Chapter 11: Iris gave out a gasp of pain. Jrum snatched his hand back, staring in disbelief at the spot where it had moved cleanly through her body. There was no sign of an injury there, at least. Not even a scratch. It even seemed to become a little more - he searched for the word - opaque. “Iris?” She was backing away from him, shaking her head, “Iris, please!” Perhaps it was all an illusion, a trick of the light, that’s all. But he could have sworn... He hoped he hadn’t hurt her too much. To his surprise and dismay, she started sobbing. “Iris? What’s going on?” She looked up at him, took a gulp of breath, and wiped her eye. “I- Maybe it would be easier if I tell you the truth.” * * * “Well, I’ll start from the beginning. I was created by Mumbo. You know that much. To him, I was merely an object. A minigame. A form of entertainment. To him, I was nothing. I don’t think he meant to give me human emotions, or even the ability to speak, I... Something must have gone wrong in the code. Or he just enjoyed watching me suffer. That’s when he got the *lovely* idea to make it so that they - the hermits I mean - have to keep me alive. And to spice it up, since his life wasn’t interesting enough, he implemented a reward system: ‘oh watch The Button’s life drain away! Who will save it when it’s closest to death?’. You can see why I love him so much. That’s what these belts are for, a show of status amongst them, I don’t know. So, the great game started. To see how long I would last before I blew up. Genius. They healed me, over and over. There was a few who kept watch on me. If only for those belts... Of course, Mumbo showed up sometimes. You would have thought my *creator* would care about me more, but no, it was never for me. I was practically worthless, why even make me at all? For some social experiment? For the joy of watching me slowly tick away? For watching my life slipping past my fingers, waiting for the bliss death would surely be? Why even bother giving me a humane body? Why- why? Just why? I did, after a while. I died. Congratulations Mr Jumbo, you did it. One day... I just felt this pull, as if all my energy had just suddenly disappeared. I suppose that was me dying. And I didn’t even *die* properly! I came back as a ghost! Forever stuck in this stupid world! At first, I thought I was still alive. Could you imagine that? Ghosts like me start out like the living. Our bodies have not had the time to adjust. We can’t drift through objects without pain, and our kind, and in some cases humans, can still see us. I didn’t know this until Grum showed up, when he explained this. That over time, my form would fade from living eyes, slowly falling apart, that my essence would be still trapped here, just without my outer appearances. No communication, just drifting, barely here at all. But Grum says he can prolong my existence, perhaps even bring me back to life, if I br- I mean, um, if I brought him some... Things. Then he told me of you. You know, I was jealous of you. You had a loving family, a home, a place where you belonged. Things I can never have. You’re lucky.” * * * Iris felt stupid for letting herself ramble on like that. She had just met him, she reminded herself, You don’t actually know him. It’s better if you don’t know him, it’ll make it easier. But there was something about Jrum that made her trust him... No. No good has ever come of trusting anyone. She’d fallen into that trap once, and was not about to do so again. At least she hadn’t completely let go. She’d told the truth, yes, but not all of it. There were some things nobody could ever know. A flutter of emotions shot through his face at her story. It showed so *clearly* that she could read him like a book. Again, she was glad that her less advanced features did not allow such freedom of expression. “Oh. I’m sorry.” Jrum managed, after gaping at her for a while “But you’re- You’re a GHOST?” She nodded, shrugging. “Yep. Dead through and through.” “But- You seem so real!” “I *am* real. Just not alive.” “I meant-“ “I know what you meant.” She sighed. “So this- This Grumbot person- He can help you?” “Yes.” He seemed thoughtful. “Well, that’s good. You don’t have to help me, you could leave and bring him whatever he wants! Then you can come back to life, can’t you? I could ask Mumbo...” She felt horrible. She didn’t deserve his kindness, not when she was willing to- No. Without saying a word, she turned and ran off.
(Notes below - potential spoilers!) _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Previous - https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/527873752 First - https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/467888420 Next - none yet! _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Notes: A shorter chapter this time! Iris is fun to write about- So that’s (part of) her backstory! At least the part she’s willing to tell... What’s she gonna do next? Also yes more information, Jrum’s brain has probably exploded already. I finished writing this weeks ago, then was too lazy to type it up until now- But yeah! :D
