Utopia War

Chapter 18 - Best Friends Forever (i)

"Do you want to go for a walk Sparkle?" asked Caesar.

Sparkle's head turned sideways as she snapped to attention at the mention of the word 'walk'. Of course she wanted to go for a walk. Caesar knew full well she wanted to go for a walk. What kind of game was he playing?

"Of course I do," she said, bouncing around Caesar in a circle "Do you mean to imply that you want to go for a walk right now at this moment? Is that what you're driving at? Because if so I accept. Let's go for a walk by all means!"

"I thought it would still be polite to ask, foregone conclusion notwithstanding," said Caesar.

Sparkle was already at the door of Caesar's domicile.

"Why are you still talking about it? Let's go," she said.

Caesar came over and took her hand. She grinned back at him with the intensity of a maniac. His heart melted.

Caesar's place was newly constructed just for him, which conveniently located it at the edge of the village near all the prime walking territory where the good smells were.

The two had established a pretty set route for when they went on their frequent walks, and Sparkle didn't like deviating from it. She always walked a little faster than Caesar, as though the fact that they were holding hands was the only thing that kept her from shooting off like a rocket.

A lazy, unpaved trail took Sparkle and Caesar through a thickly wooded area live with squirrels, birds, and even more elusive Earth creatures. This quadrant of the Ran Ring was experiencing autumn, and a multicolored panoply of leaves crunched underfoot. Some of the trees here had long ago been genetically engineered simply to widen the variety of colors the leaves changed to in the fall. In addition to red, yellow, orange and brown there were purple, light blue, pink, silver, and calico.

Sparkle sniffed the air, and made note of where one of the scent markings had changed. She knew that Caesar would get embarrassed if she peed on anything while they were out on their walk so she made a mental note to come back later when she was alone.

"It's lovely out," said Sparkle, spinning in a circle. She was moving Caesar's arm back and forth with her own in a playful imitation of dancing "I know Ran wants me to leave the squirrels alone, but here's my thought-" she began.

The avatar of Proxima materialized in front of her, and she completely lost her train of thought.

"Hello, Sparkle," said the avatar "I am not who you think I am."

"How could you know what I'm thinking unless you're Proxima, which is who I think you are?" asked Sparkle.

"You're Ran Consensus now, though, doll," said Caesar.

"This is Ran?" asked Sparkle, incensed "Not funny Ran."

<It's not me,> signaled Ran to the both of them <In the interest of not prejudicing you that is all I will say.>

"Fine," said Sparkle "Who are you?"

"My name is Exigencia," said the avatar "I'll spare you my history but I am a new Consensus, a very small and select one."

"That doesn't sound very friendly," said Sparkle.

"Our purpose is not to make friends," said Exigencia "It is to preserve our civilization. My Consensus is made of those willing and able to defend their home against the impending alien threat."

"Can't we do both?" asked Sparkle.

"I have no objection to people making friends on their own time, but my focus is the survival of the human meta-species. You were one of the best guard dogs on the ring before the Battle of Proxima. My understanding is that you are no longer engaged. You could be a big help with us."

Sparkle rocked back and forth a little, pleased with herself over the praise.

"Naturally you'll want me as well," said Caesar.

"I'm sorry," said Exigencia "I don't know who you are."

Caesar dramatically clasped his hand to his chest in an effort to hide his genuine upset.

"I'd really love to help because..." started Sparkle "I'm worried about my friends and I want to help protect them. Only my best friend is mad at me I think, or else just really sad, and I can't leave here until we're best friends again."

"That's unfortunate," said Exigencia "I can't tell you what to do but I would consider your priorities. Let me know if your circumstances change. You can contact me through Ran."

<I don't volunteer for that,> signaled Ran to all three of them.

<I don't suppose you're going to refuse her either,> Exigencia replied to all concerned <Don't be so dramatic; there's nothing worse than a pouting machine.>

"I'm going to clear everything up real soon, you'll see," said Sparkle "Then I'll go help fight the aliens as long as Caesar can come."