Second pt 10- NINE SECONDS LATER

Server: You should leave.

Segun: No!

Server: You want to win the race, do you not?

Segun: Not like this. Not by leaving Nill to die.

Server: There is nothing you can do for Nill either way.

Segun: I promised I wouldn’t leave him. I guaranteed the crazy Vendor that Nill wouldn’t die in the Expert Race because Nill wasn’t supposed to be in it. And then you...YOU put him in here. This is your fault!

Server: I did not poison Nill, nor did I tangle him in a web and threaten to eat him. Neither did I bargain his life in a game of chance.

Segun: But none of that would have happened if you hadn’t put him in this race!

Server: Without Nill’s presence, you would not have survived to this point.

Segun: I’d have found a way!

Server: To fly without wings? Perhaps you would have, but together you and Nill attracted the crowd’s attention. Will you negate that by ending here? By refusing to move on and proving you alone were not worth watching in the first place?

Segun: No.

Server: What are you doing? Carrying Nill will only slow you.

Segun: I don’t break my promises! I’ll make sure Nill finishes this race. And if the crowd’s watching and rooting for us together, maybe their interest will make carrying Nill easier than running on my own would be.

Server: Like when Nill became your stepping stone.

Segun: Quintis said the crowd can keep you from dying even when you really should. Maybe the crowd can save Nill!

~KER-PLUNK!~

Segun: What was that?

Server: A Summoner Pod just plummeted into the lake.

Segun: I can see that, but why is it dissolving?

Server: To release its occupant.

Segun: Is that…PRIMA?!

Prima: Well, that was an awful yet somehow thrilling ride. Did you miss me, Little Sister?

Segun: Prima, what are you…

Prima: The Masters threw me in here as your Second.

Well, they actually wanted me here as Nill’s Second (which would have been horrible), but you have to designate Seconds before a race begins, unless apparently dealing with a glitch like yourself.

Segun: So you’re…MY Second?

Prima: Paradoxical, I know. Now, my fans are watching, so step aside and let me be heroic.

Segun: Is that Awful Syrup you’re pouring in Nill’s mouth?

Prima: I figured he deserves to try it at least once.

Segun: But you always say it’s disgusting. The Masters have to force you to take it.

Prima: It’s way worse than disgusting, repulsive, or any other repugnant word in existence, but it does always make me feel better.

Segun: Because it’s supposed to be able to cure anything. That’s why the silly, old doctor prescribes it to you.

Prima: Yes, yes, and why the Masters make me carry this small bottle around with me all the time. They think I have a habit of eating things I shouldn’t.

Segun: There’s a reason they think that.

Nill: *cough, cough* Oh, so gross!

Segun: Nill, you’re awake!

Nill: I feel like I’m on fire.

Prima: Fire, now there’s an idea, silly little Nill. You made the right choice with destroying the paper, but you shouldn’t have eaten it. You should have breathed fire, like this.

Nill: Sheesh, Prima, don’t make me have to dodge attacks so soon after being resurrected.

Prima: You weren’t dead, just nearly so. The crowd’s interest kept you from completely kicking the bucket.

Now my fans are watching, too, and they like to see me breathe fire. It’s my most favorited mod.

Nill: You know, your fans may think you’re beautiful, but you’re actually a little creepy.

Server: If you are to win, you cannot sit here and stare at those two arguing.

Segun: I know. I just can’t make myself move yet. I thought Nill was dead. I wasn’t going to give up on him, but I wasn’t the one who saved him.

Server: Is it always you who saves the day? Is the heroic tale always about you?

Segun: No, it rarely is.

Server: Yet you feel disappointed.

Segun: I’m not disappointed that Nill’s alive. The opposite, actually. It’s just that this race was supposed to be my chance to shine, and all I’ve done is nearly get Nill killed over and over, and I couldn’t even save him.

Server: The race is not over.

Segun: It would be wrong to hope we all get into danger again just so I can save us.

Server: Peril is to be expected as this race nears its conclusion, whether you wish it or not. Set your conflict aside and present your best effort.

Segun: Don’t tell me what to do, Server. You don’t really care about us! Go away! I don’t want to hear you anymore!

Nill: Segun! Segun, don’t squeeze me so tight! I’ll pop!

Prima: Like a pimple.

Nill: Really, Prima? And come on, Segun, your nose is running on me!

Segun: Sorry.

Prima: Maybe we should give her some Awful Syrup, too.

Nill: You got any cuts or bruises, Segun? The medicine even healed where that monster bit my wing.

Prima: Awful syrup is a panacea.

Nill: Yeah, it fixes everything except the fact that it tastes like diseased foot.

Prima: Well, that’s exactly what it is.

Nill: What?

Prima: Awful Syrup is made from the ground up feet of those with an assortment of ailments.

Nill: Blah!

Prima: You’ve done already swallowed it. Scrubbing your tongue with your sleeve isn’t really going to make a difference. Besides, isn’t this like, you know, a race, where we should not stand around staring at one another?

Nill: The Ser…Segun said all the paths led into the lake. That there’s some tunnel or cave down there, and I’m not going. I’ve already almost died too many times today.

Segun: We have to figure out a dramatic way to get into the underwater tunnel.

Prima: Hmm, well, since your Adaptability stats are high, this should work.

Segun: What are you doing?

Prima: First, using my awesome dragon wings to get some height. Be ready to run after that, because I’m bringing the epic.

Nill: Why do I get the feeling something’s about to explode?

Segun: She’s breathing fire at the lake?!

Nill: That massive stream of flames seems disproportionate to Prima, but I guess she always did have a big mouth.

Segun: Oh I see! She’s parting the water so you don’t have to swim, Nill. Come on.

Nill: I’m not alright with charging into a raging inferno either! Stop dragging me!

Segun: Then run faster.

Nill: Into the fire?!

Segun: Our Adaptability will protect us.

Nill: Your faith in our Adaptability is going to get me killed!

Segun: No, your lack of confidence in your Adaptability will get you killed! The Server said so, that because you believe something is going to kill you, you don’t let yourself adapt. Just for once, trust that you’re amazing, that we both are!

Nill: It’s still incredibly hot!

Segun: But we’re not burning. Hurry, I see the end, and Prima’s just about out of fire.

Nill: She must have known exactly where the tunnel was. Ack, I think that forcefield we just walked through groped my soul or something!

Segun: It’s keeping the water out. I could hear it back on shore. Couldn’t you?

Nill: I don’t have any ear mods…and neither does Prima.

Segun: She claims she can always hear a secret.

Nill: She does have a knack for showing up at the most inconvenient and embarrassing moments, I guess.

Prima: Like when I found you stuck in the Master’s fridge because you were trying to get the cheese they’d hidden in the back corner.

Nill: See, timing. Didn’t you have to swim in here? Why are you dry?

Prima: The forcefield dried me.

Nill: The forcefield’s a pervert.

Segun: Guys, this isn’t a tunnel, it’s a room.

Nill: Please don’t tell me we’re trapped in here.

Prima: Don’t rub your temples like that. It’ll give you wrinkles.

Nill: I don’t care about wrinkles. I care about possibly having to go back through the lake or living out the rest of my short life trapped in a small room with you.

Segun: I think it’s another riddle. Not a very clever one, though. Just a simple, “Will you progress? Y or N”.

Nill: It is written on the ceiling. Maybe it’s supposed to test our observation skills?

Segun: So what do we do, call out yes?

Nill: Think the Y and N are buttons?

Segun: Go touch the Y, Nill.

Prima: Wait! See the numbers carved into the walls?

Segun: What about them?

Prima: They’ve got to be there for a reason. And, genius that I am, I’ve spotted the pattern.

Nill: Does it have anything to do with Y or N?

Prima: Look, the wall across from the forcefield, the first one you’d look at when coming in, says 12 24 32 31.

Nill: The right wall says 3 6 5 4.

Prima: Congratulations, Nill. You can read numbers.

Nill: Hush, I also figured out that the pairs on the first wall add up to the single digits on the second. One and two equals three; two and four equal 6…

Segun: And there’s a 9 on either side of the forcefield doorway! Three and six equal nine, and so do five and four!

Prima: I’m suddenly surrounded by would-be geniuses. Nobody understands how hard my life is.

Nill: Ignoring you.

Segun: The left wall says 18.

Prima: I’m clapping on the inside. Have either of you figured out what that has to do with Y or N?

Nill: One and eight make nine again.

Segun: And nine begins with N.

Prima: Nine also means No in German. So I think the question is a trick. It’s there to lure us into touching the Y, and that will trigger some horrible trap.

Segun: Like this cave collapsing?

Nill: Or giant jellyfish smashing through the walls to wrap us in their stinging strings and slowly melt our flesh off our bones?

Prima: Graphic, Nill, but Segun’s suggestion was more likely.

Nill: The Expert Race likes things more dramatic, remember?

Prima: Oh I remember. Unlike you two, I’ve actually trained for this. Dramatic flair adorns my every movement.

Nill: Okay, I’ve got to admit it takes serious skill to make it look like you’re walking up the wall instead of flying.

Prima: Just one tap of my toe on the N and…

Segun: Why is everything shaking?!

Nill: Ag! The jellyfish are gonna come! Why did I have to open my big mouth and give it ideas?!

Segun: No, the room is rearranging, becoming bigger…

Continued in pt 11- TEN SECONDS LATER

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