The Hidden Mall: Aberrant! 🤖

[aldersprig]

First: The Hidden Mall – a beginning of something
Previous: Say What?

“No, no, “ Abby started, but she had a feeling the ‘bot wasn’t going to listen to her.  “no, not aberrant. Just hungry. We just want something to-”

“ABERRANT.  DESTROY THE ABERRANT BEFORE IT INFECTS ALL.”

“Guys?” Abby squeaked.

“Run.”  Liv grabbed her hand.  Liv grabbed her other hand.  They ran.

Behind them, there were bots grating away about them being aberrant.  Well, about Abby being aberrant.  In front of them, the flow was flawing bright white, almost too bright to see.

Their feet were pounding soundlessly on the floor.  She was sweating in both hands, grips slipping. She was not going to lose Liv.  She was not-

read on…

Comments

[kelkyag]

Aaah! Talk to this Liv more and learn stuff! Don't flee without all the available information just because it's awkward. Leaving the last place without at least a good night's sleep seemed like a poor call.

That said, plot-wise, it looks like this just turned the corner from establishing the situation and fleeing in terror to identifying the antagonist (and getting to work on addressing the situation).

What did Abby already know that we didn't / that I overlooked, to know that it was all one mall? They're not all one Liv or Abby or Vic or Sandy ... or at least this Liv thinks so. Maybe that's just a necessary point of view to maintain sanity?

And why Abby? <tries to draw lines to being a bookish nerd and rescuing people (doing the Narnia thing) and the beginnings of figuring out door selection, but does not have enough pieces>

[sauergeek]

Dear both Livs and Abby (and I flatly refuse to do Dear Abby and both Livs): stay. Talk to this Liv and whoever else she may be with. She knows stuff. Please try to avoid running away from this one like you did the previous much older Liv.

The mall itself is an intelligence? Or something behind it, with some amount of control over it, is. And whatever it is is malicious, at least to Abbies? I have to wonder if there's a prophecy out there that an Abby will put an end to it, or something of similar doom.

I also note that Abby's original Liv hasn't done anything blazingly stupid recently; I hope that means the ginger (or whatever it was) has worn off. And will that amulet be of any value, as promised earlier? So far the only potential obvious thing it's done is get them in trouble in the prior world.