Conscious, Conscientious

Zayza sighed, wandering aimlessly along the white cobblestone pathway in her green dress, as she passed by the orange-leaved trees spread out several steps from each other. The leaves gave off a high-pitched, soft ringing sound every time the wind blew against them. Around her, tiny neon-colored bugs scurried along the short black grass. Zayza looked up at the yellowish sky.

“Lammy!” she called. “Could you please wake me up?”

Several seconds passed, but nothing happened.

“It’s no use,” Zayza told herself. At some point, while she and Lammy were falling out of the sky after their catapult launch, she ended up in the Dream World. A ripped parachute flailing above them was the last thing she saw before entering.

Zayza stepped off the path and approached a tree, sitting against it in deep thought. “I hope nothing terrible happened to us out there when we landed…” she said to herself. “And I hope I awake soon—I don’t want to hold Lammy up from possibly saving his mother...” She looked down at her hands, and noticed a purple light reflecting off her bracelets. “Oh, what’s this?” A quiet, mystical sound sang above her.

“A memory?” Zayza exclaimed, looking up into the tree. High within its branches, the tree held a purple orb of light. “It is a memory! But…how do I get to it?” She stood to her feet and examined the orb.

After a few seconds, the wind blew again. The branches of the tree swayed and the orb slipped through, floating slowly down towards Zayza. When it was almost within her reach, it suddenly shot down at her head and vanished with a bright flash.

Zayza blinked a few times from surprise, then smiled. “Oh, of course!” she remembered. “This fact came at quite a convenient time! I need to tell Lammy.”

“…Zayza…Hey…”

She heard a voice far in the distance and felt a slight nudge on her shoulder, but nobody else was there.

Then, her eyes closed and she felt herself begin to sink…

~

Zayza’s eyes opened to the sight of Lammy looking down at her worriedly. She was lying on her back, against her travel bag. Dark pine trees towered over them all around.

She noticed a few scrapes and cuts across Lammy’s face. “Are you alright?” Zayza asked.

“Yeah, but I’m the one who should be asking you that,” said Lammy.

Zayza sat up as snow fell out of her hair, noticing she had a few of her own bumps and bruises, as well. “I’m sorry to have scared you, I must have fainted while we were falling. That was horrifying…”

Lammy nodded. “Luckily, we fell through some branches and landed in a bunch of snow. We slid down the hill for a bit, but I grabbed a tree branch to stop us. I don’t think we’re all that far from where they launched us…”

They sat on slanted ground, which was masked in fog several trees down. At the very least, it seemed Opelfine’s catapult sent them over the initial hump of the mountain and onto its slope. The incline continued upward for as far as they could see, covered in more pine trees and large rocks.

“Should we go tell them we’re okay?” wondered Lammy.

Zayza smiled and shook her head. “I think they all believe we are. Let’s keep moving—that’s what they really want for us. Let’s go find our way back to your mother!”

Lammy met her smile with equal energy. He stood. “Yeah! And let’s get your memories back along the way!”

Zayza took Lammy’s hands as he helped her to her feet. “Oh! Speaking of that, I just found a memory in the Dream World!” she declared. “This is probably rather important for our journey: remember how the Chief explained that we’re at the top of Realistic Fiction Country?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Well, my memory was actually a fact about that: in many areas of Realistic Fiction Country, the native people are unaware that consciousness powers exist. In fact, they don’t even know about the Multiverse beyond their world. So it’s forbidden to use consciousness powers in those areas.”

“Hmm…” Lammy thought aloud. “How do we tell which areas fall under that rule?”

“We should probably play it safe,” Zayza decided. “Let’s avoid using or mentioning our consciousness abilities around people, until we get a feel for their knowledge.”

With that, the duo set out on their adventure through the North Mountains. Given that the catapult’s purpose was to shoot them up to one of the peaks, they figured climbing up the mountain was their best direction.

Lammy and Zayza were the sole travelers on their trail, other than a few birds and rabbits. The hills became bumpier and more challenging the higher they journeyed.

Several hours into their hike, Lammy found himself completely wiped, sweating inside his thick coat in spite of the frosty chill. He had been struggling the whole way—all of the hills, rock climbing, and the weight of his travel bag depleted what little endurance he had. Walking around the simple, grassy Tailpiece his whole life proved to be poor preparation for this quest.

Meanwhile Zayza faired much better as she scaled the rocks, but by now she too was growing weary. It was also quickly getting darker and colder, as the snow they stepped through became icy. Fearing they would freeze to death if they stayed out here too long, they decided to seek shelter.

They explored the side of the mountain for any sort of secluded flat land or cave. Just when Lammy was ready to lie down where he was, Zayza noticed a cluster of large rocks with an opening in the middle.

“Maybe that cave will be sufficient,” she suggested.

They neared the entrance and looked inside. It was unoccupied, but for an obvious reason: the cave had no ground—it was a deep hole. To add to the oddity, they could faintly hear the chatter of what seemed to be dozens of people far below.

Lammy would have suggested avoiding this mysterious place altogether, if it weren’t for the aroma that rose from the hole. He didn’t recognize this savory scent, but something incredible was cooking down there.

“That smells wonderful…” Zayza uttered. She leaned forward, trying to peak further down. “I think I see…AH!!” Suddenly she slipped on a patch of ice. She tried to catch herself, but couldn’t find a grip and fell into the hole, screaming.

“ZAYZA!” Lammy cried, leaning after her. But the weight of his travel bag shifted, throwing him off balance, and he too fell inside.

After a couple seconds of screaming, he felt himself sink into a massive pile of snow. While his head remained free, the rest of his body was trapped.

What lay ahead was a place even more alien to him than Our Snowy Village.

The cave was much, much bigger than he and Zayza thought: it was an entire town lit by bright lights high above. Or it might have been a large marketplace; it was hard to pinpoint.

Roughly a hundred people stood impatiently in a massive line that stretched to an opening at the other end of the cave. Along the outskirts, dark wooden homes stood attached to the stone. The line curved near the snow pile where Lammy and Zayza landed, and led to a large, bright structure against one of the cave’s massive walls.

The source of the delicious aroma was immediately clear: in blinding bright red lighting, a sign above the structure read, ‘Food Town.’ Underneath, about a dozen workers in identical uniforms prepared and served food to the people in line. They stood behind a long counter with a glass shield as they rapidly scooped various types of ingredients.

Off to the side, Lammy noticed a couple of workers tending to meat that sizzled on top of a silver surface. An upbeat tune resounded from an unknown source.

Lammy’s head was practically spinning. What the heck is this?? he wondered, trying to grasp why a place in ‘Realistic Fiction Country’ could have light and cooking with no fire, and music without musicians. Where’s the power source for all of this? Are Imaginers doing it?

Right next to Lammy, Zayza’s head popped out from the snow pile. She shook her head to get snow out of her eyes, and then viewed their surroundings. “Oh wow! How exciting!” she exclaimed. “We found a hidden restaurant!”

“A what?” asked Lammy.

Zayza was already climbing her way out of the snow eagerly. “Come on! Maybe someone here can help us find a place to stay for the night…and maybe we can get some food, that smells incredible!” She freed her arms and gradually pushed herself out of the pile.

“Um…if you really want to,” mumbled Lammy. After he took a few moments to yank himself free, he joined Zayza on the cave’s firm ground. Several of the people waiting in line glanced at them plainly, and then returned their attention to their destination.

“Excuse me,” Zayza greeted politely to one of the customers.

“THE LINE STARTS BACK THERE, PUNKS!” the lady wailed at them.

“Oh, but we were just—”

“If you got a problem with this place, that line’s over there!” she interrupted, pointing to a shorter line at the other end that led to the far corner of the restaurant. Another handwritten sign hung above that area, reading ‘Speak with Management,’ though the words ‘Speak with’ were crossed out and corrected underneath with ‘Yell at.’

“Oh…thank you,” Zayza said timidly. She turned to Lammy. “Maybe we should just go there for help…these people seem a tad on-edge.”

Still uncertain, Lammy cautiously followed Zayza as they began to walk towards the appropriate line. As they made their way, he noticed some people grumbling to each other irritably, while others chatted about what they were going to order. He observed all the houses that lined the walls. People sat on some of the porches, eating their meals.

“You seem fairly lost,” realized Zayza.

“Well…what is this place?”

“It’s a restaurant: people come here to buy meals,” Zayza explained.

“Interesting…” said Lammy. While Tailpiece had a humble market area, none of the shops prepared the food themselves. “And, do people usually live at the restaurants, too?”

Zayza glanced at all the houses surrounding them. “No…that is pretty odd…”

Soon they arrived at the ‘Speak with Yell at the Management’ line. Luckily, this one wasn’t quite as long, and seemed to be decreasing quickly. At the end of the line, a short, stocky man in a button-up shirt stood talking to each customer one-by-one. When Lammy and Zayza were close enough, they could hear most of the complaints and replies:

“I asked for extra chicken but I only got a lot of chicken. There’s a difference!”

“Refunds online. Sorry about that. Next?”

“Ten minutes ago I placed an order for yesterday morning. Why wasn’t my order ready yesterday?!”

“Refunds online. Sorry about that. Next?”

“YOU RUINED MY SON’S BIRTHDAY!!! DIE!!!”

“Refunds online. Sorry about that. Next?”

“Honestly, I just wanted to say the food was amazing. Thank you!”

“Refunds online. Sorry about that. Next?”

What’s wrong with all these people?’ Lammy wondered.

“NEXT?”

With a start, Lammy and Zayza realized it was their turn to speak with him. They inched forward as the sweaty man eyed them down with a lifeless gaze.

“Um…Hello, sir,” started Zayza. “I’m Zayza and this is my friend Lammy. You see, we’re travelers, and we were just wondering if you might know of anywhere we could stay for the night?”

The man looked back and forth at each of them uncaringly, until Lammy was convinced he’d say something about ‘refunds’ and ‘online’ again.

“Yeah sure, you guys can crash in my spare room,” he finally said. “That is…if you’re willing to work tonight.”

“Oh…”

“To be honest, we’re getting slammed today. My idiot employees and their managers—I use the term loosely—can’t keep up. You in?” He didn’t blink as he awaited their reply.

Zayza looked to Lammy to read his reaction. Tired as he was after this day of climbing, if a little bit of work was his ticket to sleep in a bed, at this point he was willing to take it. Besides, it looked easy enough. Lammy shrugged.

“We’ll do it!” Zayza declared.

“Good!”

~

Within a few minutes, Lammy stood wearing an employee uniform: a black short-sleeve shirt, red pants, black shoes, and a red hat with a lid. He had changed in one of the restaurant’s back rooms and left his travel bag there.

Now he stood back where they met the owner. Soon Zayza joined him, dressed identically.

“How do I look?” she asked, posing jokingly.

Lammy found himself blushing a bit. While the outfits were a bit tacky, Zayza made it work—to him, she could make anything look great. “Good,” he answered shyly.

“Alright, so let’s get you two situated,” said the owner. “Usually we have a training process for new hires, but given the busyness, we’ll have to cut some corners. Mariel here will get you situated.”

A young woman walked over to join them. She was dressed similarly, but unlike Lammy and Zayza, her shirt had a collar and buttons, with “Manager” sewn on the torso. She had attentive yet weary gray eyes, and long blonde hair tied up with red twists mixed in.

“Hi,” Mariel greeted.

“Alright that’s enough standing around and talking, Mariel. We need to get these orders out!” the owner instructed. He turned away, returning his attention to the “Yell at the Management” line.

“Yes, master, of course…” Mariel uttered under her breath for only Lammy and Zayza to hear. She rolled her eyes, and then winked at them. “Well, it’s gonna be a rough night. Come with me.”

Lammy and Zayza followed Mariel away from the owner and towards the long counter where workers were serving customers.

“So you two are travelers, huh? That’s pretty cool,” she said. “Where are you from?”

“I’m from Tail—” Lammy started, but Zayza nudged his shoulder. Oh…right, no Multiverse stuff…he recalled. “Um…a place that’s…not here? It’s…far away.”

“I don’t know where I’m from,” Zayza explained.

Mariel looked at both of them with puzzlement. “Alright…you two are weird,” she noted. “I like you already.”

At least someone in this town—or restaurant—is friendly, thought Lammy.

They stopped beside the serving counter, and Lammy noticed there was an identical setup just behind it with less employees preparing meals. Here, Mariel began explaining their roles: Zayza’s job was to take the orders made on the back counter and deliver them to customers waiting in the center of the cave. These were online, pre-ordered meals.

Since Lammy was still unsure what ‘online’ meant, he was glad it was Zayza’s responsibility.

“And Langley…” continued Mariel.

“Um…It’s Lammy.”

“Sorry. Lammy, you’ll be with me making orders on the front,” she instructed. “I wish I had time to teach you, but just follow my lead. You’ll recognize the ingredients.”

Lammy nodded. After fighting a snow monster and getting catapulted into a mountain, he figured this would be as simple as breathing.

As Zayza parted from them to await orders at the second counter, Lammy followed Mariel over to theirs. Several ingredients lay before him in steaming hot metal pans, and he quickly realized he didn’t recognize any of them. His stomach growled loudly at the sight of the food, but thankfully the customer’s voices and clanking of serving tools drowned it out.

Mariel handed him a pair of transparent gloves, which he struggled to put on. “Alright, real quick: the stuff in this pan is—” she began.

“EXCUSE ME. I WANT MY FOOD.”

Lammy looked up to see a customer glaring at him from the other side of the glass.

“Sorry…they don’t like to be kept waiting…” Mariel whispered. “I’ll be right next to you; you should be able to figure it out.”

“STEAK.” Demanded the customer, his mouth visibly watering. “STEAK, KID!! STEEEEEAAAAK!!!!!”

Lammy had no idea which one steak (or STEEEEAAAAK) was, and everything before him looked practically the same: different shades of cubed brown meat. He grabbed a container and scooped the nearest option.

“NO!!” the customer barked. “YOU RUINED MY DINNER!! I’m speaking to the owner to get you fired.”

Mariel quickly swooped in and placed a different scoop of brown meat cubes into the container. “I’m so sorry about that, sir. Here you go. What else would you like?” she said pleasantly in a high-pitched tone. The customer entirely forgot about Lammy’s existence as Mariel completed his order.

As the guest turned from them to pay for his meal, Mariel came back, again rolling her eyes. “What a scumbag…” she said darkly. “Oh—you’ve got another one!”

Lammy fearfully returned his attention to the next customer, who didn’t look much kinder. I think I’d take the catapult again over this, he realized.

Meanwhile, Zayza was walking out past the serving area to the center of the cave, carrying her first order in a brown paper bag. She noticed a cluster of people standing and waiting in between the massive main line and the complaint line, so she figured that was the right spot. Humming to herself cheerfully, she approached the customers.

“I have an order for Karen White,” she announced.

“WHAT ABOUT JOHN SMITH?!” one customer pressed.

“PETER STEWART!” yelled another.

“I’ve been waiting for three minutes!”

“YOU RUINED MY SON’S BIRTHDAY!!! DIE!!!”

Finally a woman—supposedly Karen White—snatched the bag from Zayza’s hand and stormed off, followed by her seven rambunctious children.

Zayza stood in shock for a moment. “Oh…” she mumbled.

“Hey cutie, when’d they hire you?” A man called over from the main line.

Zayza turned away, deciding to hurry back to the serving counters as she tried to ignore him whistling at her.

Back at Lammy and Mariel’s station, Lammy struggled to keep up. He noticed how lightning-fast Mariel helped customers, but even despite her speed, the line was getting longer and longer. And it seemed people were getting ruder and ruder, too.

For a brief moment, the next person in line wasn’t paying attention, and Lammy took the chance to breathe. Mariel laughed beside him.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing fine,” she assured. “This place is just a sick joke.”

“How do you do it?” Lammy asked.

“I don’t know…I have to remind myself that these people aren’t any better than me, even if they think they are,” she shared. “And that can be tough when our store’s motto is literally ‘Worship the customer. Bow to their feet.’”

That’s a bit excessive, thought Lammy as the nearest customers in line began demanding for food.

Zayza continued to rush back and forth between grabbing bags of orders and handing them out to ungrateful recipients, carrying as many bags at once as she could. Whatever positivity she tried to retain seemed to evaporate with every interaction. All the while, the same man from the line continued pestering her:

“Come on, girlie. Shoot me a smile, at least,” he called as she breezed by for the hundredth time.

Zayza said nothing, trying to balance four large bags at once.

“Why don’t they dress you in something sexier?” the man badgered. “Now that’ll keep people coming back. Let’s see some skin.” He turned to laugh with his buddies.

Zayza stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned to face the man, and then threw the four orders to the cave ground. The surrounding crowd gasped.

“Why don’t you go find another cave to die in?” Zayza responded.

After several seconds of pure surprise, the man’s demeanor erupted into rage, along with the rest of the crowd. They all began screaming at her—especially the four people whose orders she had just spilled everywhere.

Zayza held her ground, standing with her arms crossed. “You’re acting like spoiled, entitled children. Fools, all of you.”

Lammy could hear the uproar from where he worked. When the customer he was serving turned to see the commotion, Lammy looked past him and saw dozens of people surrounding and shouting at Zayza.

“Looks like your friend pinched a few nerves,” Mariel observed with a chuckle.

“No…” muttered Lammy. “Zayza is way too kind…”

Mariel shrugged. “I mean, they probably deserve it. Our customers are the worst.”

“If they’re really gonna freak out at someone like Zayza, then they are the worst,” Lammy concluded. He immediately felt himself boiling inside. His heart raced, his face went hot, and his vision started blurring. I wish they would all just…he thought.

I wish they would all just GO AWAY!

Suddenly, on top of all the shouting and complaining, Lammy could hear a buzzing noise coming from above, all around the cave. Alarmed, he looked up to see a massive swarm of bugs: flies, mosquitos, and some combination of both. They zipped around as a furious cloud, and began descending towards all the customers.

“…Huh?” uttered Mariel.

The customers screamed and panicked, their cries deafening as they echoed against the cave’s walls. Most of them pushed and shoved in a race to escape through the hole at the other end of the cave. Many others hit the decks—literally—sprinting up the stairs into their homes that surrounded the restaurant.

Did an Imaginer do this?! Lammy wondered. Wait a second…

…Uh-oh…

He recalled that when his anger was building up, for a split second, he did picture bugs flying after the customers. It was just a passing cathartic thought, though…could he really have imagined this himself? He had never attempted something so complex—how was this possible?

“Lammy! What’s going on?” Zayza was running up to him, hiding her face from the insects. When she got close enough, she whispered, “Your eyes…they’re glowing.”

“Um…” was all Lammy could think to say. Okay, if this was really me, I better take care of it…Focusing his attention on as much of the cave as he could, Lammy mentally commanded all of the flies and mosquitos (and mosquito-flies) to vanish. Within an instant, they were all gone. The cave went dead-silent: by now, all the customers had either fled through the exit, or took shelter in their homes.

“Uh…what the…?” Mariel wondered beside him. She quickly looked at Lammy. “Was that some kind of miracle…?”

“FLEMMY AND ZELDA!!!” the owner bellowed, marching over to them and pointing at Lammy and Zayza. “I don’t know what’s going on, but everything got ruined the second you started working! YOU’RE FIRED! Find somewhere else to sleep tonight! Come on, Mariel, now we have to close early!”

As the owner stomped off, Mariel turned back to Lammy and Zayza. “Yep: that was definitely a miracle,” she confirmed. She started to walk away, but then paused. “Oh—come find me here after I close. You two can crash at my place tonight.” With a smile, she departed for the back rooms of the restaurant.

Lammy and Zayza stood wordlessly for a minute.

“Well…” began Zayza slowly. “That…worked out.”