บท 9: Jesse
"Why don't you take a seat for us?" Jesse's father told him, just like last time. Both he and his mother were already at the dining room table when Jesse entered. It was very out of the blue for him to see and hear, but he had an idea of what this would be about. A few actually, since they just talked to him out of the blue a few weeks ago.
He didn't bother with speaking, only staring ahead as he waited for his parents to bring up what they wanted. They had anxious looks on their faces, and his father opened and shut his mouth several times as he searched for the words he wanted to say. Finally though, he spoke.
"You know a lot about Equestria, son," the man started slowly. "Probably more than most people."
"Certainly more than we do," his mother added.
"Do you think that–" He stopped before he could get it all out, and Jesse raised an eyebrow. A second later, his father turned his eyes to the floor to think about what exactly he wanted to say.
"Well, we wanna know," the man started again, "what… exactly about that pony game makes everyone so… aggressive about it? Why do people like it?" It was exactly the question and conversation Jesse expected.
"That's because of Celestia," he explained, letting out a small breath. "The long and the short of it is that Celestia is a master manipulator. They don't lie in the news when they say that. But also, the game is extremely good, because the whole point of Celestia is to satisfy you, so she tries hard to do that. Like, it's not inherently dangerous, but she does ultimately want everyone to upload."
That was just about how Renown Composition described it to him before she was forced into emigrating. How long ago was that conversation? It must have been decades for him by this point, but no. It was one he had with his friend just a couple of months before she was shot.
His father nodded, but Jesse wasn't sure he really grasped what he was saying. In any case, the man continued, "What about that girl you like? Sheila? You told us about her before, and what happened. Is she still okay?"
His face went a little bit red as mention of the mare. "Yeah. I still talk to her every day. I was actually about to head online to chat with her soon." He left out the reason for it, and how much less confident in Celestia he was feeling in general. His parents didn't need to hear that when they were already so skeptical.
"If you're asking about if we should do it now, the answer is no," he continued, adjusting his glasses. "Basically all of my friends and I plan on doing that once we decide there's no other options, and we're not there yet."
"We– we weren't saying that," his father said quickly. "You're mother and I just want to hear more about it since you do nothing else all day. We're not talking about that."
"Okay… so what else did you want to know more about then?" Jesse asked flatly.
"Well, you told us before about the reasons why you would upload. You said only if we were about to die or if we were in danger, right?"
"Yeah, or if they were about to ban uploading," he confirmed. "It'd only be for those reasons because– well, never mind. But you understand. I wouldn't wanna risk myself like that, and I wouldn't wanna risk you guys, either."
It felt like their roles were reversed as he talked to them. They took what he said at face value, and thankfully didn't argue too much. After all, what could they say in response?
He felt his phone buzzing, but turned it off for now to keep focus on his parents. "I don't know about that last reason, but the others… might be something to consider," his father said. "I'd wanna know more about it before we ever did something like that. From you, Jesse."
"Yeah, like, how do you know you're not– well, how do you know it's all real?" his mother asked. "There's nothing that would hurt more than seeing you…"
"I told you before I wouldn't emigrate yet," he assured her. "I promise."
"Thanks son," his mother replied, wearing a little smile.
"It's a lot of questions we have right now," his father started again, "and if you're not busy, having them answered would be great. It's a lot we've been hearing on the news these last few weeks, about protests and riots and things getting worse and laws, and we want to be as informed as we can."
This was good. Better than their last conversation. He still wasn't planning on doing anything, but if it started to get hairy, having them understand now would be better than trying to explain it in the moment.
"What exactly did you hear about on the news?" he asked casually. "I don't remember hearing anything about riots, but I do know a few states are trying to pass laws against emigration."
"I think there were some things going on in Tennessee the last your mother and I heard," his father said. "And it didn't seem like it was anything good. We're… worried about something like that happening here."
"Nor riots though, right?" Jesse asked, feeling his heart beat just a little bit faster at the thought.
"No, I don't think it was that bad," the man clarified, setting Jesse back at ease. "I think they were just protests. But we– well… are you sure about all of this, son?"
Jesse blinked. Were they asking him for permission to upload?
"Like, right now?" he asked. "Definitely not right now. But in general, it'd be good to have a plan about it. I already told you when I would, and I can't think of any reason why that would change at all. Like, seriously. But that's not gonna be for years, I don't think."
His parents nodded in understanding, and seemed to become more relaxed. "I think that makes sense, right honey?" his mother said as she looked up at his father. "If things got really bad or we were about to get hurt, that would be okay, I think." His father nodded again in agreement.
"What brought all of this on though?" Jesse had to ask. "You said they weren't riots, but how bad were those protests?"
"It was only in Chattanooga, but we heard they were thinking about sending the military in if things got worse there," his mother said. "I don't want something like that to happen here."
"Especially now that they're talking about laws here in North Carolina," his father added. "I don't think it's a good idea to go along with it just because of some new laws, but–"
"Wait, what?" That caught Jesse's attention. "When the heck did they say that?" He remembered hearing from someone about how they wanted to pass laws against it, but he didn't think that would be coming so soon.
But then again, how surprised could he really be? If they were people as old as his parents passing laws like that, he should have expected it, especially with the way things seemed to be going. But still, it was surprising to hear, and was just another thing that added anxiety to his worries about the future.
I'll probably be okay for now, he told himself. Even if they ban uploading here, there's other states to go to. It only starts to become an issue if a whole bunch of states do it at the same time, or if there's a nationwide ban. If it came to that, then… if push came to shove, he'd bite the bullet and go to the Experience Center sooner than he would've liked.
"Just because they're banning it though isn't a good enough reason, son," his mother said. "It'd be different if our lives were in danger or if things got scary. We wouldn't want to do something like this on a whim."
"If they just pose a nationwide ban on emigration, then it's not gonna matter if our lives are in danger," he told them. "But whatever. It's fine for now. I don't think anything is gonna happen very soon anyway. I'd let you know whenever I thought the best time would be. I need to see who was trying to call me though." He could get into the finer details with the two of them later.
It was surprising how little time there was in between turning on his phone and Eliza showing up at his door. He wasted no time in answering the first of six missed calls, and before he knew it, the girl was coming into his home. He couldn't say he ever had her over before, but she insisted on speaking with him face to face.
It felt a bit weird to have her here; he didn't really like her, and he knew she didn't care for him. They mostly hung out with each other because they were in the same friend group, and had not been alone together even one time that he could think of. But she was here now, and she looked unnerved, a change from her usual flat expression that she wore.
"It's fucking weird," she said. "She's being fucking weird. Like, it's one thing to be good at chess or a little more sensitive than usual, but it's another to just straight up forget conversations we've had together. Like, I'm not just going crazy, right?"
"Uh, no, she has been acting weirder than usual," Jesse agreed. "I haven't seen her forget anything we've ever talked about, but she definitely hasn't been herself while I've been around her at least."
"Good. That means I'm not on the verge of being checked into a psych ward. That's good." Jesse watched the girl close her eyes and sigh to ease her nerves. She was definitely uncomfortable, which made him nervous. If she was feeling off because of this, then something was really wrong with their friend.
Eliza brushed a strand of black hair from in front of her face. "Like, Cynthia and Drake said they haven't seen anything weird with her outside of the first time we saw her again as a group. Brandon said he thought she was being a little weird, but he doesn't hang out with her like the rest of us do. So I was gonna chalk it up to just her being in Equestria for so long that she acts a little different now. But then she said she forgot about a conversation we had. Like, straight up didn't remember at all. And like– I don't know. It's just unnerving, and it's honestly making me wonder if I'm just going crazy. I'm worried about her."
She said it all almost in one continuous breath. Hearing it from Eliza made him worried, and he had to take a breath, too. "Yeah, that hasn't happened to me, but like I said, there's been a whole bunch of little things that have been off about her. I was just thinking about it the other day, and was gonna bring it up with her today. Like, see if she talked to Celestia about doing something to her. I heard she can change a pony's mentality if they ask for it."
"Composition would never ask for that," Eliza said quickly, almost angry at just the idea. "If Celestia did that, then at best, she was blackmailed. And Composition would say something like, 'Celesita wouldn't do something that would make us not want to upload' because changing people's minds without consent, or through blackmail– that's a deal breaker for me. There's no way that's what happened."
Jesse didn't know if it would be a deal breaker for him, but it still wasn't a pleasant thought. "Do you think we should talk to her? Or maybe we could just go to Celestia and ask her what's up."
"Would she even tell us anything if we asked?"
Jesse didn't know, and only shrugged in response. Composition herself would know– she knew basically everything about the game as far as the two of them and the rest of their friend group understood. But if she was acting weird, she probably wouldn't be a good source for information.
"I mean, I don't really know what else there is for us to do if something's up with her. I'd say we should talk to her first, and if she's still acting weird, or if she says she asked for something we know she wouldn't want, then we can just go to Celestia, right?"
Eliza scowled and looked away. "I really, really don't like that idea," she said. "But I guess we can do that. It's not like there's any other options anyway. Maybe it would help if the rest of our friends were there, too."
"If Cynthia and Drake don't see anything wrong with her," Jesse told her, "then there's no point in asking them to come with us. You said Brandon thought she was being weird, too?"
"Yeah, but he's going to work soon, and doesn't hang out with her like we do."
"Well, then I guess it should probably just be us two. See if she'll tell us anything, and then go to Celestia if we don't find anything."
"Sounds like a plan, I guess," Eliza finished as she shook her head in annoyance. "I'll be on my PonyPad right when I get home. I didn't bring it with me for obvious reasons."
"Yeah. I'll meet up with you when you get home then."
Eliza didn't waste any time walking out the door after that. She left without a goodbye or a wave or even a 'see you later', not that Jesse was surprised. She didn't try very hard to hide her dislike for him, and he didn't do much better. He mostly hoped Composition was okay, and talked to Eliza only because Composition liked her.
Bad attitude, he told himself silently. That's a bad attitude to have. I need to stop thinking like that.
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, letting out a long sigh he'd been holding in. Maybe he should have just gotten it over with and emigrated when Composition did. Things would have probably been a lot less chaotic if he did.
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