordinary; a casual meeting between two couples for a light-hearted double-date. A chance to hang out, share stories, and enjoy each other's company. However, considering that this group consisted of the Herald of the Abyss, Deus Reborn, the Conduit of the Grimoire of the Assembly, and the only son of the head of the Seraphic Safeguard and Leonard S. Dunning's chief Celestial aide, the four of them being able to share a relatively normal high school experience was, in its own way, nothing short of a miracle.

It was a lukewarm afternoon in late November, the sun hanging low in the sky. The four of them were gathered in front of one of the city's many colourful arcades, the sounds and lights of the gaming machines spilling out onto the street. The air was cool, but not cold, carrying the faint, sweet scent of roasted chestnuts from a nearby street vendor.

"What's the plan?" Amelia asked while observing the facade of the establishment, the bright lights reflecting in her glasses. "It's been a while since I last came here."

"Yeah! We came here when we were in our freshman year, right?" Angeline chimed in with an ear-to-ear grin. "It was when we had that bet on who could get the highest score on that old rhythm game!" She poked Joshua in the side, prompting the young man to thoughtfully tilt his head to the side.

"Who won back then?"

"Does it really matter?" Amelia asked absently, only to drop the line on inquiry at once when her boyfriend returned to their side with some roasted chestnuts.

"Here, honeybunch," the blonde Celestial said as he handed a bag to the bespectacled girl with a smile. "Be careful, they are hot."

"Thank you, sugar bear," she responded with a small smile of her own and blew on one of the treats.

Meanwhile, the other couple seemed to be deeply troubled by the previous question.

"I honestly can't remember who won," Angeline admitted, but then an impish smile spread across her face. "But I think it's pretty obvious it was me."

"What makes it so obvious?" Joshua asked back with a critically raised brow, though there was a playful glimmer in his eyes.

"Oh, you know? 'Cuz your sense of rhythm sucks?"

"Heh. Those are fighting words," he responded and pointed the bag in his hand towards the building's entrance. "Care to let me make you eat them?"

"Careful, Boy." Angline's tone shifted, along with her eye colour, yet her smirk remained unchanged. "You might just bite off more than you can chew," Deus declared, only to falter at the last second and ask, "That's how the saying goes, right?"

"It sure does, but you'd better prepare yourself. I'm not the man I used to be back then," Joshua declared with a playful, cheesy smirk of his own, and struck an odd pose, potentially trying to mimic a bodybuilder.

"It's still two on one!" Angeline declared, re-assuming control with a daredevil grin on her face. "You're gonna go down, buddy!"

"We'll see about that!"

Like that, the two of them marched into the arcade, leaving the other couple behind.

"Do you want to try the crane games, sweetheart?" Michael asked softly while putting an arm around Amelia's shoulder. "There are all kinds of cute plushies in there, though I doubt any of them are cuter than you today."

Amelia flushed, the warmth climbing from her neck to the tips of her ears.

"That's a terrible line, Michael," she mumbled, but then she rose to her tiptoes and planted a peck on his cheek. "But I'll graciously accept it."

"Hehe." The Celestial rubbed his nose, somehow looking more flustered than his girlfriend, and then he hesitantly asked, "And then, do you want to try that game where you shoot zombies?"

"Only if it's not too loud."

And with that, the two of them followed after their friends, their arms still linked as they entered the colourful, cacophonous world of the arcade.

However, they were not the main characters today, colloquially speaking. That title belonged to an entirely different group clumsily hiding behind a large wending machine outside the arcade, near the corner of the building.

"This is so nostalgic!" the girl on the left, dressed in purposefully drab clothes and her usual golden ringlets hidden under a fluffy beanie, whispered to her companion. Her bright green eyes were wide with excitement.

"The arcade?" the girl on the right inquired, taking a break from poking the keyboard of her phone's notebook application and looking at the other girl with a deadpan yet mildly skeptical expression.

"No, I mean, following people on a date! It's just like that time, you know? Like way back when," Eleanor Dracis insisted, causing Judy Sennoma to slightly narrow her eyes.

"You mean, during my first date with the Chief?"

"Yeah, that, too!" Eleanor responded without a hint of reservation, and the other girl simply shook her head with a sigh.

"When is Sol getting here?" the third member of their little group grumbled, though it was hard to see him at first.

Draped under Eleanor's arms stood a young boy, or at least so he appeared. Despite the weather, he was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved white shirt with a pair of suspenders, his shoulder-length white hair making him just a little androgynous and conventionally adorable.

"He's running late," Judy answered, then she paused. "He said he would come as soon as the meeting was over."

"How irresponsible," the kid grumbled, only to flinch when Eleanor reached around and poked his nose.

"Don't say that, Benny! It would be more irresponsible to leave an important meeting before it's over."

Benjamin, previously known as the Predator Moon, narrowed his eyes and momentarily considered biting the finger in front of him, but then the memory of the last time he tried something like that flashed across his mind's eye, and he grumpily relented.

"True, but it's still imprudent to keep me waiting. He promised to help me first."

"Don't worry, the Chief will be here soon enough," Judy told him as she glanced around the vending machine. A long beat later, she added, "They're all inside. I don't think we can go in without them noticing."

Eleanor let out a disappointed, "Aw," then muttered, "I wanted to play a game with Benny."

"I did not," Benjamin fumed, yet his cold shoulder only made Eleanor giggle affectionately and rustle his hair.

Seeing that they would have to stake out the location until the couples on the double date came out, Judy turned to her partner in crime and asked, "Do you feel anything now?"

While the question was vague, Benjamin clearly understood it, as he scrunched up his brows and closed his eyes. For a few seconds, he stood still, the sounds of the city washing over him. Then, he opened them and nodded.

"Yes. The pest is certainly present."

Eleanor blurted out a surprised, "Really?" and glanced left and right. "I can't feel anything strange."

"I told you, the pest has been following me around for some time now, so I learned to recognize its presence," Benjamin insisted.

"You keep calling it 'the pest', but what exactly is it?" Judy inquired with a finger hovering over the screen of her phone.

"If I knew, I wouldn't have requested Sol's assistance," the eldritch being in the guise of a cute boy huffed in exasperation, earning another hair-rustling from Eleanor.

"It's alright, Benny. We'll figure it out."

"I already told you I would appreciate it if you didn't call me 'Benny'."

"Oh, don't be like that!" she responded with a cheerful smile and another headpat, much to the boy's impotent frustration.

Meanwhile, Judy seemed lost in thought, and she eventually asked, "Venerated Benjamin?"

The boy immediately perked up and responded with an almost regal, "Yes? Do you have a question for me?"

"Indeed," she confirmed, then bluntly asked, "You said this 'pest' started stalking you around in the Simulacrum." She waited for him to nod. "Has it always happened when you were following other people around?" He nodded again. "Does that mean you're doing this regularly?"

"Yes," he answered without the slightest hint of shame. "I'm still getting used to this Defintion, so I'm observing the Actors within the Simulacrum to gain a better understanding of their biological and psychological patterns."

"So you're people-watching?" Eleanor chimed in, looking intrigued.

"No. It's research," the boy insisted with utmost seriousness. "I am a Venerated Emergent. I do not perform such superfluous activities as 'people-watching'."

"Right," Judy said, completely ignoring his proclamation. "So your research involves following people around."

"Indeed. However, it's not as productive as I expected. Most of the Actors' motivations are trivial, and their interactions are driven by base emotions and misapprehensions. It's rather disappointing."

"That's not entirely incorrect," Judy noted, eliciting a hiss from the other girl.

"Judy! Don't say that! You're going to turn Benny into a misanthrope!" Before Judy could respond, she crouched down to be on eye-level with the boy, then seriously told him, "Listen, Benny. Humans are complicated, and you can't just write them off like that."

"Actors," Benjamin insisted. "They are inconsistent, constantly changing their behavior and engaging in extraneous activities in social settings. It's all thoroughly illogical."

"No, it isn't!" Eleanor insisted and cupped the boy's cheeks in her hands, much to his apparent annoyance. "People do that because they want to show their best sides to their friends, and make sure they don't hurt them accidentally. It's just how people are."

"How they are," Benjamin insisted back, his voice sounding strained from her grip, "We Emergents are different, so it's impossible to—"

"No, you're not. I mean, we're not. I mean..." Eleanor's brows scrunched up as she wrestled with the words until she suddenly let go of his face and turned on her heel. "Give me a second! I've got a great idea!"

Before Benjamin or Judy could get a word in, she dashed out of cover, and then a minute or so later, she returned with a paper bag full of freshly roasted chestnuts. The aroma was warm and inviting, and Judy raised a questioning brow at her. She ignored it and squatted down before the boy again.

"Here, Benny. I brought this for you." She handed the bag over to him, and the boy accepted it without a word. "Now, tell me, what do you think of it?"

"What do you mean, 'what do I think'?" Benjamin asked back and cautiously peeked into the bag.

"About the chestnuts!" she prompted with a bright, encouraging smile. "Why do you think I bought them for you?"

Benjamin's gaze moved between the bag and Eleanor's face several times, and then he looked at Judy, who looked just as nonplussed as he was, albeit in a more subtle way.

"Tribute?" he guessed at last, and the blonde girl puffed up her cheeks.

"Wrong! Now try again!"

The boy considered the matter for a few seconds longer, then offered, "A bribe?"

"Nope!" Seeing that he really wasn't getting it, she poked his forehead and told him, "It's because I like you, and I know that you like to try new foods, so I bought it for you to make you happy." She paused for a beat, then asked, "Does that make sense?"

"Not particularly," Benjamin answered without missing a beat, and the other girl let out a small sigh.

"Okay, let's try a different approach," she started again, and pointed at the bag of chestnuts. "These are yours now, right?"

"Obviously," the boy confirmed, and then proceeded to take one out of the bag and cautiously sniff it. "I have accepted them, so they are mine."

"Right. And they smell reeeally delicious, right?" The boy hesitantly nodded. "So, what would you do if I asked you to give me one? Right now?"

"Give you one of them?" he repeated after her, then stared at the treat in his hand for a few seconds. "Why?"

"Because it smells reeeally good, and I'm hungry."

"... You can just buy more."

"Yes, but let's presume that I don't have any more money on me, and that I'm reeeally hungry, and I really, reeeally want to eat a chestnut. Then what?"

Benjamin looked rather flabbergasted by the odd thought experiment, but he still played along. He weighed the chestnut in his palm, then looked at the bag, then at the girl, and then back at the chestnut again.

"... Then I would give it to you."

"Why?" Eleanor asked, her smile widening.

"I... do not know," Benjamin admitted after a brief hesitation. "I have no logical reason to do so. The exchange is detrimental to me. And yet... I would."

"It's because you don't want me to be sad and hungry!" Elly explained with a giggle, and the boy's shoulders sagged a little.

"I am not entirely convinced," the Venerated Emergent declared, but he did not contest her claim any further, and only popped the chestnut into his mouth. He seemingly swallowed it whole, and then grumbled, "We Emergents aren't supposed to be beholden to such petty, baseless social compulsions."

"I respectfully disagree," Judy commented on the side, causing the boy to look at her with obvious annoyance.

"Do you presume to understand the nature of us Emergents better than I do?" he asked back, and the other girl responded without any hesitation.

"Aren't Emergent Definitions just another manifestation of social interactions?" Benjamin was completely speechless, so she elaborated. "An Emergent's Definition is how they wish to present themselves to each other. Just like how humans use their appearance, fashion, pattern of speech, and choice of surroundings and associates, the Emergents do the same with their Definitions. Or so do my observations point to, at any rate."

Benjamin was quiet for a long while, so Eleanor asked, "How does that work?"

"Think about it," Judy told her, but then proceeded to explain herself all the same. "Let's discount the Chief, since he's a special case. Consider all the Emergents we know, and how their Definitions reflect how they want everyone else to see them. Oriole is energetic and mischievous, and likes attention, so she appears as a brightly dressed girl. Conversely, Obsidius is a shrinking violet and likes to keep to himself, so he appears small and unassuming. Fulgor tries to make others take him and his job seriously, so his form is that of an imposing, traditionally masculine man, while Carmine is in charge, so she's trying to project a calm, dignified, and reliable presence, which reflects in her appearance as well."

"She's not very calm when Leo's dad is around," Eleanor pointed out, but it only made the other girl shrug ever-so-slightly.

"That's why I used the word, 'trying,' on purpose. More importantly..." She paused momentarily while she levelled a deadpan stare at Benjamin. "Even Venerated Emergents aren't exempt. Apollo is purposefully choosing to appear non-threatening and silly, which reflects in his new Definition, while you, Venerated Benjamin, are actively seeking out examples of human interaction and experiences to better understand the Definition the Chief gave you." She paused again, then pointedly noted, "In other words, you're participating in the same human experience as the rest of us, even if you'd rather not admit it."

"That is..." the boy started, only to fall silent for several seconds. "It's preposterous, but I have a hard time formulating a response."

"Because Judy is correct!" Eleanor declared with a grin. "You see? We really aren't all that different after all!"

"That isn't the conclusion I'd draw from her argument," Benjamin grumbled, but then he finally took another chestnut from the bag. "However, her line of reasoning did give me a new avenue for thought about the pest following me, so maybe—"

Before he could finish the sentence, all three of them were startled when someone approached from behind the corner of the building.

"Sorry guys, I'm late!" Leonard S. Dunning announced and came to a stop right next to the group. However, before either of them could greet him back, his brows furrowed, and he asked, "Wait. Are we being narrated?"

"Narrated?" Judy repeated after him, and he let out a grunt in the affirmative while looking around.

"Yeah. It's this weird, prickly feeling, like someone's..."

~~~

"Aaand now it's gone," I said as the odd, crawling sensation ceased. "Seriously, it keeps happening. I think the Simulacrum might be glitching out, or something."

"How can you even feel something like 'being narrated'?" my princess asked, sounding entirely sincere, but I could only shrug in return.

"It's hard to explain. How can you smell magic?"

"Oh? If you put it like that, I think I understand," Elly declared, only to tag on a considerably more uncertain, "Maybe?" at the end of it.

"Sol. Your presence chased the pest away," Benjamin stated flatly, looking up at me from behind the vending machine.

"The pest? You mean that weird ghost thing you've been complaining about?"

Was that somehow related to this uncanny sensation I'd been feeling as of late? The whole 'getting narrated' bit, I mean?

"Hi, Chief. How did the meeting go?" Judy asked out of the blue, and it took me a second to switch gears.

"Oh? You know? Roland is moving into the Abyss."

Elly jumped to her feet from next to Benjamin and exclaimed, "What? Really?"

"And Tajana's pregnant."

My princess echoed, "Whaaat? Really?"

"Ah, and the two of them are going out. Finally."

This time Elly didn't respond, while Judy slightly narrowed her eyes and asked, "Chief, are you pulling our collective legs right now?"

"No, I'm serious. You can ask Snowy if you don't believe me, and—"

Before I could finish saying that, we were suddenly and rudely interrupted by a new face literally leaping into the proverbial frame with a loud, "A-ha! I knew I saw right!"

I glanced at the girl pointing a finger at us, and lightly waved in her direction.

"Hi, Angie."

"Hi, Leo," she greeted back with a smile, but then quickly shook her head and started pointing again, this time with two hands. "Wait, no! I mean, what are you guys doing here, all sneaky-like! It's sus!"

"We weren't doing anything suspicious," Elly objected at once, but it only made the Celestial girl look more sure of herself.

"Exactly what someone suspicious would say! Now, fess up, or…! Ow."

That last bit was because Josh also came around and lightly chopped the top of his girlfriend's head from behind, with the edge of his palm.

"Stop it, silly-otter. You're making a scene," he said, followed by a lazy wave and a half-hearted, "Hi, Leo, Judy, Elly, and…" His expression perked up at once when he noticed the last member of our group, and he blurted out, "Oh? Benny's here too?"

"Who's Benny?" another new voice joined the fray by the class rep coming over, closely followed by Mike.

"You know, the kid we talked to you about. From the tennis court," Angie explained to them, while I could only shake my head.

"Well, I guess we aren't doing any pest-catching today," I quipped, and little Benjamin unironically nodded along.

"Doesn't matter. I have come closer to understand its motivations. It's only a question of time before it can hide no longer, and I will show it the difference between hunter and prey."

"Intense, as usual," I noted, but before we could exchange any more words, Angie bounced over and raised a hand over her head.

"Since we're all here, how about we show Benny around the arcade! I'm sure he'll love it!"

"I'm not," he responded with a deadpan expression right out of Judy's handbook, but it only amused the girls. "However, since there is no way to track our prey any further today, I'm willing to observe this 'arcade' of yours. But first." He reached into the paper bag in his hand and sidled over to Judy's side, then presented her with a handful of roasted chestnuts. "Here. As a sign of appreciation for presenting me with a trace to follow."

"Ah! What about me?" Elly cut in between the two, with an over-exaggerated look of disappointment on her face, and after a second or two, Benjamin reached into his bag and handed over a couple of chestnuts to her as well. That immediately made her expression bloom into a delighted smile, meaning she was clearly acting before.

"There's no particular intent behind this gift, so don't make a hasty assumption," Benjamin insisted, and it kind of made me want to tease him a bit, so I also sidled over and tried to mirror Elly's previous visage.

"And what about me?"

Benjamin looked at me with a frown and flatly stated, "I don't like you nearly enough for such a senseless display of social interaction."

"Aw! That means you do like me, after all!" my princess exclaimed in delight, causing the miniature incognito eldritch abomination to scoff and start walking towards the arcade.

"I just told you not to make any hasty assumptions."

In the end, I just stood there and watched everyone stream into the familiar arcade, and I couldn't help but mutter, "Okay, that was weird. What did I miss?"

There was nobody left to answer, so I gave up and followed after them. One thing was for sure: this whole 'pest hunting business' was clearly far from over, but for today, I supposed some gaming was on the menu, and honestly speaking, I didn't mind it.

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