Path to the Apocalypse

"What is this place?" Chris asked, studying the building Beth had dragged him to skeptically.

"It's a tailor. How else are you going to get a suit?" Beth asked, giving him a weird look.

"Uh… a clothing store? You get a jacket, dress shirt, dress pants, a belt and a tie, and bam, you have a suit." Chris retorted. "This… this just looks expensive."

"You cannot wear something like that to this party! They'd tear you apart!" Beth exclaimed, her eyes widening. "You need a tailored suit. Don't worry though, I'll pay."

"No, no, no. If it's my suit, I'll pay. I do have money, you know." Chris protested. "I just don't see why I need an expensive suit."

"It's a status thing." Beth sighed. "I know it's dumb, but it's how these people work, and I don't want them to look down on you for something so stupid."

"That seems like more of a them problem. Why should I care what they think?" Chris raised an eyebrow at her.

Beth grinned. "Love the attitude, but unfortunately, if you get on these people's bad side, they can make your life difficult. You don't want your life to be difficult, do you?"

"I suppose not… fine, let's get me a tailored suit." Chris grumbled, heading into the tailor's shop with Beth. "What's the deal with this party, anyway? I thought it was just a celebration for the Trial being over."

Beth sighed again. "It is, but like any event the upper crust throws, it's going to be an opportunity to network as well. All the influential figures in the City will be there. The heads of the military branches and their staff, government officials like the Mayor, prominent businessmen, celebrities, scientists, and, of course, the Families."

Chris frowned. "The more you talk about this thing, the more I think I shouldn't be there."

"No, that's why I need you to be there! All these people suck! I need at least someone I enjoy hanging out with to be there." Beth retorted.

"Oh, and here I thought you wanted me there as arm candy." Chris shot back with a smirk.

"That's just a side benefit." Beth winked at him, before walking up to the counter and ringing the bell.

A man stepped out from a back room, looking the two of them over as he walked up to the counter. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Hello, I'm here to commission a tailored suit for my friend here." Beth explained, gesturing to Chris.

The man turned to Chris, and his eyes began to glow, scanning Chris up and down. "Well, well, well, what a fine frame you have there! Did you have a specific color in mind?" He asked, turning to Beth.

"Could you do something in blue?" Beth asked.

"I also wouldn't mind green." Chris added.

"Chris, green is a terrible color for a suit." Beth countered.

"But I like green…" Chris muttered.

The tailor considered Chris for a moment. "She's right, green wouldn't work for you. However, a dark blue suit, along with a green dress shirt? That could look nice. What do you think?" He asked, turning to Beth again.

Beth frowned, considering Chris. "What color would the tie be?"

"Either black or a dark red, I'd say." The tailor replied.

"Ooh, I like red! Let's do it!" Beth clapped cheerfully. Beth and the tailor then began to walk around the shop, picking out the specific pieces that would be tailored to fit Chris, eventually putting together all the pieces for a nice dark blue suit for Chris.

"Just give me a few hours, and it'll all be ready." The tailor assured them with a smile, before taking the clothes into the back room.

Chris frowned as they walked out. "That's it? Doesn't he need to take my measurements or something?"

Beth shook her head. "Nope. That's why this guy is so good. He has an ability that lets him scan people with his eyes and get their measurements that way. It also ensures that all his adjustments are perfect. Best tailor in the City." She explained. They continued to walk randomly for a bit, before she looked over at him. "So… what do you want to do while we wait?"

Chris shrugged. "Up to you. I'm down for anything really.”

Beth cocked her head. “Have you put anything in your space yet?”

Chris frowned. “No? What would I even put in there?”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Chris, you at least have to put a couch in there! Probably two, and a few chairs. Oh, and a table for games!” She paused, narrowing her eyes at him. “You aren't just leaving Dyrdek in there all alone, with nothing to keep him occupied, are you?”

Chris blinked before letting out a light cough. “I- may need to get some things for my space.”

“Ugh, you are the worst sometimes!” Beth groaned, grabbing his arm and pulling him deeper into the strip mall the tailor was located in.

Chris grimaced. “Are we sure we want to shop here? These places are pretty expensive.”

“They're expensive because they're quality.” Beth retorted. “Well, mostly. But that's why you have me! Plus, I can pay for it all. You're here because of me anyway.”

“I have my own money, I don't need you to buy me anything.” Chris shook his head. “I'm just thinking that this stuff is going to be used by goblins and soldiers. Do we really want it to be fancy?”

“Not fancy, no, but definitely quality.” Beth commented. “Otherwise you'll be buying something new every month and end up paying way more than you would if you just bought something that would last from the beginning.”

Chris grunted, accepting her point as they arrived at a furniture store, walking inside. “So, what are we looking for then? Leather?”

“It pretty much has to be, doesn't it?” Beth agreed. “Anything fabric would turn into a mess of stains in no time. Though I suppose vinyl wouldn't be bad either…” She trailed off as she wandered through the shop, examining the various couches and chairs they had available. “What do you think of this one?” She asked, pointing to a black leather, two cushion couch.

Chris examined it for a moment, before nodding seriously. “It's a couch.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Do you like it or not?”

Chris scratched his head. “Eh? It looks comfortable, I guess? But, you know, most couches are. That's kind of the point of them.”

Beth glared at him. “Well I like it.”

“Then let's get it.” Chris shrugged. “I really don't care what it looks like, as long as I can sit on it.”

Beth sighed. “Of course you don't. I should just pick everything out myself, shouldn't I?”

“That would probably be best, yes.” Chris nodded.

Beth just snorted, shaking her head as she continued to look through the store, finding a few other pieces she liked. “Can I see your space real quick?” She asked after a while.

Chris raised an eyebrow. “Sure?” He waved for her to follow him into a corner, opening a portal against the wall and walking in with her.

“Okay, here's what I'm thinking.” Beth began as she walked in, giving Dyrdek a wave and a smile as she looked around. “We'll put a side table in the corner here, then a three seater along this wall and a two seater along the other. Then we'll add a coffee table in this space in front of them and four or five chairs to fill out the other two sides. Finally, we'll put a nice dining set over here, for anyone who wants to eat or play games or anything.” She finished, walking to the other corner along the same wall she'd suggested putting the two seater on.

“Sounds good to me.” Chris agreed.

Beth glanced at him, frowning slightly. “You don't care at all, do you?”

“I mean, I don't care what it looks like, but it sounds functional, and I appreciate that.” Chris replied. “My one comment is that we should make sure the chairs from around the couches can be used comfortably around the dining table as well, so we can have a larger group around the table if necessary.”

Beth smiled, nodding excitedly. “That's a great idea!” She looked around, thinking of what else they could add, before looking up and letting out a sigh. “We really need to figure out what to do about the ceiling. So much wasted space.”

Chris looked up as well, considering it for a moment. It was a lot of wasted space. The space was a cube, about six and a half meters on each side, leaving more than enough room for a second floor if they wanted. Unfortunately, adding a second floor would take a lot of time and money Chris didn't particularly want to spend… if only he could widen- Chris paused, blinking as the thought occurred to him. This was his ability wasn't it? Why couldn't he change the space? He focused on the wall, mentally pushing it away from him, until he felt a pop and… The space shrunk. “Eh?”

“What- did this place just get smaller?” Beth asked, looking around in confusion.

“I was trying to widen it…” Chris muttered, frowning as he tried to find where the extra space had gone. It couldn't have just disappeared, could it? That wouldn't make any sense. “Where… got it!” Chris exclaimed as he sunk his senses into the space, finding a connection to the wayward fragment and opening a portal to it. “Huh… not bad.” Chris commented as he walked in. The new space was about four meters on each side, while the previous space had only shrunk to about six meters on each side. “Does that math work out? Eh, probably.” Chris muttered to himself.

“What math?” Beth asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“That taking a four meter cube from a six and a half meter cube would give you a six meter cube.” Chris waved dismissively.

“Ah, yeah, cubic space is weird.” Beth nodded. “You know, this could probably fit the couch section nicely. And then you could do another for the dining set! How many of these do you think you could make?”

Chris frowned, pulling out his phone and opening a calculator app. “Three more, so four total? Which would give us an eight by eight floor plan, giving us… fifty percent more floor space. Though you'd need portals to get between them… hold on, I want to try something else.” He put his phone away, focusing on the ceiling, this time focusing on pulling instead of pushing, and the space slowly widened as the ceiling lowered. “There we go.” Chris nodded in satisfaction as he lowered the height to about two and a half meters, putting the sides at about five meters. “Much better.”

“What did you do?” Beth asked.

“Well, I separated this space by pushing out a wall, so I thought maybe the answer to expanding it was pulling, and… well, I was right.” Chris explained.

Beth nodded. “Gotcha. So are you thinking of four spaces like this or just expanding the big space? Or you could leave this space as a private space for yourself, and then use the larger space as a communal space!”

Chris nodded slowly. “That sounds like a good idea… I've never had a private space before. At least, not one I can really remember.”

Beth glanced at Chris sadly, before suddenly perking up. “Then I guess we'll have to make sure it's the best space you could ever want!” She grinned, grabbing his arm. “Come on, let's get back to the store and pick out a king size bed for it!”

Chris snorted. “What the hell would I do with a king size bed? I'm good with a twin.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “You at least need a queen.”

Chris shook his head. “Full, max. And why get a bed in the first place? I already have a place to sleep.”

“But it isn't your place.” Beth countered with a sigh. “Just trust me, alright? Make this space your own, and don't skimp on the luxuries. It'll be worth it.”

Chris narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, wondering if she was getting at something else, before dismissing the thought with a shake of his head. “Fine, whatever you say.” He agreed, opening a portal and going to leave before pausing with a frown. “This isn't the store.” He muttered as he looked out into a grassy clearing within a forest.

Beth peeked out as well. “It kinda looks like the park on the fifth floor, but I don't think I've ever seen it this overgrown.” She commented tentatively.

“Why is it so bright?” Chris wondered, leaning out of the portal and looking up, his eyes widening as he quickly pulled back in and snapped the portal shut.

“What?!? What did you see!?!” Beth asked insistently, looking between him and where the portal used to be.

“The sky.” Chris answered. “I think. It was blue, with a bunch of white things floating around…”

“You-” Beth began, before cutting off with a gulp. “You opened a portal to the surface!?!” She continued, hissing under her breath.

“That's what it looks like, yes.” Chris nodded.

“We- We have to tell someone!” Beth exclaimed as she started pacing. “This could be huge! We could-”

“We aren't doing anything.” Chris shook his head.

“What? Why not!?!” Beth asked incredulously.

“Because the only thing this will do is get people killed.” Chris replied seriously. “We can barely hold our own on the tenth level of the Maze, barely the middle mark of a place made for creatures who can't survive on the surface. There's absolutely no way we can do anything with this, except maybe alert whoever lives up there to our existence and get ourselves conquered or something.”

Beth hesitated for a moment, before letting out a sigh as she pushed down her frustration at humanity's weakness. “Yeah, that's probably fair.” She glanced at where the portal had been again. “How did this even happen?”

“I separated the space?” Chris offered. “That's the only thing I can think of that might have done something like this. Hold on.” He opened a portal back to the original space, before opening a portal to the outside again, which revealed the furniture store, just like it should. “Yup, see?” He closed the portal as he turned back to Beth. “I guess new spaces connect randomly to the outside world or something?”

Beth frowned thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense? Kinda? Ugh, I don't know, I'm still trying to process the idea that you have a portal to the surface!” She groaned, rubbing at her eye with the heel of her palm.

Chris shrugged. “I'm just going to pretend it's an isolated space that doesn't connect anywhere except here.”

Beth couldn't help but snort at that. “Right, of course. So what if your bedroom connects to the surface? You can just pretend it doesn't, and there's no problem!”

“Exactly.” Chris nodded, grinning slightly.

Beth rolled her eyes at him. “Chris, I was being sarcastic.”

“I know, but I still agreed with you.” Chris chuckled.

Beth just glared at him for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Let's go buy you some damn furniture.”

*

Even with all the extra space, Beth didn't see any reason to change the plans for the sitting areas, so she quickly picked out the two couches, the coffee table, four chairs, and a dining set, a few guys helping them get it all set up in the space while Chris and Beth argued over who was paying, which Chris eventually won, because in the end it was his space, so he'd buy everything for it. Chris hid Dyrdek in the separate space while they worked, letting him out to enjoy the new furniture once they were gone. They had to go to a different store for the bedroom set, where Beth did end up talking Chris into the King bed, along with a dresser and standing closet. Chris was more tempted to let Beth pay this time, since she was definitely the driving force behind it all, but ultimately it was still going to be his, so he still paid. In the process of getting it all into the space, he noticed that although it looked like he could open a portal directly to the new space, he felt it passing through the original space when he did, a lot like the portals between him and his minions. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it was definitely something to keep in mind.

Their last stop ended up being a bookstore, so they could buy a bunch of games and puzzles for Chris's space. “How did book stores turn into game stores?” Chris asked as he studied the selection of board games.

“Board games don't have enough draw to sustain their own store, and with the rise of ebooks, book stores are losing their draw as well, so by adding games they can keep a steady flow of customers?” Beth suggested after a moment of thought. “Plus there's probably a lot of overlap between people who read books and people who play board games.”

Chris paused for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, that checks out. Makes me wonder if we should buy some books too, though.”

Beth frowned. “I'm not sure… unless you buy a lot of books, I don't think it's worth it, because you aren't going to have enough of a selection to really interest people. Plus, the squad can just bring their own books, so the only one you'd really be buying them for would be Dyrdek, who I'm fairly certain can't read.”

“True.” Chris nodded, frowning slightly. “Should I teach him?”

Beth blinked. “Maybe? It couldn't hurt, I guess, though I don't think he'd have much use for it either.”

“Yeah, I agree, it's just such a basic skill for us that it feels kinda wrong to just be okay with him not knowing how to, you know?” Chris replied, scratching the back of his head.

“It does, doesn't it?” Beth agreed. “Maybe you should just ask him?”

“Yeah, probably.” Chris muttered, letting the topic drop as they kept shopping. They made sure to get a good selection of single player games as well, mostly for Dyrdek, before they checked out and headed back to the tailor to see if Chris's suit was done.

"Ah, just in time!" The tailor announced as they walked back in. "Come, come, try it on!" He waved Chris towards the back, where the changing rooms were.

Chris glanced at Beth, who nodded excitedly, nudging him forward, before sighing and trudging back to the changing room. He took the freshly tailored suit and stepped inside, carefully putting it all on. The process went smoothly, until he got to the tie. He looked at Beth helplessly as he stepped out of the changing room. "I forgot how to tie a tie."

Beth giggled and the tailor chuckled, pulling out a sheet showing the directions for several types of tie knots he could attempt. "Here, you can keep this."

"Uh, thank you." Chris thanked him politely, before copying the first method to tie a simple knot, adjusting it a few times, before looking up and spreading his arms in presentation. "Well? What do you think?"

"Okay, first, when you wear a suit, only button your top button." Beth pointed out.

Chris frowned, looking down. "But there are two buttons."

"Yes, but you only use the top." Beth replied.

Chris's frown deepened. "Why?"

Beth shrugged. "It's just the way you do it. Oh, and always unbutton before you sit down."

Chris looked down at the button again, before looking back up. "This is already too many rules for buttons."

"Don't worry, that's really all you need to know." Beth responded, looking him up and down again. "You look good."

"Of course he looks good!" The tailor exclaimed. "My suits always look good!"

Beth smiled. "Yes, thank you. How much do we owe you?"

The tailor went to the desk, doing some calculations, before coming to a total. "A little over a thousand, so we'll just call it a thousand dollars even. Call it a first time discount." The tailor grinned while Chris's eyes widened. A thousand dollars for a suit?!? He could afford it, but damn! He didn't realize this kind of thing was this expensive.

"Uh, let me just grab my wallet." Chris replied, heading back into the dressing room to fish his wallet out of his pants.

"Chris, are you sure? I can definitely pay for this, no problem." Beth asked him with a concerned expression. She'd understood him paying for all the furniture and stuff, since ultimately it was all for his space, but this was purely for her, and forcing him to buy something so expensive just to accompany her to a party he probably didn't even really want to go to didn't sit well with her.

"Nah, I'll pay. I have my stipend, remember? Without any expenses, I've built up quite a bit of money." Chris explained. "Buying a suit won't even make a dent in it. I was just surprised. I didn't think suits were this expensive."

“Are you sure?” Beth asked. “You wouldn't even be getting a suit if it wasn't for me.”

“True, but suits are useful. You need them for dances, weddings, funerals… other things, probably. You may be the reason I'm getting it now, but there are decent odds I would have needed to buy one soon anyway.” Chris retorted, pulling his debit card out and handing it over to the tailor before Beth could argue any further. Once he'd paid, he went back to the changing room to get back into his regular clothes, stashing the suit in the standing closet they'd just bought. "So, do you want to get something to eat before you head back home?" Chris asked as they left.

"Sure! But I'm definitely paying.” Beth insisted. “What do you want to get?"

“Sure you are.” Chris snorted. “How about pizza?”

"I could do pizza. And I am paying." Beth retorted, pulling out her phone to look at nearby restaurants. Neither of them were really familiar with the area, so they found the restaurant with the best reviews and headed there. “What kind of pizza do you want to get?” She asked as they sat down.

“Pepperoni?” Chris suggested.

“Ooh, how adventurous.” Beth smirked.

Chris rolled his eyes. “Who wants to be adventurous when it comes to meals? What if you end up ruining your meal by getting something you don't like? Do you force yourself to eat it or do you just go hungry? Either way, you're going to be miserable, and it just isn't worth it.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “Then how do you ever find new foods to enjoy?”

“Minor adjustments.” Chris shrugged. “Get a new topping on half, or as a slice. If you can, try it as a side or an appetizer. If not, share it with someone else in addition to your regular meal. Or you can just ask to try something someone else got. There are tons of ways to experiment that don't risk ruining your own meal.”

“So are you going to be making any minor adjustments to this meal?” Beth asked.

“Oh, no. I only really like pepperoni on pizza. I can take sausage or bacon, but even then, I really just prefer the pepperoni.” Chris replied.

Beth sighed. “Well, I suppose that's fair. Mind if I add some veggies on half?”

“Go for it.” Chris agreed. The server came by a few moments later and they put in their order. “So…” Chris began after the server left. “Is there anything I need to be aware of for this party? Like, is there going to be some kind of centerpiece full of food that I'm not actually supposed to eat or something?”

Beth shook her head. “Nothing like that… there- might be some people who'll try to make things difficult for you.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. “Why?”

Beth sighed. “For various reasons. Because you aren't an elite, because you aren't strong, because you don't play along with their games… but the big one is probably going to be because I brought you, and some people feel the need to compete for my attention.” She finished with a grimace.

“Beth, that seems like something you warn a guy about before he buys a suit for the thing.” Chris replied with a frown.

Beth flushed. “I know, I just- I didn't know how to-” Her expression twisted and she looked down at the table. “I'm sorry. I understand if you don't want to come anymore and I'll pay you back for the suit.” She finished in a quiet voice.

“No, it's fine.” Chris waved dismissively. “Besides, what could they really do? They'll just be annoying at best.”

Beth looked up, surprised before her expression twisted again and she let out an awkward cough. “They- may challenge you to a duel.”

“A duel?” Chris blinked. “Does it mean anything? Like, would it cost me money or something?”

Beth frowned. “No? It's just an honor thing.”

“Oh, then who cares?” Chris waved dismissively. “Basing your pride on who's a better fighter is dumb anyway.” Beth smiled. This was why she liked Chris. She couldn't even imagine him getting twisted by the high society nonsense. He was too… Chris. And it was a good thing.