Runaway

[maid_marion]

Who: Prudence, ot whomever

Comments

[nred]

Warren, as it happened, was playing a video game on Maya -- not the most practical use for an intelligent robot, arguably, especially given that her interface gave her an extremely unfair advantage in two-player mode -- and paused the game. "What the hell ... why does it sound like someone's trying to break into the store?" he commented, and headed for the security camera monitors. Sure enough, it looked like someone was banging on the door to their place.

"Goddamnit. Maya, shut the game down -- I think we've got a problem," he called, snagging a bulky pistol and turning on lights as he made his way up.

[robomaya]

Maya blinked happily, and shut her gaming systems down.

"Alright! I'm going to reboot myself for normal human function now, is that alright?"

[nred]

"Yeah, reboot for normal and come on up," Warren called, and answered the door. "Prudence, do you have any idea what time it is?"

[maid_marion]

"I'm sorry to be here so late," Prudence said, rushing in and getting out of sight of the doorway. "But you have to hide me!"

[nred]

"Okay... why, exactly?" Warren inquired, peering outside with flare launcher in hand. "What gives?"

[maid_marion]

"The Elders want to wed me to the Bountiful One at Harvest," Prudence cried, wringing her hands.

"I do not want to be Mrs. Corn Demon..."

[nred]

"Okay, I think you need to explain that a bit more carefully..." Warren said, closing and locking the door after being satisfied that The Elders were not a mob with pitchforks coming down the street or any such thing, "and out of the storefront. C'mon to the back."

[maid_marion]

Prudence followed Warren to the back, limping on her sore and bloody feet. "Thank you Warren, thank you..."

She was exhausted from the run over, and very relieved to be off the streets of Sunnydale.

[nred]

"Alright, then... now tell me what's going on, the full, not-currently-being-chased version," Warren said. He'd have to get someone to clean the carpets later, he mentally added, but somehow that didn't sound like a very practical thing to bring up.

[maid_marion]

"They told me I was to be the Harvest Queen, which is a great honor," Prudence said. "My mother was sewing me a beautiful white gown, which looks suspiciously like a bridal gown now that I think about it... anyhow, one of the Elders came to see me to talk about it when I was not wearing my gloves - it was at night, I was getting ready for bed."

She took a deep breath. "He touched my hand- and I could see what they truly wanted to do. He wants me to wed the corn demon to ensure the harvest will be bountiful for the next 100 years!"

[nred]

"Wow. So your messiah wants to cornhole you?" Warren summarized.

[maid_marion]

Prudence blinked. "Well, in essence.. yes."

[nred]

"Well, you can hide out here, I guess, at least for a while," Warren said. "Still, why does this corn demon have the hots for you specifically? And how about we bandage your feet - they're kinda messy-looking."

[maid_marion]

"The Elders wanted me to be their Harvest Queen because of my special gifts- they said it would ensure an especially good harvest. I guess the same goes for the corn demon..."

She sank down into a chair, and propped her feet up. "Thank you, Warren..."

[nred]

"Maya," Warren called, "I kinda need your help up here..."

After a moment to think about it, he added, "So now that you're gone, what do you think these guys are going to do about it?"

[maid_marion]

".. I don't know," Prudence said, then thought about it. "I imagine they'll try to find me - but if they can't, they'll probably press some other hapless girl into being the Harvest Queen. The only requirement is a virgin girl of virtue, after all..."