“Well, in VII, Christian and I took up the role, but in a different way. Both of us were writers, not only of the events that happened in our universe, but of fiction as well. I wrote my version of the System Guards, with Tommy being the leader instead of AB, and Chris wrote his versions. He wrote a sequel to my rendition, along with another story that was actually the events of SBX whispered to him by the real System Director, meaning Chris wrote a comic about a history he had no idea actually happened in another universe. Neat, yah?”
Chris Scott butts in to assure the kids, “And just because Pac and I had our own versions of the System doesn’t mean we were dealing with multiple levels of reality, considering we are PACs ourselves.”
Duplica tells Scott not to worry about this as she’s already explained the safety in Patrick and Christian having mini-Systems of their own. “Please don’t dwell on it too much. The lesson is almost done.”
Laughing at Cat’s admonition to her class, Pac goes into the histories of those standing by him. “I hear you’ve been learning about all the villains of the System, and I was told the story of Bubbles Indigo. Yes, there are countless accounts of individuals who let their lust guide their every decision, but let me tell you the love story that pervades throughout our storyboard. You see, in our universe, our settings were so realistic that, instead of superheroes and robots, we lived everyday lives like the real-worlders do, allowed to believe we, too, were real for the sake of the illustrations the System Director was wanting to make. While we had some similarities to the other universes, like Pin and his brother tricking the ancient turtle, the Gui, into a fatal trap, most of our history is far less extravagant.”
Pointing to the unnamed girl, Pac says, “The love story begins with little Rue Patterson growing up an orphan, then being rescued by her older sister, just for the child to find she was thrown out as trash and only retrieved to be a slave to her own siblings. It was by a miracle she escaped that tragedy. Decades later, I had the privilege of going to high school with James and Amy Scott, as well as Eric and Emily Madeline Johnst. So many of the people you know from SBX and SBXI had their counterparts here, including the Scars and the Bears. ‘The Three’ were James Scott, Tommy Bear and A.J. Scar while I was Amy Scott’s timid, yet powerful, best pal. Far away, in a distant land, there was a lone man seeking to know whatever God there was that made him and his people. Little did he know that this request was simultaneously being granted miles away as young James Scott accepted the Lord’s calling to one day be a missionary. As he grew in the Lord, this high schooler turned a rebellious thug named EMJ into the kindhearted Emily everyone loves. He also helped me learn how to have confidence in who God is and how He made me unique, using my talents for him instead of hiding them under a bushel. It was in school that we also met Arro and Lil Legonair, but more on them later.
“Though there were moments when James stumbled, like when he almost left Bible college as a punk named Thanatos out of bitterness over his father’s untimely passing, the Lord helped James to stay on course, and eventually graduate, soon marrying Emily Johnst. I had married my precious treasure by then. In the U.S., Ivory was my fire, inspiring me to write both fiction and nonfiction, making us both world-famous. You may have even heard some of her legendary piano arrangements. Arro joined the military and eventually earned his deadly nickname while James and Emily, along with Eric Johnst and his wife, went to an unmapped area in the Middle East known as Ruyngard.”
Duplica throws in, “In James’ senior year of college, he, being from Japan, did an internship in the American state called New Jersey where he helped Youth Pastor Key with his youth group that was the VII equivalent of all the major XL heroes, like the Baylors and David Day. Okay, go on, Packy.”
He does. “Do you remember the man I mentioned seeking to know God? Well, I regret to tell you that the account from his family is that he gave up hope on that, eventually dying without having heard the truth. However, his son caught on to this desire, and years later, met the missionary that was sent in answer to his father’s prayer…Eric Johnst.
Inner Man Theatre 