Alex Woke up face-to-face with PARIAH.
The Prototype sighed.
"Hello yet again."
Ss͘͘h̀҉h͘h̸̀͜h̡͟͟h̸͜h̛͡͞
̶L̛͡e̢̛t̶̨ ҉m͢ȩ̴ ͠s̴̕a͏v̸̛o̢u̕͝͡r͜͜ ̸̕th҉̡͘i͢s
Alex blinked as he looked around.
He was standing in Manhattan.
Or at least what he thought was Manhattan.
Hard to tell when the entire city was completely flattened.
Alex knelt down and stared at the ground. It looked...strange. Almost as if the skyscrapers, buildings, cars, people...everything about the island had been pressed down, like an overhead picture.
"What did you do?"
Ḿy̷̧ ̸͜gŗ̷͘e̸a̡̡͟t͜͝e̸st̸̷ ͏͜w̨͜or͟k̴̨
"I see."
PARIAH was silent. Alex glanced at the thing's feet and noted it was standing in the middle of what used to he Times Square.
F̸̛athȩ͠r
"Nope," Alex said firmly. "You are no son of mine. Not now, not ever."
W̶̴h̴̵͟a̛t̀͜͜ ̵į̷ś̢ Y̷͟g͠g̴̴̴dr̴ąs̸i̶̧ĺ̴
Alex blinked. "What?"
T̷̀҉i̷̧m̨e̡
"..."
T̶̕h͜ȩ̧̀ ̀m̶͞a̵̶t̀t͢e̴̵rs̢ ͘of͢ w͡h̸̨i̴c̶͜ḩ ҉y͡ó̸ų ̛͡s̵̢p̴̀e̛a̵͞͏k̨ ́͝a͝r͘͡e ̷k͞ņ̀o̴w҉n̛ ̛t̕҉̷o̡ ̨m҉́e̴҉
͞͡҉Ţ̵he͜͜r̷͢è͘ ̵͞i͝s̸͜ ̢͜so̵҉ ̨̨ļi͏̧tt̷҉l̵̕͟ę̷ ̀́h̶͟er̴è̴͟
̸S̶̢o̕ ̨͞l͜͢͠i͜t͡t̕͡l̡҉é̢͢ ̴u͟҉p͝ó͠n̷̨͝ wh̸i҉͢c̀͏͜h̕ ҉̶͜Í̶͝ ć̵an f̧́e͢e̸d͠
B̸̢ut̛̕ ̧I̴ ̴h̢͞a̷͜ve͝ ͘ţhe̡ ̢͠a͢ns̡w̢e̷̕r̀͢
PARIAH leaned in close, all but nuzzling Alex's cheek.
Tak͢e͟͠ ̵̸̧m͏͢e̴̴͡ ̶̶̕w̕i͡t̴h̛̀͢ ̸̕y͏o̷̡͝ų
̛̀́F͠a̴͟͞t̶̛he̢͢͜ŕ
҉͞͡Le͏͢͟t҉̶̢ ̵m҉͘e m̛ȩ͝͝et̛͟ ̧t́͡h͟͏͠e͜se̛͜ f͠r̷͟͞įe͏nd͏s ̧̧ò͟f͘ y̵o̕u͏rs̛̀
̨͘Le҉͜t̵̵ ̸͘m͜e ̶fe̛͞e̷d͘͝͡ ͟҉on͟͠ ̷҉t͡͞h̛͞e̡m̴̕
Alex chuckled and pushed the innocent face away.
"No," he said simply. PARIAH went still.
Do͞n̵'͘t͏ ̀̕y̢͝o̕u̡̧ ̡l̡ơ̢v̷͞e̡͟͞ m̀e̡͡҉,͝ ͘͏F͝a̷̶͘t҉h̢͢é̶͠r̨?̕
͠A̵̕m̷̀ ͜I̡̧ ͟n̨ot͘͡ ͘͝ý҉o̸̸̷u҉r͏ ͘so̶ņ?̸̛́
̴Ę̛v̢͞er͡y̷̢t̸̶h̵̢͘ìn͏̡͠g ̸͏I ̷h̡͝a̛͜vè͘͝ ̧̢̛d͡o̴͞n͝ę ̨̀Į͟ ̧͡d̀i̴d̷̡̀ ͏ờų̶t̢͡ o͏f̢͡ ̴ĺo̵̕v̕͏e͠͏̷ ͞f̶ǫ̧͞r̸ ͏y̶ǫ̢͘u̴̧͞
Alex sighed heavily.
"Even if you were my son, even if I loved you, you would never meet the criteria to Loop. It's out of my hands."
W̷̧e͡ ͏̴h̷͡a͟v̀͢é̡ i̶̕n̴͡t͘è͜r̷̕a͜͝͞ç͡te͞d́͝
͠W̧e̷҉ ̛́͟hav͏͏e̵ ̡͠c̴̛o̶͞n̢͢n̸̕e̶c̨t̡̀éd͘͡
͡I̕͞ ̢͝͡l͜ov̢̛e͟͠ ́y̧̛͡ǫ͞͞u͞
"It has to work both ways," Alex said coldly. "I don't love you, I have no connection with you. Nobody does. Nobody will. You will be trapped here in this limited world forever."
A terrible look passed over PARIAH's face.
O͞u̷̡͞r ̶̡f͞ų͝͡t̢̕͝ur̷̴e̸̡ ̸t̸͘͜ò̵g͏̸̕ęt̨́h̴e̴͜r̴̡ ͡w͜͠͠ou͞l̸̴̛d͝͡ ̀͞h̶ą̸̧v̸́e ̧b̸ee̶͜͝n ͝ẃ͠o͠n͝d̵̶ę̷r̴̵̛f̵̛͘u̷̢l̛͢
͏̕Wha҉͠҉t͠͠ ̡͝a̶͘ ̨s͠͞h͘ąm̸̶̕e
҉W͢͟h̡͢a̡t̶ ̨a̸͡ ̴̧t͏̀ę́͘r̢r̡͟i̷͘b̵͝͞l̵͘e̶̵͡,͝ ̸́ţ͏͏er̕r͟͢͝i͏̷̢b҉̛͜lè͘ ̴s͞͡͡há͠m͢e҉
"I know," Alex said. "Come here." He held out his hand.
Like a child obeying a parent, PARIAH stepped close. Alex gently touched PARIAH's cheek.
T͕͖̝͇̟̪̳̲̣͚͉͔̗̺̩̾͌̒̈̀̊̋̋̒͒̅͒ͭ̋́̕e̸̵̅ͨ͗̈ͣ̾̀͂͆̽̾ͦ͆ͭ͋̍́̚͝͏͕̬̻̺͚̞̗ͅͅl̸̢̟̝̞̘̜͙̜̖̭̼̫̲̮̜̞̎̽̍̔ͣ̾̽̎͊ͣ̇̚͡ͅļ̪̳̤̗̠̮̭̤̞͚̦̍ͨ̒͊ͣͭ͆̓̾͆̚͠ ̔̂̃ͤ͑̈̅ͨ̔̒̌̊͏̴̣̜̲͉͎̜̪̖̮̯̱̮̗́̀͞y̶̨̫̞̳͖̜̤̓̽̓͂́ͬͬ̃͡o̸̴͕̱̦̦̠̊ͦͩͤͫͨ͊ͭ̀͜͝u̒̇ͥͧ͌̎͋̆̈ͧͩ͂ͨ̎ͩ̂̂҉̧͘҉̣̦͚̼͙̣̣rͬ̐͐̊͛̒ͦ͐̃̽̋̓ͤ̿ͦͦ̚͏̭̹͉̼͙̺̝͈̞̞̦͘͜͟͝ ̢̧̢̛̮̗͈̻͍͍̦̥͕̹̳̺͚̘̱ͣͯ̔̾ͪ̓ͮ͋ͣͫ̔̓̔̊ͣ̚͜ͅm̴̝͈̠̗͚͚̭̜̞̯͚͙͒̇͑͐̿̿̍͗́̌͌̑̈́̐̆͆́̚̕͠ơ̴̰̣̦̤͉̤̫̤͚̥̩̮̹͖̖͓̈́̐̈́ͦ̿̑͂̂́t̷͓̻̠̭̳̯͉̬̮͈̠͕͒͛̍͊͂̄͛̔͑̅̚͝ͅh̵̩̺͖͉̩͕͙̟͕̠̩̤̭͗ͣ̌̇͜͡ͅe͗̓ͥͥ̇͌̔҉͖͓͙͎̜̼͕̦̩̞͈̪͇̭̖͖̱̜͞r̴̷̡̯͇̳̩̥͈̪̖͉̭̦̓ͫ̓͂͂͞ͅ ̸̢͕͈̤̻͈̩̀̈́ͩ̽ͨͫ͢͟I̵̖͙̺̩͇͍͎͓͎͍̭̱͖̟͙̩͈̊̍͊̄̿̓̌ͨ̎̑́̾ͨͮͪͥ̿ͨ͢͝ ̫̪̯͇̤̪̝͚̣̘̯̝̉ͩ͊́̂ͯ̽̒ͩͩ̾́̍ͩ̇̎ͧͣ͢͡ş̴̩̘̼͈͇͇̟̝̣͕̮̼̭̤͒̉́̎ͬ͘͟͢ͅa̵̬̟̹̪̮̍ͤ̌̍̆̔͋į͈̗͎͈̩͓̯͖͎̺̬̰͔̽̉̔́ͥ̐͐̈́͢d̴̨̢̛̺̙̼͈̩̬̗͚̫̰̥̹̤̖̳̞̳̜ͣ͋̂͐̃̃ͧ̌̐͞ ̸̡̠̟̲̞̬̱̙͚̭ͪͬ́̆̐̑ͫ͂͡h̴̢̉ͤͫ̆̑͐ͬ͏̴̰̰͙͍̥̭̲͚̦͎̲̜͇͉͠ͅͅîͥ̑͌̄̍͌͏̡̢҉̢͙̣̱͉̲̩̞
Alex smiled.
"I will."