Robert sighed and awkwardly patted Sunny's shoulder with one of his arm-slabs. His expression seemed to be sympathetic, to the extent that some pixels on a white surface could be. "Hate to break it to you, but, uh… happy endings don't really exist outside of fairy tales. Even if you return home, I'm sure you'll still have struggles and challenges to overcome. But that's alright, because there will be happy days. Happy middles, if you will. Don't you think?"
Sunny frowned. "But… Okay, fine, I know that expecting things to be perfect forever is unreasonable. But I need a happy ending to my quest, at least!" She groaned and stuffed her notebook back into her pocket. Sunny rubbed her temples, then stood up. "I'm going to find Jasper. We can brainstorm more things. Maybe… maybe we'll find something." She staggered a step, then righted herself and headed towards the kitchen.
Robert watched in concern, but she'd already disappeared into the back of the In-n-Out. He floated over to Jessica and let out a sigh.
In the back, Sunny was talking to a disinterested Jasper. "So, I was thinking there must be some kind of code monster around here. Have you heard of anything terrorizing villages?" Sunny flipped through her notebook and grimaced. "Or– or some other problem we can fix!"
Jasper glanced up briefly from where he was sitting on a crate, reading The Adventures of Semika the Semicolon. "Your tenacity is really something. Haven't you gotten the message yet? We're not going home."
"I refuse to accept that! I–"
Jasper cut her off. "You sound like an infinite loop. Isn't it time for you to break and move on to the rest of the program?"
Sunny spluttered. "That– that sounds like an insult. But it's fine, I get it. You're tired and hopeless. So you can rest for now and leave things to me, because I've still got things to try! If the code monster thing doesn't work out, we can just offer our hero services to the citizens of this land, or maybe research how coding on Earth really affects this world, or ask more ambassadors, or the Council Robert said they work for, or…"
Jasper looked up again and fixed Sunny with a stare. "Don't waste your energy on this." He set down the book and started pacing. "I was full of ideas, too, right after my quest. I thought I could perhaps bring peace to every single conflict in Javaland, the Republic of C++, Pythonia, etc.… And I traveled all over with a focus, but none of those resolved conflicts rewarded me with a portal. Even summoning the errors did nothing more than doom another person to the same fate." He raised his arms and dropped them helplessly. "At this point, it's better to accept being stuck here as fact and move on. That's what I'm going to do."
Jasper offered Sunny a half-smile. "At least we can still have Earth-style burgers and fries."
Sunny huffed a laugh, but the mirth soon faded from her face and she sat down heavily on another upside-down crate. "So I just… give up?" The faces of her family flashed through her mind. She remembered the way sunlight fell perfectly on the apple tree in her backyard, and her younger brother's infectious laugh, and the way school could be occasionally, sometimes, fun. Okay, she didn't particularly miss school, but everything else…
She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. Then Sunny looked back up at Jasper. "Maybe you've been here long enough that you're willing to forget everyone waiting for you back home, but I haven't. I'm still going to try."
Jasper nodded slowly. "Suit yourself. But if you don't find a way, feel free to come back here. I can teach you to make French fries. It's a process I discovered through significant trial and error…"
"Thank you." Sunny smiled for real this time. "So, what are you going to be doing while I go around trying to discover the secret to portalling?"
"Maybe I'll learn to make fried chicken. I could set up a restaurant chain." Jasper grinned and sat down on his crate again. "Or I could travel some more– I haven't explored all the islands yet."
"Sounds fun. Think they give travel discounts to heroes?"
"Ha, maybe!" Jasper leaned back against the wall and stared off into space, as if daydreaming about all the things he could do. "I've always wanted to travel the world and learn different languages and cultures. Before, I was traveling for work, but now I suppose I can travel for fun. It won't be exactly what I imagined, but I think it'll still be neat."
"Bring back some souvenirs, please! And if you ever travel within Javaland and see Professor Polly, Adelia, or Eniac, give them my greetings." Sunny smiled.
They continued discussing Jasper's travel plans, and Sunny felt her spirits rise. After all, this place wasn't the worst place to be trapped, was it? Although she really would prefer to get back home.
Finally, it was evening again, and Sunny stretched her arms, getting ready to spend another night in the main area of the In-n-Out. Perhaps she and Robert could set off the next morning.
Jasper stood up and set his hands on his hips. "Y'know what? I might actually enjoy living in this world. Who cares about a portal?"
Sunny bit back an, "I do." If Jasper was feeling optimistic, who was she to correct him?
The previous hero walked into the kitchen and smiled at the counters fondly. "My new life in this coding world starts now."
And then Sunny saw it: a flicker of iridescence, right next to the divider between the kitchen and the main area.
She squinted at it. "Jasper, I… is that…"
The splotch of color expanded, swirls of color forming a thin film in the shape of a door. Sunny gasped and stumbled backwards into a counter.
Jasper stopped short and stared at it with wide eyes. He looked from Sunny to the soap-bubble-like film.
"P-portal!"
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