Dust to Dust: Monster 15

Buried

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The rubble weighing in the hundreds of tons acted as an oven, trapping all heat given off by the raging oil fire. The golem, already broken into fragments by the tar sand explosion, was melted and burnt into near nothingness. Wood was vaporized, earth was dried into dust, stone was cracked, and metal was made into slag. The rockslide became the golem's grave.

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Hours became days.

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.....

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Days became weeks.

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......what......

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Weeks became months.

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What has.... happened to the body?

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Months became years.

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My body? Mine? It, the, I... I hurt.

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The rubble shifted minutely, trembling as if touched by a ghost.

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This...

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A section of rocks began to separate itself from the pile, pulling out from the countless others and falling down together onto the floor.

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This is me. I. I am this.

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The world shifted in the mind of the fractured golem. What once used to seem so far away, almost as if it was the matters of someone else.... was so close. So personal.

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And the words.

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The words filled his head with an immeasurable wealth of knowledge, the pain searing the pathways in his psyche. Too weak to even squirm in pain, the pile of pebbles were inanimate. It was impossible to detect the mental firestorm happening inside his mind from an outsider's perspective, truly a hurricane in a bottle.

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And then there was quiet.

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What am I?

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Who am I?

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Without the faintest shred of humor or sarcasm, the mound of rocks looked at itself and thought

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Pile. I am Pile.

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With a brilliant aquamarine flash and the trilling of bassoons, a blue rectangle appeared in midair in front of Pile.

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Congratulations on gaining self-awareness!It is my pleasure to welcome you to the world of cognizant beings! In recognition of your incredible achievement, you will be rewarded with the status of "Unique Monster" and made ruler of the nearest area in need of one. You are to report to SUBTERRANEAN DUNGEON (CAVED-IN) as soon as possible. Amazing! It indicates here that you are already there! That's the way to be a good boss, always stay on top of things! Do whatever you want with the place, it's yours! Just be careful of any wandering beasts or adventurers, they're out to get you and your loot. Prepare armies and traps to wage war against them in glorious combat! Take an example from previous ruler of this area, ERROR, and have a prosperous life. If you have any questions about your life, situation, or ownership, please indicate so now. I am prepared to answer all tier one inquiries. Prepare to receive your HUD and interface, we have to give you a fighting chance now, don't we?

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Alone in the dark, a pile of rocks stared helplessly at its first ingame notification.

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I can't even tell you how many time I rewrote this. I spent two days and countless hours agonizing on how to bring this up, but here's what I came up with.

And now, sleep. And a beer.

Will have a regular chapter and special chapter tomorrow, along with updating the format of the rest of the chapters.