A Job at Virtupets

     Felix had been gazing so intently out the window at the endless abyss of space beyond, that he hadn’t heard the approaching hoof-steps which signaled the return of Janet, his chaperone. The Uni’s voice made him jump slightly.

     “Ah, yeah, good to hear,” he said, hoping she hadn’t noticed. “Hey, Janet, how long does it take to get used to being surrounded by this… nothingness?” He gestured out the window at the empty void.

     “I’m not sure anyone ever fully does,” Janet said, clinical as ever. “Come on, let me give you a bit of a tour.”

     Felix followed.

     The Virtupets Space Station was smaller and more claustrophobic than Felix had imagined. Beyond the waiting area, tight corridors and windowless rooms dominated its layout. As Felix moved from room to room, the sensation was akin to being swallowed up by the station. He supposed getting anything into orbit was an expensive endeavour, so it made sense that the station wouldn’t be larger than required.

     “So, what exactly is my role here? Would now be a good time to let you know some of my skills, so you can find something suitable or… how does this work?” Felix asked Janet, as he followed her closely, down into the belly of the beast.

     “That won’t be necessary. We’ve already determined where you’ll be stationed,” she replied.

     “Oh, great, great… see it’s just, I should probably let you know that my experience with spreadsheets is, well, I have some experience, like I know how to enter data into a cell or whatever, and I know a few different basic functions, but-“

     “Here we are,” Janet interrupted, “This is you.”

     They had entered a small circular room with a swivel chair, a simple control panel, and a large, reinforced window which looked out into an empty chamber.

     Janet turned the chair towards Felix and gestured for him to sit.

     He did as he was told, and Janet turned the chair around to face the panel again.

     The controls lit up in front of him, and out through the reinforced window a large circular disc ascended from a hatch in the floor of the previously empty chamber. From above, Petpets started falling down, first a Kookith, then a Warf. They landed on the circular disc and began to move about.

     An ominous banging came from behind a metal door on the far side of the chamber. It grew louder and louder, as Petpets continued to fall.

     “Today,” Janet leaned in and said softly, almost at a whisper, “you’ll be feeding Florg.”

     One month earlier

     Felix leant back in his chair at the Coffee Cave and sipped his tea while he waited for his contact, Marcus (not his real name, of course), to arrive. When he did, Felix spotted him immediately.

     Marcus was dressed in a long coat that almost brushed the floor, a trilby, and, to top it all off, shades. He was dressed as if he’d jumped right off the pages of a textbook titled How to dress inconspicuously and was therefore notably conspicuous.

     The Skeith sat down opposite Felix and spoke in a hushed voice.

     “Are you the one interested in Operation Tigersquash?” he asked furtively.

     “Yep,” replied Felix, trying not to laugh at the spy film pastiche playing out in front of him.

     “Here are the details,” Marcus said, flicking him a buff-coloured dossier with the word “SECRET” stamped on it (because, of course).

     Felix opened it and was greeted by a large gold logo – that of the Petpet Protection League, or PPL for short. Marcus reached over, quickly shutting the dossier.

     “What are you doing?!” he hissed. “Don’t open it here!”

     “Alright, alright, sorry Agent 00 Hog,” Felix responded, “Perhaps you could give me the gist then, before I accept?”

     “Petpets are going missing all over Neopia. The PPL knows where they’re going, but we don’t really know why. We need you to infiltrate the location and find a way to save them. For this, you will be paid handsomely,” Marcus explained in hushed tones.

     “Sounds easy enough,” said Felix. “Where am I going?”

     Present Day

     Felix gulped.

     This was a little closer to the action than he had anticipated. Infiltrating Virtupets Space Station was one thing, but he figured he’d have a role that would allow him to sneak off easily to complete the rescue mission. Working directly with the Petpets he was supposed to be rescuing, especially under the watchful eye of Janet, presented more than a few challenges. And what was that banging sound from the far end of the chamber?

     “So, just move this control stick here, and make sure no Petpets leave the disc. You must, at all costs, ensure the Petpets stay on the disc. If one starts heading towards the edge, move the stick and position the barrier in its way,” Janet explained.

     “Like this?” Felix moved the stick and bumped a Spyder back into the centre of the disc.

     The banging sound continued to get louder.

     “That’s it, just like that,” Janet responded.

     “And so, just a quick q, not trying to be rude here or anything but, why? Why am I doing th-“

     Felix stopped asking his question, as the answer had suddenly presented itself.

     The metal door on the far side of the chamber had opened, and a hideous, huge, mutated Chia had burst forth, saliva flinging wildly out of its open, hungry mouth. The Petpets unfortunate enough to have been on the disc were gobbled up before Felix could even process what he was seeing.

     “This is Florg,” Janet said impassively, pointing at the grotesque purple and green beast, “and we feed him Petpets. He has quite an appetite, it seems to get stronger and stronger every day…”

     Felix watched, mesmerized by what was happening in the room in front of him, and very thankful for the reinforced glass between him and the monster.

     Janet had moved behind him, towards the door.

     “See the thing is,” Janet continued, “due to Florg’s incredible appetite, we have attracted the attention of the PPL. I suppose you can’t take over 100 Petpets a month without that lot noticing. They asked us to stop. We said we would love to, in theory, but explained the need to keep Florg fed. It’s in Neopia’s best interest, see? So, they came to us with a different proposal…”

     Janet walked out the door. It slammed shut behind her.

     Felix turned around. Confused, he left his chair and investigated the door. It was shut solid, with no obvious way of opening it from the inside.

     “Hello, Janet?” He called out, his voice betraying a rising fear.

     Janet’s face appeared on a monitor above the door. Marcus walked into frame next to her.

     “So sorry, Felix,” he said, “but take comfort in the fact that the Petpets of Neopia are safe for another month or so, thanks to your work here today. Commence Operation Tigersquash!”

     The reinforced window behind Felix lowered slowly.

     As the shadow and hot breath of Florg drew closer to him, it occurred to Felix that Janet had been truthful about at least one thing today: it seemed he would be feeding Florg after all.

     The End.