Chapter 9 Questions About Love

Coming out of the matrix felt like coming out of the water. Larry gasped as his eyes opened. He tried to get his breathing under control, for his breaths were too quick for comfort. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light (or lack thereof) in the room too. While he waited for that to happen, he tried to get his discombobulated thoughts to calm down. Was this an agonizing experience? Ehh… he didn't know if he would go that far, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Man oh man." Larry put his hand to his chest, feeling his metallic heartbeat through his skin. He could feel Tec's gaze on him, unmoving and intense. Larry looked up into his camera, trying to decide what would be the best thing to say. He could complain about the horrible feelings overtaking him now that he was back in the real world, but that didn't seem right, so…

"Thanks, Tec." Larry smiled, which magically seemed to be what he needed to do in order to fully recover. "Thanks for showing me the Matrix."

"You're welcome." Tec's camera shutter opened and closed. "That matrix is accessible to you at any time. All you have to do is plug into my charging port, and I'll be able to take you in."

"Good to know." Speaking of good to know, Larry was happy to see that he was fully charged. He unplugged from the charging port, letting out a breath of relief as he did. This… that wasn't so bad. He figured that going into Tec's matrix would be a good way for him to keep himself occupied while he was stuck in here. Sure, it wouldn't be the best possible outcome, as that honor belonged to Larry being set free from Francis's prison once and for all. But seeing how that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, he could live with the next best thing.

"So…" Larry hesitated. He wanted to talk to Tec, but he wasn't sure what to say. There weren't a lot of conversation topics available to them, all things considered. Tec couldn't connect with Larry over the things he liked because he didn't have emotions. He also couldn't connect with him over the things he didn't like, again because he didn't have emotions. An AI like Tec could only talk about facts and statistics. An appealing subject if you were someone like Iggy, but with Larry? No, that sounded like a terrible thing to talk about. He would probably be bored to tears within four seconds.

"So… what?" Tec asked.

Larry sucked some air through his teeth before looking back at Tec's camera. He hesitated for a little bit longer before he found a conversation topic that might be fun, or at the very least interesting.

"So I'm the first one who went into that matrix, right?"

"Yes," Tec said.

"I see." Larry paused. "So… it's more or less still a prototype."

"More or less."

Larry nodded, thinking about the possible routes this conversation could go down. "How… how long did it take Francis to build it?"

Tec stayed silent for a little bit. Just as Larry was about to repeat the question was when Tec spoke up. "Six months."

"Six months?" Larry asked, his eyes growing wide. "Holy shit, that's impressive!"

"It is until you consider the process," Tec said. "Master Francis would spend hours down in this room. Hours. He wouldn't turn away to do anything, whether it be eating or sleeping. He lost a considerable amount of weight, and had to get some glasses after the four month mark."

"I see." These words made Larry want to laugh. Francis actively made choices that ruined his own life. He screwed up his eyesight and destroyed his metabolism, all because he couldn't turn away from the screen. Come on, even Larry didn't spend all day, every day staring at a screen! He knew better than that; hell, everyone knew better than that.

As such, Larry couldn't help but snicker. "You know, if Francis ever met Iggy, he should probably be prepared to receive a four hour lecture about how blue light is bad for your health." He chuckled.

"Iggy?" Tec asked. "You mean one of the other Koopalings?"

Larry nodded. "Yep. Iggy, my older brother and professional asshole." He laughed again, telling himself that he would save that joke for if he ever saw Iggy again.

"Professional asshole," Tec said, thankfully distracting Larry from the fact that he might never see Iggy again. "What makes you say that? From some of the data that I've uncovered in regards to the Koopalings, Iggy seems to be a brilliant Koopa."

Larry sniffed. "Oh great, now Iggy has another sycophant." He stepped closer to Tec. "Iggy can be a pain in the butt sometimes. When he isn't lecturing me and my siblings about something bothering him, he's bragging about his achievements. He's really proud that he got nine college degrees, so much so that he mentions it in practically every other sentence."

"I see." Tec blinked. "That is quite fascinating, I have to admit. I assume you don't like your brother for possessing this attitude."

Larry snorted. "Well, let's just say that Iggy is a hard person to love sometimes!" He paused before his shoulders slumped. "With that being said, I would take any lecture he could possibly throw my way over this."

A silence befell the room. Neither Tec nor Larry said a word for about seven minutes. Larry's mind focused on Iggy, as well as his other siblings. Really, he would take any bad experience he had with any of them over being stuck here in what was essentially a tomb. He would listen to Iggy talk about Galaxium for hours. He would let Wendy give his face a makeover with some of the heaviest makeup anyone had ever seen. Not only would he prefer the bad things, he missed the bad things. He missed Ludwig's snippy and snarky quips. He missed Roy's inability to comprehend even the most basic of concepts. He missed Morton's stoic, unmoving face, and he would pay good money to listen to Lemmy's awful puns at least one more time.

"You know," Tec finally said. "I do find it fascinating. The psychology of the Koopa mind, I mean." Larry lifted his head to get another good look at him. "Similar to humans and Toads, Koopas are very social creatures. They prefer to spend their life in the company of others, and they find personal fulfillment in talking with and laughing with others. It's interesting."

Larry was just about to joke about that before something occurred to him. "And you can't understand that given how the only person you've ever interacted with is Francis."

"Precisely," said Tec. "The contrast between him and what I've observed of Koopas in my research is staggering." He paused. "But not only that, I am uncertain if I see the value in sharing so much of yourself with other people. Just based on a survival standpoint, you should worry more about what you're gonna eat, where you're gonna sleep. You shouldn't spend too much time worrying about others, because in the end, forming bonds with people will inevitably end in an unhappy way. It doesn't compute." Tec blinked again. "Why would the Koopa race do something that is so pointless and exhausting in the long run."

Larry frowned, trying to think of the answer to this question. It didn't necessarily make him mad, but it did bug him. He wanted to counteract that viewpoint, prove to Tec that he was wrong. He wanted to tell Tec something that would show him he didn't know everything about how the world (the world that he had never actually experienced, now that Larry thought of it).

And, thankfully, an answer came to him. "Because… Koopas, humans, and Toads all have the same desire at their core: to love, and be loved in return."

Tec blinked. "Love? What is that?"

Larry would've laughed, but he stopped himself when he realized Tec was probably being sincere here (it would be very unlikely a sociopath like Francis would program him with the knowledge of what love is). "It's… it's hard to explain. There are so many components to love, so many angles you can view it from."

"Give me one."

Larry blinked before thinking about this. What angle could he approach this? His first thought was to talk about the emotional aspect of love, but there was no way that Tec would understand that. So, that begged the question; was there a way he could approach this from a logical stand point?

"Well… the best way I can describe love is that you recognize that other people are just as important as you. You aren't the main character in life; there are multiple people who all star in their own story, and they all have something special to offer. You recognize that logically, which in turn impacts how you look at people emotionally." Oh great, he was talking about the emotional aspect anyway. Oh well; he was getting on a role and figured this was a good path to keep going down. "You want the best for them. You want people to thrive, and you do anything in your power to make sure they do. You put their needs in front of your wants. You… you love them."

Tec stayed silent for a minute. "Fascinating." He paused again. "And you view your siblings in this way?"

Larry felt a pang. "I do."

"Intriguing." Tec blinked. "Of course, it doesn't entirely compute with me, I must admit."

Larry bit his lip and gripped his hand into a fist. "That's…" he unclenched his fist. "I can understand that." He walked over to the corner, the same corner he had spent most of the previous night in. "Well… you can continue not understanding it. As for me…" He sat down. "I just want to take the time to relax."

He closed his eyes. He knew that he couldn't sleep with his new body, but… well, maybe said new body would cut him some slack. Maybe it could finally replicate the natural circadian rhythms of an organic body. That would be much appreciated right at this moment.

…

As Iggy sat at one of his lab tables, he whimpered. He gripped his temples, his breathing speeding up. Every once in a while, he checked the clock on the wall. He also checked his phone, just to see if he had gotten any text messages from anyone. He had texted all of his family, but the messages that mainly drew concern out of him were the unanswered ones that he had sent Larry.

Larry, you have not come back to the castle. Are you okay? No answer.

Larry, where are you exactly? That one went unanswered too.

Larry, seriously, can you answer me? I'm really starting to freak out. Still, there was no answer.

Looking at those texts now, Iggy's mind went into overdrive. What was going on with his youngest brother? As his heart pounded against the roof of his mouth, he tried to tell himself not to panic. The fact that these texts weren't answered meant nothing! Nothing… at… all…

Oh, who was Iggy kidding? Larry hadn't answered his texts nor had he returned to the castle at any point during the day. How could he not panic about that? How could he not worry? If something had happened to him… cause something had to have happened to him, right? There was no other explanation; something had happened to Larry. He was never this lackadaisical when it came to answering his texts, even when he was on superhero missions. So…

"Iggy?"

Iggy lifted his head to see Wendy coming into the lab. She took a deep breath, descended the stairs, and came over to him. Her brow was furrowed, and her eyes shined with concern. The pounding of Iggy's heart grew more intense.

"Please tell me you've seen him!" Wendy hesitated before shaking her head, which caused Iggy to start hyperventilating. "Oh, this is horrible!" He looked back down at his phone. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Wendy took in a deep breath. "But… I think now would be a good time to start that search like we said yesterday."