The Rendering Pit - Monica's Epilogue (Patreon)

This epilogue written by RabidBadger! We thank you for your continued support, you've helped make this series what it is <3

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The rabbit fidgeted in her seat, feeling thoroughly terrified as she waited on what felt like word of her impending execution. She was wringing her hands, something she’d never really understood whenever she heard about it before. Sometimes a cheap romance audio would mention it, but they had just been words. Now she was staring at herself as she did it, at the mismatched clouds of color her fur still bore after the strange mixture she gave that mouse months ago had left her fur dyed permanently since exposure to the mist the rodent had burped out.

It was absurd that she was afraid right now. Monica had escaped that rogue AI taking control of those security bots, she’d ended up on Corona and taken control of it for like… a week! Then that fox and the blimp had ruined things, but nobody ever really ruled Corona for more than a week anyway, and she got off the pirate casino alive and free. Mostly. There had been that bounty, but that’s why she was here now.

Well, no, strictly speaking she was here now because of Nathan. It seemed absurd, all she did was make him fat – why that should get her in trouble in the Rendering Pit she didn’t know.

“Maybe it didn’t…? Maybe I’m just overreacting, and-”

The door creaked as it opened behind her. Monica found that just as absurd as the hand wringing, and for similar reasons. The doors here were standard magnetic sealing sliders, or at least all of them but the one to the headmistress’ office were. This thing had hinges, and if they creaked it had to be because the aging white-furred bear carrying that honest to Chrome walking stick wanted it to. Damn pre-industrial retro enthusiasts.

“I assure you, you really are in trouble.”

Monica’s hands clenched hard enough that she hurt herself a little, but she didn’t turn to look. The act didn’t spare her for long though, a heavy paw came down on her shoulder after a couple of equally hard footfalls.

“You assaulted a fellow student and did so by way of violating their internal nanotech architecture’s core operating system.”

The hand squeezed a little, which Monica couldn’t help but squeak in fear over. She didn’t move though, which just meant she was still sitting frozen when the lumbering polar bear eased in around the hardwood desk in the office and took a seat.

For a few agonizing seconds the headmistress just stared, during which time Monica felt a crawling dread in her mind about her situation. As if the longer the silence went on, the worse the consequences were going to be. That didn’t necessarily make it a relief when the headmistress spoke.

“Somehow I suspected you wouldn’t apologize. I doubt you’d mean it if you did. I know the gist of it, sorry you got caught – not that you did it.”

Monica chuckled nervously. Enough so that it was barely a laugh anymore.

“That uh, that-”

The bear raised her hand and Monica saw a flash, felt something curiously familiar. She couldn’t seem to move, or rather she couldn’t finish the thought she was trying to string together about moving. Her mind remained stuck even as she saw the bear speaking, heard it, felt it – though everything else around them had gone profoundly and unnaturally silent.

“I will be blunt, dear. What you’ve done is grounds, at least, for drone conversion. I’ve decided on another course, however.”

Watching the headmistress move, Monica found it uncomfortable to look at. The bear shifted a little in her seat, leaned back some, steepled her fingers. Monica could swear there was a kind of heat haze around every inch of space the bear had occupied before but no longer did.

“You’re going to walk me through how you broke through the security on his architecture and we’re going to dissect your program’s code together, and then you’re going to stick around as my intern.”

The urge to swallow some of her fear was desperate, but Monica couldn’t quite make her body do it. Couldn’t even get the thought through her mind.

“I’ll figure out some sort of appropriately educational punishment for you later. For now? You can wait here until I get back from orientation for the newest students. I’ll only be gone a second.”

Monica shuddered inside as she watched space rend itself around the bear when she moved. She desperately wanted to stop looking at it, but her eyes wouldn’t close. The headmistress rose and returned to her side, touching her shoulder again. Out of the corner of her eye Monica could see the bear leave, but she still felt the fingertips on her shoulder.

“It may be rather longer than most seconds you’ve experienced up until now, but I assure you that’s all it will be.”

Once more, Monica heard the creaking of the office door.

“Stay put, little bunny.”

There hardly seemed any choice in the matter. Monica sat and stared at the cringing, warping afterimages of the space before her and waited.

“I’ll be right back.”

As the door closed the room darkened, sparing Monica the view that was making her thoughts itch so horribly in her head. She still couldn’t seem to move though, or think particularly clearly, but that might be for the best.

All she would’ve been thinking about was the worst-case scenario anyway, and she could live without that.

At least, she hoped so.