Freebie Mondays: Just a Small Thing (Prompt Novel Chapter 8)

For 2024, I have decided to devote my prompt writing time to a novel. The twist is that the novel plot will be generated entirely by the writing prompts I chose to use for the project – which were rolled randomly using my trusty dice and a few online prompt lists. You can find the Table of Contents here.

For Chapter 8, the prompt was: “one character is actually a mystical creature living a normal human life for a short period.”

This was one of the toughest prompts to fit in. The fact that it was part of the prompt list from the start meant that there would have to be magic of some sort in the novel right from the get go. But I wanted to keep the magic subtle and mysterious. I also endlessly debated which character should be the faerie creature. Ultimately, my choice may prove to have less ripples throughout the plot. But then again, placing the faerie creature where I did opens some avenues for the greater lore and position of the world, so who knows what will happen!

If you’d like to see this chapter come together, you can watch the VoD on Youtube!
. . .

The surface of the mug felt warm when Ira set her hands near it. She suspected if she pressed the tips of her fingers to the heated ceramic, she would feel a gentle burning sensation. Instead, she curled a fist around the mug’s handle and lifted the heated liquid to her lips.

The coffee tasted rich and sweet as it swished across her tongue, even though Ira was keenly aware that there was no coffee. Nor had anything actually touched her tongue.

It was a powerful simulation Nala and her team had created – Ira had to give them that. Though she knew her body lay prone on a cot hastily shuffled into the room to lay next to the one currently occupied by Alyial, she could no longer feel the course material beneath her fingers, nor was she aware of the sparse pillow that had been shoved beneath her head or the tangle of wires and diodes that currently sat across her forehead.

She had been skeptical when she heard the details of Alyial’s situation. How could anyone ever lose track of the fact that they occupied a false reality? But glancing around the coffee shop, taking in the patrons as they ordered and hurried out the door to finish their morning commutes, she couldn’t help wondering if the world she came from was just another fanciful fabrication.

Ira shook her head before she let that thought go too far and took another sip of her coffee to ground her in the current moment.

“Time will pass more quickly inside the simulation,” the woman named Nala had instructed shortly before she set the crown of wires across Ira’s forehead. “To you, it might seem like entire days pass, but only a few hours will pass out here.”

It was a deceptively complex concept to wrap one’s head around, so Ira hadn’t really bothered.

“How much time do I have?” had been her only question in response. “Before we run into trouble,” she added because she sensed her husband’s old friend was getting ready to offer some sort of smart ass answer like all the time in the world.

“Out here? I would say we have maybe one more day before we need to start worrying about Alyial’s long-term health.” It was clear the system providing him with hydration and nutrients had been slapped together the moment Ira first saw it. She assumed, at some point, the man would need to be transferred to a hospital.

But his co-workers feared what would happen to his brain if he was forcibly disconnected from the simulation, and they couldn’t pack it all up and send it to the hospital with him. Serious risk to their co-worker’s health meant revealing that they had skipped safety protocols and the ultimate death of whatever this project was meant to be.

That, Ira hadn’t asked. It bore no relevancy to the problem she was trying to solve. What happened to the project after she was gone was none of her concern, though she knew her husband would feel sad for his old friend if she lost this project.

It was the reason she was here.

“We will insert you as close to him as we possibly can,” Nala had added before she would allow Ira to proceed with entering the simulated reality. “But that’s all we can really do. Once you’re there, you’ll have to find some way to get his attention.”

Perhaps Nala thought Ira intended to walk straight up to this Alyial fellow and tell him point blank that he was in a computer simulation. And tempting as the prospect was, Ira wasn’t that foolish. She didn’t need to be a doctor or a computer engineer to realize that kind of jolt to a brain would be bad.

For better or worse, Alyial believed this was the real world. If she was going to convince him to follow her through a rabbit hole that revealed otherwise, she was going to have to be careful, maybe even a little bit coy.

Though she got the impression Nala wanted her to trick the man into following him to their office so she could merely push him through whatever exit waited there.

That would be no healthier to his brain than trying to convince him this isn’t real.

Alyial wasn’t all that hard to spot. Ira had spent what she assumed was her first ten or twenty minutes inside the simulation observing how the man spent his day. If she was going to insert herself into his life, it needed to feel natural – which meant she needed him to encounter her of his own accord, seemingly randomly.

This coffee shop seemed like her best opportunity. Alyial spent a lot of time in here in the morning; or at least he had for the two Ira observed. It seemed odd that while everyone else was rushing to fulfill the regular nine-to-five office routine, he settled into a booth to sip coffee and type on a small tablet he carried with him. But maybe he thought he was on vacation.

Maybe that was why he kept avoiding the office where he’d been told to go.

“There won’t be anything else in here,” Nala’s voice drifted back to Ira, once again allowing her to place her reality in its proper category. That woman must have thought she was stupid because she repeated everything two or three times before she was satisfied Ira understood. “There will just be a big red button. As soon as you press it, you’ll wake up here. But make sure he does it first, or we won’t be able to confirm his extraction.”

Ira rolled her eyes since there was no one around to see.

Alyial lifted a bowl-sized mug of coffee off the counter and smiled at the barista that slid it toward him. Then, balancing carefully so as not to spill a single precious drop of the liquid, he crossed the room and settled into his favorite booth in the corner.

It was always empty, despite the morning rush. Ira assumed it was the simulation responding to the subconscious desires of its users. She had noticed that when she wanted something, a clear path opened up to it – something she could certainly get used to in the real world.

Now would have been a fine moment to rise, cross the room and intercept her target. People interrupted people at coffee shops all the time. It wouldn’t be all that odd.

Except that if she rose now, it would seem like she had been here waiting for Alyial. Which she had, of course. But she worried anything that felt too odd or out of place would make her job more difficult.

So she spent an extra moment scanning the crowd.

Alyial wasn’t the only interesting person that occupied this space. Though in this context, Ira supposed interesting meant real.

A smug smile curled her lips though, once again, there would be no one around to notice it.

If that Nala were here, she would demand to know where Ira gained this information, how she had deduced that there was a third occupant of this computer simulation when they had so obviously sent only one soul into the computerized ether before her.

But that was why she was here to solve the problem and not the computer engineer. That woman was so literal, it was a wonder she didn’t dress in monotone colors and spent all her time correcting word usage as if she was a computerized dictionary.

As real as this computer simulation seemed it had tells. Maybe Ira only noticed them because she was so keyed into her surroundings every second of every day. She spent a lot of time observing and noticing – it was why she was good at solving odd problems.

For her, there was an off nature to this entire place. If she relaxed her mind, she could dismiss it, make it fall into the background and pass unnoticed. But whenever she observed her surroundings, it crept over her like icy fingers, constantly forcing her to suppress a shiver.

She had come to believe the sensation was caused by the fact that everything she encountered here was just a little too perfect. All the surfaces were always clean, even after heavy use. All the people moved with perfect purpose and precision. No one ever stepped up to the counter and said um when asked what they wanted to drink, for example. Everyone seemed to have the menu memorized and know exactly what they wanted. The barista never had to toss out and re-do a drink.

It wasn’t the sort of thing a person would notice if they had come here merely to go about their own business. But at the moment, Ira’s business was noticing the business of others.

There was one other person in this cafe, aside from herself and Alyial, who did not move as if they were background set dressing. The signs were subtle, but then so was anything worth noticing in the real world.

As Ira’s eyes honed in on the rogue element, a small drop of coffee dripped from the end of their stirring spoon to splash upon the table at which they sat. The action startled them, and they glanced around sheepishly, as if realizing the stray action would call attention to their authenticity.

When it was clear no eyes had been drawn in their direction – because most of the occupants of this cafe were mere drones going about programmed behavior – they lifted their napkin and casually rubbed it over the spill while their eyes focused determinedly out the window.

It was almost cartoonish. But given the circumstances surrounding this strange figure, it would also have been successful if Ira hadn’t chosen a table that allowed her to observe all such behavior while she occupied the cafe.

She knew without looking that all the other people who had come to patron this place merely strode out the door or sat at their tables when they received their drinks. They might linger a short, pre-determined time, but they wouldn’t pause to speak with anyone before they headed out the door into the press of near-faceless traffic that moved through the city during the day time.

She also knew that she would stick out like a sore thumb the moment she stood and made her way not toward the exit but toward the very table which had just been wiped clean of its spill.

It was one of those circular tables, half-encircled by a padded booth bench. The upholstery was pristine white without a hint of stain or grey – possible only because the simulation kept this place so immaculate. It was a large table for its sole occupant, but none of the pre-programmed visitors to this establishment were going to argue with a proper guest.

Ira smiled serenely as she set her mug on the opposite side of the occupied table and slid gracefully along the padded bench until she had settled into a comfortable position. She made certain the upturn of her lips was only slightly coy; she didn’t want her first impression to be entirely smug. But the glance she turned to the table’s other occupant was sharp and challenging.

The person sitting across from her was tall enough that they would have been noticeable in most crowds. They were lean of build, so much so she might almost have called them gangly. They didn’t have particularly feminine or masculine features, but seemed to be the perfect blend of both. Their hair was dyed in an ombre pattern – mahogany at the roots and moving through several shades of red before appearing hot pink at the tips. Their nails, on the other hand, were painted midnight black and accented with sparkles that evoked the idea of stars.

They stared at Ira as if she had grown a second head, and she could tell they were about to snap at her to leave. In the real world a simple, this table is occupied would have done the trick, drawing enough eyes in their direction that Ira would have had to capitulate if she didn’t want to draw a scene.

But since the other occupant of this table was clearly as aware of the reality of their surroundings as Ira, the order would have been a waste of breath.

Only another living, breathing being would have been as bold as Ira – and her new companion knew it.

So instead of calling her out and demanding privacy, her new companion heaved a sigh so heavy it shook their shoulders then they lifted their mug to their lips and sipped daintily.

“Caught me, did you?” they demanded when Ira didn’t speak.

She allowed her smile to become sweet. “I’m not going to ask what you are. I think we both know the answer will bend my brain, and I’m not sure I can afford that right now.”

Her answer clearly shocked the being sitting across from her. For a moment, she thought she almost caught a hint of wings or horns, confirming her suspicions about the fae nature of the thing she now conversed with.

It was enough – at least for now.

“I only have one question,” she added before her new companion could speak a word of protest. “Are you the reason he’s stuck here?” Ira nodded to the table in the corner where Alyial was tapping away at his tablet, blissfully unaware that anything untoward might be happening elsewhere in the cafe.

The fae-creature twisted in their seat to observe the table in question for a moment and, when they turned back to Ira, their smile was cocksure. “No,” they said and shrugged. “That problem is his own.”

“But you are the source of the weird anomalies.” This time, it wasn’t a question, though just to be polite, Ira threw in an, “Aren’t you?”

The smile became a smirk. “Where did you become so knowledgeable about matters such as these?”

“It’s a matter of experience, I’m afraid,” Ira admitted with a sigh. “I’ll leave it up to you to determine whether they were fortunate or otherwise.”

“Your experiences seem to have prepared you well,” her companion replied, their tone slightly more amiable now that she hadn’t pried. “I notice, for instance, that you have not asked my name.”

“I would not expect you to give it,” Ira agreed. “Nor, you may have noticed, have I offered mine.”

There was power in names among fae creatures. Ira no more wanted to offer that power than she wanted to wield it.

“I suppose I simply wanted to make certain you weren’t going to make my task difficult,” she added after a moment and sipped again from her mug. She wondered how long she could make the coffee last. If she never imagined the contents depleting, would it stay hot and full forever?

“I can’t promise you it’s going to be easy,” her companion replied and leaned their chin against a hand they propped on the table by their elbow. “The curse that clings to that one is strong.”

Ira frowned. This comment confirmed another of her suspicions, but she wasn’t ready to face it yet. So she countered with, “What are you doing here?”

“It’s quiet,” the fae creature replied with another careless shrug. “I can’t say that about most of the places I’ve been. It’s easy to blend in, steal a few moments for myself.”

It wasn’t a very helpful answer, but Ira couldn’t claim it didn’t give her the information she’d asked for. “Are you planning to stick around?” she pressed and arched an eyebrow. “After the other visitor leaves, I mean.”

Another shrug accompanied by another coy smile. “I can’t say I feel particularly motivated to leave. Are you going to give me away?”

It isn’t as if anyone would believe me if I tried. “I didn’t come here to interfere with whatever weird life you’re trying to live,” she countered. “Though I do think you’ll have an easier time of it if you find some way to better mask your presence.”

“I’ll think on it,” the fae creature replied and sipped from their mug again.

It was as good as a dismissal, and Ira turned to leave. She had what she needed, after all. There was no need to linger. But after a moment she thought better of rising, twisted to face the fae being again and fixed them with a shrewd look.

“There is one more thing,” she admitted, her voice harder and colder than it had been before. “A favor, of sorts, for keeping my mouth closed, you see.”

“Oh, you have been well-trained.” The faerie smirked. “What is it?”

“Just a small thing,” Ira replied without hesitation. “Not even worth haggling over. The man…” She nodded toward Alyial again. “I need your help getting him to accept me.”

“Is that all?” Her coffee companion laughed. “Did you want me to make him fall in love with you?”

“Nothing so severe,” Ira insisted and shook her head. “I just need to be able to talk to him for some length of time without spending days building the trust. You understand.”

She didn’t imagine it; there was a slight twinkle in her companion’s eye. “It’s easily done,” they declared. “Just don’t come looking for me for a refund.”

Ira half-expected the fae thing to vanish when they finished speaking. It was how all the old tales ended. But it would have been out of place in this environment – especially given the nature of its generation.

Instead, Ira slid free of the booth, scooped her mug off the table and made the journey she avoided before. She had allowed Alyial more than enough time to tap away at his tablet, it shouldn’t seem too odd when she approached.

She repeated the move she had used when she joined the fae creature except, this time, she cleared her throat as she lowered onto the bench across from Alyial’s. For a moment, he was just as startled as her last cafe companion had been. Then the magic she had asked for took effect and a warm smile split his lips.

“Hey,” he murmured somewhat sheepishly.

“Hi,” she replied into the gap that followed the word. It seemed certain the man wanted to say more, but faltered before his lips could find the right thing to say. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you,” she added smoothly, her smile becoming a grin. “I’ve been waiting for a good time to approach you, but there just never seems to be a perfect moment.”

“I admit I’ve been thinking the same thing.” There was no possible way Alyial had been aware of her before this moment, but that was the convenience of a simple twist of reality. In his mind, Alyial believed he had been eyeing her across the cafe for several days.

It saved time. And if there was one thing Nala made clear before Ira came in here, it was that she didn’t have nearly as much of it as she might think.

“Then I’m glad I came over here,” Ira replied warmly, hoping her body posture and expression invited the man to keep talking to her. “I’m Ira, by the way.” She laid one hand lightly against her chest.

“Alyial,” he replied and extended a hand across the table to shake hers.

His grip was firm but not crushing, suggesting confidence but no attempt to assert any form of authority or domination.

“Hey…” he added, and his cheeks instantly flamed red. “I hope this isn’t too forward given that this is the first time we’re talking but… I wondered if you might let me take you to dinner?”

Ira arched an eyebrow. Just how powerful was the fae creature she’d caught lurking in this borrowed simulation? Perhaps a better question was how valuable was it to that being to maintain their secret, normal human life?

Does it matter if it saves me time? She had to gain enough of Alyial’s trust that he wouldn’t question when she tried to drag him to the office to push the conspicuous, big red button waiting there. Dinner ought to do it.

“It’s not too forward at all, considering that I just invited myself to your table,” she countered. “And I would love to. Are you free tomorrow night?”

She didn’t know if she could will the next day to be Friday but, given that Alyial had essentially abandoned his normal life routine when he came in here, she hoped it wouldn’t matter.

“Tomorrow would be great,” Alyial agreed with a warm grin. “How does eight o’clock sound?”

“Perfect,” Ira replied as she swept to her feet. “You can pick me up.”

She placed a small square of cardstock – summoned from the ether – on the table then swept out of the cafe before Alyial had a chance to question where this sudden desire to date had come from.