Wednesday, May 4th, 314 years since Start

Journal entry 22

The progress of the experiment has been steady. The benefit of having both Abel and I performing the same experiment is finally bearing fruit. With the skills that Abel brought to the table at the inception of our research, there have been very few bottlenecks. Combining my previous knowledge with Abel’s talent created a truly magnificent brainchild.

Recently we have made a breakthrough in the area of memories. We have discovered that we can actually duplicate a memory with unerring accuracy. This memory can then be implanted in another, giving them the exact same knowledge. This would finally allow the sharing of skills. We have tentatively decided to call these objects Skill Stones.

There are still some errors with testing. A few times I completely forgot how to use the equipment. Luckily with this journal I was able to figure out how to return the skill to myself. I am already quite glad we have both been keeping a careful tally of our activities. I must remember to thank Abel for this suggestion later.

Nonetheless, more testing needs to be completed before we can start to implement this knowledge. With this, our faction will be able to grow. If we could evenly distribute our knowledge, how much better can all aspects be handled? Either way, this should give the faction the experience it needs.

A fragrance followed his statement. The nymph paused. She withdrew her hands as if she were going to respond, but relented, continuing the treatment. Yuclaus decided to take control.

“You know I lured you here for a conversation, but do you know why?” Yuclaus prodded the nymph to get further information. He was willing to fake a confidence he didn’t have, but he would prefer to do it accurately.

“So we could work together.”

“Of course, but why?” The nymph paused at his query, a faint muted fragrance flowed over Yucalus like the waves crashing on a beach. Yuclaus had a theory about this scent, but in the end, it didn't matter. What mattered was escape.

“Our situation. Right now we are in extreme danger.” As she was talking, Yuclaus studied her appearance. Her face was fine and detailed, as if a carver meticulously crafted her out of fine wood. The carver chose this delicate figurine to be made of cherry wood. So meticulous was the artizen, that no swirls or rings could be seen in the wood. Rather it was a uniform color, unblemished. Her hair was a lush canopy of light green leaves. They seemed to glow as they absorbed the sunlight raining down from above. Her eyes, likewise, glowed a supernatural green. He was sure that in the canopy of night, he would have no issue pointing her glowing eyes out amongst the darkness.

“Exactly, a threat far greater than the Earthen Primate could be breathing down our necks as we speak.” The nymph spared him a glance at his revelation before returning to her task. “Right now the two of us have a tentative trust. I doubt you will find any sympathizers to our cause in this forest.” Yuclaus was talking about other creatures when he made this comment. He wouldn’t know until far later how the nymph actually interpreted it.

“Also,” Yuclaus continued, “I can’t keep mentally referring to you as nymph, what is your name?” Finishing her administration, she backed away from him as he talked, rising to her feet. Yuclaus, with difficulty, attempted to join her. He felt a gentle nudging from behind, lifting him to his feet. He looked around for the nymph as he talked, but found she was missing. He looked around for the nymph but found she was missing. This was when he smelt a mildly sour aroma.

“Isencia.” He heard from below him. He looked down, finally finding Isencia. Nymph is an apt description for her after all, Yuclaus appraised. It was hard to determine how tall the girl was. Not because Cause was unfamiliar with measurements, but rather, he was unsure of his own height. He settled at a tentative descriptor of short. She looked to be maybe two to three heads shorter than himself. As he looked at Isencia, he noticed a green dress woven from fine vines covering her from shoulder to ankle. These, unlike the mass behind her, remained stationary. The scent increased in intensity with his obvious staring, to the point where Yuclaus felt like he had just chewed on a lemon peel.

“Well met Isencia. I am Yuclaus, I look forward to our partnership,” He finally stated, reaching out his hand in a traditional greeting. Isencia looked at the outstretched hand before she reached out and grabbed it. Rather than the nice firm pump and release that Yuclaus expected (get your mind out of the gutter perverts), a thorned vine quickly wrapped around both their arms, keeping them connected. Yuclaus expected a memory to escape from the slight pain, but it seemed only blunt trauma would destroy his mind. Yipee.

“Accomplices.” A sickeningly sweet scent filled Yuclaus’ nose. He realized the nymph was looking at him then. If she had the capability of showing emotions, he had a feeling she would be smiling. The vine dug into his arm, and the itching pain blossomed. The stinging spread through his arm as if a worm was digging through his flesh. It wriggled towards his heart.

Yuclaus felt a pulse at that moment. Not his own, nor Isencia’s. He had a feeling that Isencia didn’t even have a pulse to begin with, but that was another matter. No, he felt a pulse where the worm of pain reached. A drum that beat to an incomprehensible rhythm. A searing pain blossomed in his chest as if a farmer had branded his cattle. As the heat raged, Yuclaus felt himself get slightly light-headed. Before the vertigo was unbearable, the pain stopped. With the contrast from the beating of the brand, Yuclaus then noticed the absence of his own heartbeat.

Like a child watching from behind it’s mother, a careful strand of pink light peeked from his mind. It reached down towards the pulse where his heart should be, seemingly observing it from afar. It dipped its metaphorical feet in the water. It pulled back. It tried to ease in again. It recoiled. Finally the energy made up its mind and plunged into the brand. Yuclaus felt himself being pulled to his mindscape.

Rather than standing on the edge of the crag that housed the pink elephant memory, Yuclaus found himself standing on a lush lawn. He knelt down, admiring the grass that was perfectly cut to less than a finger-length. He looked up and saw a pedestal standing vigil over the oasis. As he was observing this change, he felt his physical body gently lowered to a seated position. Assuming the cause, or not caring to check, Yuclaus continued his sightseeing.

An oasis in his mind was quite accurate. Surrounding the circle of grass, stretching into the distance was the familiar shattered earth. The lawn was roughly ten strides in diameter, the perfect size for a tiny cabin. Right behind the pedestal was a small green orb, half sunk directly in the center of the sphere of life. It was not nearly as majestic as the pink sun above, but radiated a sensation that showed it was not to be underestimated.

On a closer look, Yuclaus noticed that the green orb constantly pulsed. It synced perfectly with the beat in his chest. He walked over to it, and reached out to grab it. His hand phased through the orb as if it was a ray of sunlight, seen, but impossible to grasp. After a few more failed attempts to grab the illusory orb, Yuclaus went to inspect the pedestal.

As he neared the pedestal, Yuclaus saw something that surprised him. Nestled right next to the stone pillar was a large faceted purple gem. It was the same one he had found in his bag earlier. There it sat, as if it had been here since the beginning —which it most likely had. Walking over to the pedestal, he ignored it to inspect the crystal lying at its side.

Unlike with the gems in the chasms, he was unable to get a general sense of what he was holding. It was in his mind so it must be a memory, but he was incapable of discerning its properties. Cause stopped himself from withdrawing the crystal. Something told him this was something he should keep to himself, safely in his mind. He moved on to the pedestal which he found a more suitable description for: a console.

The stone pillar had a slant at the top, as if raised for optimal viewing. Rather than the pocketed surface of stone, a reflective black surface occupied the obelisk. As Yuclaus stepped in front of it, he saw the screen light up. What revealed itself on the console proved Yuclaus was making progress towards escape. The stark reminder of his job reinforced his reasoning that he needed to complete a challenge of self discovery to wake up. That was not to say he wasn't going to try to sleep once he had the luxury of time.

An underscore was flashing on the console, recognizable words stationary besides it. Now this was something that made sense to Yuclaus. This was his element.

Yuclaus then went through a common ritual when operating with a new console:

Yuclaus was heart broken. Of course he got a Windows console. It seemed his abs needed to be balanced somehow. There were three commands that Cause didn’t recognize: SKILL, SLOT, and SPORE. Curious to test the console, Yuclaus typed in ATTRIB, and immediately the console crashed. Not only did it crash, the dreaded blue screen appeared. He backed away, and decided he would do what many others have done: hope it will fix itself. Also restarting could maybe help, but Yuclaus couldn’t find any convenient power buttons, a shame. He decided to leave it alone for now.

He returned to reality exiting his mindscape. He found himself reclining on a chair made from smooth vines. Isencia was also nearby on a similar chair. He went to push himself to a standing position, but as he grabbed the green armrests, he noticed a scar on his right arm. A thorned vine wound its way from a circle on his wrist. It seemed what Isencia had given him did not come without a price.

“I will explain the system in due time. What is your plan?” She said upon seeing him stir. Yuclaus had absolutely no plan. He had been riding by the seat of his pants recently. The signs pointed to him following Isencia. She had led him to the console, and she seemed to understand the world intuitively. If he followed her suggestions, he felt like he would be led to the completion of his quest: freedom. The hard part was following her suggestions, all the while leading her to believe it was following his suggestions.

“Right now we are in danger. However, correct me if I am wrong, but this area is relatively safe,” Yuclaus paused to see if Isencia would disagree. When he got no response he continued, “I have a lot of information to go through, and a lot to discover. I suggest we consolidate our gains here before we move forward.” Yuclaus assumed if he waited, eventually the nymph would make a suggestion. By wording it this way, he could sound like he was planning, but in reality he was going to attempt to wake up by sleeping. If that didn’t work, he was going to explore his mindscape, diving into the unknown with gusto. At least that's what he told himself. I knew the truth. That he was broken, and grasping at every excuse, every coping method to protect himself. He ignored what we all know: time moves ever forward, uncaring of our insecurities.