John Atherton looked through the thick glass at the model village deep in the heart of Site-12 as a bored expression crossed his face. While initially interesting, all the joy of watching the lives of the mascots was sucked quickly away by the sheer repetitiveness. He flipped through his manual for the eighth time this shift.
In 2003, The Foundation developed the prototype for the Fictional Animation Nexus, capable of imbuing pictures with a 3D body and life. The practical…
He was asleep before he finished the sentence.
Lucky the Leprechaun turned the brass doorknob and entered his home. It wasn't a mansion, but the work he did for the Foundation was important and he felt like he'd earned it. Working in accounting was far cry from what he remembered about his Fae life, but at least he didn't worry about treasure hunters. And being able to pull money from thin air made for one damn good accountant.
"Hullo, Lucy! It's ya Lucky. I'm home."
No response.
"Lucy?"
Panic rushed through him as he ran through the house. Finally, after five minutes, he found the note on the bedroom nightstand.
going to see Trisha, be back soon.
Love,
Lucy
Lucky's heartbeat returned to normal. Then he remembered; Trisha was still at the office. She'd been working overtime because of some massive incident in Kansas City and she'd needed to get all the funds she could. Lucky grappled with the fact that she'd lied to him.
"There has ta be a reason. She wouldn't just lie ta me?" He repeated over and over like a mantra.
Then he heard a giggle, then a laugh. Springing to the window, he saw the outline of a woman and a thin figure with two long, floppy ears.
"It's him, it's the goddamn rabbit."
He reached into the sock drawer and pulled out a long sock and began to fill it with gold coins.
"Sleep with my wife? Oh no ya don't."
Trix the Rabbit opened the door on the second knock, clad in a maroon bathrobe and dragging on a long cigarette. The anti-anxiety meds the Foundation had been given him had really smoothed out his edges.
"Hey, Lucky. Can I, uh, help you with anything?"
Lucky felt his blood boiling. "You know damn well what ya can help me with, ya overgrown Bugs-Bunny-Wannabe-Bastard." He shouted as he lunged for the hedonistic hare.
Over and over the two rolled as they exchanged punches and kicks, scratches and bites. Finally, Luck had the upper hand and held Trix 's throat against the ground.
"Any last words?"
A voice boomed, "He didn't sleep with your wife."
Lucky whipped around. "Then who did, Tony?"
Tony the Tiger tied his bandana around his neck and leaned against the doorframe. "I did. Trix just watched." Past the massive tiger, Lucky could see the king-sized bed had more than a few people in it.
"I'll- I'll- I'll"
"What stutter at me menancingly? Suck it up, Cucky Charms. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. I'm the king of the world."
Lucky pulled the coin filled sock from his hat and stared at the Tiger, eyes filled with rage. "Any last words, ya bastard?"
Tony laughed. "Yeah, Lucy said that it was Gr-r-r-r-reat!"
John Atherton woke up from a nap to see that parts of the village were on fire, yet again. Stifling a yawn, he reached for the phone to call the head researcher."
"Hey, Mike, it's John. Yep. Yep. Another one. Looking at some casualties. According to this, it was… related to an affair."
John pressed a button on the control panel, flooding the village with knockout gas.
"You know what I'll never get? No matter how many times we recreate these mascots, they're always terrible people."
John poured some milk into a bowl and reached for the Life cereal under the desk.
"And for terrible people, their cereal has no business being this damn delicious."
