A/N - Ah, once again, the race to establish competing visions of a religion begin. It's fascinating to see how some readers really take to this aspect of the story.

We'll see how that all shakes out. In the meantime, I'm changing the main image to at least one of the characters involved. I'll see about trying to get some catgirl Ruby art, but funds are tight, so we'll see.

Ch.3 - Repossession?

Ruby stared at the abacus around her wrist. It still annoyed her that she had already forgotten what it was already called. Maybe she should just go with the damaged letters or the 'Model 3000' engraved into it. Of the damaged name, she could only make out P and O. So, either PO or 3,000. …PO it was.

Well, PO continued to chirp at her, and, for the life of her, she had no idea why it was doing that. Since, besides her name, all she could see were the four columns of random symbols. Wait. It wasn't all strange and unknown symbols. The first and third columns were thinner and were a sequence of sorts. In the second and fourth columns, there were letters embedded in between the symbols. Although her mind continued to shift toward more archaic language, she recognized the words hidden within those columns. Even those seemed random: NORTHWEST POKEMON BRANDENBURG CHAOS ENGAGE CHAMPAGNE CARDIFF ORDER EGG

One of the terms made her flinch. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling they meant more. A… a…

"A password?"

She wasn't sure when Red had stepped over to stare over her shoulder, but she couldn't deny it helped orient her mind. She nodded. "There's… I need to do something to… do something else."

He grunted. "Let me guess, it feels like you have the answer on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get past it to figure out what the answer is?"

"Yes, quite vexing."

"You're doing it again."

She whined before focusing her attention on PO. "A password," she repeated, both to focus and help keep her language in the … future? Oh, these ten days were going to be so annoying. "Um, maybe…"

With her memories firmly locked, no matter how hard she tried to think, the answer wouldn't come to her. The Contract would not allow it. Instead, she let her other hand drift over to PO. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but when she tweaked a knob, a green, lighted bar appeared at the top of the second column. Twisting the knobs maneuvered the bar around to highlight different symbols and words, but only on the second and fourth columns. The sequence columns seem to be more of line markers of a sort. She stopped the highlighter on POKEMON. She paused as she could feel that she would need to do something different.

Red's hand was already moving. He rested a finger on one of the knobs. Although he was well into her personal space, she let him continue. His close presence didn't bother her, like it might with others. He really did feel like a twin brother she had known all her life. A cheat of sorts, since they shared most of the same, locked memories. His wait ended when he pressed the knob inward. It clicked. Both mechanically and in the strange window. The bar acted upon the highlighted word.

Although progress, it wasn't quite the right thing to do. The highlighted word disappeared, replaced by a series of periods to mark its absence. At the top of the screen, in the opposite corner from her name, more words and symbols appeared: 3 ATTEMPT(S) LEFT 0 0 0. She knew, without having any of the right words, that something ill would prevail if those attempts ran out. "Thy word was poorly chosen."

No sooner had the words slipped out of her mouth did she feel his gaze on her. "Are you getting worse?"

She huffed and chose to press on. "It has to be a different word." She moved the glowing bar over to another word. One of them had to be the right word to do… something good. Something she wanted to happen. The problem was, the rest of the words seemed important, in some way. She studied each of them and could feel this… pull in her heart. Most of these words had some kind of meaning to her past self. Well, except EGG. That one seemed to almost mock her by how frivolous it was. Instead, she moved the bar over to highlight one of the others. She considered her choices. Not all words affected her equally. There were different… lingering spirits to them. Most were painful or bitter. She chose CARDIFF. Her soul twitched strongly as she looked at it, but it was almost bittersweet. Another attempt failed as one of the markers winked out. She scowled at the machine.

"Maybe pick one that we aren't sensitive too?" Red suggested.

"I'm not picking EGG," she flatly declared

"What about ORDER or CHAOS?"

Of the two, the former evoked conflicted though overall positive feelings. Since picking the most inciteful answer last time didn't work, she picked CHAOS. The abacus removed the word and another attempt. Only one remained. Both of them uttered frustrated groans.

"Should we give up?"

Ruby shook her head as the abacus chirped. "No. We've removed a third of the answers, and I just know that it's not a couple of these." She bit her lip. "I… think I can pick the right one."

"Based on what?"

Based on being more honest with myself. ORDER did incite feelings but more positive than not. No, there was a word that hurt to look at. She moved the bar upon it, fighting off a wince as sorrow coiled around her heart. Pausing for a moment as the pain stabbed at her, she pressed past it and the knob and selected CHAMPAGNE.

The columns of text disappeared as they were replaced by two words: PASSWORD ACCEPTED.

With another click, she dismissed the message. A map filled the window. The map, to their surprise centered on them as represented by an arrow and appeared to reflect the land around them. At least, she thought so. She recognized the lake next to them, but the rest seemed… off. She didn't know what the rest of the terrain was supposed to be as it was blocky with lots of sharp angles. The images didn't feel natural. There were roads between the blocks that were nowhere to be found around them. A title appeared in the opposite corner from her name: United Empire of Vale, Kingdom of Vacuo, Province of Bijou, Vacuoville. She shivered as… some deep emotion rolled within her. Yet, only when she focused on the name of Vale.

She heard a similar shudder afflict Red. "Are we…?" He hesitated as he bit his lip. "Are we Valeans?"

"It feels like it," she murmured. "But not of Vacuo, and there's something wrong about this map."

"It thinks there's an entire city here." His finger traced the blocks. Inside several of the blocks were smaller, lit squares with names next to them. Names like, "Checkpoint Charlie" and "General Atomic International HQ". "A modern city."

PO took on new worth. In but a moment, it had become a treasure trove of their past. They may not have had any memories of their old realm, but now they possessed maps that could reveal so much about the old world. And… maybe information about this one? "Our worlds are more aligned than I imagined."

"Maybe that's why we picked this world to defend?"

"Perhaps." Moving past that revelation, Ruby focused on what PO seemed to be chirping about. There was a second arrow, hollow unlike theirs. It was a distance from them, yet not far from their chosen path around the lake. It would take only a few minutes to break from their path to discover this banner's prize. Ruby glanced at Red who nodded his assent. By holding PO in front of her and taking a few steps, she lined herself in the right direction. The pair started off.

"What do you think it's locked onto?"

They navigated through the brush. The ground was uneven and bursting with life. Ruby considered using her scythe to cut through the flora, but decided against. Until she located a whetstone, she would wield her blade only when needed. Unfortunate. The extra effort caused her to sweat more. She would need a drink soon for her parched body. And mayhaps a bath. "Tis unknown to me." She grunted as she caught the latest slip and spoke again. "It's weird that it started an alarm only after we had walked around the lake for a distance. This seems… off."

"Yeah." He ducked beneath a branch. "Maybe some kind of proximity sensor? Not sure what it's locked onto though. If its data is based on the old world, what could possibly trip it?"

That hadn't been the question bothering her. Not that she knew what the real question was. It had something to do with the situation, but that was all she knew for whatever it was was hidden behind the Contract's lock on her memories. Vexing, but not the worst. Her second life, thus far, was marked by quite a few mountains and valleys. It took Ruby a moment to remember.

So much had happened in the last…

Hold.

How long had that last fight lasted? Half an hour? No. A quarter? Maybe. A good chunk of the fight had been consumed by the Commanders bickering with each other. So little time to upend her world. Even stranger that it had occurred after a week writing a holy book, including a required chapter on the Milkful One. Which she had also hidden in rock, though a mountain that time. Forsooth (argh), it was difficult to remember much before then. Not helped, ironically, by possessing a form of omniscience which meant there was so much more to sift through. The week of writing had been frustrating but a respite in its own way. Her time in the spirit realm was where all of her most intense memories were.

Though, when she and Red came upon their quest point, the Materium was doing its best to match those impactful moments. For sitting on a rock in-between palm trees was an impossibility. A small, thin rectangle laid flat on the stone. Its shell was split between orange and white with a grey circle in one corner. She knew it was a machine of the future. "What is this doing here?"

"What is what doing here?"

She turned to her companion and was not surprised to see confusion upon his face. That it was aimed at her was the surprise. She pointed at the handspan of a machine. "Do you not perceive it?"

"There's no winning the language fight is there?" He sighed as she pouted. "No, I'm not sure what you're 'perceiving'. All I know is that your wrist computer has stopped beeping."

She glanced at it with a surprise. Yes, it had. According to the map, they had arrived at journey's end. She pointed a finger straight at the little rectangle, paused to shift her speech. "You don't see a thing on the rock?"

"No. What do you see?"

She described it as she bent down to study it closer. To her eyes, it seemed to be nothing more than what it appeared to be. Yet, why was it here? Why couldn't Red perceive it? It didn't smell strange. It didn't utter queer noises. Everything appeared normal. Except for existing in the wrong era. Five minutes came and went as she tried to make sense of it. At no point did Red see it. Surrendering to desperation, she reached out with a large leaf to prod it. Perhaps she was being overly cautious, however mysteries had not treated her kindly as of late. The green plant neared the artificial body… only to go through it. She paused to make sure her vision had not failed her. No wait, she could see the tip of the leaf had been swallowed into the tiny box. Can nothing interact with it except me?

Well, there was only one means to test it. A tentative finger pushed forward. The threat of a trap loomed over her, so she had her scythe ready in her other hand. She paused right before her finger touched, took a deep breath with her cat ears and tail rigid and pointing toward the sky. Her finger poked the box, moving it a fingerspan away.

Nothing happened.

She looked up at Red, who shook his head. "I still don't see anything." Left with nothing else to do, she picked it up. "Oh!" She turned to him and saw him staring right at the box. "I can see it now. What's a tape doing here in this century?"

The moment he said the name, it popped up in her own memory. Was her ancient knowledge making her forget words she once knew? That was concerning. She would worry about that later. "I know not. Er, anyway, I should be able to… activate it or something?"

He tapped her abac- computer. "There's a slot on the back that seems to be the right shape.'

She twisted her wrist and knew he spoke true. The slot was covered by a door, but it opened easily when she prodded it. Although hesitant, she slid the tape toward the opening. It fit perfectly. Without prompting, a voice, a familiar, unisex voice, announced: "Command: I cancel Merry's command relating to the Grimm and removing other stuff from Remnant."

Ruby blinked and was caught off-guard when a transparent, green-bordered box appeared before her eyes. It wasn't just transparent, it was a thing of light and without substance. It held text within itself. A simple question.

DO YOU CHOOSE TO ACTIVATE THE COMMAND?

0 YES

0 NO

Ruby's steel-gray eyes bugged out of her head. "There are still Commands left!?"