After Journal 202

I pulled my jacket tighter around me as I left the tower. I wasn’t dressing to impress, so I decided to go with something a little more nostalgic. A peacoat. I walked across the porous ground of Cortex, enjoying the scene of the city made entirely of coral. Originally I questioned the material choice, but thinking about it now, it made sense. It would be extremely difficult to transport goods under the ocean. Actually, I’m sure someone, somewhere, can teleport. In any case, for the faction it was simpler to just use what was around: coral.

As I walked the streets, I nodded to the few eyes that met mine. The faction wasn’t quite as big as one would expect. Not to mention, since there was light at all times of day, people tended to have different schedules. This led to the city sometimes feeling emptier than it should. The temperature was also constantly maintained. This meant the few faction members I met smiled at the sight of my jacket. I smiled back. I would like to think that people enjoy my eccentricities.

One thing that I don’t enjoy is the long walk to Cain’s tower. The aesthetic of two towers on opposite sides of the city was nice, but it made communicating between the two of us quite difficult. It was one of the reasons I suggested we meet at a tea shop between us.

I drifted into my own thoughts as my legs carried me through the city. I wonder what I should do about Olania? It is quite obvious to the rest of the faction that we have been seeing each other for a bit now. Yet, there is no real closure. Luckily, she had yet to ask the “what are we?” question. That would just be awkward.

Do Orthodox even court? I feel like I should have researched their customs more. Should we just keep doing what we are doing? Remain in a limbo, feeling out the situation as we go. An answer never came to me. Maybe someday we would discuss it, but for now I was still worried for Cain. Speaking of the devil, Cain’s tower stood before me.

The tower was identical to my own. A large pillar of coral, with a flared top, finishing with a cone. As if the Orthodox had modeled it after Rapunzel’s tower, it was cartoonish in its design. I pushed my hand against one of the large double doors. The door sent a quick pulse through my body, checking my identity. As the signal returned, the door swung open. Not quietly, nor too loud, it just swung open as any door should.

“Cain, are you back yet!?” I shouted inquisitively. The darkness of the tower along with my echo was answer enough. I turned to leave and bring the matter up to Lani. Not as an excuse to see her. It was purely out of practicality. The faction matriarch should know one of her lead researchers has been missing for some time.

As I was swinging about-face, my eyes inexplicably locked on the floor. This was not the first time I had a staring contest with this block of coral. It would be the last. It could have been my class telling me to look here over and over again. I doubt it. I had tried to look into it a few times before, but I was either interrupted by Cain, or in a rush each time. Today, I could investigate in peace. Hopefully, I will never be drawn to it again once I realize there is no significance.

I stepped up to the block, reached out my hand… and… huh. When did I move the block? Is that a journal at the bottom? Ugh, my head hurts. I put a hand on my temple as I stared at the scene before me. As if I had traveled forward in time, the coral block I had been looking at had been moved. Underneath, lay a cavity. A journal its only occupant. I wanted to be safe. Check for traps, make sure my mind is okay, and record my thoughts in a journal of my own. These would have been normal steps for a researcher of my caliper.

None of these actions occurred. Instead, I bent over, picked up the journal, and opened the book. A few Fragments slid free from the book as I opened the cover. I stooped down to pick them up, storing them in my pocket. I wasn’t foolish enough to absorb them now. I read the first few lines.

Hey there Yuclaus, it's me, Abel. That name probably means nothing to you now. I have most likely been wiped from the memories of the whole faction at this point. Such is the result of being devoured by a Figment. I wrote this journal to hold our research, and my thoughts in case the worst occurred. Which it must have if you are reading this. Before I explain everything in detail, I want to share the truth with you. I was a Figment, the name of the hidden fourteenth race. By this point, Cain has most likely killed me —erased my existence, and taken my place in the Faction of the Mind...

Cause stood in front of a glowing blue screen. A small pond with what appeared to be a bonsai inside, was nearby. Yuclaus scratched his head, shrugged, then poked the screen on the pedestal. Nothing changed. Yuclaus had hoped the forty-second poke would solve the issue. A true shame.

Yuclaus was once more in his mindscape, alone except for a tiny Gourami. After the group had passed through the rainless clearing, they had trudged on for hours in a heavy downpour. It was lighter than the initial waterfall, but still uncomfortable to travel through. Vision was reduced to a few feet, but the improved path was much easier to spot. The soil at the bottom of the path was also slightly more compact than the kidnapped earth. This allowed the mud to not be as deep.

Yuclaus had prodded for many hours about computers, planes, guns, steel and any item which to him spoke of advanced technology. The response he had gotten from the group was bewildered stares which eventually turned to pity. Whether they thought him insane, or whether they believed his Environ father embellished his tales, is something I know. Will I share it? Naw, I’m good.

The only items that seemed to spawn any recognition were ships, rifles, and the Pied Piper. The third one was brought up by Darryn of course. He was surprisingly informed of history. However, he only knew a history predating the 1700s. In any case, the conversation seemed to be getting nowhere. Yuclaus decided to give up and spend the rest of the stroll until night —or whatever semblance of night could be found in this dimly illuminated storm— with Darryn in the back.

After a verbal joust with Cause attempting to discover what a sky eel entailed, the group had decided to set up camp for the night. Which is to say that the faction members went into their house, and the adventurers went into their tent. Yuclaus was once more left by his lonesome. He did get many offers from Jenny, but he was hoping to see Isencia. A hope that was soon dashed.

A vine tunnel appeared once more, but when he entered it, he found he was alone. After a back and forth with the vine on his arm, Yuclaus deduced through the series of squeezes that Isencia was in the middle of something. To what that was, Cause could only wish he learned Morse code. He was going to sit back and relax, but remembered he had given his word to figure out his mindscape. He sat back into the provided armchair, and got to work.

And so, we return to our hero. White expanse hovering overhead, a Gourami off to his side, and a dilemma in front of him. Yuclaus had hoped the forty-second hit would have done the trick, however, life rarely goes as planned. Getting a little exasperated, he fell backwards into a sitting position on the soft grass. He looked up at the pedestal, at the blue screen that mocked.

He decided to go with a new strategy, staring relentlessly while wishing it to work. More accurately, believing it would work. It was his mind after all wasn’t it? Should it not bend to his will? No, it shant. After an untold amount of time, he surrendered to failure. Luckily, he was not alone.

Space distorted around the oasis. Suddenly, the grass that was only a small circle surrounding a likewise miniature pond, now covered the size of a prairie. The pond itself now properly resembled the lake that it truly was. Gourami was also as big as when Yuclaus confronted him earlier. Large, but still shattered.

The sudden change in scenery baffled Cause. He forgot for a moment about the pedestal in front of him. A single fish-like root started to maneuver its way to the edge of the lake. Now that Yuclaus was focused on it, he noticed that its shadow seemed to drip like oil. It stretched down to the bottom of the lake, the area unseeable. This gave the root a strange appearance, as if it was much taller than it truly was.

The root reached the end of its allotted water, and started to slowly climb its way out. It came upon the pasture that had expanded, and maneuvered its way towards Cause. At this point, Yuclaus had started to become wary. The two had just “made-up” but they were still on rocky terms. Or should I say, on grassy terms— ok that was bad.

Yet, Cause decided to let Gourami continue with what it was doing. He sat back, and prepared himself. Just because he was making a show of trust, did not mean he had to be stupid about it. He could still smite Gourami in his mindscape.

The root continued its journey, swerving through the manicured grass and toward the obelisk. As it reached it, Cause looked on with wonder. The top of the root spread apart in four sections, as if it was the mouth of some prehistoric worm creature. Inside the root, Yuclaus saw something that was unmistakable: wires coursing with electricity. He did not have long to analyze the circuitry when the root pressed its open mouth onto the top of the blue screen, plugging itself in.

The blue screen flickered once. Twice. It stayed steady. A few more moments passed, and the screen winked out. It was simply black. A line circled the screen, before the familiar console reappeared.

“GOURAMI! YESSSS!” Yuclaus shouted in his mind. If he shouted it in his mind, does that mean he simply thought it loudly? Here I am, asking the real questions. Cause was about to fall back to his old ways, praising Gourami for its actions. Yet he remembered, and withheld the rest of his exclamation of joy. He hopped to his feet, and walked up to the console. Gourami remained plugged in.

“Alright, now we got somewhere! Now... Sen said her system looked something like slots that the Wisps plug into. I remember seeing a “slot” section when I used -help. Ok, so now I just. Um… I… type in… a thing.” Yuclaus stood there dumbfounded. He thought back to the console commands he used to do at work. All he could recall was something to do with “cd”. To that end, did he even remember coding at work?

Yuclaus stared blankly at the console, and the touch screen keypad that lined the bottom of it. He had no clue how to use it. Whether he had forgotten from his time in Start, or whether it was something else entirely, he was unable to type anything meaningful into the console. This is not to say he didn’t try. After trying to help again, and then typing random commands, he still couldn’t quite grasp what to do. It was easy to know what he wanted, hard to actually do it.

Gourami seemed to understand his struggle, as soon, two more roots slithered their way over to the obelisk. They likewise revealed the wires within, and plugged themselves into various places on the obelisk. Soon after, the screen went through a series of changes once more. The screen rapidly flickered on and off, each time something new changed. The background became blue, with four rectangles next to one forming a larger rectangle. A bar appeared at the bottom. Different applications appeared on the left hand side of the screen. The screen became a Windows Ten computer.

“Gourami. We came to terms with one another didn’t we? Then why? Why did you curse me with Windows!” Yuclaus had raised his voice during his tirade, almost yelling at the end. However, after he spoke the words, Cause came to a realization. Why didn’t he like Windows? He knew he didn’t like it, but why? It had to do with his work. Windows somehow made programming harder? It was apt to say, either he had forgotten, or it was never there to begin with.

The mangrove heard his pleas, and whether out of cruel humor, or a genuine attempt to help, the screen once more changed. The change was much faster this time. The screen went black, before a symbol of an apple with a singular bite taken out of it appeared.

“GOURAMI WHY!?” Yuclaus shouted, but it was too late. The obelisk turned tablet held familiar app icons. The worst part was, it was an outdated operating system. The icon for settings looked horrid. Yuclaus was appalled. He pleaded with Gourami to change it.

Gourami would not, could not change it. It was too late now. The mangrove had done what it could, and it withdrew its roots before they all retreated back to the depths. Well, not depths, the lake was only a few feet deep. Cause stared at the tablet for a moment. A moment more.

“Well… I guess I can at least use it.” He reluctantly stepped up to the screen to observe it. There were only five apps listed other than the settings icon. They were listed as Character Sheet, RPG, Faction, Slot, and Greenhouse in order from left to right. The icons matched their respective titles. All except for the RPG and Character Sheet icons. These were grayed out, and looked as if roots were growing through them. It seemed Gourami had tried to cross them out in its own way.

While all of these are curious, I want to see if I can use the slots like Sen first, he thought to himself. Cause tapped on the black diamond set in a gray stone icon. The app expanded until it showed a scene which caused Yuclaus to turn as pink as his blood. It showed a representation of himself with various circular holes dispersed throughout his body. There were plenty, but he was too distracted to count. It seemed the holes were the perfect shape for the Wisps. None of this was the cause of the blush. Heh, cause. No, it was the fact the representation of him was as naked as a deer. Buck naked.

I guess it makes sense now why Sen got upset when I asked to see her obelisk, our hero finally understood the interaction that happened so long ago. He made sure to make a mental note to apologize to Isencia when he next saw her in person. As he looked at the various “slots” as they were labeled, he noticed that most of the Wisps were far too small for the space allotted. Isencia had briefly mentioned this, and said they would fit anyway.

It was at this moment, Yuclaus realized something. The size of the slots were perfect for a particular item of his. In fact, it seemed only one of the slots was the perfect size. The slot that sat on his temple in the diagram was larger than all the rest. Cause looked down to the ground. He looked at the item that had been sitting by the pedestal for as long as he could remember. The purple crystal.

It was circular, and the perfect size for the slot. In fact, a part of him was tempted to put it in now. I may have been the cause of that temptation. It is still too soon though. There are some things you can’t fake. Specifically, the color of your eyes. In the end, his will won out. He decided to discuss the strange object with Sen, who had seen it supposedly as well. For now, it was time to test the other Wisps in his possession.