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Chomby started his walk home after saying goodbye to Bark. He was reluctant to give them the time of day still, but he needed answers… and he had a bad feeling that something wrong could happen if he got on Bark’s bad side.
As Chomby stared down at the ground, he started thinking back on things Bark said. Bark had been watching him. Bark seemed to have been watching him the past few months.
Chomby started to jog and looked over his shoulder. Was Bark watching him now? He couldn’t see anyone outside the bar, but that wasn’t reassuring at all. He hadn’t noticed Bark this entire time, so could he even trust his own sight?
Chomby began to run. He recognized Bark’s demeanor was seemingly kind-hearted, but he could tell there was something else to it. Bark had a motive for being nice, and it wasn’t the altruistic motive that Sarge supposedly had. It felt more sinister. But what was it?
Chomby felt someone was watching him. Maybe it was because he was a fat, burly soundbyte barreling down the street. Most people would stop to watch, even for a second… but he didn’t see anyone.
With raised hands and a quick flick of the wrist, Chomby yanked his ears backward. He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline rush over him. Time around him slowed down, just like it had done when he fought Xenon. But, rather than fighting, he wanted to run. He wanted to get out of the streets as quickly as possible.
Chomby made it to his front door. He grabbed his key to the house and tried to unlock the front door but found he was fumbling with the handle. It took him what felt like several seconds to finally open the door. He raced inside and slammed the door shut, making sure to lock it behind him.
The feeling of being watched dissipated, so he flicked his ears back to their normal position and immediately slumped to the ground with exhaustion. He placed a hand to his chest. He felt his heart thumping.
“Chomby?” came Xenon’s voice.
“X-xenon?” Chomby stammered out. He looked up and saw that Xenon was sitting on the couch, staring at him in surprise.
Xenon hurried to Chomby and knelt down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“I- I just… Bark was here, and he wanted to talk… and- uh… I felt like he was following me, and, and, and…” Chomby felt his eyes well with tears. “I don’t know!”
Xenon stood up and backpedaled to the window. He gently pushed back the curtain and looked outside. “I don’t fully see anyone. Of course, it is getting dark, so I could be wrong. Didja need me to call the police?”
“I- I don’t know.” Chomby felt his breathing quicken. He looked down at his paws. “I feel like… something’s watching me. I don’t know if it was him or if it is something else… or… or… or…”
He felt Xenon’s heavy arm pat down onto his shoulder. “Focus, Chomby! Ground yourself.”
“Wha-?”
“Feel carpet or something. I dunno. Your anxiety is spiking. You gotta ground yourself.” Xenon lowered his head so he could stare Chomby directly in the eyes. “Breathe.”
Chomby felt his eyes lock to Xenon’s. He started focusing on the pupilless, yellow eyes and felt his anxiety lessen. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Better?” Xenon asked.
“Y-yeah.” Chomby nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” Xenon asked. His voice sounded a lot calmer than it had been moments ago. Chomby thought back to how Bark seemed to use this same tactic in an attempt to calm Chomby down before, but the stark difference between these two was enough to make Chomby want to hug around Xenon and thank him for being so kind.
Taking a deep breath, Chomby did his best to explain everything that happened, starting from when Bark came to the front door, and ending on Chomby’s dash home after feeling like he was being watched. He even mentioned what he knew about Berithal and ties they had to Bark.
While Chomby explained all this, Xenon had sat himself properly on the ground and listened intently. When Chomby finished, Xenon put a hand to his chin in thought. “So Berithal is some sort of werewolf deity that Bark believes in… and Bark wants to use the meetup time to start a ritual to summon him.”
Chomby nodded.
“Well, that’s as good of a lead as we’re gonna get, I suppose. Straight from the suspect themselves.” Xenon folded his arms. “But, to think he’s been following you for longer than we’ve been working on this investigation. That’s unnerving.”
Chomby felt a shiver run down his spine. “He keeps calling Sarge ‘Berithal’, but I really don’t think they’re the same thing.” Chomby put a hand to his collarbone and sighed. “I also thought he’d have an answer to why I was a jacket. He seemed so… confident he knew the answers, but even that stumped him.”
“One thing about cult leaders is their charisma. You’ve gotta be charismatic if you want anyone to follow your edicts.” Xenon stood up and held a hand to Chomby. “But rituals about ‘summoning deities’ don’t end well, from what I’ve read. That ritual cannot happen.”
Chomby took Xenon’s hand and hoisted himself up. “But what if he really does have an answer? What if Berithal can help me discover who I am? What if Berithal is Sarge?”
Xenon poked Chomby’s forehead. “Charisma, Chomby. That’s exactly how they get you. They make you believe they have the answer to your problems. In some cases, they might, but this one doesn’t seem to be the case. I think it’s all for personal gain on his part. He really believes he could be a werewolf.”
“Sarge is a werewolf, too. Supposedly, Berithal might be as well.” Chomby thought. “Wait, do you think that Berithal may actually be using Sarge to talk? But because Sarge is gone… somehow… all his messages are being transferred to m-”
Xenon poked Chomby’s head more aggressively this time. “Charisma, Chomby. CHARISMA. Stop thinking like that!”
Chomby lowered his ears and looked away. He was just trying to piece together a puzzle that had more pieces than the puzzle was big. He wanted so desperately to make headway anywhere.
Xenon seemed to notice Chomby’s downtrodden mood and took a step back. “No matter how it may seem to make sense, this isn’t a pathway to go down. Not unless you want to get neck-deep in mud that you can’t get yourself out of.” Xenon sighed and looked toward the kitchen. “I promise you, Chomby, I will do what I can to help. We are going to figure this out.” He looked back to Chomby. “But you need to promise me that you won’t do anything rash. Bark may pretend to have good ideas, but, from how it sounds, and the discomfort he brings you, his ideals are self-centered. You may end up being sacrificed if he doesn’t achieve his goal.”
“Sacrifice?”
“Do you really think a ‘ritual of summoning’ won’t entail a sacrifice? That’s how it’s depicted in almost every media portrayal of summoning. If not you, then someone else. At the end of the day, this may cause someone to die.”
Chomby was unsure of what to say. He looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs together.
“We’ll figure this out,” Xenon said again. “I promise.”
Chomby felt the desire to hug Xenon return. He still wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or do, but he took the opportunity and hugged the alien. “Thank you, Xenon.”
Xenon returned the hug.
After several moments of embracing, Chomby released his part of the hug. He was surprised when Xenon was still hugging him. Even stranger, Xenon was rubbing his hands on Chomby’s back.
“Uh, Xenon?” Chomby asked.
“Hold still a moment,” Xenon hissed.
Chomby did as he was told. He felt Xenon’s hand rub up and down his back. The movements were slow and deliberate… as if he were searching for something.
“What are you searching for-” Xenon’s hand grasped tightly around a tuft of fur on the back of Chomby’s neck. Before Chomby had time to ask what was happening, Xenon yanked as hard as he could, causing Chomby’s fur to tear off painfully.
“Ow! Xenon! What the heck was that for?!” Chomby hissed out. He backed against the wall and glared at the alien. He felt his heart drop when he saw that Xenon was holding something in his hand. It looked like a small, plastic ear bud, but it had a bit of glue smeared around its edges.
“What…?” Chomby began to say.
Xenon clenched his fist around the object hard, causing it to crack. He then dropped it to the ground and stamped on it. Chomby noticed Xenon’s expression change. The alien’s eyes narrowed and his breathing sped up. Xenon was furious.
“Xenon… what’s going on?”
Without saying anything, Xenon pulled his phone out. He dialed a number and held the phone up to his head. Chomby could have sworn it was 9-1-1.
“Xenon?” Chomby asked.
“Hi, this is Detective Xenon Morphix. I suspect that myself and my friend are in danger.”
Chomby heard a muffled voice on the other end.
Xenon said the address to Chomby’s house, then he looked at Chomby. “Yes, my friend is here with me. I found a crude, listening device glued to my friend’s back. Suspected cultist activity… maybe a sacrifice. Details are hard to think of right now. We need help.”
The voice on the other end said something. Xenon turned on his cloaking device and pressed a button on the phone. He lowered his hand and spoke.
“Chomby, do you remember Bark touching you at all?”
“Uh, yeah… he patted me on the back.” Chomby lifted a hand and felt where Xenon had ripped out his fur. He noticed a bit of hardened glue on it.
“I hate to say it, Chomby, but I think your gut instinct went into overdrive for a reason. You’ve been wiretapped.”
Xenon spent the next several minutes examining Chomby’s body. Though it was meager, Chomby felt a bit of relief knowing there was only one device on him.
“The police will be here shortly, Chomby. I’ll stick with you until they arrive.” Xenon said as he sat Chomby on the couch.
“But… why did he put a tracker on me in the first place?” Chomby asked. “Didn’t I do it right? I talked with him and-”
“Probably didn’t trust you,” Xenon rolled his eyes. “Probably heard our whole conversation, too. This further lets me believe you shouldn’t be doing that investigation in the forest.”
“But what about Sarge?”
“Doesn’t matter… especially if it puts you in danger, Chomby.” Xenon poked the soundbyte’s chest. “You’ve already felt so down and hard on yourself because of things that are not your fault. None of this is fair to you. None of what Bark is doing is fair to you. You have a right to feel safe and happy, and right now, he’s stripping that away from you.”
“This whole mystery’s been doing that, Xenon,” Chomby said. “I started this because I wanted to learn why I was having nightmares, and the more I learn, the more I realize it’s so much… and finding out all of this…? That I’m a puppet to some werewolf deity? I just don’t know what to think.”
“Remember what I told you before? What do you want to be the truth?” Xenon asked.
Chomby looked down at his belly and twiddled his thumbs. “I want to-”
Xenon put a finger to Chomby’s mouth. “Don’t tell me this time. But just know, that the truth you’re wanting, is probably the right answer to begin with. I know that isn’t the case for most scenarios, but this one kinda feels like it would be.”
Xenon spent the next several minutes comforting Chomby. He even gave Chomby a few belly rubs. This wasn’t something Xenon would usually do, so Chomby realized the situation truly must have been bad.
The police officers came to the door. Xenon escorted them in and started talking about some sort of jargon that Chomby didn’t fully understand. The officer Xenon was talking to was named Stanford. He was a lithe man with brown hair and tanned skin. He handed a walkie-talkie to Xenon and began instructing him on a few codes. Chomby wanted to listen into what they were saying some more, but a female officer named Charel sat next to him and talked. She had long, black hair that was tied in a bun underneath her cap.
She asked Chomby many questions he didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t talk about family, because he had none. He couldn’t explain his age, because he didn’t know. He couldn’t answer her questions on what he was, because that was supposedly a secret. No one, outside of himself, Xenon, and the mainframe knew that he was a jacket…. Well, Bark probably knew now.
Charel asked Chomby if he wanted an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He questioned why she suggested one. She merely said he seemed to have some confusion that could denote some underlying psychological problems. Chomby had to insist he was okay.
After several minutes of gathering what information she could, she walked over to Xenon and Stanford and started talking to them in a hushed tone.
Chomby could hear them doubting the validity of his danger, but Xenon was insistent they keep him company tonight.
“What about you?” Stanford asked.
“Do what I do best. Investigate. Thanks for the files, Stanford. I’ll be doing a little sleuthing tonight.” Xenon looked over at Chomby and accidentally locked eyes with him. “Oh, uh, did you hear that, Chomby?”
Chomby nodded.
“Well, you should stay here. Charel and Stanford are going to make sure you’re safe. I’ll be going to the meetup place with some officers.”
“Wouldn’t that make Bark upset?” Chomby asked.
“Oh, if he wants upset, I’d have the right mind to show him what for.” Xenon groaned and scratched his head. “Usually, they wouldn’t allow someone who’s currently a participant in an investigation to also investigate the investigation. However, since this case is paranormal, it’s in the jurisdiction of whomever is in charge of that department. At the moment, it happens to be you and I, Chomby. So, that means I can’t exactly let myself be angered by how you’re being treated.”
“I don’t want you to be angry for me,” Chomby said. “I want you to be okay.”
“Then trust me on this, okay?” Xenon asked. He then looked back to Stanford. “Anything else you need me to answer?”
“That just about covers it, though I do need a reminder. What was it you said about that mainframe thing-a-ma-jig?” Stanford nodded.
“It’s assisting me with the investigation. I have a tracker linked to one of its drones that will respond when I press it.” Xenon opened his trench coat and pointed at a small red button. “If it needs to contact me or Chomby, it will send a drone to our location.”
Stanford nodded. “Stay safe, then, Xenon.”
“You as well. Please keep Chomby safe, too. He’s going through a lot.” Xenon looked back at Chomby one last time. His eyes saddened, then he pivoted on his foot and went outside.
Though Chomby couldn’t explain it, seeing Xenon leave right now made his heart lurch. There went the one other person who knew anything about what was going on. “Stay safe,” Chomby whispered. “Please, be safe.”
Stanford cleared his throat. This grabbed Chomby’s attention, so he looked at Stanford.
“So, you’re that famous DJ, Chomby, aren’t you?” Stanford asked. “My nephew’s a fan of yours, y’know. He wanted to make a costume last Halloween that looked just like you!”
“Oh, uh, I’m flattered?” Chomby tilted his head to the side. “Was he wanting an autograph or something?”
“I’m sure he’d love one, but probably during better circumstances?” Stanford shrugged and gestured to the front door. “Having an entire cult go after you sounds quite scary, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Chomby looked back down at himself. He grabbed his right elbow and sighed. “It’s a lot. There’s probably more to it that I don’t fully know myself, but I want it to be over with so I can finally feel at ease.”
“We’ll do what we can.” Stanford walked over to the couch Chomby was sitting on and gestured toward the seat next to Chomby.
Chomby nodded.
Stanford looked over at Charel. She gave him a nod, so he sat down next to Chomby. “We’ve got one of the best detectives the department knows working on the case. Though, you probably already know him.”
Chomby nodded again. “Yeah, Xenon. There would have been another, I guess, but he’s gone.”
“Oh? I don’t recall any names.”
“Forget it.” Chomby shook his head. “You wouldn’t remember a guy named ‘Sarge’ anyway.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell. What did he do?”
“Forget it,” Chomby repeated.
“Ahh, okay.” Stanford clasped his hands together. “Nice house you got here. What’s the, uh, property value at?”
Chomby wasn’t sure how to reply. He wanted to distract himself, but if he couldn’t answer any of their questions properly, how was he supposed to do that? “No idea. Sorry.”
After a few more failed attempts at striking a conversation, Stanford and Charel switched places. Charel tried asking Chomby about his music. He was able to showcase a few of his songs, but he realized he was too stressed to properly enjoy them right now. The three had decided to just stay silent. Though this allowed Chomby time to ruminate, he couldn’t deal with the awkward interactions he couldn’t fully complete right now.
That was just it, though. He couldn’t ‘complete’ any interactions because he wasn’t a complete person to begin with. He never was.
~~~~~
Next chapter in the story. Chomby's been feeling like he's being tossed around. Now things have only gotten worse.
~~~~~
Xenon/Chomby/Art/Story (C)
Juntarhenogu Me
As Chomby stared down at the ground, he started thinking back on things Bark said. Bark had been watching him. Bark seemed to have been watching him the past few months.
Chomby started to jog and looked over his shoulder. Was Bark watching him now? He couldn’t see anyone outside the bar, but that wasn’t reassuring at all. He hadn’t noticed Bark this entire time, so could he even trust his own sight?
Chomby began to run. He recognized Bark’s demeanor was seemingly kind-hearted, but he could tell there was something else to it. Bark had a motive for being nice, and it wasn’t the altruistic motive that Sarge supposedly had. It felt more sinister. But what was it?
Chomby felt someone was watching him. Maybe it was because he was a fat, burly soundbyte barreling down the street. Most people would stop to watch, even for a second… but he didn’t see anyone.
With raised hands and a quick flick of the wrist, Chomby yanked his ears backward. He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline rush over him. Time around him slowed down, just like it had done when he fought Xenon. But, rather than fighting, he wanted to run. He wanted to get out of the streets as quickly as possible.
Chomby made it to his front door. He grabbed his key to the house and tried to unlock the front door but found he was fumbling with the handle. It took him what felt like several seconds to finally open the door. He raced inside and slammed the door shut, making sure to lock it behind him.
The feeling of being watched dissipated, so he flicked his ears back to their normal position and immediately slumped to the ground with exhaustion. He placed a hand to his chest. He felt his heart thumping.
“Chomby?” came Xenon’s voice.
“X-xenon?” Chomby stammered out. He looked up and saw that Xenon was sitting on the couch, staring at him in surprise.
Xenon hurried to Chomby and knelt down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“I- I just… Bark was here, and he wanted to talk… and- uh… I felt like he was following me, and, and, and…” Chomby felt his eyes well with tears. “I don’t know!”
Xenon stood up and backpedaled to the window. He gently pushed back the curtain and looked outside. “I don’t fully see anyone. Of course, it is getting dark, so I could be wrong. Didja need me to call the police?”
“I- I don’t know.” Chomby felt his breathing quicken. He looked down at his paws. “I feel like… something’s watching me. I don’t know if it was him or if it is something else… or… or… or…”
He felt Xenon’s heavy arm pat down onto his shoulder. “Focus, Chomby! Ground yourself.”
“Wha-?”
“Feel carpet or something. I dunno. Your anxiety is spiking. You gotta ground yourself.” Xenon lowered his head so he could stare Chomby directly in the eyes. “Breathe.”
Chomby felt his eyes lock to Xenon’s. He started focusing on the pupilless, yellow eyes and felt his anxiety lessen. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Better?” Xenon asked.
“Y-yeah.” Chomby nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” Xenon asked. His voice sounded a lot calmer than it had been moments ago. Chomby thought back to how Bark seemed to use this same tactic in an attempt to calm Chomby down before, but the stark difference between these two was enough to make Chomby want to hug around Xenon and thank him for being so kind.
Taking a deep breath, Chomby did his best to explain everything that happened, starting from when Bark came to the front door, and ending on Chomby’s dash home after feeling like he was being watched. He even mentioned what he knew about Berithal and ties they had to Bark.
While Chomby explained all this, Xenon had sat himself properly on the ground and listened intently. When Chomby finished, Xenon put a hand to his chin in thought. “So Berithal is some sort of werewolf deity that Bark believes in… and Bark wants to use the meetup time to start a ritual to summon him.”
Chomby nodded.
“Well, that’s as good of a lead as we’re gonna get, I suppose. Straight from the suspect themselves.” Xenon folded his arms. “But, to think he’s been following you for longer than we’ve been working on this investigation. That’s unnerving.”
Chomby felt a shiver run down his spine. “He keeps calling Sarge ‘Berithal’, but I really don’t think they’re the same thing.” Chomby put a hand to his collarbone and sighed. “I also thought he’d have an answer to why I was a jacket. He seemed so… confident he knew the answers, but even that stumped him.”
“One thing about cult leaders is their charisma. You’ve gotta be charismatic if you want anyone to follow your edicts.” Xenon stood up and held a hand to Chomby. “But rituals about ‘summoning deities’ don’t end well, from what I’ve read. That ritual cannot happen.”
Chomby took Xenon’s hand and hoisted himself up. “But what if he really does have an answer? What if Berithal can help me discover who I am? What if Berithal is Sarge?”
Xenon poked Chomby’s forehead. “Charisma, Chomby. That’s exactly how they get you. They make you believe they have the answer to your problems. In some cases, they might, but this one doesn’t seem to be the case. I think it’s all for personal gain on his part. He really believes he could be a werewolf.”
“Sarge is a werewolf, too. Supposedly, Berithal might be as well.” Chomby thought. “Wait, do you think that Berithal may actually be using Sarge to talk? But because Sarge is gone… somehow… all his messages are being transferred to m-”
Xenon poked Chomby’s head more aggressively this time. “Charisma, Chomby. CHARISMA. Stop thinking like that!”
Chomby lowered his ears and looked away. He was just trying to piece together a puzzle that had more pieces than the puzzle was big. He wanted so desperately to make headway anywhere.
Xenon seemed to notice Chomby’s downtrodden mood and took a step back. “No matter how it may seem to make sense, this isn’t a pathway to go down. Not unless you want to get neck-deep in mud that you can’t get yourself out of.” Xenon sighed and looked toward the kitchen. “I promise you, Chomby, I will do what I can to help. We are going to figure this out.” He looked back to Chomby. “But you need to promise me that you won’t do anything rash. Bark may pretend to have good ideas, but, from how it sounds, and the discomfort he brings you, his ideals are self-centered. You may end up being sacrificed if he doesn’t achieve his goal.”
“Sacrifice?”
“Do you really think a ‘ritual of summoning’ won’t entail a sacrifice? That’s how it’s depicted in almost every media portrayal of summoning. If not you, then someone else. At the end of the day, this may cause someone to die.”
Chomby was unsure of what to say. He looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs together.
“We’ll figure this out,” Xenon said again. “I promise.”
Chomby felt the desire to hug Xenon return. He still wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or do, but he took the opportunity and hugged the alien. “Thank you, Xenon.”
Xenon returned the hug.
After several moments of embracing, Chomby released his part of the hug. He was surprised when Xenon was still hugging him. Even stranger, Xenon was rubbing his hands on Chomby’s back.
“Uh, Xenon?” Chomby asked.
“Hold still a moment,” Xenon hissed.
Chomby did as he was told. He felt Xenon’s hand rub up and down his back. The movements were slow and deliberate… as if he were searching for something.
“What are you searching for-” Xenon’s hand grasped tightly around a tuft of fur on the back of Chomby’s neck. Before Chomby had time to ask what was happening, Xenon yanked as hard as he could, causing Chomby’s fur to tear off painfully.
“Ow! Xenon! What the heck was that for?!” Chomby hissed out. He backed against the wall and glared at the alien. He felt his heart drop when he saw that Xenon was holding something in his hand. It looked like a small, plastic ear bud, but it had a bit of glue smeared around its edges.
“What…?” Chomby began to say.
Xenon clenched his fist around the object hard, causing it to crack. He then dropped it to the ground and stamped on it. Chomby noticed Xenon’s expression change. The alien’s eyes narrowed and his breathing sped up. Xenon was furious.
“Xenon… what’s going on?”
Without saying anything, Xenon pulled his phone out. He dialed a number and held the phone up to his head. Chomby could have sworn it was 9-1-1.
“Xenon?” Chomby asked.
“Hi, this is Detective Xenon Morphix. I suspect that myself and my friend are in danger.”
Chomby heard a muffled voice on the other end.
Xenon said the address to Chomby’s house, then he looked at Chomby. “Yes, my friend is here with me. I found a crude, listening device glued to my friend’s back. Suspected cultist activity… maybe a sacrifice. Details are hard to think of right now. We need help.”
The voice on the other end said something. Xenon turned on his cloaking device and pressed a button on the phone. He lowered his hand and spoke.
“Chomby, do you remember Bark touching you at all?”
“Uh, yeah… he patted me on the back.” Chomby lifted a hand and felt where Xenon had ripped out his fur. He noticed a bit of hardened glue on it.
“I hate to say it, Chomby, but I think your gut instinct went into overdrive for a reason. You’ve been wiretapped.”
Xenon spent the next several minutes examining Chomby’s body. Though it was meager, Chomby felt a bit of relief knowing there was only one device on him.
“The police will be here shortly, Chomby. I’ll stick with you until they arrive.” Xenon said as he sat Chomby on the couch.
“But… why did he put a tracker on me in the first place?” Chomby asked. “Didn’t I do it right? I talked with him and-”
“Probably didn’t trust you,” Xenon rolled his eyes. “Probably heard our whole conversation, too. This further lets me believe you shouldn’t be doing that investigation in the forest.”
“But what about Sarge?”
“Doesn’t matter… especially if it puts you in danger, Chomby.” Xenon poked the soundbyte’s chest. “You’ve already felt so down and hard on yourself because of things that are not your fault. None of this is fair to you. None of what Bark is doing is fair to you. You have a right to feel safe and happy, and right now, he’s stripping that away from you.”
“This whole mystery’s been doing that, Xenon,” Chomby said. “I started this because I wanted to learn why I was having nightmares, and the more I learn, the more I realize it’s so much… and finding out all of this…? That I’m a puppet to some werewolf deity? I just don’t know what to think.”
“Remember what I told you before? What do you want to be the truth?” Xenon asked.
Chomby looked down at his belly and twiddled his thumbs. “I want to-”
Xenon put a finger to Chomby’s mouth. “Don’t tell me this time. But just know, that the truth you’re wanting, is probably the right answer to begin with. I know that isn’t the case for most scenarios, but this one kinda feels like it would be.”
Xenon spent the next several minutes comforting Chomby. He even gave Chomby a few belly rubs. This wasn’t something Xenon would usually do, so Chomby realized the situation truly must have been bad.
The police officers came to the door. Xenon escorted them in and started talking about some sort of jargon that Chomby didn’t fully understand. The officer Xenon was talking to was named Stanford. He was a lithe man with brown hair and tanned skin. He handed a walkie-talkie to Xenon and began instructing him on a few codes. Chomby wanted to listen into what they were saying some more, but a female officer named Charel sat next to him and talked. She had long, black hair that was tied in a bun underneath her cap.
She asked Chomby many questions he didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t talk about family, because he had none. He couldn’t explain his age, because he didn’t know. He couldn’t answer her questions on what he was, because that was supposedly a secret. No one, outside of himself, Xenon, and the mainframe knew that he was a jacket…. Well, Bark probably knew now.
Charel asked Chomby if he wanted an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He questioned why she suggested one. She merely said he seemed to have some confusion that could denote some underlying psychological problems. Chomby had to insist he was okay.
After several minutes of gathering what information she could, she walked over to Xenon and Stanford and started talking to them in a hushed tone.
Chomby could hear them doubting the validity of his danger, but Xenon was insistent they keep him company tonight.
“What about you?” Stanford asked.
“Do what I do best. Investigate. Thanks for the files, Stanford. I’ll be doing a little sleuthing tonight.” Xenon looked over at Chomby and accidentally locked eyes with him. “Oh, uh, did you hear that, Chomby?”
Chomby nodded.
“Well, you should stay here. Charel and Stanford are going to make sure you’re safe. I’ll be going to the meetup place with some officers.”
“Wouldn’t that make Bark upset?” Chomby asked.
“Oh, if he wants upset, I’d have the right mind to show him what for.” Xenon groaned and scratched his head. “Usually, they wouldn’t allow someone who’s currently a participant in an investigation to also investigate the investigation. However, since this case is paranormal, it’s in the jurisdiction of whomever is in charge of that department. At the moment, it happens to be you and I, Chomby. So, that means I can’t exactly let myself be angered by how you’re being treated.”
“I don’t want you to be angry for me,” Chomby said. “I want you to be okay.”
“Then trust me on this, okay?” Xenon asked. He then looked back to Stanford. “Anything else you need me to answer?”
“That just about covers it, though I do need a reminder. What was it you said about that mainframe thing-a-ma-jig?” Stanford nodded.
“It’s assisting me with the investigation. I have a tracker linked to one of its drones that will respond when I press it.” Xenon opened his trench coat and pointed at a small red button. “If it needs to contact me or Chomby, it will send a drone to our location.”
Stanford nodded. “Stay safe, then, Xenon.”
“You as well. Please keep Chomby safe, too. He’s going through a lot.” Xenon looked back at Chomby one last time. His eyes saddened, then he pivoted on his foot and went outside.
Though Chomby couldn’t explain it, seeing Xenon leave right now made his heart lurch. There went the one other person who knew anything about what was going on. “Stay safe,” Chomby whispered. “Please, be safe.”
Stanford cleared his throat. This grabbed Chomby’s attention, so he looked at Stanford.
“So, you’re that famous DJ, Chomby, aren’t you?” Stanford asked. “My nephew’s a fan of yours, y’know. He wanted to make a costume last Halloween that looked just like you!”
“Oh, uh, I’m flattered?” Chomby tilted his head to the side. “Was he wanting an autograph or something?”
“I’m sure he’d love one, but probably during better circumstances?” Stanford shrugged and gestured to the front door. “Having an entire cult go after you sounds quite scary, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Chomby looked back down at himself. He grabbed his right elbow and sighed. “It’s a lot. There’s probably more to it that I don’t fully know myself, but I want it to be over with so I can finally feel at ease.”
“We’ll do what we can.” Stanford walked over to the couch Chomby was sitting on and gestured toward the seat next to Chomby.
Chomby nodded.
Stanford looked over at Charel. She gave him a nod, so he sat down next to Chomby. “We’ve got one of the best detectives the department knows working on the case. Though, you probably already know him.”
Chomby nodded again. “Yeah, Xenon. There would have been another, I guess, but he’s gone.”
“Oh? I don’t recall any names.”
“Forget it.” Chomby shook his head. “You wouldn’t remember a guy named ‘Sarge’ anyway.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell. What did he do?”
“Forget it,” Chomby repeated.
“Ahh, okay.” Stanford clasped his hands together. “Nice house you got here. What’s the, uh, property value at?”
Chomby wasn’t sure how to reply. He wanted to distract himself, but if he couldn’t answer any of their questions properly, how was he supposed to do that? “No idea. Sorry.”
After a few more failed attempts at striking a conversation, Stanford and Charel switched places. Charel tried asking Chomby about his music. He was able to showcase a few of his songs, but he realized he was too stressed to properly enjoy them right now. The three had decided to just stay silent. Though this allowed Chomby time to ruminate, he couldn’t deal with the awkward interactions he couldn’t fully complete right now.
That was just it, though. He couldn’t ‘complete’ any interactions because he wasn’t a complete person to begin with. He never was.
~~~~~
Next chapter in the story. Chomby's been feeling like he's being tossed around. Now things have only gotten worse.
~~~~~
Xenon/Chomby/Art/Story (C)
Juntarhenogu Me
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Exotic (Other)
Size 2094 x 1760px
File Size 5.21 MB
Listed in Folders
Has he has issues with depression before, or has it come come on since finding out about Sarge? Or was it always there, just much more mild and all of this just escalated it immensely? I want to just hold him, snuggle up to that big logo and see if he would just let it all out. Use me as a sounding board to ask or say whatever is on his mind, sometimes a huge, blubbering, snotty cry session helps more than most would think.
guess he was more confused vs depressed and Sarge helped keep his mind off things whilst also giving him companionship. He's never been alone as far as we know, now that Sarge is gone he is starting to spin. I so hope he knows how to drift to be able to get control back and do a few sick transitions, 😉
YOU'RE A COMPLETE PERSON CHOMBY!!! Humans don't fully understand sentience, so how can we judge what is or isn't a person. Do you have a sense of self? You're unique, you're an individual(have yet to see another Soundbyte). you're most certainly aware of yourself, like you understand you exist, in what capacity doesn't matter. Imo that's the biggest part of being a "person." You're awarness of your existence. If a human is brain dead are they still a person? What if we find a way to have the brain function without the body, is that not a person? Being a person is mental, not physical. Being and feeling love is a big part to. And we know you're a very caring and LOVING PERSON my adorable green and black friend. Oh, and no one with/loving a belly like yours isn't a person. You're a unique person, CHOMBY and there are more who love you in this world then don't. In fact ive yet to hear of one who doesn't
Oh, I've always wanted to ask. What does Chomby tell people he is exactly? Like I know, Sarge used to say it was a costume. Chomby is a person as well. Does he just say the same thing? I have to imagine he's been asked more than once. Sarge dropped the whole costume story eventually didn't he? I know he told his parents eventually, btw that would be such an awesome thing to have to come out about, lol.
I already liked Xenon before but I certainly appreciate his comforting Chomby here a lot. And I'm sure Chomby appreciates it too. You can tell they're acquaintances who have learned to rely on eachother- and it seems Xenon doesn't get mind-wiped as much when Sarge is mentioned anymore- even if he still doesn't remember him.
It definitely feels like things are culminating nicely. You've characterized Chomby real well. He's naive, emotional, and it makes sense, being a musician and not having been used to the physical world as much, and forgetting half of yourself with Sarge gone.. He definitely comes off as not really getting to interact directly with people so much, even though he has a lot of fans even local to him!
I do admit I see a bit of myself in him- I might not be like that so much nowadays but, I'm sure I was at some point.
It definitely feels like things are culminating nicely. You've characterized Chomby real well. He's naive, emotional, and it makes sense, being a musician and not having been used to the physical world as much, and forgetting half of yourself with Sarge gone.. He definitely comes off as not really getting to interact directly with people so much, even though he has a lot of fans even local to him!
I do admit I see a bit of myself in him- I might not be like that so much nowadays but, I'm sure I was at some point.
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