"That's Not What We're Dealing With, Your Majesty"
"Night [ REDACTED ] of 36", [ "a.2012" ] - [ REDACTED ]
017 "Bluefield"
[ REDACTED ] Hotel
"[ Unknown City ]", "California", "U.S.A.", "Earth"
INCEPTION
"Wha—Augh, no! Noo! NOOO! Why would you end it there?! Aaagh!"
To think I'd see the "day" that Mikoto would be reaching toward the screen in anguish, robbed of a decisive ending.
"Geez, will you calm down?" I sighed, glancing up at her from the carpet. "We're still in a building occupied by other people."
"Unnngh…" She flopped back onto the bed, face in her hands. "Whhhhhy…?"
We'd decided to spend this one day watching a bunch of movies. We'd only gotten about halfway through the bunch I (somehow) rented from the Redbox. It seemed to have more movies than I figured would be available in the year [ REDACTED ]—probably thanks to Noan's freakery of the simulation again. I also brought some popcorn. Good thing the hotel room has a microwave.
Buuut that's not important.
We'd just finished watching Inception. And much like 12 Angry Men before this point, it left its audience with an ambiguous ending. Of course, I didn't know that Inception would elicit a reaction from Mikoto quite like that.
I glanced over at her. "You okay?"
Mikoto made a noise that reminded me of a moose in pain…assuming that's what a moose in pain sounds like.
Maybe not, I guessed.
"Ugggggh…" she moaned, sitting up. "It's just…that—that's it?! We don't know if any of that was real or not?!"
"That's up to the audience," I sighed, getting the DVD case ready. "Nolan himself said so: he wanted everyOne to come up with their own interpretations of the ending."
"…I might have to watch it over again…"
I glanced at her. "You sure you want to? We're about halfway through." I jabbed my thumb at the desk, and the two neat stacks of DVD cases sitting atop it.
The queen's eyes jumped to the desk, then back to me. "Yes, I am very sure."
There it is again. "Well, alright then," I relented. "As you so desire." With that, I dropped the case on the other bed (the one on the right, facing the TV), scooped up the remote, and started jabbing the Prev. button.
As Inception started playing backwards really fast, I peeked into the popcorn bag. "Oh, guess we need another bag." Taking the empty paper bag from Mikoto's bed, I strode over to the entrance, where the microwave cubby thing was, and tossed it (the bag) into the trash can.
Beep-Beep-Beep—Beep. Whrrrrrrr…
As I walked back, Mikoto stared at the screen as the reverse heist played out in…okay, that's enough of that. "…Bluefield?"
I sat back down on the carpet. "Yeah?"
"This…simulation that Noan put us into… Do we have to worry about it killing us?"
"Us? No. You? Doubtful as hell." It didn't take a genius to connect those dots. "…Worried you might die in your sleep? Like they nearly did?" I pointed to Arthur in the hallway scene—which Mikoto seemed riveted to when it was playing forwards.
She nodded once.
"I doubt it. If that bastard wanted you dead, he wouldn't do something this elaborate. My guess, he just wants you to see my home world, and that is…all. Even if it is through this…fabricated lens."
"Just like those dreams."
I shook my head. "Not that simple."
The queen gave me a sidelong look. "Why is that?"
"If this simulation were that indiscernible from dreams, we wouldn't be remembering it as well as we have been. This isn't the figment of your brain, and it's definitely not one from my brain organ."
She nodded at that. I guess she stopped finding the Zero's anatomy—the safe-to-mention-to-humans-at-all parts, anyway—to be that strange to hear about. "Even so, part of me can't help but wonder…can I suffer an inception? Even if this isn't a 'true' dream?"
"No," I said firmly. "Whatever Noan did to you won't get you to do anything like that. Even if you did forget in the beginning, that was nights ago. You're in the clear."
Mikoto let out a sigh—of relief, perhaps—and rubbed her eyes. "Well," she finally uttered, "that's reassuring…"
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I started to get up. "I'll get it."
"Oh, no, let me," Mikoto interjected, on her sock-covered feet. "Just tell me when the movie's ready to play after the rewind's done."
"Well, I…could've just gone to the scene select, but okay, sure, I'll do that."
"[Christopher] Nolan" - Did Queen Mikoto confuse "Nolan" with "Noan"? —Trey
* Not a lot. —Blu
"I didn't know that Inception would elicit a reaction from Mikoto quite like that." - For context, I also showed her the old "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" (a.k.a. Train Pulling into a Station) movie. She actually though the train was about to run her over. I tried not to bust up laughing when she jumped out of her seat. Key word being tried. —Blu
* Did she chew you out for that? —Trey
* No. She laughed pretty soon afterwards, actually. —Blu
"Nolan himself said so:…" - Well, I don't have the exact quote on me, but I'm pretty sure he didn't say it the way we Zeros do. I'm pretty sure, anyway. —Blu
"This…simulation that Noan put us into…" - So, you and the late queen had to deal with this every night? For 37 nights? Even though you were cooped yourself up in that shack at night? —Endra
* Eh, give or take one or two nights. But yeah, pretty much. —Blu
* Sheesh… Sometimes I wonder how that interdimensional prankster gets ideas like this. —Endra
Last line - Brain organ farts. (-_-) —Blu
Author's Note: If anybody's wondering if there will be an affair between Blu and Mikoto, let me clear it up for you: No. There won't be one. And if the threads of one ever do come into view, I can assure you that Blu will not be okay with it. At f**king all.
Also, non sequitur incoming: Pink Darth Vader. I'm sure Anna would be appalled by what EA did.