THE MOMENT
"...not even a cockroach...," Jerome mumbled to himself as he wandered the moonlit countryside listening for any sounds in the ground. It was his fifth night out after waking up and the hunger was beginning to burn. He rationed what little he prepared before he went dormant. His servants were absent and he hadn't so much as heard another living creature since he woke up. He wouldn't have ventured out in his weakened state if there were humans around; but, if there were humans around he wouldn't have been as weak as he was.
The moon was full and Jerome noted black specs gathering on the road ahead of him. His sensitive hearing heard a faint, low hum that sounded mechanical. Whatever was happening ahead, it was unnatural. He decided to play it safe and kept his distance. In his current condition, he knew he could only manage small prey like a goat or a teenage girl. He panicked slightly when the black dots began to coalesce into a humanoid form. Jerome dropped to the ground and rolled off the road into the grass. He was thankful that he had enough strength to gather some mist around him and hoped it was enough to keep him hidden.
He watched as the form took shape. A teenage girl with frizzy hair and a giant silver sword on her back appeared and immediately began looking around. Jerome reconsidered his state. That sword hinted that this was a teenage girl that he probably couldn't feed from without considerable risk.
"MS. SHARP!!!!" the girl raised her head to scream at the heavens. Jerome watched a black hole open in front of the teen; then, a short, plump woman in a black suit walked out. She was pale with short dark hair framing her face; her eyes glowed with golden stars.
"Ms. Sharp is busy," the new woman spoke with a stern tone as soon as she arrived. "Is there a reason you're trespassing in her AlterNet?" The teenager crossed her arms and stared up at the woman.
"If you have to ask, then yes," she replied. "I was sent to find out why Uniques are escaping Sharp Development servers into the real multiverse," the teenager said. The golden stars in the woman's eyes vanished. "If you didn't expect someone to come and check; maybe you didn't know about that," she said.
"Of course we know," the woman replied instantly, defensively. "Turbo has proven to be extremely resourceful; but, Ms. Sharp has patched that vulnerability already. Ms. Sharp wasn't expecting any visitors because she did not expect Ballisea to be so...," she paused to find the right word. Then, she looked at the teenager with a grin. "...jumpy," she said.
"She's not!" It was the teenager's turn to get defensive. "She just wanted me to make sure Ms. Sharp is doing her part to uphold the arrangement."
"The arrangement?" the woman asked with a giggle. "You don't know what it is, do you?"
"It's between Ballisea, Regal, and Ms. Sharp," she answered with a shake of her head and a shrug. "That's all I've got so far."
"Would you like to know about it?" the woman asked. Jerome couldn't help but nod along with the teenager. He had no idea what was happening; and, it might have been a hunger hallucination entirely. Either way, he found himself invested.
"It's not complicated," the woman said. "Ballisea and Ms. Sharp both agreed the infinite multiverse wasn't big enough for both of them. Naturally, the solution is to create another multiverse; something Ms. Sharp is easily capable of after her visit to the Afterlife. After that, it's as simple as staying on our own side of the fence so to speak."
"What about Regal?" the teen asked. The woman shrugged.
"He was given the chance to participate. All he wanted was to continue running the Nexus Academy in the real multiverse; though, he did choose a few students and staff to keep on his side." At that explanation, the teen burst into curious giggles. Jerome didn't see or hear anything funny and he subconsciously leaned closer in the grass to hear why she was laughing.
"That explains why we've still got Aury," she said while still giggling. "I'll bet Oren's going crazy not having anyone to antagonize." The woman shrugged as Jerome wondered about all the names being thrown around. He realized he didn't even know the names of the two women talking.
"I wouldn't know," the woman said. "He's not here either."
"What?" the teen's giggles stopped instantly.
"Ms. Sharp can create universes at a whim," the woman replied with a light chuckle. "Why would she put any of the trouble-makers in her multiverse?"
"Good point," the teen nodded. "Well, I guess that's everything. I'll tell Ballisea you're on top of things."
"Of course we are," the woman replied as the teen began to disintegrate into black dust. She disappeared completely; but, the woman lingered for a moment.
"Now, the question is...," she spoke up with more volume than she used with the teen. Jerome tensed. He had the distinct feeling she was talking to him. "...what to do about you?"
Jerome was laying flat on the ground. He was hidden in the grass and mist, but all at once, he found himself falling. It happened fast; but, he landed with a thud on the dirt road in front of the woman in black. He scrambled to his feet and took several steps back.
"I mean you no harm!" he begged.
"As if you could...," the woman shook her head. She focused on Jerome for a moment, then smirked. "You're not even worth thinking about any longer. Enjoy the AlterNet," she said. She turned and walked into a black portal, then disappeared. Jerome was left alone on the moonlit road. He hung his head and sighed with relief; but, he caught his breath when he found a white box with a red scissor logo sitting at his feet.
"Huh?" he fell to his knees and opened it. The inside of the box was lined with lush red velvet and a sheet that read: "Welcome to Sharp Medical Services" followed by several large paragraphs. Jerome wasn't in the mood to read and looked under the sheet.
"Oh god...," the box was divided into two compartments. The one on the right held a transparent card that didn't interest Jerome. He was focused on the bag of blood in the other compartment. "...thank you! THANK YOU GOD!!!!!" He thanked the heavens as he gently grabbed the bag; he was fighting every instinct to tear it open to avoid wasting a single drop. But, as he found the straw, he heard the woman's voice in his mind.
"Ms. Sharp says, 'you're welcome'."