Chapter 36: Anne's Job / Dinner

“I work on maintaining the second world, remember? I’m the leader of the second world, so I’m mostly paid by the government. Taxes and whatnot.” Anne said.

“So...you made an entire government?” Evan asked.

“Yeah. I’m good with politics, and figured making it a proper government would be easier than being a disorganized dictator. You didn’t really put much thought into how this world would function, in regards to things like our economic system. I had to fix all of that. It took decades, and there’s a few different countries who separated from me, but it works.” Anne said, sighing.

“Ah. I knew I forgot something.” Evan said.

“You don’t like politics, so I don’t think you would've even considered it. I pretty much expected something like that. I’m actually glad you didn’t set anything up, otherwise it would have been an even bigger nightmare to fix. You kinda suck at that stuff.” Anne said.

“I united the entire world! How do I suck at that stuff!?” Evan asked.

“You convinced everyone to listen to you, yes. But, you did none of the work on actual political issues. That was mostly dealt with by me and Phil. You know nothing about how a government works. So, if you made anything, it would have become a nightmarish mess. Just imagining what laws you would put into place makes me shiver.” Anne said, shivering.

“Come to think of it, you’re right.” Evan said.

“Where do you work, though?” Lime asked.

“Oh, I work over there.” Anne said, pointing to something out of the window.

Lime and Evan looked closer.

Anne was pointing at a large collection of buildings with a massive tower in the middle. It seemed to be in the exact center of the entire city.

“I don’t remember making something like that here.” Evan said.

“And that looks pretty far away. Doesn’t that take you a while to travel to?” Lime asked.

“I can use the administrators teleportation system to get there instantly. Also, you didn’t build that, Evan, you’re right. There’s been a lot of construction work and renovations done during the time you were gone.” Anne said.

“What happened while I was gone, anyway? Were there any problems?” Evan asked.

Anne frowned.

“Wel-“ Anne started.

She was interrupted by a voice from downstairs.

“Dinner’s ready!!!!” Kane shouted, from the kitchen.

Evan and Lime were startled.

“That was quick.” Evan said.

Lime nodded.

“Kane upgraded the kitchen. We can cook things pretty quickly. You would have to ask him, I can’t cook at all. The only thing I can use is the microwave.” Anne said.

“Wait, what? You’re an AI. Just look it up.” Evan said.

“I’m pretty much human at this point, remember? I just have console access. There are things I'm not good at.” Anne said.

“Oh, shit, that’s true! Okay, well, I’m hungry, so I’ll see you two downstairs.” Evan said, zooming off to see Kane.

Anne sighed.

“We should go too.” Anne said.

“Wait, please.” Lime asked.

“Yes?” Anne asked.

“I….Mn, Nevermind. Let’s just go.” Lime said, shaking her head.

Anne raised an eyebrow, but just headed downstairs.

“Hey, Kane. What is this?” Evan asked, poking something.

“That’s food.” Kane said.

“Are you sure? It looks more like art than a normal dinner. I never knew you could cook like this.” Evan said, appraising the food.

“Thanks. I’ve had a long time to work on cooking. It’s actually touching to hear your compliments, Mr. ‘Best chef ever’. Taste it before you say anything more.” Kane said, grinning with a proud look on his face.

“D-dad. I-it’s good.” Jessica stuttered.

Kane put her hand on her head and grinned even wider. It was a large, toothy smile.

“Man, seriously. You really became a dad, didn’t you. Don’t smother her so much.” Evan said, pointing at Kane with his fork.

“I’m not smothering her, I’m spoiling her.” Kane said.

“Dear, it’s rude to point with a fork.” Lime said.

“Oh, sorry.” Evan said.

“There’s no need for stiff rules like that here. It’s a family dinner, after all.” Kane sighed.

“Family?” Lime asked.

“Well, I guess I consider Evan to be my little brother. So, yeah, family. It’s easier to just say that we’re best friends, though.” Kane said.

“Kane, this is delicious.” Evan said happily, yoinking Kane’s food.

“Hey-oh, whatever. What are you guys here for, anyway? Evan, did you really just come to visit?” Kane asked.

“Well….yes and no. I had a few questions I wanted to ask.” Evan said.

“What kind of questions?” Anne asked.

“It doesn’t matter.” Evan said, shaking his head.

“Well, how are we supposed to answer them, then?” Anne asked.

“Yeah, We can’t really do anything if you don’t even tell us.” Kane said.

“No, I don’t need you guys to tell me anything. I already have all of the answers to any of the questions I would have asked. Or any help I would have wanted.” Evan said, pointing to Jessica.

“Uhhh, what?” Kane asked.

Anne realized what he meant.

“Wait…. that’s why you came here?” Anne asked.

Evan nodded.

“Oh…. sorry…….. So you’re probably leaving soon, then….?” Anne said.

Evan nodded again.

“Wait wait wait! Hold on, I’m not following this conversation at all!” Kane said.

“I’m not, either. What did you mean when you said we were leaving soon?” Lime asked.

“All of my questions were answered. You guys are busy. I know what I want to do now. Anything else is easy. All I want to do is ask you guys for something.” Evan said.

“What do you need? Please don’t say anything stupidly difficult.” Kane asked.

Evan stared at him with a face like “ugh….”.

“....Just what do you take me for? All I want to ask of you is to take care of someone. Here, this is her info.” Evan said, flicking up a holographic panel.

Jessica stared at it, enamored. Evan smiled.

“That’s easy eno-“ Anne started.

“Oh, and take care of another dimension, which I connected here because of a promise.” Evan said.

Kane choked on his food.

“Evan, please tell me you connected it to the dimensional hub.” Anne hoped.

“Again, do you guys really think I’m stupid? Of course I did.” Evan said.

Kane and Anne relaxed considerably.

“That’s easy enough. I’ll note down the information. What dimension?” Anne asked.

“We've dealt with it before. From experiment #6/421-1:9.” Evan said.

“Wait, you mean….? The loop experiment? That place still exists?” Anne asked.

“Yeah. You guys are actually going to find some pretty crazy stuff when you look at this. I compiled some notes on my observations while I was there.” Evan said.

He flicked up another holographic panel. It had lines of code flashing by repeatedly, almost a blur. It started to glow and change shape.

When it finished, it had become a small USB drive.

Evan handed it to Anne.

“Check it out.” Evan said.

Anne looked at it, and a holographic screen popped up again.

Anne stood up, shocked at what she read.