[She took What?] - Chapter 99½: 100th Chapter Party…– Even the Shadows are feelin’ it.
“If it looks like cake and tastes like cake, I’ll call it cake.”
Attributed to James Whitcomb Riley on his 60^(th) birthday.
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The hundredth chapter landed with a quiet Pavlovian ping. UpdateMeBot had been watching and sent out its alerts. Eager readers salivated wondering what Feebee was up to now. HFYWaffle leapt into action and ensured the last twenty chapters were easily accessible. But then, everything went sideways.
Feebee was halfway through another stillness session, made difficult by Alpha-3’s constant complaining. She didn’t care if he didn’t want to be a monk. It wasn’t about being a monk.
The lights flickered, the engines coughed and spluttered but it was the crystal that hummed in her hand that caught Feebee’s attention.
Was it River?
No… and a banner unfurled across the Kestrel’s main display:
CHAPTER 100
It came with animated fireworks.
“...That doesn’t feel like a fracture,” she said slowly.
Rockson squinted at the console. “Nope. That’s… celebratory.”
Before anyone could question it, the bulkhead whooshed open and Alpha-2 walked in carrying something that definitely wasn’t regulation.
“Don’t ask,” he said. “It followed me out of storage.”
Behind him, a crate hovered in, labelled in bold, unfamiliar script: FOR NARRATIVE MORALE.
The QI flickered to life, projecting a slightly-too-perfect Drexari figure in hard-light that made the crew jump.
“Statistically,” said the QI, “milestone recognition improves cohesion by 17.3%.”
“Is that what this is?” Feebee asked.
“Affirmative. Also… cake.” Then the QI asked everyone, “Anyone for cake.”
No one questioned where the cake came from. They should have.
Rockson was already poking it. “Reckon this’ll explode?”
“It’s cake,” said the QI’s Drexari avatar.
“That’s not a no.” Rockson replied, licking cream off his fingers. “Hhmm. Yum.”
Somewhere in the sphere, faintly, the Shadows shifted; just slightly, as if… curious. They sent a pulse that shook the ship, curious… almost playful.
Rockson frowned. “Even the Shadows are feelin’ it.”
Feebee didn’t look up. “Balance is balance.”
Elsewhere… something ancient paused.
The Beast stirred. “Did I hear mention of cake?”
It considered this…then, just as quickly, settled again.
Back on the Kestrel…
Feebee took a bite.
“…Okay,” she said, around a mouthful of cake. “That’s actually really good.”
Alpha-2 grinned. “Worth the hundred chapters?”
Feebee glanced around at her crew, the chaos, the calm somehow holding it all together.
“Yeah,” she said. “Reckon it is. Now… back to it.”
Posted Mar 30, 2026, 12:42 AM UTC