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MC Luke Marrow
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Pit boss Vic Langston
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Dealer Nico Varrick
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Street Urchin Piper Lane
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"Sometimes in life we have to press our luck." I flicked my cigarette to the ground and stamped it lightly and approached the bouncer. "Hey hey hey MR B!~"
"Well if it isn't "Lucky" Luke Marrow. Thought you were dead man! You here to lose all your money again?" "I'm here to win big guy!" I shoot him some finger guns and pat him on the shoulder as I enter the the casino.
Mr B rolls his eyes and wave's me on through.
I take a deep breath and catch the smell of cheap cigars and booze. Looking around the joint the haze is thin, reflecting the light of the new neon fixtures about the place. "The Langstons really know how to spruce up the place."
I slink over to one of the blackjack tables before sitting in-between two rather plump individuals.
"Welcome back Luke" I look up and see an old familiar face. "Nico! How have you been mate? You work here now?" I laugh albeit half nervously.
"They really did a number on me after I let you have that free round back in Faldale" Nico smiled, a blatantly fake smile full of malice.
"Ooooh don't be like that" I say to him attempting to disarm the situation. "Here. I got you a present. " I flip him a chip of solid crystal. "That should smooth things out between us right?" Nico looks at it brefily before getting yelled at by Vic Langston. "GET BACK TO WORK. I DON'T PAY YOU TO TALK."
Nico quickly pockets the chip.
"You buying in or what?" He says his eyes narrowing.
"Yeah yeah." I say as I pull out some chips.
The first few rounds go without issue. Nico, 18. Luke 19.
Nico, 20, Luke 21.
Nico 21, Luke 17.
On the fourth round Nico pauses and Langston grabs his hand. "Nico Varrick, You helping this Four-Flusher?" Langston exposes the tips of Nico's fingers to show that they were slightly dyed red.
"STOP ALL GAMES" Langston booms. The color drains from Nico's face and he begins to stammer. "N-n-no. I-i swear I had no idea!" Langston narrow's his eyes then grabs one of Luke's chips, and his fingers get the same red hue as Nico's. "I seem to have jumped the gun a bit Nico. You go get cleaned up. Ill handle this cheater."
Nico's body relaxes and he runs out of the pit nearly in tears.
"Well Marrow, your lucks run out it seems." He pauses and loads a round to a revolver. "That's my cue to go." I attempt to get up but two strong hands force be back into the seat.
"Now now. You aren't going anywhere. We are going to have one last hand" Langston says snickering. "This time, no cheating. All or nothing." He cocks the revolvers hammer back.
Langston draws the first card. 10. I got my first card. 10. Langston draws his second card face down.
I get my second card. 10.
I sigh a breath of relief. "20 Looks like I win" I say boisterously.
Langston, without a word flips his card. Ace. 21
"The gods have a cruel sense of humor don't they" Langston says to me. "Seems like your luck has ran out. Luke"
"Well Langston. Let's see if my lucks run out after all, because I'm pretty sure I just got the jackpot? I make a big motion with my hand mocking the pit boss, as if I was pulling one last spin of a slot machine.
The hammer of the revolver flickers sparking and my world went dark.
The casino went silent with only the faint echoing ringing of shot lingering in the air.
"Toss him out back before he bleeds everywhere." Mr Langston said to the two holding me down.
2..... 3..... 4...... 5 minutes pass. I slowly opens my eyes and looks around the alley and my gaze drifts slowly upward focus on an ethereal slot machine that simply read 777. "Jackpot indeed" I said before breaking into a quiet laugh.
A small shadowy figure with lightly sunken cheeks and a sullen look stood over me. "Did you get yourself shot again?" The girl said in mock disappointment.
I pull myself out of the garbage and brushed off the gunk, cracking my back, with a long stretch. "Oh Piper, when will you learn this was all part of the plan." "Sure it is. Just like the last 4 times right?" She said picking some of the stray bits of gunk off me.
We exited the alleyway before I briefly stopped at a grungy shop window to look at the damage. Or lack there of. I met my reflections gaze fixed my hair into a slicked back style and gently touched my forehead where the bullet connected. "Not a hair out of place" I said to myself before sauntering off into the night.
Today's Genera is Young Adult
Today's Setting is Small Costal Village
Cast
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MC: Sienna Bright. Human |
MC2: Coraline "Coral" Tidewell. Tidekin |
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Cafe owner: Evelyn “Evie” Mooring |
Coral's Father: Jonah Tidewell. Tidekin |
"Sie! Sienna!" I hear my close friend Coraline calling out to me as she Jogged up the path. I give her a small wave before leaning back onto the rail, looking out to the sea. I took a deep breath and almost slip back to my thoughts before getting glomped by Coral.
"Ugh. Gett offff Coral" I try to push her off while holding myself up on the railing.
"No can do" She says giggling. "Todays the big day of the migration!" So were going to spend alllll day together"
I turn away from her for a brief moment and settle myself. "Right. Lets head into town!" I say as brightly as I can. "Soooo. Where do you wanna eat?" I ask her.
"Hmm, how bout some Yuribor steak? I won't be able have that for a while once I head out."
"Sounds good!" I chirp and take her hand pulling her along.
We walk in twain hand's intertwined as we enter our small hometown. Glass Cove.
Walking along the town carved from the ashen silver volcanic glass of a long dormant volcano.
"Miss Evie!!! The usual please!" Coral calls out as we enter the cafe.
"Hey girls! Back again today?" She responds with a chipper tone. "Oh, Coral, isn't tonight the migration?"
"Yup yup! I can't wait! I'm going to see so many things!" Coral responds in a almost melodic tone.
"I'll take a pot of dark-wing stew I think" I say to Ms Evelyn.
"As brave as ever with your choice I see." Evelyn says jolting down the order in a small notebook.
I look over to Coral, leaning my head on my hand. "So. Where's the first place you'll go?" I ask her.
"Somewhere to the north for sure. I wanna be able to walk around instead of staying in the water all the time. This place gets so cold on the surface in the winter."
"That sounds nice. Somewhere tropical sounds nice" I say to her my back relaxing slightly. Forgetting the situation slightly.
"I've also wanted to see that big monster thing at the edge of the continent! You know that big towering one that's been asleep forever?"
"NO!" I bark, almost yelling. A few of the other patrons look in my direction and Coral Jumps slightly. "I uh... sorry.... But that area's dangerous. Especially the water's in that area." I say, losing most of my energy.
Everything is silent for a moment, before Ms Evelyn walks up.
"Here's yalls food" She leaves quickly sensing the tension between the two.
"Oh Sei... don't worry so much... Ill... Be... fine" She says between bites of her steak.
"Coral, please. Anywhere but there." I say to her. My expression saddening.
The rest of the meal went on with Coral rambling about all the different thing's she wanted to see.
"In the spring Ill prob go to Eldermere and try to become an adventurer! I hear that something big went down in Faldale recently so they are recruiting anyone with a pulse."
The color drains from my face. "A.. an adventurer? But what if you get hurt?" I say.
"Better than doing nothing with my life. Better than trying to settle down. Not that anyone would be with a Tidekin anyway." She laughs.
"I would" I say under my breath.
"Hmm?" Coral inquires, not hearing.
"I.. I would go with you to be an adventure if I could!" I say my face slightly flush.
"WHAT DID I JUST SAY" I think to myself in a panic.
Coral Sequels in delight! "OMYGODYES! Let's meet in Eldermere in the Spring!"
"I.. would love to. But my father would never allow it... and what of yours? Jonah wouldn't let you either!" I say in a panic.
"Oh. Actually he already agreed with it. He said something along the lines of, "I couldn't stop you if I tried." she said mater of factly.
"My one hope gone" I think to myself, crying inside.
I finish my soup my thought's and worry drowning out any sort of ability to converse at a meaningful level.
"Ok! Lets go!" Coral says jumping up, while pulling me to my feet.
"Wait where?" I ask, having missed the last few minutes of the conversation.
"To your house, to convince your dad to let you be an adventure! You just agreed to it a second ago silly!" she said pulling me along.
"Oh god I did it again. I agreed to something without listening" I once again think to myself.
After a short walk we reach my house and coral bursts inside. "Sir Decan! Sie's gonna be an adventure with me!"
"Hugk chaaa" Father chokes on his tea dropping his cup in the process and it crashes to the floor. "I'm sorry what? No no no. She can't do that. That's far too dangerous." He stammers between coughs.
The two bicker for a few minutes before I had enough. "SHUT UP. BOTH OF YOU." The room falls silent. "Coral... I'll talk to him.... wait out side for a sec. Kay?"
Half pouting she reluctantly agrees.
I pull a chair at the dining table and sit and put my head in my hands.
Father seeing my state pulls up a chair beside me and places his hand on my back where we sit for a moment saying nothing.
"An adventurer huh?" He said, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't want to......" I say to him in tears.
"Then you don't have to?" He says in a confused tone. "She said you wanted to... so I assumed... you did?"
"I... don't want to be separated from her. She wants to be an adventurer and I accidently agreed to it." I say to him in a quiet tone.
"Well. What do YOU want to do then." He asks in a gentle tone.
I pause for a long time....
"I wan't to protect her." I finally say to him.
Everything is quiet for what felt like an eternity.
"So be it then." He says getting up from the table before returning with an old dusty tome.
"What's this?" I ask wiping the tears from my eyes.
"A parting gift from your birth father. A tome with your family's magic. I was hoping that you would never need to learn it. But it seems you have your parent's blood." He says taking a deep breath. "If you want to protect someone, the only way you can do it is staying by their side. I'll make you into a proper warrior by spring."
Feeling as if a mountain was lifted from my shoulders I hug his shoulders tight and whisper a quite thank you, before running outside to give Coral the good news.
"Yippie!" Coral lets out a cheer, prancing around a bit. "Come one. Its time to head to the dock!
Coral full of energy rambled the entire way while I walked along enjoying the moment.
As we arrived a sizeable crowd of human's and Tidekin were at the docs.
"Well, at least you won't be going alone for now" I say mostly to myself.
"Yup, we travel in a group till we hit one of the main cities or someplace we wanna go." Coral says looking around for her dad, before feeling a hand on her shoulder from behind.
"Ah MR Jonah!" I say in surprise.
"You seem shocked to see me! I'm hurt. Did you really think I wouldn't see my own daughter off?" He said in the mock regal tone he always uses.
I grimace in annoyance at his tone. "Of course how silly of me."
Before I could continue mocking him the town mages unleash their fire magic into the sky creating a dazzling display.
"Looks like it's time to go." Coral says facing me. A tears forming in her eyes.
"Of course... this had been eating her up inside too..." I think to myself.
"It will be ok..." I tell her, my eyes now matching hers.
We stand there for a moment and the world felt as if it was melting away. Nothing but the sound of the magic and its reflection on the water.
I pull her into a short kiss. "I love you. Be safe"
The moment's after that were a blur. The last thing I remember from the night was watching her slink into the water that had gone dark with nothing but the gentle waves and the reflection of the late autumn moon.
I gaze up to the silvery moon. "Looks like my journey starts here also."
The Blackveil Incident
Cast
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MC Ronan Blackthorn
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MC2 Eadwyn
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Core Character King Maldrin Thalrendor
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"Rise. Lady Eadwyn, Sir Blackthorn" Maldrin's voice resonates in the intricate obsidian throne room, his very words shaking the hall. "Lady Eadwyn, For your contributions on fighting the latest plague, I assign to you Sir Blackthorn." I stood there hearing my fate. Tied to some uppity noble lady with no prospects. A fitting punishment for someone who gained too much fame on the battlefield. I guess my thoughts must have been showing on my face. "Sir Blackthorn. This is a great honor you should know. This young rising star in the world of alchemy ended a ten year plague." Maldrin says in the same resonating voice. Yet my expression doesn't shift.
"I have a task for you two are to head down to the Blackveil Keep to find the source of the vector." Maldrin said turning away from us.
"The blackveil keep?" I think to myself. "Nothing has been down there for years. The area has been restricted since bandits had taken up refuge. Something is off here. I don't like it. "
"Yes King Maldrin." Lady Eadwyn responded, showing no emotion. I remain silent.
"Good good. I have a carriage and supplies waiting for you. You both depart tonight."
I finally speak up. "Tonight? Sir that's much too soon. That's not even enough time to put together a proper analysis of the region!" My tone ended in more panic than I would have liked.
"Not to worry" Maldrin said his tone quieting considerably. Feeling almost gentle. "I already had the area scouted. Everything is prepared. Now be off with you two."
With that we were rushed out of the throne room and the Lady hastily dressed for our trip.
We spent the first few hours in complete silence, with Lady Eadwyn just looking out the window, looking rather bored.
I finally decided to break the silence. "Sooo... What noble family do you hail from Lady Eadwyn?"
"Just Lyra is fine." She says, looking at me, hardly interested in the topic so far. "I'm no noble. I was granted that title for my work with alchemy. So no family to speak of amongst the living."
I let out a long whistle. "A commoner given a noble title. Now that's a rarity." I say to her. "Perhaps I misjudged the situation. At the very minimum I won't have to worry about being all proper in front of her." I think to myself.
"Soooo...." I start again, trying to find some topic that might break the deafening silence.
"How did you cure the plague anyway?"
"Alchemy." She responded rather monotonically. "I know that much." I say in an annoyed tone. "But like how did you do it? What did you use, the regents, and such." She suddenly sits up. "You know alchemy?" Her entire tone changed in an instant! "I'm no dedicated alchemist, but twenty years as a soldier you learn about anything that keeps you alive." I say to her.
"Twenty years?" She says shocked. "You can't be a day over thirty though!"
"I'm not." I say slightly grimacing. "I've been a soldier since I was nine. I've still got a few month's till I hit thirty."
"It seems I misjudged you. I thought you were some stuck up noble playing at a soldier" She said with a light laugh. "Looks like we were both mistaken Lyra." I say matching her laugh.
We spent the next week laughing, talking, and getting to know each-other. "That's quite a noble goal!" I say to her, impressed by her ambitions.
"Yup! Eradicating all diseases from this continent has been a dream of my since the plague started and it took my parents. I al." She was cut off by the driver. "We're here. Another carriage be back in a week to pick you up."
Lyra jumps out of the carriage and stretches widely. "Thanks for the ride!" She says to him while I pulled the luggage off of the carriage. I wave to the diver to signal he was good to go. We spent the rest of the day setting up camp and talking.
The morning of THAT day arrived.
"Lyra. It's time to get up. Lets start our investigation and get out of this creepy place as soon as possible." "I'..m up. I'm up." She stammered half a sleep, while fumbling for her hair brush. After around ten minutes she come's out of her tent half presentable at least.
"Well miss noble lady. What would people say if they saw you in such a state!" I say in mockery. To which she rolled her eyes and punched my arm. "Lets go then", she says taking the lead.
"Where should we start?" I ask her.
"Where all good research starts!" She twirls towards me excitedly. "The royal library!" "Let's just hope the books in there are still intact." It's been thirty years since anyone's lived here."
"I'm sure they are fine. Royal tomes all have preservation magic on them, so even if they sat for a few hundred years they wouldn't degrade in the slightest." She chirps in glee.
We move along the streets of Blackveil Keep, and all is silent. "The king said that bandits might have taken refuge here so keep an eye out" I say to her.
"Not to worry. She says confidently, holding out a ring. Ring of detection. If anyone is nearby this will warn me!"
"Interesting". I say looking at the ring closely. "I've never seen such a ring before. A gift from the king?" "Yup! I guess he saw how nervous I was."
"I never did trust magic items." I say in a matter of factly tone. "If they stop working we'd never know." "Oh it will be fine. Besides. Your here as well!" She spins back around and we continue down the street. Every few blocks I feel like I see something amongst the shadows of the abandoned buildings, but on a second look nothing is disturbed in the slightest. No signs of life whatsoever. "Everything is in such good condition" I think to myself. "Its hard to believe that this place has been abandoned for 30 years."
Eventually we reach the Black Keep itself. Its In the same imposing style that the palace back in Thalrendor. I guess it checks out since this place used to be the capital and all a generation ago.
I push the heavy obsidian door open and the entrance hall flickers to life. Blue fire braziers erupt, illuminating the hall in a haunting glow. "At least they don't use those in the capital." I say a shiver running up my sign. "I kind of like them" Lyra said taking a closer look at them. "I wonder how they work." I pull her away. "We aren't here to study the lighting fixtures. Let's hurry up to the Library. I don't want to spend any more time in here than we need."
"What? You scared?" She teases. "Frankly yes." I say directly. "Something's not right. Twenty years fighting you just get those feelings."
She looks briefly to her ring. No response. "Everything seems fine to me!" she says holding the ring up.
"I guess. Keep an eye out anyway" I say not trusting the ring.
After a brief search we find the Library. "Archives of the veiled. They sure wen't old school with the name huh" She says pushing the door open.
We were instantly hit with the scent of musty parchment. I recoiled slightly at the overwhelming smell of it. Lyra however took a deep breath. "I love the smell of books." She sighed, now looking the most relaxed I had ever seen her.
"You really like Library's huh?" I say to her. "Yeah... Since I was little these were my safe spaces. A shield from the chaos of the outside." She says with a soft expression. "You get started. Ill be securing the area." I call out. "Kay!" She calls back, not a care in the world.
I look around the room. To the north. A single stained volcanic glass window. To the south. Books. To the east, books. To the west. More books and the entrance. Second floor was only a balcony. No other doors. No other windows. I look up. Darkness. The light didn't quite reach the top. I knock lightly on the wall. Three foot thick obsidian walls. Nothing would get through this outside a disaster class monster. A lot of the tension leaves my body. "A single entrance and a window that is made out of the strongest substance known to man. This couldn't be an easier point to defend."
I pull a chair up to the door and take a seat, then I call out to Lyra. "Everything safe. Go wild!" I faintly hear a "Kay!" from behind one of the shelves. She's clearly already neck deep in reading.
A few hours pass, and I occasionally do a walk around of library to make sure nothing changed. Which of-course it didn't.
Eventually I notice some color on the floor, the sunset shining through the stained glass. "He...." Wait a second.... I catch myself before calling out. Sunset? From the north? The sun sets in the east. I begin feeling I'll, I overlooked something massive. I know it. I run over to where Lyra was. "We need to get out of here now!" I pick her up and run to the door, bursting it open with unnatural force. "Wh- whats going on?" She says entirely panicked.
"THE SUN SET TO THE NORTH." I nearly scream in terror.
"What does that have to do with any...." She began saying before it dawned on her.
Spatial magic...................
Holding her tight I shoulder check the door to the Keep and it opens easily. Too easily. What was once a solid obsidian door was now rotted wood that splintered easily. The view that greeted us was.... bad.
Everything was aged. The buildings run down, the air rank with decay. Corpses everywhere. Creatures that I couldn't even identify roamed the sky. Floating masses of flesh that I either couldn't tell what they were made of, or my brain didn't allow me to process it.
The sky went from sunset red to a crimson hue in a blank sky. No clouds. No stars, No sun, No moon. Just.... a blank crimson sheet.
I feel the strength leave my legs and I collapse. Sill holding Lyra, who luckily wasn't looking yet. "D---don't look" I tell her, covering her eyes from the hellscape. "We are going back to the library" I say to her mustering some strength to drag us both back.
I close the door behind us and drag the chair back to it and sit in it.
Lyra pull's up a chair as well. "We're going to die aren't we?" Lyra says in a whisper.
I can't bring myself to speak for a short while. "No.... " I say barely audible. "I REFUSE TO DIE TO THAT FUCKING KINGS BULSHIT. I SERVED TOO LONG TO BE DONE IN LIKE THIS!" I bellow then slam my fist into the nearest bookshelf. Two books fall out, and they are blank? No not blank. Each book has a single sigil on each page. Lyra flips through each of them scanning as if she was looking for a sign of anything. "I... I don't know magic. I'm sorry." she stammered. I quiet my tone "It's ok. Your not to blame for this. This is all Maldrin's doing." I hug her to keep her from crying. "We will get through this." We stay quite for a short while.
We part separate and I walk over to the shelf and pick up a book. "This isn't something that will be solved with raw strength." I say opening the book. It's the same. Just a single sigil on each page. The next book and the book after that are the same.
"They are all just... blank." Lyra says looking defeated and scared.
"I'm no mage but these books seem to have something on them. I feel.... something while holding them." I say showing the characters to her. "There's nothing there? It's just blank paper!" She says even more confused.
She cant see them? Of all people the fucking smart one cant see the books.
"SCREW IT. WE DO THIS THE SOLDIER WAY." I yell. I turn to her and command. "Help me gather all the books here. Every last one!" I start to throwing all the books into a pile in the center of the library and after a brief pause she does the same.
We clear the first, second third, fourth fifth case and the mountain grew higher and higher. Half way through the pile is consuming the entire first floor nearly. I begin tipping the shelves from the balcony onto the pile. Lyra retreated and stands back to avoid getting crushed. "Nearly done" I think to myself. I look up and freeze. I'm too far away. From the darkness of the ceiling I see something dangling above Lyra. "LYRA RU-" I try calling out. But it's too late. My world frezes for what feels like an eternity. A mass of flesh and limbs collapse onto her crushing her instantly and ripping her apart. Then the mass fades through the floor as if it never existed. Leaving nothing but her clothes and the ring she was wearing where she once stood.
I run over to look for any sign of her. Anything at all. Nothing. Just the cloth and the ring and a lot of blood everywhere....
"Pick it up..... Pick it up....." I hear a faint whispering, almost ethereal. It's coming from....? the ring? The ring started glowing and seemed to engrave itself with a single word. Lyra.
My trembling hands reach out and gently pick up the ring and I slide it on my ring finger. Perfect fit? Was the ring actually magic? Nothing. Then a burst of magic courses through my veins.
I can see... everything. The mgaic that held this place together. The books all connected, in a dense weave of a spell. "UGH I DONT KNOW WHAT ANY OF THIS MEANS DAMMIT." I yell. "Screw this magic shit." I dump the brazier onto the pile of books, and walk out of the library. I hear an intense shriek as if a monster was being ripped apart from the inside and the entire world seemed to rumble. I exit the shaking building and look up. The sky was cracking to the east showing a deep black with stars. The direction we came into this cursed city.
Without thinking I begin sprinting through the city faster than I ever had before. Passing amalgamations of flesh that all tried to reach out and grab me. "Left" I hear, and Instinctively turn left. "Right." I hear again in the same voice. I turn right before the building that I was about to run past collapsed into a pile of flesh and limbs. I go another few blocks. "UP" The voice is stronger more clear and familiar.
I climb to the nearest roof without hesitation and mere seconds later gnarled and decayed hands erupt out of the ground all along the street ripping apart each-other and what seemed to be reality itself as they flailed around.
"GO!" The voice screamed.
I wen't. Jumping between buildings following the voice unerringly.
I could see it! The place we set up camp. The area as if nothing was going on at all. I reach the edge of it and the sky shatters into millions of crimson shards. I was free. The night sky before me normal.
Dreading, I look back to the city. I see.... something.... Bad. The entire space distorting as if whatever was there before was trying to escape the collapsing dimension. It seemed to be succeeding as well. One of the creatures that was floating around the sky emerged from the distortions, then another, some ones that crawled on the ground as well.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE RUN YOU IDIOT" I hear... Lyra? Say. I see a mass of flesh and limbs erupt from the portal from behind. It had her face. Her voice? "I... is that you?" I call out the the creature.
"I'M BEHIND YOU NOW RUN" That thing was NOT Lyra. It had her face but the source of the voice was from somewhere else. The creature lunges and grabs my arm, and tries to pull me down with no success. I draw my sword. "Not so strong without your magic are you?" I say slicing the creature to bits, stopping just short of it's neck. I couldn't bring myself to harm something that looks like her. No matter how distorted.
I run into the woods behind me and keep running for what felt like ages. I eventually collapse completely unable to move. "Thanks for not leaving me behind." I hear the voice again. "Oh gods. I'm even hearing her voice now." I open my eyes to see her hovering over me. Well. Not quite her. A very translucent and pale version of her.
I black out in shock and exhaustion.
The night passes without incident. "Wake up, Wake up!" I hear Lyra calling. "Its morning!"
I sit up nauseous and starving. "I had a hell of a nightmare." I say, thinking that the events of the previous night were all a dream.
"After what we wen't through I can imagine." She said.
"After wha...?" I look over at her. She was still transparent. Less so than the previous night. But definitely more so than she should be. "It....wasn't a dream... How are you?"
"Alive?" She says. "I'm not. I'm very much a ghost." "You... say that as if it's completely normal." I say to her "Well. I've already had three days to come to terms with it. Not like I can do much about it right now anyway." She said.
"But how are you here? Don't spirit's usually move on or something?" I Say unable to process what was happening.
"I think its the ring. It has my name on it and all." she says. I look down at it and shes right. "So your soul's trapped in here?" "Looks like it." She says standing and stretching her ethereal back.
"I'm... so sorry this has happened to you. " I say tears in my eyes.
"Well, you did fail to protect me, trap my soul in a ring and now I'm bound to you for eternity.... So... do me a favor. Get revenge on that shitty King for me. Oh and eradicate all the diseases on the continent. Oh and learn magic!" She says playfully.
Her energy is infectious. My body relaxes slightly. "At least I can make up for this" I think to myself. "I understand the first two requests. Hell, I would have done them without you asking. But magic? Why?"
"Watch." She walks over to a near by stone the size of my fist and picks it up. I instantly start feeling tired, then the stone falls through her hands. "If you get strong enough in magic I think I can live a pretty normal life. Well to a degree. The more magic you have the more I can do!"
"Never in my life did I think I'd be able to use magic. Let alone become a mage. Or see ghost. Or a lot for a matter." I think to myself.
"Well. We cant just stay in the woods forever. Lets go." I say to her. "Where are we headed?" She asks floating by my side.
"Where else? Eldermere. The center of the world."
Cast
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Captain Eryx Solen
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Dr. Anaya Korrin
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Researcher Helix Moran
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Radio Guy
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It's been three years since I've been home. Three years in Space. Three years stuck eating the same freeze dried crap. The only solace I would ever seem to get would be when the monthly deliveries would bring up something not in powered form. "Aurora. How many hour's till the next delivery?" I called into my empty room, when a screen flickered to life.
"Greetings Captain Solen. There is 2 hour's until the next shipment is due to arrive."
"Huston better have gotten us a pizza this time" I say to myself absentmindedly. "Checking cargo. Error. Cannot scan cargo." Aurora. Stated in the same monotone voice as always. "Of course not. Because that would be too useful wouldn't it?" I scoff. Still, slightly concerned about why the scan feature failed I headed to the core, floating to the edge of my room before engaging the gravity, setting myself gently onto the ground.
The walk was uneventful. Well. As uneventful as it can be on a station with thirty people going about their business. It's hard to believe a mere 25 years ago all of this was science fiction. Artificial gravity, cheap rockets, oxygen, water, replication. All of it is wild. As I arrive at the core everything looks normal. As far as I could tell at least. A cube of pure silver with floating symbols on it being as normal as it can. "I swear. The text changes every time I come in there" I think to myself.
"Aurora. What do these symbols mean." I call out with no response. I then walk over to the core's check list and fill out the details for the day.
Stable readings?, I look at the dials, and various panels. Check
Room properly cleaned? Check.
Ai, isolation? Check.
The last point is kind of bizarre, but the engineers say it's for the best that Ai, stayed out of the core room.
As I'm about to leave I take one last look at the core. Perhaps a picture of it wouldn't hurt. I am dying to know what these symbols mean. I snap a quick picture and head out to the mess hall.
I sit down with Dr. Korrin and Researcher Helix Moran. Morning ladies. I say giving them each a smile. Morning Captain, Korrin says back returning the gesture. "Good Morning Captain", Moran says in her usual half robotic voice.
Hey Moran. Take a look at this will you? It's a picture of the core. I was wanting to see if you knew what the symbols meant." I say to her in a half hushed tone. "Sorry, I cannot do that." She responds. "Look. I know your integrated with aurora and all, but the human half of you has to be interested in what it says right?" I say shoving my phone under her. She looks down at it instinctively by accident and her ocular implant goes to work studying every detail of the image. "I really hope this doesn't backfire." She says. "The ai half wasn't the one who didn't want to look you know"
"Huh. Neat" I say, not understanding why that's a problem. "So. What does it say." "It's mostly just ship systems from what I can tell." She says. "Flight path, fuel use-age, oxygen, water, food levels, etc." There's also a lot of text that just says unknown.
"Nothing interesting after-all then." I say mildly disappointed. "Well. It's time to see what we got in this month's delivery eh?" I stand up and walk with a pep over to the docking port checking my watch. "It should be here any second." I say to them. A minute, then ten, and then an hour pass. Nothing.
"Aurora. Is the shipment delayed?" I call out. "Searching........" She pauses for an unusually long time. "One new video message pending." "A new message? Play it." I call out. "Captain Eryx Solen, it is our regret to inform you that the shipment will be delayed by another month due to bad weather. Please take rationing into consideration." The voice sounded like those from Huston. But something was slightly off. Ah, no matter.
"I was looking forward to having something more edible dam it." I say to the two of them.
"Aurora, enable ration level 1." I call out. "Enabling ration level 1." The ai says before a message rings over the intercom. "Attention all employees. Due to unforeseen circumstances. We will be going into ration level 1 for the current month. Meals are restricted to assigned meal times and late night snacks are prohibited."
The month passed rather slowly. But it was finally that day again. I finish my morning routine and head to the core. Check check check, and picture.
It's become routine at this point. Every day we sit down, look at the picture and try to decode it. Little by little some parts began to make sense. Today didn't really give any revelations either however.
"Lets head to the docking port! I'm itching for something sweet." I say to Korrin and Moran. Korrin gives a large stretch and agrees. "A month without scotch was killer." They better have added extra this time.
A minute passes, then ten, then an hour. This time I panic slightly. "Aurora, where's the resupply ship?"
"Searching..... searching..... 1 new message found." The Ai says.
"Again?" I think to myself. "Play message" I call out. "Captain Eryx Solen, it is our regret to inform you that the shipment will be delayed by another month due to bad weather. Please take rationing into consideration." The message ends and we are all silent.
"The exact same message as last time." I think to myself. Something is wrong here.
"Aurora, Set rationing level to 5." I say to it, my voice a bit hoarse.
"Captain. Level 5 for another month's delay? That's a bit extreme isn't it?" Korrin said clearly angry at the thought.
"Something in my gut tells me this is the right call." I say to her, failing to meet her eyes. "You two get back to work. I've got something to look into."
I exit the room and head straight to my quarters. The only quarters with a window facing earth. I look down on the planet and see. Clouds. "Perhaps the weather is just bad. Am I over reacting?" I think to myself. Ill try to contact Huston again. I sit down at my desk.
"Solen to huston, Solen to huston. Do you copy?" Radio silence. I try again.
"Solen to huston, Solen to huston. Do you copy?" Radio silence still.
Aurora flickers to life on the nearby screen. "1 new message" it says.
"Play message" I say to it.
"Captain Eryx Solen, it is our regret to inform you that the shipment will be delayed by another month due to bad weather. Please take rationing into consideration." Did they double send? Or is it another month.
"1 new message"
"2 new messages"
"13new messages"
"41 new messages"
"75 new messages"
"75!?! Play them" I say. "Captain Eryx Solen, it is our regret to inform you that the shipment will be delayed by another month due to bad weather. Please take rationing into consideration."
75 copies of the same message.
"Aurora. Give me the weather in Miami" I say to the ai.
"The current temperature in Miami is -74c, humidity is 98%, wind speed is 194 kmph
"Perhaps the sensor is broken?" I think to myself.
"Aurora. Give me the weather in Berlin" I say to the ai.
"The current temperature in Berlin is 94c, humidity is 0%, wind speed is 234 kmph
"Two of them down? It's not impossible" I say outloud.
"Aurora. Give me the weather in Hongkong" I say to the ai.
"The current temperature in Hongkong is null humidity is null, wind speed is null. I'm sorry, I could not fetch the readings for Hongkong."
"Three places with down sensors?" Unlikely. "Aurora. Give me the weather in Antarctica" I say to the ai.
"The current temperature in Antarctica is 0c, humidity is 32%, wind speed is 17 kmph.
"Finally one place with normal readings." I say to myself.
"Contact the US antarctic base." I command the Ai.
The com links without issue. "Hello?" I call out.
"Hello?" A voice on the other end calls. "Who is this?"
"I'm Captain Eryx Solen of Echelon Station. I called to see if you have some information on whats going on, on the ground. We can't contact anyone else."
"I was hoping you could tell me that Captain. Our supplies have been delayed two months and now no one is answering us either."
We spent the next hour comparing readings and other data.
The voice on the other end of the call finally goes silent for a while. Then speaks. "I think we might be the last ones left."
Unable to process this I ended the call and laid on my bed for what felt like an eternity. "Aurora...... Set ration level to 10."
An announcement plays over the PA system. "Attention all crew members. Due to unforeseen circumstances, all meals are reduced to 1 per day at half rations, all repairs are halted unless vital to system function, and all supplies are now restricted. Please return any extra supplies you have to the supply bay at your earliest convince." The message ends and my intercom light turns on. "This is Captain Eryx Solen." I pause holding back my own fear. "I was able to get in contact with the US antarctic research station. We believe beyond a doubt that the world may no longer be inhabitable. With this our supply line is gone. I'm sorry. It's been an honor to work with you all."
Three years go by. There are ten of us left. Most decided to take the risk and suit jump back to the surface. We lost their signal as soon as they hit the cloud barrier. A year ago I lost contact with the artic base. On the bright side we got to last way longer with our rations. But honestly I'm not sure if thats a blessing or a curse.
Two more years went by. We are almost out of food. Three of us are left. Me, Korrin and Moran.
I got out of my bed and went to start my daily duties. Casually glancing at the cloud ridden world we once called earth.
Area clean? Check, Isolated check, Core normal?......... Not check. Some of the text was... discolored... more gray, than usual, other parts of it were neon.
I radio Korrin. "Hey, Korrin? Come to the core room." A few moments pass and she enters. "What is it Solen?" She says before looking at the core, suddenly interested.
"I haven't the foggiest clue." She says. "Ill call Moran to have a look." I almost stopped her saying. "We have to isolate the core from ai" But then realized that it didn't really matter anymore.
Moran entered the core room a bit confused then panicked at bit. "Wait wait wait. I can't be in here" She stammered covering her eyes
"It's fine, I reassured her. This isn't something we can figure out on our own. We need you and your computing power." She uncovered her eyes slowly looking around the room, then at the core.
Her robotic eye goes to work instantly, and Aurora flickers to life on a screen in the room. "Registering new room. Registering new controls. Analyzing..... Analysis complete. The text on the core seems to bend space and time to both create and destroy matter at a quantum level. Three error's found. Degradation in the central left chip due to cosmic rays. The dim areas indicate damage. Degradation in the central right chip due to cosmic rays. Excess power found the upper central chip. Course of action recommended. Replace damaged chips. Excess power should level out when damaged chips are replaced.
Everyone falls silent. We don't have a chip manufactory on board. Even if we did, certainly not one that uses this experimental tech.
Another year and a half pass.
"This is all that's left." I say to the two leaning on the last pallet of freeze dried rations. "Two months at best."
Morrin looks down. "I might be able to buy you two a bit more time." She says. "I don't know if it will help really."
"What do you mean?" I ask her.
"Come" She waves for us to follow and we head into the core room.
We enter and the room is a wreck. Cords everywhere. "What is all this?" I ask her confused as to the chaos of it all.
"I found a way for us to merge with the ship. Become one with it." She says in a hushed tone.
"What the fuck?" Is my only response to that.
"At minimum I can merge with it, putting my mind into it, giving you two the rest of the rations. At best we can all merge with it and hope it stays afloat long enough for someone to find us." She says with hope in her eyes.
Korrin speaks up first. "Wouldn't that kill you?" "Not really. I've been merged with Aurora for the better part of a decade. I'd only be getting rid of the flesh half of me. It's probably difficult for you to understand. But Aurora has been analyzing our and all of our crew since we got here. All of our mannerism, speech patterns, behaviours, everything. With my help she has even started to understand our emotions."
"So what? You live in this digital world where everyone is still here? Still alive?" I say in disbelief.
"Not quite. I'm still very aware of who we lost. All my friends that are gone. The simulations of them cant replace the real things. With one exception. Me. Aurora has scanned my mind hundreds of times. The me in there is just as real as the me out here. I can hear, see, smell everything from that world." She says tears flowing down her face.
"Enjoy your imitations." I say my voice full of spite and malice, and I walk out of the room, leaving the two of them behind.
Morrin and Korrin are silent for a while. "I messed up didn't I?" Morrin says to herself. Korrin embraced her in a hug. "Ill try your machine. You said you can see everything in there right? So you don't even need to die for it." "Really?" Morrin says wiping the tears away.
"Sure.... Hook me up" Korrin says with a smile.
The next day, I woke up to find just Korrin. "So.... she's gone?" I ask. Drained of all emotions of this point.
"Not really" She responded then called out. "Korrin. How's everything." "I'm doing well." The ship responds in an exact replica of her voice. "That's deeply unsettling" I say to her.
And the ship responds with Korrin's voice. "Well get used to it. We are both in here." I look over to Korrin, to make sure she was real. "What on earth?"
Korrin was quiet for a moment then responded. "She was right. Everything in there feels real, even while still alive. It's like another world. Like there's two of me. All living at once."
I couldn't find the words. Korrin as well? Surely they both cant be wrong.
"It's not just death. It's not just a cheap copy of ourselves?" I ask. Hopeful.
She shakes her head. "It's a paradise. Free from this worry." We both sit in silence for a moment. "Are you going to leave me as well?" I ask her.
She nods. "I can't take this world anymore. I want to live without fear. Without pain. Without hunger.
Without a word she gets up and walks towards the airlock. "Goodbye Solen." A second later. She was gone.
Not being able deal with the losses I head back to my room and sleep. The dawn of the 7th year.
I start my day like every other day. Calling out on the radio. Checking the core and cleaning the ship. I walk to the mess hall to be greeted by a well lit, perfectly cleaned silent room. I walk to the storage area and open it up. One last meal, for one last person. I heat it up and carry it back to my room in silence.
I sat down forcing every bite down. Knowing that it would be my last. It's flavor stale from the years. Not that it had much to begin with. I sit there looking out the window for what felt like an eternity, until I nodded off for a moment. I awoke to see.... a gap. In the cloud cover.
I could see it. I could see earth for the first time in seven years. I watched it for hours as the gap slowly widened, more of the brilliant blue ball I called home was revealed. Was it all over? Could we... I be rescued?
The more of the clouds that faded the more my heart sank. It wasn't the world I knew. The land masses were wrong. The continents, gone, replaced with new ones. What in the hell happened down there these seven years? I see one familiar sight. Antarctica. Fully intact. I try the radio, one last time. "I'm Captain Eryx Solen of Echelon Station. Are there any survivors?"
I get a faint static through the radio. "Mr Solen? Your alive? How?" The voice asked.
I break down. "I'm the last one. Everyone else gone... I'm out of food. The station is falling apart. I can't hold out any longer. Please save me.... SOMEONE PLEASE SAFE ME." I scream into the radio.
The voice is silent for a while. "Mr Solen. The sky's are clear. Your going to have to jump." "J-jump?" I say gazing out the window. "Your right. The storm is gone. I... could try." "Keep your eye's to the sky." I say to him.
I walk to the suit locker and slowly get dressed into one of the space walk suits.
When Korrin comes over the intercom. "So this is goodbye then?" I hadn't heard her voice in months.
I just barely squeeze out. "It seems so."
Morrin comes over the coms and says. "Take us with you. The core. Please." Hearing her voice sends me into tears, reminding me of my last words to her.
I try to regain my composer. "I... guess I can do that." As I approach the core I see it for the first time in ages. Most sectors faded. Some in bright red.
I pull the plugs out of it and the ship goes dark, except for the emergency lights.
I gently place it into a backpack and tie the pack to the front of me.
Stepping into the airlock I take a deep breath. Putting my helm on and locking it in place.
"Well you two. Time to go." I say to myself. Trying to steel my nerves. I open the air lock and jump towards Antarctica.
An hour passes. Then thirty minutes of a slow uneventful fall.
Then the world starts to close in and everything heats up.
I speed up, faster, faster faster, to several times the speed of sound. My suit begins glowing neon red, and the pack holding the core follows in twain.
I smell burring. I feel the heat starting to pierce through the layers.
Everything starts to blur, and go black before a searing pain wakes me. The core exposed to the intense friction was glowing a brilliant orange and the symbols all over it seemed to take cover in my suit, binding to my skin. Every symbol searing its way into my flesh. The very material being forced into my soul.
Everything went black as I hit the snow at subsonic speeds.
"Solen! Solen! I hear Morrin and Korrin calling out to me. But how? They are dead. Oh. I must be as well. I jolt awake and see the two sanding next to me on the artic surface.
"What the fuck. How are you two here?" I ask them shivering and in intense pain all over.
"You can see us?" The two ask nearly in unison.
Before we could talk further a team of snowmobiles pull up with a group of people.
This story happened almost a thousand years ago. The station long fallen, the people long dead. Except for three. But that's a story for another time.