Page 6 of 8-Bit & Cat

A brief silence before AL’s, “Try what?”

She didn’t miss the weight of expectancy and maybe hope in his words. “The lessons. I know it’s what I need to do.”

“Interesting,” AL murmured, sounding more alert somehow.

“You’re sure?” Big G’s voice was firm, but quiet.

She nodded. “I have to be.”

Another silence stretched between them. A measuring one. Weighing something she couldn’t see. “Do you want help convincing him?” Big G asked, careful, precise.

But that answer was easy. “No.”

The expected question followed, “And why not?”

Not just a question, a test.

“Because…” She considered the right words to explain. “His choice really has nothing to do with this.”

“Very good,” Big G said after a few moments, sounding impressed. “That’s whyweexist. To teach. To shape. To protect.”

She exhaled slowly, that one line Ethan had said, playing in her mind. “What did he mean by… I don’t know what you’re like in there?”

The silence immediately felt guarded and careful. “Because in the Dungeon, we don’t belong to Ethan,” Big G said.

“Or anyone,” AL added.

“We belong to the cause,” Big G finished.

The cause... “Can you tell me… what exactly that means?”

“It means we’re his handlers,” AL said. “His tethers. His control.”

“Sometimes he sees us as the good guys,” Big G said. “And other times, the bad.”

She waited for more, then sensed they preferred questions. “Why does he think you’re the bad guys?”

She recognized Big G’s chuckle. “Because he doesn’t always get what he wants. Healwaysgets what he needs.”

“And… with me? It would be the same?” she checked, fingering the edges of her book pages.

Cat’s pulse pounded in the brief silence. Big G said, “Every person is unique and requires assessing.”

“Which means we can’t answer that question until you answer ours,” AL helped.

She turned that over in her head, finding it logical. “Okay,” she said, wondering what other questions she should ask.

“Do you trust us?”

Her pulse stuttered at AL’s question and the daring hope she felt in it. She considered it honestly, feeling like it was part of the assessment. “I’m… scared of a lot of things,” she admitted. “Not being strong enough. Smart enough. But… I don’t fear either of you. And I guess that means I trust you.”

AL gave a clipped chuckle. “Sounds logical.”

“It’s entirely logical,” Big G assured, hearing the samebutshe’d heard in AL’s voice. “And a high honor to have.”

Excitement rolled through her stomach as more questions came. “What will the first lesson be?”

“Control,” Big G answered, seamless and immediate.

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