Multifarious

Myriad Reality

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*Looks up and appears taken aback before I grab onto you*
You're going to have to trust me.

@Etcetera

I don’t suppose waiting to see if this works is too much of a waste of time, should you be fake.

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*Thousands of points of light spawn above you, each rapidly shifting through a myriad of colors*

@Host

*Glances upward for a moment, then back to you. A blanket of the red energy barrier forms point blank over the light between it and us, and thrust my hand open-palmed in your direction, sending a swift streak of vibrant green your way*

Myriad Reality

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*Shakes my head and continues typing at the terminal without looking up*

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I'm going to create a paradox in the system. I need you to keep him occupied.

@Etcetera

*The same red barrier forms around you*
How can I trust that you’re real and this isn’t a waste of my time?

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*Chuckles and points upward*
You could say that.

@Host

*My eyes narrow and my ear twitches once*

Myriad Reality

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It's irrelevant, my dear.
*Two large metal plates crush you from either side*

@Host

*Thrusts my palms outward into each and smashes a hole through them large enough to allow me to avoid being hit by them*
You’re gonna keep making talking mildly more inconvenient for us, aren’t you?

Myriad Reality

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This is supposedly Lenarol. He was an information broker that once had a habit of attempting raids on my labs.

@Etcetera

Was?

Myriad Reality

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...It's wrong.

@Etcetera

I stabbed the Zoey I knew was fake and it didn’t trick the system. It learned not to be fooled by unpredictable violence.
*A yellow outline forms around my arm as I one-handedly deflect all the blades into the ground in a massive blur of a motion without moving from where I stand*
Who is this guy supposed to be?

Myriad Reality

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*The multicolored bands lurch it out of the air and grapple you on each limb*

@Host

*They are stopped by a red sphere barrier which forms around me that completely nullifies the passage of energy*

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*Walks patiently behind you*

@Etcetera

...

Myriad Reality

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*Nods*
Understood.
*Types away at the terminal*
I'll verify the results myself shortly.

@Etcetera

You do need self verification, that's fair.

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*The colored bands hit the ground below you, causing a spiked spire to shoot upward below you*

@Host

*Sidesteps and severs the spire from the ground with my foot, and it launches toward you like a spear*

Myriad Reality

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*The wound rapidly heals*

@Etcetera

Have you learned too much to falter to inexplicable violence? There's no reason to not make it easy on us at this point.
*Leaps back into the portal, this time returning to Data's lab*
This isn't real.

Myriad Reality

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*Zoey is asleep in the room*

@Etcetera

*Sighs and wipes my brow*
Thank goodness.
*A shard of ice freezes and materializes in my and as I stab it into her chest*

Myriad Reality

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*The space is empty*

@Host

Hm. Okay, clever.
*Disappears again, reappearing in a normal bedroom*