[Edward POV]
In the living room of my mansion, my friends gathered to hang out today.
"Since you need some time away to move on, why don't we go camping till the New Year comes?" Enid suggested.
"We already have the… camping plan anyway," Jenna added. "We're just going to do it earlier."
"Um. I don't think I can. I want to take care of my grandma–"
Suddenly, my grandma walked into the room and interjected, "Go with your friends, Eddy."
I turned to her and said, "Grandma. I need to take care of you–"
"I'll be fine. I already made some plans with your aunt and your stepmother. Just go on with your friends," Grandma said warmly.
I smiled and then turned to my friends again, "Alright. I guess we should go on the trip."
Everyone cheered. "Except for Billie," Finneas interjected. "She's too young to join in."
Thus, everyone except for Billie would go on the trip.
"Where should we go?" Enid asked excitedly.
"The beach?" Jacob suggested.
"No. We need someplace more private. Unless it's a private beach," Jenna interjected.
I thought about it and said, "A lake?"
"A lake will be fine. We can go skinny dipping–" Enid stopped herself, studying my expression, and changed, "We can… go fishing?"
"Awww." Jacob exclaimed in disappointment.
To be honest, they were planning a trip for a normal teenage group to go to. I could actually bring them to exotic places in other countries, but they wanted to experience a road trip together.
So I rented an RV, and we went out the same evening we made the plans.
At the Dunphys' house, I rang the doorbell, and Alex opened the door with confusion.
"Hmm? Why are you all here?" She saw Jacob, Jenna, and Enid grinning at her.
Suddenly, they picked her up and brought her into the RV.
"Unhand me! THIS IS KIDNAPPING!" Alex protested.
Claire came to the door, bringing a luggage bag for Alex. She handed it to me and said, "Have fun, Edward."
"Thanks, Mrs. Dunphy. I promise I will bring back your daughter in one piece."
She nodded, laughing slightly as she saw Alex protesting from afar. Alex saw Claire and a strong sense of betrayal bubbled up in her chest.
"I have some books I need to finish! At least let me bring those!" Alex shouted, but Jacob slammed the door in her face.
I climbed into the driver's seat and said excitedly, "Road trip, baby!"
"ROAD TRIP, BABY!" Everyone said at the same time.
Jacob started kissing Elsa in excitement on the RV bed, and Alex yelped in disgust. "Ugh. We're in a public space."
"HEY HEY HEY!" I yelled at them while steering the RV, looking through the back mirror. "Cut that out. If I have to keep it in my pants, EVERYONE HAS TO KEEP IT IN THEIR PANTS!"
Jacob yelled in protest, "My thing is still in my pants, man! I can't control my tongue, so I have to kiss her!!"
"You cut that out, Jacob, or I swear to God I will turn this RV back!" I snapped at him.
"FINE!" He shouted in frustration and then crossed his hands sulkily.
"Teenagers." I rolled my eyes. "Where did the sweet potato kid who's awkward around girls go?"
Alex was baffled and replied sarcastically, "You killed him. With your football and tricks to get girls. The potato kid was murdered… by you."
I thought about it and burst into laughter, "Yeah. I guess I did that."
Enid sat beside me, giggling the whole time.
"Do you know where we're going?" she asked me. Enid was the one who picked the place.
"We're not going to Laguna Lake Park," I told her with a grin.
Enid was startled and said, "Why not?! We all decided to go there!"
Everyone paid attention to my conversation with Enid. Jenna walked toward me, wearing a crocheted top and short skirt.
"We're not going to Laguna?" Jenna asked with curiosity.
"I checked the place with a satellite view. There's too many people there," I said. They nodded in understanding.
Finneas was also curious. "Where are we going then?"
Elsa shouted from afar, "Eddy! Remember, we're not going to use your money. This is a shared trip, and no one will spend more than the others."
I nodded in understanding and said, "Don't worry. I'm not doing that."
Enid grinned and said, "Where are we going then?"
"We're going to a new place."
I drove us to the Angeles National Forest, somewhere near Mount Saint Antonio.
The RV suddenly went off-road. The car shook tremendously, which made Finneas fall into Jacob's lap.
Jenna quickly took a picture as they were gazing in confusion at each other.
"Hey, de-delete that!" Finneas said urgently. Suddenly, the cabinet door above them became loose. The drums and guitar fell on their heads.
"Ed—d-d-d-d—" Jenna walked toward me, but we went through a rough road, which made her stammer from the vibration, her words becoming dragged out. "W-Whh–Wheerrre areee weeee gooooiiinnnggg??!"
"A hidden gem," I replied easily.
"I'm going to throw up," Elsa gagged from the vibrations. We finally arrived after climbing up for 40 minutes.
Elsa immediately puked as she opened the RV door and got out of the vehicle.
It was a scenic spot where the view of the mountain range, forest, and river filled our vision.
Enid gasped in admiration as she got out of the RV.
Everyone got out of the vehicle and began setting up the campsite before the sun went down.
I set up a small triangular tent. It took me 5 minutes to make it. As I turned to the others, I was confused when I saw Jacob building a large, family-sized tent.
"I thought we said we're not going to spend much?" I said accusingly.
Jacob smirked and said, "I didn't spend anything. This is my dad's tent."
"Wait. We can borrow tents from others?" I looked at my small shabby one and said, "How did I miss that?"
Alex guffawed and said mockingly, "Are you sure you're the smartest man in the world?"
*BOOM*
Everyone was shocked when a tent suddenly fell from the sky—a house-sized tent, with a living room, an actual bed, a battery-powered fan, and even a coffee desk.
It looked very cozy, and it demolished my small tent—literally. It fell on top of it.
I looked upward and saw Robin in a helicopter, wearing sunglasses. She gave me a thumbs up while her hair fluttered in the wind. And then, the helicopter left.
Everyone was silent for a while. Alex gulped her saliva and asked, "Is Robin watching us?"
"She's creating a perimeter around me so that no bad guy can target me. Ignore her," I replied as I began to anchor the big tent to the ground.
Everyone nodded in understanding before they went to build their own tents.
Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "Aren't you going to say anything about that?"
Finneas smirked and said, "By this point, we had learned to settle with 'as close to normal as possible.'"
"We're numb to it," Enid added with a giggle.
I shrugged and anchored the tent before helping the girls with theirs. Jenna said, "Well, Ed. Since your tent is so big, why don't we stay with you? I think it can fit several people in there."
"You want to share mine?" I looked at Jenna with disbelief.
Enid excitedly said, "Yeah. Instead of Alex, Jenna, and I sharing a tent, we can share it with you."
"Um… That would mean Finneas will be the only person who sleeps alone," I said as I turned to the boy who was struggling with his Boy Scout tent.
"He'll be fine," Jenna said dismissively and moved her stuff into the tent. "If he's scared, he can sleep in the RV. Ed, I can sleep on your bed, right? That's a king-size bed."
"You girls can take the bed. I'll sleep on the air mattress," I told them easily.
…
The sun had set, and the stars revealed themselves. Without the city pollution, the sky was full of stars tonight.
"There's no lake. How do we skinny dip?" Jacob was quite disappointed, staring at the bonfire while Elsa sat on his lap.
I smiled and said, "Who says there's no lake?"
Alex raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously, "There are no lakes near here. I've checked."
I smirked and said, "No. We just need to walk like 300 meters away from here."
"We're at the top of a hill?" Alex was confused.
"Let's finish setting up first, then I'll show you." I said as I took out a foldable table.
Cutting the meat and vegetables quickly, I made a barbeque and then ate with everyone. I also made a big pot of ramen that we all shared.
Then, we took a trip to the place I was talking about.
It was 700 meters away from the camping site, covered by some trees. It was impossible to go there with the RV, so we needed to walk there.
Before we left, I took out a large metal cube. It was white and gold and had LED lights inside.
"What's that?" Alex asked with intrigue.
"Protection." I said and pressed the button on the top of the box.
The box morphed, metal parts merging and rebuilding themselves until it became a 1-meter-tall humanoid robot.
"Whoa!" Jacob exclaimed in amazement. "What is that?"
"Just some perimeter robot." I told him. "Register everyone here. Notify me if other people break into the camp."
The robot nodded and immediately scanned everyone there. Then, it raised its right hand up and began checking the perimeter.
"What is it going to do if it finds anyone other than us?" Alex asked with concern.
"It will fire a bullet containing a small amount of dendrotoxin and put them to sleep for a while until I come." I said casually.
Alex's eyes lit up, and she asked, "You figured out the Night-Night gun?"
"What's a Night-Night gun?" Enid was curious.
I turned to Alex and smirked, "Pretty much."
"What is it?!" Enid asked again, feeling ignored.
Alex told her about the gun. It was from Agents of Shield. I did get the dendrotoxin formula from the gacha, but I made the gun myself.
Alex said happily, "Once the police force uses the bullet, there will be a lot fewer victims of trigger-happy police."
"Won't the police just use it to put them to sleep and throw them in jail without any due process?" Finneas asked, crossing his arms together.
Jacob smirked at Finneas, "Do you really think they aren't doing that now?"
"Fair point." Finneas nodded slightly.
"Once this is put into full production, it will lessen the need for patrol police and also stop racial profiling stop-and-frisk cases." I said simply.
We walked to the place I was telling them about.
Alex asked as she dodged a tree branch, "Did you make that in response to the NYPD saying they are going to walk out if they have to undergo the 2-year training to become better cops?"
"Absolutely." I replied. "They think they are irreplaceable. I want to see what will happen when they figure out a robot can do a better job than them."
We jumped over a large rock and slid down a hill. Jacob almost slipped and dropped down the ice box containing our beers.
Finally, we arrived at the spot.
"Here! A natural hot spring!"
The stars and moon were reflected on the pool-sized hot spring there. The water wasn't that deep—up to Alex's chest level—and there were parts of it that were shallow.
"This doesn't seem natural." Alex blinked slowly as she saw the circular boulder arrangement around the hot spring. Some were even set up to become seats inside the water.
I smirked and said, "Well. Natural-ish."
My duplicate went ahead and set up the place for us. It was only a small, ball-sized hole before, but I used some jutsu to enlarge the hole and also arranged the hot spring in a pleasant manner.
"Did you do this?" Alex was astonished. She heard some rustling and turned, only to see everyone else taking off their clothes.
Alex blushed slightly, becoming increasingly flustered.
"Wh-what are you all doing?" she asked nervously.
"Alex. We told you from the beginning." Jenna gestured in disbelief while in her black underwear. She smirked haughtily and said, "Skinny dipping."
Everyone jumped into the water after taking their shirts off.
The unwritten rule of skinny dipping was that we wouldn't stare at each other's naked bodies. Alex opted to use a towel, though, to get into the water.
Jacob and Elsa made out at the side. Finneas talked to me while Enid, Alex, and Jenna sat on the in-water seats, relaxing in the hot water.
"Jacob, you're going to make everyone pregnant here if you shoot it in the water. There's no chlorine here!" Alex warned Jacob seriously.
However, the couple ignored her.
I flicked a small pebble to the back of Jacob's head to get his attention.
"Ouch. What the fuck?" Jacob winced in pain and looked around instantly to figure out what hit him.
"Let's play Truth or Dare." Enid said as she cracked open a can of beer.
"Throw me one."
Enid smiled and picked up a dark red coloured can. It was a beer made specially for me. No one else could drink that since it would take them out in one sip.
She slowly moved towards me. Finneas became uncomfortable and said, "Enid. The water's very clear. Don't come near."
"Shut up Finn. Cover your eyes!" Enid snapped at him. Finneas sighed and covered his hand with his palm as Enid arrived at my spot.
She anchored herself to my hand and gave me the beer.
"Edward. Watch me as I walk away." She whispered.
"Okay." I replied easily. She smiled and returned to her spot. Mid-way, she stopped and turned back, trying to make sure I was watching.
She raised an eyebrow and splashed some water at me.
"You're not watching me at all!" She snapped.
"SO!" Finneas changed the topic. "Truth or Dare!"
"That's boring. We always play that." Jenna said begrudgingly. "What about monkey's paw?"
"Wait. it is Monkeys Paw, Monkey's Paw, or Monkey Paws?" Elsa asked.
"Who cares? Just play it." Finneas said with frustration.
I laughed and said, "Alright. The game suggestor should go first. She will make a wish, and I will add a catch to it to make her regret that wish."
Jenna batted an eye at me flirtingly and said, "Oh. You want to play with me Eddy? Alright. Then, should I do one wish or three wishes?"
"Three wishes is a different game. One wish." Finneas interjected.
"Alright." Jenna thought about it for a bit and then said, "I wish… for world peace."
"Awww…" Everyone groaned with disgust. "What?!" Jenna smiled in excitement, acting dumb. "I won don't I? There's no way Edward could add a catch to that which would make it bad."
"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin and thought about it.
"Okay. Granted." I began to add the catch to it. "World Peace is achieved. Every war stopped, even trade wars and gender wars."
"Yeay!" Jenna raised her arms up and stood up, which made her chest visible to everyone. Then, she yelped and crouched back down in the water.
"Finneas! I will kill you!" Jenna scolded him for some reason.
"Jen. I'm not finished." I smirked, my tone slowly becoming insidious.
"What?" Jenna was astonished, her heart beating quicker.
"Fine," I said, smirking evilly. "World peace comes. Every border opens. Every grievance is settled. Everyone is comfortable. Nobody dies in wars anymore. Great, right?"
She nodded too quickly, eyes shining. "Yes. That's great. How can that be bad?"
"But comfort breeds complacency. The experiments with the lab rats—remember those eco-sim papers you read in psych class?" I added.
"OOHHH!!" Alex was the first one to get it.
"When the lab gave them everything, food, shelter, zero stress, their drive to reproduce declined. They lay down and stopped caring. Their offspring dwindled." I explained.
Jenna's smile flickered. "That's… (Whisper) gross."
"It's not gross—it's nature," I said. "When a species reaches an equilibrium where every basic need is guaranteed, the evolutionary pressure to push, to fight, to risk, to create, drops.
"People stop inventing because… why take risks when everything's served?
"Artists stop painting because critique and hunger shaped their edge. Parents decide not to bring kids into a soft, stalling world.
"Economies freeze into giant maintenance machines. We tidy the planet, then tuck it in—so neat nothing new can grow."
"No. That's not what I want–" Jenna's eyes shook in horror.
I grinned, "Utopia is a slow anesthetic. If everyone's needs are met, the sparks that make breakthroughs—the anger, the hunger, the grief, the need for better—those sparks go out.
"People have less reason to risk anything to make tomorrow different. Population age. Culture calcifies. The museums become mausoleums of past appetite. We call it a miracle at first—no more blood in the streets—but later we call it a silence, and extinction."
I clapped at Jenna and said, "Congrats. World Peace is achieved. You did that with your wish."
Jenna became sullen and splashed some water on me.
Alex giggled and said, "Jenna, don't feel bad. The game gave advantage to the one who made the catch, not the wisher. 9 out of 10 times, the wisher will lose."
"Why don't you make the catch now?" I said to Alex.
She giggled and said, "Fine. You make the wish."
"Alright then. I wish, my true love is Enid." I said.
Enid gasped in excitement. She turned to Alex and said, "Hey! Don't you dare add a catch to that!"
Alex's eyes shook, and she became a bit uncomfortable. "Um."
"Come on Alex! Just grant that wish as it is!" Enid begged. "You're my best friend. Please!!!"
Enid turned to me and saw I was laughing insidiously.
"Oh you motherfucker!" She cursed.
(Thank you for the ones who had donated to me. I've raised around 50 bucks now.
50/500 to fix the flood damage in my house.
If you want to donate, you can do so via patreon.
Patreon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha )