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[The feed flickers on once again, back to the same interview room. ABACAXI and DOCTOR BRONTË are already seated again, and, notably, there’s two chairs on the visitors side of the room.]
[BRONTË]: When I said we don’t want people waiting around two months, I didn’t actually think that’d be a possibility.
[ABACAXI]: well, you know how it is with dimensional magic. some dimensions are… harder to get too, and stuff. yeah. no way would i just totally forget about the main reason i’m here…
[She just rolls her eyes, and turns her attention to the chairs in front.]
[And, almost as if they were waiting for her approval, the members of COMPUTER BUG- CALI and DEILE- pop into view, landing softly in the chairs.]
[CALI]: AAAAH
[DEILE]: AAAAAH
[CALI]: AAAAA- Oh, okay, okay. I’m fine, I’m fine… Deile?
[DEILE]: OH, you’re here too, Cali. Well that’s good, uh…
[Both seem very shaken up about having randomly been transported here, moreso than CHANCE was. BRONTË notes that down.]
[DEILE]: …do you know where we are? I don’t think I recognize this place…
[CALI]: I have no clue. This place is so… strange, it has a different energy. Almost like…
[She looks around, realizing something.]
[CALI]: …
[CALI]: Deile. Did we… did we do it? [She grabs his arms.]
[CALI]: Did we escape Purgatory?
[DEILE hadn’t even realized that that could be an option. He almost instinctively gets out of his chair out of joy.]
[DEILE]: Do you really think so? I mean- we have been putting the work in for years… has it all finally paid off?
[CALI’s screen tears up, softly smiling.]
[CALI]: I think so, I think-
[A knock against the glass breaks up their revelation. The duo turn to face the two behind the glass for the first time.]
[BRONTË]: Sorry to burst your bubble, but, no. You aren’t enlightened or on a higher plane of existence.
[CALI]: Wh-
[ABACAXI]: yeah, this is sort of just a temporary thing.
[DEILE]: H…huh? So… you two aren’t with The Creator, or… The Specula?
[BRONTË]: No, we are not.
[CALI]: Oh… okay…
[DEILE]: Well then what do you even want with us? Did you just… teleport us here to crush our hopes and dreams?
[ABACAXI]: no, that was just a fun side effect.
[BRONTË jabs ABA with her elbow, shocking him.]
[BRONTË]: Sorry about him. We’re here conducting an experiment, and found you two as suitable subjects.
[BRONTË]: We actually decided on you, after watching your strategies with getting people to join your… [She hesitates.]
[BRONTË]: Club.
[DEILE]: …Really? What, are you a big fan of pamphlets or something?
[BRONTË]: It isn’t just the method. It’s your perseverance. Nothing seems to keeps you down for long.
[BRONTË]: You both must really care for this cause.
[CALI]: Well, of course we care! It’s a one way ticket to eternal happiness.
[BRONTË]: …Care to explain?
[CALI]: Wait. You. Actually want to hear about it?? [She is practically giddy.]
[CALI]: Deile… the pamphlet?
[DEILE gets out the crumpled pamphlet, smooths it out, and hands it to CALI.]
[CALI]: So, we all know what happens after we die, right? We get sent to Purgatory where we repent for any and all pain we potentially caused in our former life.
[ABACAXI]: ...mmm. uh. alright. sure, yeah, that's afterlife.
[CALI]: Well, according to our great leader Clair, the Purgatory isn’t the end for us. In fact, it’s only the second gate. The first being, well, living, of course!
[BRONTË]: So… these “gates” are just. Different afterlives?
[CALI]: Pretty much! Eventually you’ll die in the Purgatory, and then go to Gate 3, where you’ll be tried and tested again. This continues on and on, until…
[DEILE]: You reach The Seventh Gate. The last step before eternal peace and resting. Guarded by a being who’s been watching everyone throughout all this time, The Specula.
[DEILE]: …No one knows, uh, what they look like, but we’ve made some educated guesses.
[CALI]: [She points to the front of the pamphlet, with the eye.] Since it watches us eternally, there’s probably at least one eye somewhere.
[BRONTË]: …that logic is sound.
[DEILE]: Okay but, you see, the big issue is, it takes most people 6 whole afterlives before they reach that. And I’m a busy moth! I don’t have that sort of time!
[CALI]: That’s where Seventh Gate, the movement, comes in! Clair has a direct contact with The Specula, and through her we’re learning what they value in a person!
[CALI]: She believes that, with enough members and enough of a positive change (with a few rituals just to keep eyes on us), when we die we’ll get to move straight to The Seventh Gate!
[DEILE]: Yeah, yeah. Me personally? I could go without trying to get everyone on board with it.
[DEILE]: If people wanna reject Clair, fine. Whatever. They’re just gonna be the ones playing catch up while everyone else is relaxing by the pool of tears in eternal paradise.
[BRONTË]: …Well, thank you for that very in-depth explanation. I hope you being here doesn’t take too much time away from your recruiting.
[DEILE]: It’s probably fine, we just got a few new members a week ago. They can pick up the slack.
[DEILE]: But that reminds me. Uh. What are we. Doing here, actually?
[CALI]: …Oh yeah, you didn’t clarify what you chose us for.
[BRONTË]: I’ll explain it in more depth a little later. Just know for now that this will be a great team building exercise fo, and that you’ll have plenty of chances to talk to others about The Seventh Gate.
[BRONTË]: That’s all I wanted to hear from you for now. Please step outside, where our AI assistant will take you to your room.
[ABACAXI]: oh yeah, sorry. room singular. you guys have to share.
[CALI]: Oh, it’s fine! Usually we share a room with eight other people, just two is an improvement!
[DEILE]: …can I at least get some sleep headphones, or something? I don’t like hearing fans when I’m sleeping, and it’s even more annoying when they’re just. A part of my roommate.
[BRONTË]: That can be arranged.
[The duo stand up and start to leave, but CALI stops at the door.]
[BRONTË]: …Cali? Something wrong?
[CALI]: No, nothing wrong. I was just wondering… do you know how long this is gonna last? We were only supposed to be on an outing for a few hours, and I don’t want Clair to penalize us for being late.
[BRONTË]: Well, you don’t have to worry. We’ve taken care of all that. They won’t even notice that you’re gone.
[CALI]: Whew. That’s good to hear.
[CALI]: Oh, and thank you. For seeing potential in us. I’m still not sure what this all is about, but… it’s nice to think that out of everyone, you chose us.
[CALI exits the room.]
[ABACAXI]: …so, are you gonna admit that those two were like, our sixth place pick for someone from that world?
[BRONTË]: No Aba, I’m not. Did you just see her? Her poor little processor is practically running on hope alone.
[BRONTË]: Unlike some people, I take no pride in crushing people’s dreams.
[ABACAXI]: yeah, yeah. that just means that when you eventually have to, you’re gonna be sad doing it.
[ABACAXI]: anyway, I still think trying to get the specula itself would have been wayyy more interesting. or clair? sure, we could work with her, probably. i know you were worried about conceptual overlap, but, c’mon. we should have aimed for the leader, not the lackeys.
[ABACAXI]: at least with these two they have a fun name.
[DOCTOR BRONTË has already left the room.]
[ABACAXI]: …of course. [ABA grumbles, before floating out of the room himself.]