Chapter Text
In the dimness of the lab, the bright light of the computer stands out at the end of the room, illuminating a small girl. It takes Singed several seconds to adjust to the sight of her inexplicably invading his space.
The girl must be Silco's daughter—the blue hair is a dead giveaway. He still doesn't have the faintest idea of why she would be here, however. Rarely has he ever interacted with her, and usually just with short phrases or warnings, so it’s not as if she’s here for a chat. Therefore, there must be some outside reason for her presence here.
It's not as if he'll find answers by loitering in the doorway. Singed steps into the room, and this causes his presence to be noticed immediately. Jinx startles, her eyes going wide and shoulders hiking up towards her ears.
As soon as she sees who it is, though, she relaxes a little. It's not the usual reaction Singed garners from those around him. He walks over to where she's sitting at his desk, her eyes tracking him cautiously.
Finally, the girl speaks up, her voice a nervous squeak. "...Don't tell on me? Please?"
Ah, she must be doing something Silco doesn't want her to do, then. If he recalls correctly, Jinx had been grounded for some reason or another.
"The only thing that concerns me is what you're doing in my lab."
Again, Jinx's muscles loosen further, a short sigh escaping her. "Well, I was... so there's this game called Minecraft. Have you heard of it?"
Singed glances over at the computer screen. The bright greens and blues displayed on it may as well have been foreign to him. He never used it for anything other than business.
"No, I haven’t."
"Okay, so, it's this game where you can break and place blocks—"
Jinx goes into a full on spiel, moving the screen around to demonstrate the things she's talking about. From what Singed gathers, the game is all about survival and power. You eat and kill to survive, but also craft better weapons and armor to gain advantages against your opponents.
"I really like making contraptions though. You can use redstone to transmit signals and do stuff like explode areas or make blocks move."
While he has very little interest in playing this game, he must admit that Jinx has him intrigued. Singed pulls over the only other chair in the room and sits down beside her, then gestures forward. "Show me these ‘contraptions,’ then."
With glee, she does. This must be a world Jinx has spent a large amount of time on, if the complexity of her machinery is anything to go by. It's impressive, though he doesn’t fully understand it.
The night is when the monsters come, just as Jinx had told him. There are many different types of threats: skeletons, spiders, zombies, or even stranger creatures that Singed doesn't recognize. Of particular note are the bat-like creatures that keep attacking Jinx from above, and some green hissing thing that explodes when it gets too close.
Singed tries pointing them out to her when he sees them, but Jinx merely frowns, using her diamond sword on the skeleton in front of her. "Ugh, I know! If I don't kill this guy, he's just gonna keep shooting at me."
"If you do not kill the exploding one, he will blow a hole in your lawn."
As soon as the skeleton is dead, Jinx turns her attention to the other monster. "It's called a creeper, by the way. I think they were made cuz of a glitch or something."
The sword slices through the creeper, making a satisfying noise and throwing sparks into the air around it.
"Why do you keep jumping when you hit them? Is it for increased damage?"
"Yeah, I'm critting them. Kills them faster."
Humming, Singed responds, "Efficiency is preferred."
That taken care of, Jinx clicks on the bed inside her house, and her character closes its eyes, skipping the rest of the night.
It isn't until Singed's phone vibrates with an email that he realizes how late it is. The time reads ‘3:28.’
His phone is slid back into his pocket as he prepares himself for this conversation. He’s aware that children do not take kindly to being reminded of their limits.
"You should go back to your room. Your father will be furious with me if he finds out I let you stay up until this hour, so it’s best to minimize the risk."
Jinx pouts, which likely would have been more effective on Silco than himself. "He's being dumb. He won't let me play for two weeks."
That is a conundrum. Considering how intellectually stimulating the game seems to be, he doesn't understand what problems there could be with her playing it.
"Why does he not want you to play?"
"Cuz I'm not doing my homework. But homework is dumb. School is dumb. Everybody hates me there."
The tears pricking at her eyes tell Singed that this problem is one that he shouldn't be tasked with handling. He does his best to mask the grimace wanting to form. A situation like this must be handled delicately.
"Well. Perhaps if you explained to him the benefits of the game, he might understand why it is so engaging for you. Show him some of your contraptions."
Jinx's frown lifts, her eyes glancing over to Singed. "Do you think that would convince him? He hates video games."
"I'm not exactly a fan either, yet here I am." He pauses, then leans in conspiratorially. "If I could make a suggestion, wait until after tomorrow. He'll be frustrated after the meeting he has planned, and won't be as open to the idea. Try Thursday or Friday instead."
To his surprise, Jinx smiles, her crooked teeth showing. "Okay. Can I... come back here tomorrow night?"
Singed only needs to consider it for a moment. "You may. But next time, you will show me this 'Nether' you spoke of."
"Of course! Thank you Dr. Singed!"
She gives him a brief but tight hug, then bolts, becoming a blue blur that disappears out of the room.
Huh. How odd.