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Newton sat on the usual bench that had been placed on the tallest hill, long before he’d been born. Yet, the bench still stood, and he and Sackboy occasionally met there when the other was lonely. There were never any agreed upon times to meet, it was just whenever the other came. And Newton liked that.
He waited, staring up at the sky. The odd visual glitches had been affecting it, as of late, but there were none of them tonight. He was both relieved and slightly concerned, but he chose to ignore it.
He’d only just been told of how this world actually worked only recently. Of course, it was still made with creativity, as the old Bunkum folklore said, but programming and code held that creativity together. Made it usable. And something was affecting that code, he knew. He just wished he was more techy than inventy now, so he could do something about it rather than sitting around, tightening bolts and nailing things together.
Sackboy tried explaining it to him before, but he never actually really understood the situation. It seemed dire, just listening to him. People on the outside, on the Orb of Dreamers no less, were directly affecting the world he resided in. Visual glitches weren’t the only thing that’d been happening, he’d often hear a voice in his mind telling him awful things. At first, he thought it was just the aftereffects of the Titans possession, many years ago (since he was still dealing with those), but turns out everyone else heard it, and heard those same things. Sackboy had been the most affected, however. His Pod often touched down littered with graffiti and crude words that nobody could trace.
Newton had a bad feeling about everything. One event after another really made it seem like nothing would get better. But a few nights ago, it all suddenly stopped. The voices, the glitches, everything just stopped. He would normally be relieved, but it only made him more worried. Was this just the calm before the storm?
“Newton? Bunkum to Newton, you hear me?” Sackboy snapped his fingers, and Newton stared at him. “Oh, sorry! Just spaced out a little there, heh...” He nervously laughed. He moved over on the bench, letting Sackboy sit beside him. “Are you okay?” Sackboy asked, his voice filled with concern. “You seemed a little... I dunno, uh... bad, there.”
Newton shook his head. “No, really, it’s fine.” He tried to smile. “Just thinking. About all the glitches. They’ve gone, haven’t they? That’s great, isn’t it?” That’s good, right? Please tell me it’s good, Sackboy. You know more than me about the Orb of Dreamers.
Sackboy hesitated, looking down at his hands. He absentmindedly picked at his stitching. “It’s not. You don’t- no, can’t know everything about it. But it’s really bad, Newton.” He paused, trying to think of some way to word this. “You know the Team Picks portal? In the Ziggurat?”
Newton nodded. “Yes, I’ve only been there once, though.” He remembered going there with Marlon, which had ended up being more trouble than it was worth. Snow was caught in Marlon’s hair for days.
“Well... It hasn’t been open. It can’t...” He tried to think of how to explain it, and Newton wished he’d just say the truth without trying to sugarcoat the severity of the situation. “It can’t connect to the Wonderplane. It never will. That’s why the glitches disappeared. The connection to the Wonderplane was severed.” He seemed like he wasn’t explaining some things, only just enough to have Newton understand. Newton didn’t like being treated like a child when it came to important things such as this, but he didn’t argue.
“Severed?” He repeated. “Why?”
“The glitches,” Sackboy said, shifting slightly on the bench, “were intentional.” He paused. “Severing the connection wasn’t my decision at all, but it was the only way to fix them.” He sighed, looking like a parent trying to explain death to a child. “And... It also severed the connection to other Sackpeople. Nobody can come here anymore except me.”
...What? “You’re lying.” Newton mumbled after a couple seconds. All of the friends he’d made of the other sackpeople that would occasionally visit, gone?
“I’m sorry.” Sackboy said, as if this was his fault. Newton knew it wasn’t, but he knew Sackboy would still feel guilty no matter what he said. Newton moved a little closer to Sackboy, their shared presence comforting the other. “It’s not your fault. You said it yourself; it wasn’t your decision. And... Bunkum’s still here, right? We could visit Craftworld, or Carnivalia... We don’t need access to the Wonderplane to still... Still...” He fumbled for words.
“Have fun?” Sackboy finished his statement, smiling slightly (as bittersweet as it felt). Newton nodded. “Yes. Have fun... After all, I’m sure our friends are having fun elsewhere.” Without us. Without Bunkum. His thoughts brought him down, but he continued.
Sackboy said something that didn’t quite make sense to him. “They’ve grown up. They don’t need us anymore.” He stared up at the stars, Craftworld barely visible to the naked eye from where they sat together. His eyes were wistful, as if he’d seen much more than Newton had, despite being younger than him (to Newton’s knowledge, that was). Newton leaned forward slightly, trying to meet Sackboy’s gaze. “What do you mean, chum? They don’t need us? Our friends?”
The sackling shook his head. “They’ve moved on already. Remember how sackpeople slowly started coming here less and less?”
Newton nodded. “Yes, I do. It was… Well, a bit lonely, around here.” Still is.
“They moved on long before the connection to them was pulled.” Sackboy got up. “I’m sorry.” He spoke softly yet cryptically, turning to leave. Newton grabbed his arm. “Wait!”
Sackboy looked at him. “What is it?”
“Please tell me… You won’t go too.” Newton’s voice cracked. Sackboy’s eyes widened, and he choked on his own words for a moment. “Newton, I wouldn’t. I belong here. Even if everyone else has gone…” He stared far off into the starry sky, filled with far-away planets. “I won’t leave you guys for anything. Promise.” He held out a small stuffed pinky to the inventor.
Newton took it with his own, a smile slowly forming. “That means a lot, chum… Thank you.” He wanted to ask Sackboy something else. Sackboy had been holding information back from him, he knew that. But he still wanted to ask… “Will our friends ever come back? I mean, it must be possible to restore the connection and fix the glitches, right?”
Sackboy sighed. “Newton…” He still stood on the hill by the bench, turned towards him. “They can’t come back. It’s just not very… Possible.”
“But… What about their dreams? Their creativity? Where would it all go?” Newton asked. “Where would their ideas stay?” Our friends have to come back. They have to…
“Strewn about the Orb of Dreamers, obviously. They don’t need Bunkum or Craftworld to be creative, you know. After all, only some creativity lingers in the Imagisphere for Craftworld to have and to protect.” Sackboy explained. “Maybe we’ve made the Orb of Dreamers a better place for… Well, the Dreamers! There’s no way to know, really.” He smiled. “But I’m sure we’ve caused something.”
“Mom, ten more minutes, please! I’ve almost beaten the last level!”
“Fine, but after that you go right to bed, alright?”
“Look what I drew!”
“Ah, that’s the one guy, from your favorite game, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! It’s Sackboy!”
“You got me a Sackboy plush?”
“Well, I know you wanted one, so…”
“Mom, do you wanna play LittleBigPlanet 3 with me? I brought it with.”
“After I get off, we can play a few levels, alright?”
“I’m gonna do a livestream when we get home, mom! I want them to see LittleBigPlanet!”
“Alright, you have fun. Say hi to your friend for me!”
He had a look in his button eyes as if Sackboy knew they had, truly. And Newton believed him wholeheartedly.
“Thank you. That puts me at ease a bit, after all the bad news.” Newton got up, checking his Popit and pulling out some new blueprints to work on. “I have to go, it’s getting late. After all, I promised Marlon I’d teach him how pistons worked.” Newton laughed. Sackboy nodded, already walking his own way. “See you later!” He waved, leaving towards his Pod. Newton watched him go. Maybe he’s right. We’ve probably inspired somebody out there to do something amazing with their creativity. There’s just no way to tell. He stared off towards the sky, at Craftworld. Maybe they will come back, someday. I hope so.