“My child, what are you doing?” Something gently touched the bottom of my chin and lifted my gaze to the center tree. “There’s no need for formalities here, at least not while you’re in my matrix. You’re always welcome here because your connection to Zyre has made you a co-owner and guardian of these lands.”
“How can I protect something when I have no defense?” Standing, I rolled my shoulders and tilted my head back to look at the iridescent leaves pulsing at different rates, like a cloud of fireflies flickering in the midnight sky. “I’ve come to ask for enough clothing and weapons to survive and protect your lands.”
“Tell me what you require, and I’ll provide it,” the hometree replied, their feminine voice gentle as a nurse tending to a patient. “With enough time and resources, I can create almost anything your mind can conjure up.”
It was just like a simulation…
“First, because I’ve been forced to abandon my past self, abandoning everything I’ve worked for my entire life in order to live here on this foreign planet, I require necessary items and possibly adjustments to the hometree.” I dragged my hand across the cool surface of the display table, taking in the finer details. I felt like a dungeon master, peering down at my game board, ready to decide the fate of everything on it. “If I were to travel freely within your walls and land, the beautiful leaf and vine robe that Zyre had given me wouldn’t be enough to protect me from the elements.”
“Luwaeri…” Zyre drawled, his voice strained, as he wrapped an arm around me and stepped in front of me, as if he was trying to protect me from his hometree... despite the fact that we were inside of her. “You must not address our hometree in that manner, making demands on the one who houses us.”
“Guardian, you should have more faith in yourluwaeri,” the hometree said, her voice sounding like a grandmother reprimanding her young grandson. “The Mother Tree sent her here for a reason. Her life would not have become entangled with yours if she weren’t capable of living here.”
“I don’t doubt her abilities because I agree with her, especially since she was able to connect to your matrix, but I was more concerned about what she would ask of you.”
“And that’s my decision, not yours,” the hometree countered, the large center tree pulsing with each of her words. “She is yourluwaeri, and I’ve become as much hers as she is mine. We both have responsibilities to uphold by making the necessary changes to make her welcome and livelihood more pleasant.”
“I’m not going to undo all your hard work in creating and maintaining this hometree to be ready for me,” I reassured, wrapping my arm around his waist, astounded that he felt the same as he did when we touched outside the matrix. “It’s neither of our faults that I’m not a Calyzis, but as yourluwaeriand this will be my future home, I need to make adjustments so that I can survive and live here without relying on you and your aid.”
It wasn’t like we were two projections or spiritual beings on another plane of existence; instead, we were just two people standing next to each other talking to a luminous tree that was much bigger than a Giant Sequoia or Coast Redwood.
Compared to other simulations I’ve participated in, this one felt quite advanced. I was still able to feel the chill of Zyre’s skin and the quickening of his breathing because my sense of touch hadn’t been dulled.
Despite our surroundings, I would have assumed this was real, and I could see why the poor souls wouldn’t want to leave.
Players would be prone to living the fantasy all the time, especially if their real-life circumstances or social constructs were less than ideal.
Zyre turned to face me, his concerned gaze meeting mine. “I don’t want you to waste too many resources and energy on things you don’t need right now.” He sighed as he cast a quick glance over my shoulders at the display table behind me. “I’ve known that many changes would occur in my life ever since my soul recognized yours. I’ve accepted and welcomed them, but I also want to warn you about the consequences of using too much energy from our hometree’s storage bank on our land.”
“What do you mean?” I grabbed his shoulder, feeling his resistance fade as he turned toward me, our faces a few inches apart. “What are the consequences?”
“If you use more than what is readily available, our hometree will be forced to take its resources from our land’s plants,” he explained solemnly as he took my hand from his shoulder and placed it on the table display. He took a step behind me, encircled my body with both of his arms, and rested his head on my shoulder. “You have complete control over this land and can do whatever you want with it.
“Our hometree has an abundance of resources stored in the energy banks deep beneath its roots,” he whispered, his breath rolling against my neck, sending shivers down my spine—something that shouldn’t happen if this was a simulation. “I purposefully gave the hometree only the bare necessities, not wanting to waste any resources and instead saving them for myluwaeri—you—to do as she pleases.”
“But if I use up all of what’s stored, I take it from our land’s plants, killing them in the process.”
“Precisely,” our hometree replied. “However, I would caution you before consuming that much.”
“I appreciate it.” I looked at the large glowing tree, nodded, and winced at the thought that even though we were within its matrix, it might not be able to see me. “Please notify me when I’ve used half or more of your stored energy. I don’t want you to be without anything in the event of an emergency.”
“I appreciate your concern for both me and my land,” our hometree responded, their voice warm. “I’ll make sure to notify you when my banks are about to run dry.”
“How would you notify me?” I cocked my head to the side, my hair brushing against Zyre’s as I looked for a gauge and frowned when I couldn’t find one. “I’m not the same as Zyre. I don’t have any direct ties to you or the land.”
“That won’t be an issue once you’ve mated and sealed your fate with my land’s guardian.”
“Mated?”
My heart skipped a beat as I sucked in some air and twisted in Zyre’s embrace, my back against the display table, staring directly into his half-lidded teal eyes. “You haven’t mentioned sex.”
“You’re myluwaeri.” His words sounded like a sworn oath—a promise—as if it were something natural and unchanging. “It is my responsibility to care for you and any offspringwe may have. That is why our females, the origins of the next generation, are so revered. All you have to worry about is producingtserwawhenever you come in season—or perhaps for you, go into heat—caring for them once they’ve sprouted, and molding our hometree and the land it covers.”
“I’ve agreed to work on whatever is developing between us,” I countered, jerking my chin and arching my back over the top of the display table as I leaned away from him. “I haven’t mentioned sex or providing you with children. Typically, men did not want to be fathers until they were ready to settle down after getting to know their partners.
“But here you are, telling me bluntly that you want to breed me.” Crossing my arms, I raised an eyebrow in question, fully aware of the fine line I was treading, especially given the lack of space between us, even though this wasn’t real. “Do you only want me because your hometree confirmed that I’m a Mother Tree gift?”
“You seem disgusted by the prospect of breeding with me.” He jerked his head back as if I had slapped him and stepped away, releasing me from his arm cage. “I know I’m not your species, but I’m willing to overlook that because I’ve grown attracted to you.”
