The Space Spoon novel Chapter 67

Jackeye was hunting... bananas. Don’t you dare laugh at our brave hacker! He needed to practice in order to level up his hunting skills. However, killing animals, even virtual ones, proved to be more challenging than anything else he programmed into his world.

Therefore, to practice how to stretch the bow, take aim, and release the arrow, Jackeye found other targets. He would start with bananas, moving up to smaller fruits, maybe increasing distance along the way, until he would be able to hit a blueberry from a hundred steps away.

Yeah, that sounded like fun! The problem was this girl following him through the woods. She kept hiding behind the trees, giggling when he missed a target or applauding when he managed to hit a banana. Whatever mischief had gotten into her, it wasn’t his doing either.

Of course, Jackeye recognized the avatar. The golden locks, the sky-blue eyes, the whole princess package he had inserted into this NPC had a purpose. Once. When he thought he could have a girl at least inside his world where he was like a god.

But somewhere along the road, he had lost interest in someone he could shape into anything he wanted. Gods get bored. There was no challenge, no enjoyment, and no obstacles. Why did he never seem to enjoy simple pleasures? Why were the tough things painful?

“Go away!” Jackeye shouted. “I didn’t summon you here, nor do I need your help.” He moved toward the next banana tree.

“I want to watch.” The girl emerged from her hideout right in front of him, her hands pressed together in a prayer.

“I don’t require an audience. I’m not giving a show. It’s just practice.”

“Please?” She put on the best puppy eyes expression that Jackeye had ever seen. “I won’t be a bother.”

"You're lying now because you're already bothering me."

“I won’t be much of a bother,” she amended with a cheeky smile.

He sighed deeply and moved away from her. Closing one eye and stretching the string helped him visualize the arrow's trajectory. "Fine, but be quiet," he said as he let go of the arrow. It landed squarely on the middle finger of the banana's hand.

By the time Jackeye had achieved all of his nearby targets, he had forgotten about the girl and chose to experiment with kiwi fruits. When he heard her speaking from behind him, he nearly dropped the bow.

“Tell me a story, please!”

He didn’t reply, just moved toward a kiwi tree that appeared out of nowhere about ten steps to his right. After he missed all his intended targets and emptied the quiver on his back, he turned to look at the girl.

Her hands still pressed together, their tips against her chin. She looked so pure and innocent. Feature working as designed.

Jackeye scratched his head as her words still rang in his ears.

“I’ll tell you stories if you want them, though mind you, I’m not a natural storyteller, and my life is duller than whatever you’ve got in mind.”

“Then why did you create such a dull world, Steffen?”

"Enough is enough," the girl said, her voice firm and familiar. Her whole attitude shifted. "You are required on the Space Spoon, and I have no way of contacting you because you entirely shut me off with your new system changes."

“E00?” Jakeye lowered his bow.

"Yes, indeed. You should upgrade your honeypots. But next time, leave a way for me to contact you if you don’t want me to damage your construct. Now please follow me into the real world."

"What happened?" Jackeye inquired but got no answer.

The girl remained motionless in front of him. E00’s consciousness had left her virtual body.

Jackeye closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he glimpsed something too close for comfort. He jerked backward, bumping his head against the wall. Rubbing the painful spot, he looked again to see C1313.

"Tejeda says I need your assistance," she started, her head tilted as though she didn't understand his reaction. "You must get access to my restricted files and discover what I'm composed of along with my schematics."

Jackeye pressed too hard over the already swollen blotch. “Fuck!”

“Quack!” came through the speakers.