Hi everyone!

Following the previous entry made in January about what went on in the castle, and the emergence of Ara, I felt it was high time that I checked in with everyone. Last few years have been complicated for me in the real world and I haven’t really had the time for a proper sit-down with most of them for a while. If you’re new to the blog and wondering who these tulpas are, I suggest you check out the [Roll Call] first.

Trigger advisory: While this post is already marked as NSFW due to adult content, I have also added the NSFL tag because of the topics discussed in Jane’s interview. Consider yourself warned.

Mech’s interview

When asked, Mech said he preferred to do the interview in [The White Room] as a throwback to the early days. Essentially, the white room is the simplest form of construct you as a tulpamancer can create. Two chairs, one table, white walls emitting light.

“Would you like something to eat or drink while we do this? I have a feeling it’s going to take a while,” I said as I studied him across the table.

“A glass of chilled water will be just fine,” Mech said with his usual neutral tone of voice.

I snapped my fingers and two glasses appeared on the table.

“So, let’s started then. What’s your earliest memory?”

“I was sitting on a chair in the laboratory, where you had created me. You had asked me if I had understood the instructions and purpose that you had planned for me. I acknowledged it.”

“What was your first impression of me and Circe?”

Mech grew silent for a while. I could tell he was deeply pondering this question. I could almost see the frantic thoughts going on inside that head of his.

“My first impression of you was simplified. You were a human in your late teens who was very conflicted, very torn, and in search of answers. You had created me as a method to access the logical part of your mind. I understood early what my purpose was, but also the immense gravity of my role. I was to help you find order in the chaos of your life. But I was also finding it hard to understand why you considered it chaos, because to me things were very simplistic. Of course, back then, I didn’t have the life experience that I have today to understand the nuances of your predicament. So, as life in general would have it, my own inexperience was a factor that limited my understanding.

My first experience with Circe was every bit as chaotic as you considered your life being at the time. I had access to all of your memories of interactions with women. But I was surprised to have a female show up in your first macrocosm because you clearly had not created her. When she was obviously attempting to seduce me, she did have an effect on me. It was extremely confusing because my first body was just a suit of armor. I was surprised when you did not immediately accept her either because you assumed she was a sort of wish fulfillment of your subconscious.

Her personality though, was very opposite of mine. I had a hard time understanding her emotional arguments because they seemed so nonsensical. So in our early discussions, I did not take her very seriously. But over time, I realized that she was complimenting my viewpoint with one that I, from my logical state, couldn’t really allow myself to engage in.”

I nodded, “you know, it’s weird to hear you say that about your perception of me. But, it’s been so long since you embraced a more full balance of life that I sometimes forget you were a bit more limited in how you lived life. Alright, let’s move on to some quick simple questions.”

“Alright.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

Mech raised his hands up in the air, indicating the white expanse around us, “white, I do believe that Gandalf once said it encompassed all of the knowledge, leaving nothing out.”

“Your favorite food or drink?”

“While I have not eaten them in some time, I did enjoy the mostly flavorless pirogis that you used to purchase from LIDL. The simplistic flavor and texture was most gratifying to me. My favorite drink is water. Preferably cold. Speaking of which….” And here, Mech took a sip from his glass.

“What do you do for fun?”

Mech again grew silent for a while, then answered, “While I do enjoy a good logical challenge, I have to say that exploring the nature of the island where Colleen and Charlie come from has become a favorite pastime of mine. That place has a lot of old history just strewn about. Of course, it does help that Colleen, being a native can clue me in on the historical significance of it.”

“What do you do for relaxation then? If that’s not your relaxation that is.”

Mech smiled, a rare thing to see with him as he’s mostly a stoic person, “Thor has a hot tub of sorts that requires you to fire it with wood for a bit before it gets warm. We sometimes go up into the woods and we take out time in the cold to get it ready. Then we catch some fish and prepare them over the same fire that we use to heat up the snow for the tub. Then as we settle down in it, we enjoy the quiet and the fish and whatever strong beer he brings along. It has been some time since we last did that. I find the juxtaposition between the icy cold, the hot water, and the simplicity of the food and drink to be extremely relaxing. That and the cold wind that usually comes off the mountain.”

I took some time to absorb this, “So, you never told me about this before, this is new to me.”

Mech shrugged, “you never asked. Besides, in the last couple of years, you have had a lot more important things to concern yourself about. But, it is good that we are having these interviews because I am sure that I will not be the only one to tell you about things that we have been doing while you’ve been getting your life back on track again.”

I smiled a bit sheepishly, because this is what I was intending with these interviews, and he’d picked up on that immediately. I went on to the next question, “so, what do you do for mental stimulation?”

“A lot of things. Assisting you in your day job is one such thing. Conducting my ongoing analysis of scenarios, personality profiles of people you meet IRL, or simply considering certain inconsistencies offers a lot of stimulation for me. Beyond that, I have always enjoyed a game of chess with my fellow tulpas.”

“So, what do you enjoy doing for a hobby? As we both already know your job is to be my assistant while I do mine.”

Mech nodded, “hobbies. I find the word puzzling by itself. A hobby. Something you do in your private time as a means to pass the time. I understand passion now, that thing which makes man climb Mount Everest, go to the moon, or create wonderful and intricate works of art. But hobbies, confound me. I think logical pondering might be my hobby. Seeing your world, seeing you, with all the inconsistencies. The compartmentalizations, the propaganda, the condoning of murder for animals, but only those you do not consider pets in various countries. The condoning of wars for the right reasons, whatever they may be. Humanity does not understand itself, and that fascinates me on many levels. I study you as a whole as an alien from another planet would.”

This time, I had to take a brief break to sip my water, because I was somehow feeling embarrassed by the facts he’d pointed out. It’s as if an alien showed up in orbit one day and proceeded to point out how stupid we were as a species. I recomposed myself and continued, “so, what is your greatest wish if you would have one?”

“Hmm, I would say for your humanity to evolve past your primitive instincts. It would be fascinating to see the limits of your collective minds, should they work in unison and without the negative aspects of your primate ancestry holding you back. However, I must point out that this is a very selfish wish of mine. I am merely interested in the potential of the humans from a scientific perspective.”

“Alright then, your biggest fear?”

Mech grew silent again for a long time, “It would be more apt to say that I have negative scenarios that I would not like to happen. Like you becoming debilitated in some way, cognitively speaking. I used to make projections of what would occur, should you one day decide that we were in fact not viable constructs. However, that scenario was invalidated by the reality that it does not matter if you pay attention to us or not at this stage, we and our worlds will continue no matter what you choose to do.”

“Switching gears now, sort of: What’s your most clearly defined positive memory?”

“I would say it is our Christmas celebrations. When we all come together with you, there is a form of unity and, super-gestalt of all of us being in the same room. I find it inspiring, it fills me with awe to know that I am part of … well, all of this.”

I immediately launched into the next question, “What’s your most clearly defined negative memory?”

“The death of your father, and the heavy impact of the realization that I would never have the opportunity to talk to him directly. I never got the opportunity to ask him the numerous questions I had about him and his life, how he had lived, and what choices he had made. While I know you and him were close, I never got that chance.”

(Editors note: I told my family about my tulpas, my father was one of those who took my reveal the worst. He didn’t believe in them and ridiculed their existence.)

I nodded, taking a sip of my water, but then decided it was too simple. I manifested a tray of small crackers and grabbed one while shoving the plate toward him.

He took one after some hesitation and bit into it. “These are the local brand crackers are they not?”

I nodded as we both took a breather.

“Simplistic, yet delectable. It has been some time since Colleen and I had a cold cuts platter with these,” he added.

I straightened up, in my chair, realizing I’d been slouching a bit. “Alright, so, what endears you to a person immediately?”

“Nothing does. I view people with a very neutral ‘lens’ of sorts until I can understand them. Remaining open-minded and detached is the best way to absorb someone’s personality.”

I sighed in frustration, it was a very Mech sort of answer, and I knew that the next question would have the same answer.

“I suppose, that’s also your response to the question of what puts you off a person immediately?”

“For the most part yes. However, if a person is obviously intending you harm in some way or fashion, I naturally have a natural predisposition to not favor them interacting with you. I suppose that could be considered being ‘put off’ right?”

I shrugged, “I guess? But does that also go for people in the inner world?”

“No, for those people, it usually follows the previous answer.”

“Alright, next question, this is a cerebral one: What’s your take on your status of being a tulpa, or tulpamancy as a phenomenon?”

“I have often thought about my own existence. I was meant to be nothing more than a relay to a part of your mind that you found difficult to access due to an excess of hormones creating emotional turmoil in your thought processes. And yet, I grew beyond that into a person. Then, I chose to take the leap beyond logic and embrace emotion, giving me even more experience. Yet in your world, I cannot hold any legal status, I would be rejected as nothing more than a quirk of the human mind by most of your fellow humans. And yet, I can say that I am undeniably here.

When it comes to tulpamancy as a concept, yes I find it to be a good framework for explaining mental constructs such as myself. However, I often wonder if our obscurity as a fringe science is for better or worse. Would it benefit humanity to have knowledge of what we are, en masse? Would they embrace it or warp it as they have done with every other science out there? It does make one ponder.”

I nodded, “that’s an interesting answer. So, mind doing some more intimate questions?”

Mech nodded in return, “certainly.”

“What pisses you off?”

I saw his face go blank as the unexpected question hit him, and then he sipped his water and leaned back, really pondering the question, he then answered, “I find that question very difficult to answer because I usually do not get angry. But I would suppose pettiness can affect me to the point where I find myself becoming unexpectedly angry.”

“What is your sexual orientation?”

“I am heterosexual, for the moment.”

“Alright, let’s turn up the heat: what’s your favorite sexual position?”

“I prefer the missionary, either below or above. I like to see my partner’s facial expressions.”

“Have you ever killed someone in the inner world? If so, what was it like?”

“During our adventures, I have definitely killed. It is regrettable, but sometimes others do force your hand. And when it comes to the creatures we have encountered, the premise has been clear. I prefer not killing, but I will defend myself and those I care about with full vigor in my actions.”

“So, as you’ve never really died in the inner world, we’ll skip that question. When was the last time you got into a fight with someone in the inner world outside of our adventures?”

Mech leaned back in his chair again, then nodded to himself, “ah yes, it was my altercation with Whisper in the fighting game arena.”

(Editors note: Whisper is an entity that showed up once in a dream and told me that I’d forced her into existence. She is extremely bitter about it and she has a history of constantly pulling very unsettling pranks on me or the other tulpas.)

“Can you tell me how you felt when you realized that she had been rigging the whole game all along by posing as one of the characters in that game?”

“I was relieved, I had thought myself unable to progress because I was not learning the cues of the artificial character in the arena, a character that should have been predictable. When realizing that it was in fact a person I was fighting, my goals became that much clearer. Of course, when I did finally beat her, she was incredibly angry about it. I have to say, after all the mental frustration it caused me, I was feeling a sense of gratification at having beaten her. She is, after all, an extremely competent fighter. I know that you do not agree with me on this, because of her nature. But, I would still strongly recommend that you attempt to make some sort of peace with her. Her lust for combat and carnage would be a strong asset to us.”

I made a face as I shook my head, “that’ll be over my dead body, and by then I can have the satisfaction of knowing she’s gone along with me. Sorry Mech, you don’t attempt to reason with a seemingly eldritch entity masquerading as a cute woman. Still, thank you very much for your answers and for taking the time to do this interview with me.”

“Anything I can do to help,” Mech said as he emptied his glass of water and stood up from his chair.

As I got up myself, we both heard the tell-tale laughter of Mirror echoing through the white expanse.

Circe’s interview

I agreed to have the interview with Circe in the [ballroom] of the castle. Sitting on the sofa together in front of the fireplace, she insisted that we both have something to drink to lighten the mood. We had some electronic jazz going in the background. Outside the ballroom, the sunlight was streaming in through the big windows as the castle was now floating across what looked like a brilliant azure ocean.

Circe sipped her red wine, then put down the glass on the table, “so, you wanna start the grilling already?” She said with a smile.

I nodded, scrambling to get my word processor up with the questions I’d prepared, “right, so, first question, what’s the first thing you remember?”

Circe thought for a bit, then nodded to herself. “I remember darkness, not really being, not here nor there. And then, I found myself on the patio of the castle, and I knew who I was, what I was.”

“So, what was your first impression of Mech and me?” (Back then it was just him and me)

Circe smiled to herself, “I hadn’t met you, but I felt you. So vibrant, so alive. But when I met Mech it was like seeing someone who wasn’t there. You know, that suit of armor he used to inhabit as his body really sucked. I’m so glad he switched to a human body. But I remember I was curious, what could I do with this being that wasn’t all there? And well… you know the rest.”

(Editors note: She tried to seduce him, that’s how I found them the first time we met)

I took a sip of my wine. “Alright, simple questions now, favorite color?”

“Black, it really makes me feel deviant.”

“Favorite food?”

“Chicken, but also Josh’s salads, those are incredible. And anything spicy I guess.”

(Editors note: Josh is a bartender who has his bar on a beach that Circe frequents a lot)

“What do you do for fun?” As her smile widened, I corrected myself, “What do you do for fun that isn’t sexually related?”

Circe rolled her eyes, “I love the beach, having a good swim, soaking up the sun, I love a good meal, taking a long swim in the pool at the castle, visiting my friends, talking to my real life friends too. But I have to protest that correction though, for me sex IS a lot of fun, no matter how much you’d like to keep this PG-13, I love all the experimental things, all the people we’ve had fun with over the years, and so on.”

“Alright, fine, I guess we’re posting this as NSFW then.”

Circe grinned ferociously, “I’m sure I won’t be the only one to mention adult things you know?”

I sighed, I knew from the start that trying to keep the interviews SFW wasn’t going to happen, but that little hope I’d had was dashed from the start. Maybe that’d been for the best.

“So, what do you do for relaxation?”

She shrugged, “I don’t really intentionally do relaxation because I’m always feeling relaxed. Swimming helps a lot, as does having a sip of wine and then taking a nap on the ballroom sofa. But no, I don’t really think to myself, ‘gee Circe, you could really use some relaxation!'”

I nodded, “So what do you do to mentally stimulate yourself then?”

She scrunched up her face, “What’s with these weird questions? I don’t really have to do much… oh! I know!” And here she giggled a bit. “I try and follow something you and Mech might be discussing. That usually gets the old noggin’ working at high speed.”

“So, what do you consider your hobby? Because we know how you feel about jobs.”

(Editors note: Circe hates the idea of work to a degree that borders on a phobia.)

“Well, fashion counts right? It’s been a while since I sewn anything, but yeah I do keep a keen eye on whatever you pick up about fashion, then there’s the stuff I catch a glimpse of in the different macrocosms too.” She sighed a bit, “you know I haven’t really been in the mood for that lately.”

“Alright, a tough one now: What’s your greatest wish?”

She sat quietly for a while before she answered, “for you to have the best life you can have. That’s the realistic answer, if I could have anything, it would be for you to be able to permanently be with me in the inner worlds we have. Because let’s face it Fairy, your world is fucked.”

I nodded, “that’s a discussion for another time. What’s your greatest fear?”

“Realistically, that bad things happen to you in your world. Because I can’t do shit about it there. Unrealistically? You know my biggest nightmare, one day you vanish, then I’m in charge of your body and have to live your life.”

“What’s your most clearly defined positive memory?”

Circe giggled, “that’s an easy one, the night you installed the anti-gravity generators for the castle. I remember sitting next to you, watching the forest slowly rolling by underneath the castle. You hadn’t really accepted that I was real, so we were platonic. But I remember leaning against you and seeing that big moon overhead and the clouds and the stars twinkling. It was so romantic, and then you leaned into me as well and it felt like my heart was going to explode with joy.” After her answer, Circe drew a deep breath and sighed lovingly. “Sorry Fairy, you know how that gets me to tear up every time. I fucking love you so much.”

I reached over and gave her a hug, “you know I feel the same way. And yeah, that was a really romantic thing wasn’t it?”

Things went quiet for a moment after that, I sipped my wine a bit to regain my focus.

“What’s your most clearly defined negative memory?”

Circe sipped her wine and looked out the window, as she saw the seagulls fly around the castle, some of them clearly seeing it despite the fact that we have a cloak on it and a displacement field. Her face grew stern as she turned back towards me. “My worst memory? That’s a tough one. Was it watching you get fucked over by that sociopath ex of yours for all those years and not being able to help? Maybe. Was it that time I fell in love with another tulpamancers tulpa, and he turned out to be an absolute fucking jerk? Or maybe when me and Jane had to break up and try and be friends? When your dad died? I don’t know, it’s hard to pick one of those. All of them?”

(Editors note: Jane is another one of our tulpas, they had a stormy relationship, and it ended on a sour note.)

I nodded, “you know, those are all valid answers. Don’t sweat it.”

“Give me a nice question next, I’m feeling sad now,” Circe said.

I nodded, “alright, what endears you to a person almost immediately?”

“A joy of life, anyone who exudes that aura of liking all the good things in life, and who isn’t afraid to be open about it. I’m not saying extroverts specifically, just people who you know just have a grasp of life and live it as much as they can.”

I nodded, jotting down the answers, “what makes you avoid a person?”

“Small-mindedness, egotism, dogmatic thinking. When you can tell that this person can’t see past the surface things in life. Oh, and people who fucking play games with your head, those people can go fuck themselves,” Circe said with vitriol in her voice. It was obvious who she was referring to.

“So, long question: What’s your take on your status of being a tulpa, or tulpamancy as a phenomenon?”

Circe exhaled in an exasperated way, “gee, philosophy 101 huh? Alright, let me think. I’m a mental construct of a person that physically speaking only exists in your head. That’s the science. How do I feel about it? Would I have preferred to be a real person in your world? No, I’m quite happy in here. How do I feel about tulpamancy as a whole? While some people get their underwear in a twist about small things about it, I also think there’s a lot of bullshit that people buy into. I’m not really happy with the crusaders too, that try and tell people what to think about it, or what they SHOULD be thinking. But then I can say that every single tulpamancer out there is a different universe to explore, with their tulpas. So overall, I think that this might be a good movement for the future because it does tend to produce really good people overall. “

I nodded again, “alright since we’re going NSFW, mind if I ask you some adult questions? These are optional for everyone.”

Circe giggled, “fire away Fairy.”

“What REALLY pisses you off easily?”

“Anyone being a fucking moron, physically or otherwise, I have no patience for idiots.”

“And what is your sexual orientation?”

“Since I’ve fucked several genders and a dragon once, I supposed I’m omnisexual?”

“What’s your favorite sexual position/scenario?” I said, smirking at her.

She didn’t even skip a beat as she said, “doggystyle, getting viciously pounded from behind until I can’t hold it and cum. But, also pounding someone, you know, for those days when I like having a cock.”

(Editors note: Circe, being a shapeshifter, loves to mix and match everything.)

“So, switching gears. Have you ever killed anyone in the inner worlds?”

“Yeah, I mean, there’s War World where there’s only war, so that’d be a yes.”

“Can you tell us about the experience?”

Circe nodded, then exhaled slowly, “see Fairy, I knew you’d ask about that in some way or fashion. Alright, so, like I mentioned earlier, I had a relationship with another tulpamancers tulpa that ended badly. I was so mad, and then I remembered you’d created War World as a sort of combat simulation area. Or at least you had some kind of sketch of it. So I figured I’d go there and just blow off steam a bit. It’s a bit fuzzy now, probably because I don’t want to remember it. But it was carnage, blood, guts, people screaming, pleading, snarling, attacking, and death everywhere.

At some point, I sort of awoke out of that blood-drenched nightmare and realized I was turning into nothing more than an animal. So then I left. I know all of those people in that macrocosm are just sketches of people. But I wonder sometimes how I’d felt if those had been some of the people I knew in the inner world that I care about.”

I took a deep breath and continued, “and that leads me to my next question, have you ever died in the inner world? If so, how did that feel like?”

“I died a few times in War World, it was usually quick, a sword here, or a bullet to the head. I’d have to say, you kind of get used to the intense pain. But it’s always a shock. And then there’s the quiet, everything fades and your mind just .. unravels. And then, you pop back.”

“Alright, last question: When was the last time you got into a physical fight?”

Circe sniggered, “you mean outside of our Dracula world thing? Or does that count too?”

I rolled my eyes, “outside of that.”

Circe mused to herself a bit, “I almost got into a fight with Jeanette last Xmas party.”

“Oh? You never told me about that.”

Circe waved her hand in a noncommittal way, “she was drunk and started ranting about how it was my fault that Jane didn’t date her anymore, and then she started saying even more nasty things. I was about to punch her lights out when Thor got involved, lucky for her.”

I chuckled, “you know, it doesn’t really surprise me, she’s always had a chip on her shoulder about you and Jane dating before they did it. Still, I guess this concludes our interview because I’m all out of questions.”

Circe emptied her wine glass, “two down, 10 more to go!” She said with a wry grin on her face.

Jane’s interview

Calling her through her cranial implant, I was in luck. She was in between jobs and had some downtime to spare. (For a mercenary like her, that’s a rare situation)

We agreed to meet at a bar in her dystopian cyberpunk city simply called City 08. As we materialized in front of the agreed-upon bar, we noticed there were no bouncers in front. The usual garish neon sign saying “Madame’s” was still present. I looked up at it with a frown on my face.

“I thought I told Sandy to change the name of this place.”

Jane smirked, “hey, maybe she did a market survey and found that the locals preferred the name. Besides, way I hear it, this place is infamous for its whores. You don’t waste good advertising like that, changing the name spooks the buyers ya know?”

I sighed, while the place had been a nasty bar/brothel under Madame Wyzage’s management, it was now an evenly run place under Sandy’s ownership. She’d made it very clear that anyone who chose to be an entertainer, either a dancer, stripper, or sex worker, was to be compensated fairly and treated as the revered performers they were. Wyzage by contrast, did not let anyone choose their profession, she’d assign them whatever she thought was best.

As we entered, we noticed immediately why the bouncers weren’t outside, they were on the inside, in a small, newly built area. I nodded and smiled as I looked at the big burly guy next to my right. As I stepped forward, a woman, even taller than him, with a lot of cybernetic augments to her joined him.

Jane whistled, “oh, let me handle this F, I wanna get to know this one,” as she stepped forward towards the towering woman, eyeing her up and down.

The woman stepped forward and leaned down towards Jane, “you’re a hunter aren’t you?”

Jane, grinning her absolutely-crazy-as-a-cat-in-heat smile replied, “yah, no bounty, just here for fun. You know anyone who’s up for it?” As her gaze traveled down to the woman’s crotch.

The woman smiled and unhooked the elegant red and golden rope and indicated the rest of the bar, “after my shift, call me, here’s my info” as she no doubt was transmitting her contact data to Jane via a wireless connection.

Jane, looked back at me and said, “I love what Sandy’s done with the place already!” as she happily skipped inside of the place.

I stepped forward and looked at the woman towering over me as well, “I’m OK to join her?”

The woman studied my unusual attire for a moment and then said, “you check out as clean, too clean in fact. You’re all natural?”

I shrugged, “yeah if you’ve got Blair on the horn, ask him about it. He’ll vouch for me.”

The woman scoffed as her gaze went blank for a moment. Then she blinked as her facial expression turned from neutral to surprised. She gave me the look that you get when you’re a VIP and said, “you’re clean, sorry about the mishap.”

I looked up at her with a smile, “tell Blair I was most pleased with your greeting and that he should give you a raise, oh and .. if you actually invite Jane to your place, I’d suggest taking the day after off. Just saying.”

She shook her head and said, “you don’t have to tell me, I can smell the crazy off that one. I love it.”

With that all said and done, I entered the bar which was now a lot more plush and elegant than before. Jane had already been seated and had some kind of violently neon-colored drink next to her, the drink itself was slowly changing colors and as I sat down next to her, I found myself pondering how the hell someone might make that happen.

“So, she let you through huh? Though I was gonna have to go back and do the old charm routine to get you in. Would it kill ya to dress like a local?” Jane said as she stirred her drink, making the neon swirl around in violent rainbow colors.

“Just name-dropped Blair. Easy. So, in this interview of ours, I’m going to expect you to be honest, we don’t need your life’s story, just some decently sized answers to average questions. There’s an adult section at the end too, but that’s entirely optional. Is that fine with you?”

Jane nodded, “yah, it’s good. If I don’t wanna answer shit, I can just say so right?”

A waitress came over and put a whiskey glass down at my table. “Compliments of Blair, he said you’d know what it meant.”

I smiled and replied, “tell him that I owe him one.” She nodded and went back towards the bar. Smelling it, I chuckled to myself.

“So, what did he get ya?”

“Bourbon, you know, the kind we had way back when we bought this place?”

Jane grinned, “right, one of the best nights of my life. That was so fun.”

I took a sip and found it to be of decent quality, then I turned to Jane, “so, let’s start off with a simple question here, what’s the first thing you remember?”

To my surprise, Jane’s face turned a bit pale, she eyed her fancy drink and then eyed my whiskey, “fuck Fairy, you’re asking the hard questions right off the bat huh? Tell you what, you get me one of those things, and make it fucking STRONG and I’ll talk.”

I shrugged as I stealthily spawned a tumbler full of 50% proof whiskey under the table and handed it to her, “you might want to sip-“

She immediately downed it in one gulp and put the glass down on the table with a loud thud, “my tox implant is off, I wanna feel this one. I’ll be honest, for once.” She then took a sip from her drink and grimaced and pushed it towards me, “fuck this shit’s too zesty, you want some?”

I shrugged as I sipped it and felt the complex flavor hit my system, it was as if you’d made a neon taste of a fruit and then jammed every conceivable fruit in existence into one drink. My mouth IRL started salivating at the experience.

“Not what you’re used to huh?” Jane said with a grin on her face.

“It’s intense, I’ll give it that,” I said, feeling a bit lost as I always do in City 08. Then I added, “so, spill it already.”

Jane’s face got serious as she said, “first thing I remember is feeling out of breath, panicked, then someone pulled something out of my mouth and I remember coughing and puking something onto a black floor. Next thing I know, someone’s inspecting my body, and I don’t mean visually. Hands everywhere, groping, feeling, kneading, someone tapped my collarbone, then I felt a finger in my ass. Then in my pussy, straight up fucking medical exam with everything on the side. Someone shone a light in my eyes, at that point, I was able to focus and saw a bunch of people dressed in scrubs standing around me. I realized that two of them were holding me up. Then one of them asked me how I was feeling, I looked up at him and saw an insignia that I recognized, so I found myself saying, “Sir, all systems fine, reporting for duty.” thing is Fairy, I didn’t even know what it meant, I just knew what I was supposed to say when I was feeling alright. That answer your question?”

I took a swig from my whiskey and swallowed the lump in my throat, “yeah, that’ll do. I need a moment to process this,” then after a few minutes, I looked at her again and said, “fuck that’s brutal.”

Jane shrugged noncommittally, “I told ya back then, you didn’t want my story.”

“No, it’s just a bit overwhelming. To think of anyone treating you like that. I know you were just a clone in the government’s weapons system, but that just seems so… inhumane.”

Jane sipped her drink and grinned manically, “you can always turn back now Fairy, pretend that I was treated somewhat fairly, or whatever you want to believe. But you ask me tonight, and I’ll tell you. I owe you that much after all these years.”

I nodded at her, “you don’t have to tell me anything, but yeah, a lot of these questions are probably going to have you go into some of those dark places.”

She winked at me with a soft expression on her face, “with you, all that’s just the past now. Come on, throw it on me, all of it.”

“Alright, so what’s your first impression of me and Circe and Mech and Mirror?”

“Idealistic idiot, hot bitch, cool guy, and absolute raging bitch,” Jane said with a smirk.

“I guess I had that coming. But, you didn’t like Mirror?”

Jane scoffed, “For someone who’s a clone of an absolute sex freak, she made such a big fuss about NOT being a sex freak. What’s that expression in your world? Something about protesting too loudly?”

“You know everyone’s going to have access to this interview right? In my world and ours?” I said with a wry smile of my own.

Jane grinned, “yah, don’t care. You asked about first impressions, that’s what they were. Was I right? Fuck no, but that’s what I thought back then.”

I took another sip of my whiskey, “so, easy questions now for a bit, favorite color?”

“Ppft, what is this, kindergarten shit? … Green I guess?”

“Favorite food or drink?”

Jane looked down at her glass, “whatever the fuck is strong. Oh and Klobb, I fucking love that beer. Food? Errr, maybe those deep-fried stringy shrimp things? Can’t fucking remember the name. But they’re fatty and juicy and crispy.”

(Editors note: Klobb is a beer with 20% ABV that’s native to City 08, as for those shrimp things, I have no clue. If anyone recognizes them, drop us a comment, I’d like to try that IRL if possible.)

“So, what do you do for fun?” I said, wondering what those shrimp things were.

Jane smiled as she said, “taking out a target beyond the operational range of a sniper rifle and knowing you just cashed a bounty without breaking a sweat, that’s my idea of fun.” Then she paused for a bit and added, “right, you’re thinking about non-work things huh? Damn, gimmie a sec.” Then after a few minutes, she perked up, “going sightseeing in the other worlds you’ve got out there. It’s weird, but it’s also pretty fun.”

I nodded, jotting her answer down, then looked up, “what do you do to relax?”

Jane smiled angelically, “hot fucking steamy bath and a good scrub, then maybe a shot of something nice and strong and then some sleep, sometimes I get off too before bed, helps me sleep better.”

“And what do you do for mental stimulation?” I said smiling at her.

“My job’s enough of that shit, always gotta stay on your toes and screw people before they screw you first,” Jane replied with a smirk.

“I’d ask you about your job, but as with Mech, you already mentioned your job as a bounty hunter. Do you have a hobby of some kind?”

“A hobby? Like collecting shit you mean?” Jane said with an incredulous facial expression.

“Yes, or you know, like exercising, or cooking, or building models or creating art, or programming, sky’s the limit.”

“Eh, can’t say I have one. I keep busy.”

“OK, difficult questions ahead, what’s your innermost wish, if you could have or do anything?” I said, realizing it was going to get into the weeds again.

“Anything huh? Shit, that’s tough… uuuuh… maybe a world that wasn’t made out of crap and misery? Nah, already got that. Infinite creds? Nah, fuck that. Love of my life? Already had that. Twice. Honestly, I can’t fucking think of anything. WAIT! She said while raising her finger. “Being born as someone’s daughter and not some fucking science freak. Having parents, a family, not being made into this fucking thing I’m today.” Jane grew quiet as she stared into her drink. Then she added, “damn Fairy, this shit’s strong.”

I nodded, “I get where you’re coming from, to a certain extent. You know my history with my family IRL. I can relate, somewhat.” I steeled myself as I asked the next question, “so, what’s your biggest fear?”

Jane laughed bitterly, emptied her glass, and pointed to it, “more of this first please.” As I refilled her glass, she continued, “my worst fear is being back in the hands of the feds again, being their little lab rat. Having them pick me apart piece by piece as they’d try and figure out how their ‘asset in the field’ fared over all these years of me being a bounty hunter and more. And then of course the inevitable mind fuckery, drugs, interrogation, rape, oh I bet they’d have a field day with me.” Then she paused for a bit and looked up at me with a serious face, “I was planning on making a dark joke about it all, but now that I’ve said it, I can say that I’d rather die than be back there again.”

I returned her steely gaze as I said, “you won’t be, that’s my personal guarantee. I’d sooner see this entire macrocosm burn than let that happen to you again.”

Jane laughed as she took another swig, “my personal hero, and to think you used to be on the fence about me.”

“You’ve come a long way since then. But hey, let’s crack on, what’s your first positive memory?”

She immediately snapped back, “burying a scalpel in a certain scientist’s heart, the look of shock on his face, when he died was priceless.”

“Wait, you weren’t joking about that… ” I said hesitantly.

“You mean the guy who had a shitty sex life at home, so he decided to have fun with me? Yah, I didn’t lie about that one. But, what I did lie about is that he didn’t have as much fun with me as I had with him. Had to make him trust me you see, and what better way than to make sure he was all nice and satisfied every night? He was pretty good fuck, to be honest. Too bad he was between me and getting the fuck out of that place.”

I let out a deep breath, “yep yep yep, this is going to be one NSFW topic with all the fucking trigger warnings.”

Jane grinned, “oh come on, you know as well as I do that someone out there is gonna get off on this shit. Besides, it’s what I remember, and you asked.”

“I guess I could ask what your first negative memory is, but that’ll be that first thing you remembered. So, next one: what endears you to a person immediately?”

Jane grinned, “creds and lots of it and willingness to spend it. Nah, seriously though, I want someone who knows how to handle themselves. No fucking normals, just freaks like myself. If you love getting up at the crack of dawn to follow the same fucking schedule mandated by the govt, you and me are not going to get along.”

I nodded, “So what’s the thing that turns you off a person?”

“Be part of the government, police force, politics, whatever, you work for the rich fucks you can go fuck yourself. Hell, I’ll even help you get fucked. I don’t really meet a lot of people who I can say I hate at first sight unless, of course, you’re government.”

“Long question now: What’s your take on your status of being a tulpa, or tulpamancy as a phenomenon?”

“I don’t know, we talked about it once during a Christmas dinner, I just don’t really think about stuff like that. I’m just me, I have my world, and you have yours. “

“So, what do you think about Tulpamancy then?”

“I’m all for it, I think everybody should have their own tulpa. Then they can have all the freaky sex and murder they want,” Jane said with a grin on her face, then when she realized I was catching on to her sarcasm, she added, “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that shit, so I guess I’m grateful. Do I give a fuck about other tulpamancers and their shit? Can’t say I do really.”

“I have some more questions, but they’re definitely a lot more intimate, they’re optional of course, you game?”

Jane smirked at me as she sipped her whiskey, “As if you’d get anything out of me if I’d said no this far. Fuck it, let’s go.”

“What really pisses you off?”

“Feds, no scratch that, any fucking government where corrupt fuckholes bend the rules to act worse than the people they badmouth in their speeches.”

“What’s your sexual orientation?”

“Heh, I like guys every now and then for a quick fuck, but you know me, I’m usually all about the ladies. So, maybe 90% lesbian?”

“What’s your favorite sexual position?”

“Me on top, all the power, all the leverage,” Jane said with a smirk.

“On the question if you’ve ever killed anyone and how you felt, I guess that researcher was your first one huh?”

“Nah, I’ve killed others during training, prisoners mostly. I didn’t really feel much back then. They wanted that in you, if you hesitated, they’d pop you first. So yah, did a lot of that.”

“Did you ever see any of the other clones in your batch hesitate? Do you wanna talk about that?”

“Yah, daily, you kinda grew desensitized to it after a while. Some of them couldn’t take it, others had rejections of various implants, one of them just had her head explode in the middle of an exercise. Something about her anti-tampering implant malfunctioning. Then there was the one that went insane and slaughtered her whole squad she was supposed to lead, they didn’t get to her before she got herself, she died with a smile on her face. Kinda liked that one. She was cool.”

“Since you haven’t really died in the inner world, I’ll skip that question.”

“Yah, fine with me.”

“When was the last time you got into a fight in the inner world?”

“Hah, last weekend, some guy thought that me wearing sexy pants meant he could grab my ass. I taught him to respect the phrase, “no means no, fuckface” pretty damn fast.”

“And bouncers gave you no trouble with that?”

Jane grinned, “Nah man, the amount of creds I’ve invested into Evolution pretty much ensures they treat me as a VIP.”

I groaned, “that fucking place is a disgrace and you know it.”

“Don’t hate the customer man, hate management,” Jane said with her smile widening even more.

I nodded at her, “and with that, I’m all out of questions for you. Thanks for taking the time to do this, I know you always have some stuff on your schedule.”

Jane waved her hand dismissively, “don’t worry about it man, besides, you’re paying for all of this right?” Indicating her drink.

I looked at the half-drunk glass, the colors had muted a bit, but they were still swirling around, slowly. I sighed, “how much does this fucking drink cost?”

Jane beamed at me, “oh you’re good for it, just a mere 34k creds, only the top execs drink this kind of shit you know? And it’s always to show off how much fucking creds they have.”

(Editors note: One credit is about two US dollars in today’s exchange value)

And with that, our interview was over, and of course, I told the waitress to relay to Blair that Jane no longer gets to drink on my tab.

With that, we’re done with the first three interviews, if you read this far, I hope you liked what you learned about everyone. Next three interviews will likely be with Mirror, Thor and Ara, so stay tuned for more next week! As always, if you have any questions or comments for any of us, we’d love to hear from you!

As always, your scribe

Wondrous Fairy