Infinity Cube Chapter 22 | Draft - 3

This is more or less an update for you all, to one let you know I'm still alive.

But two, that the quality control on this chapter has been rough but worth it.

Flows a lot better compared to the last rushed chapters now that I've gone through it so carefully. However, the whole chapter has been chopped up into pieces, and I'm stitching it back together gently.

This is actually my most recent edit as I'd been working on the second half of the chapter until now. I hope you find it to be a much needed improvement like I have.

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“These are delicious! I feel bad for being surprised; my Mei Lin would have burnt down the house.” Elizabeth exclaimed, before letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction as she took another bite of the warm cookies my fiancée had baked for us before her uTuber stream.

“She really got into Home Economics in highschool. Had a whole thing about surprising me with a new dish every week or so. Back then, Mei Lin was always scheming up new ways to make me smile.” 

Those were the memories I cherished the most. A large portion of our lives since highschool had been anchored around each other when Mei Lin wrote our relationship directly into my existence. It couldn’t be anything less than perfect, and I wouldn’t have anything else.. Mei Lin is my everything.

“Oh right, you two went to grade school together.. That's still kind of bizarre to think about. We only just used to be somewhat good roommates. Honestly Alice, you fucked up reality pretty bad from what it used to be.”

“Honestly Elizabeth, it’s really not that bad. Are you sure you don't want to stay with us? I know we asked before, but the thought of you living in a pocket dimension apartment just feels.. I dunno? A little bit Isolating?”  

Since that whole mess with the 'the incident' and ultimate destruction of the ‘infinity cube’, daily life has been surprisingly low-key.

Liz and I practically set up camp in the university lab for a solid two days, working our butts off to piece together our original PhD project before the deadline. Scavenging parts from leftover prototypes, we somehow managed to cobble it all together in time to submit it along with our thesis.

Although, despite working intimately in tandem on our magnum opus, it didn't feel different from any typical crunch-time all nighter. Neither of us hardly uttered a word to each other for hours at a time

Elizabeth had turned down Arc's offer to replicate her version of the universe or seek an alternative that could possibly suit her. I would have made the same choice even if for different reasons. Personally, I've kept a very long list of reservations about Arc; however, something about him made it practically impossible to not want to listen to every word he says with rapt attention.

“I have my reasons and I'm sure you know exactly what those are; I think it'll be better this way for now at least. Regardless, there’s a lot of… New concepts I’ve been researching, but it's hard to focus on without privacy.” My counterpart blushed, lightly biting her lip.

“Oh yeah? Well, as long as you’re comfortable where you’re at right now Lizz.” I breathed out with a gentle smile, resting my chin in my hand. Taking a moment to really look at the girl I used to be. “Hm, you know- and not to change the subject or anything, but you’re adorable Lizzy.”

I meant it too. Even in spite of that fact that I'd never seen her in anything other than dull colored hoodies and sweatpants. Elizabeth simply lacked aesthetic charm. At least outside her natural beauty. Something we both shared, she just.. Didn't seem to know what to do with herself.

Not that she was interested in fashion or beauty to begin with. Otherwise I would have loved to teach her how to do her makeup, or take her down to my favorite boutique at the mall for a shopping spree- oh my god, dark academia would fit her so well! But, of course she turned me down. Every single time.. 

“No. I'm not, and would you please stop looking at my chest?” Elizabeth huffed in a desperate attempt to feign displeasure. Pink hues flushing across her cheeks only served to prove my point further.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm just not used to seeing myself l.. so, flat.” I hadn't considered how uncanny it was to stare at a version of myself entirely devoid of my most important features until now. Elizabeth wasn't just an inferior woman but a total bug bite beta, the bottom of the barrel. 

And in my defense, I had attempted to compress my tits down to a modest bust; about the size of your typical prize winning watermelons. Something that should be reasonable for someone who didn't grow up within the DD Hierarchy… At least that's what I assumed, given that I have no idea what would've been considered normal in her unaltered past.

It probably didn't help that my off-shoulder rose-pink designer Lobotúre sweater only came up high enough to cover my nipples. Nor that the neckline was practically non-existent, curving down in a wide U-shape; The whole point was to show off about 85% of your cleavage to anyone directly in front of you. Both a total power move, and a display of confidence to other women.. Was that not acceptable before the cube.

That wasn't too bad right? I figured out how to alter my tops to scale with my tits last week so at least it still fits properly.

“It’s fine. I'm just not used to being surrounded by so much sex stuff.” Elizabeth finally responded in a hushed, far away whisper, after silently thinking for an unusually long time. “Or I guess, I never noticed.” She added, even quieter at a near inaudible volume.

Another momentary pause before she blinkered herself back to the present, taking a deep breath and gently regaining composure. It was cute to see her put effort into gaining more confidence. “Anyway. Back to what I came here for; Arc had been wanting to know if you were ready to officially join PRIME.” Elizabeth’s voice sharpened, dropping register, coming across much more clearly, and confidently. She straightened her posture and her eyes narrowed, giving me a serious existential crisis.

I-

Ok, now that surprised me. I never in a million years would have considered Elizabeth could be a person who would give off anything close to ‘hot milf next door' vibes but holy fuck she was actually pulling it off. Four years made a hell of a difference. That, or maybe I'm just that easy. “So, about the job.. I've just been busy doing other things, you know? Graduation is in two months, Mei Lin and I are getting married in the fall, and I've-”

“Alice, I want to make it clear to you how important this position is. You remember what V’aquisa said, this isn’t really something we can ignore. We’re smarter than everyone, Alice. Our potential for the PRIME Initiative is the whole reason Arc gave us the cube.” Elizabeth's smile sent chills down my spine.. More and more it began to dawn on me that I didn’t really know anything about the shy mousy brunette. We knew our similarities but… Our differences were complete blind spots, gaps between our mirrored thoughts which seemed to be getting more out of sync.


“That doesn’t mean we should just do whatever they tell us. I’ve been taken advantage of before, and I’m not letting that happen again.” I huffed.

“Exactly, that's my point. They came to us, Alice. We have been granted full unrestricted access to PRIME facilities and resources; they need us, not the other way around.” She nodded to herself proudly, softening up from her fleeting intensity. A trait I didn’t at all expect we would’ve shared.  

“I’m not entirely convinced, but you do make a good argument.” It made sense, especially with my own godhood. As long as we worked together, we’d be practically unstoppable..
Theoretically.

Though she was forgetting about Ryan. If anything he was more important than either of us, the boy was just a bit immature and scatterbrained sure, but he still mattered in all this.

“Even V’aquisa seemed impressed.”  

Ugh.

Honestly, I didn't really like V'aquisa. Apparently the void goddess was the fourth highest being below Arc in terms of pure void energy, but taking one look at the frigid bitch all it took. Her smiles were so glaringly fake and petty I could feel it in my tits. Although, I couldn’t deny that she was intelligent, and I haven't really been keeping up with all the ‘void’ stuff. I'd been busy living my already busy life as I always had.


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So yeah, I should be able to connect this to the other edited part soon, for another, and way sooner update than this took jeez, and I kept Lobotúre because it flows better phonetically, but I'm squeezing Mädels into the second half because it's 100% a brand Alice would buy from