So. I was created by these people.

First off, are my memories real? Memories are stored in the brain in a physical way, so if my brain was in some way randomly generated while I was created, then it’s completely possible that what I see as memories are just some random arrangement of neurons that happened to line up.

I don’t think my memories are fake, though. It would be incredibly unlikely, if they were randomly generated, that I would awake with memories of things that actually exist - like humans, gravity, or even reality itself - let alone that I would awake with a comprehensible series of memories and not just a mess of nonsense.

Of course, that leaves the possibility that my memories were artificially created in some other way, like if, during my creation, the people creating me consciously chose what memories I had. Honestly, there’s no proof that didn’t happen, but I just don’t see any evidence to believe it. None of these people have demonstrated any sort of extreme expertise in their creation - mainly just creating rocks of rudimentary shape - and artificially creating memories would require extreme precision and perfect knowledge of how the brain functions.

So, if my memories are real, that means that I wasn’t really created. I was somehow moved either through space or through time. There’s no real way to tell, but I’d be willing to bet it’s space rather than time simply by how extraordinary it would be if time travel really existed.

So, if I was actually just moved a great distance through space - seemingly to another planet - does that mean that when these people ‘create’ stone, they’re really just moving it to their planet from another one? I wonder how the locations are chosen. It can’t just be Earth that they’re getting all this stone from, we’d have noticed by now if that was the case.

And how did these people get here, to this planet? If this is presumably a separate planet from Earth, how is there seemingly the exact same lifeform on both planets simultaneously? Maybe they were moved here like I was? How long have they been here? They seem like fully evolved humans - not apelike at all - so it clearly was at some point after the human figure was established.

They also have some form of rudimentary technology - knowledge of bladed weapons, basic masonry and construction, etc. But most of those things could have been discovered in the same way that humans discovered them on Earth. What strikes me the most here is the artistic traditions that seem to be shared between the two worlds.

I’ve seen things like written characters similar to those of Earth - specifically Asican languages like Korean or Japanese - or stained glass art. Even something like square buildings with walls of stone and wooden roofs could be indicative that these humans and the ones from Earth share some sort of connection.

There’s one more implication by this theory that I’ve been “created”, though. I glossed over it before, but if they have the ability to create an entire human, then they can most likely create any material. In that case, the possibilities are borderline endless. Anyone with this ability becomes both incredibly dangerous as an enemy and incredibly valuable as an ally.

If it is true that people with this ability can create any material, then it becomes my top priority to acquire it, if at all possible. Now, the idea that the ability can create any material other than stone without restriction is almost certainly not the case. I’ve already seen Itor and Magna exclusively create stone tools rather than steel ones, so there has to be some reason they chose to create stone.

Still, there has to be some way for them to have made non-stone materials, so somehow gaining access to this ability is a high priority.

Anyway, I need to collect more data.

I begin to wander the town, examining the town around me. I find a strange stone building with a wide base, but a tall steeple reaching up out of it. It has stained glass windows, something I haven’t seen in any of the other buildings around here, and multiple patterns made of various materials surrounding the base.

The patterns remind me of the religious symbol I saw on the castle with the king that Itor and Magna consulted with. Well, either way, the building seems important. There aren’t any guards that are posted around the building so I feel like I can walk in.

I enter the building. Inside I find a small entryway with a door on the other side. By the door is a man sitting at a desk. He looks at me as I enter but says nothing. A sign on the desk says something using a few characters; it’s brief, probably just a couple words.

I walk forward, attempting to pass by the desk, but the man puts out a hand to stop me, saying something and pointing to the sign. There’s probably a fee to enter the building. Maybe it’s an art gallery or library or something? I could probably find a way to sneak in, but I don’t want to risk whatever punishment that could bring. I know in some societies theft was punishable by death.

I decide to leave. The man at the desk is understandably confused at my wordless actions, but as long as he doesn’t act aggressively toward me, I don’t really care.

I walk out the door and look around. On the other side of the street, walking away from the building I just came out of, is that woman who took me to the concert. I think her name was Sheia? I wonder if she can give me some information about this building.

It would also probably be a good idea to socialize her again today; I plan on making her an ally of mine, and by speaking to her in a casual way today, I can solidify the idea in her mind that I could be a significant figure in her life worth remembering in the future.

I walk up to her and she looks over her shoulder as I approach. She seems generally alert if she noticed my walking up to her; there are a few other people on the road, so my footsteps would be difficult to pick out.

She offers a wave and a smile to me, which I return. She didn’t seem to be in a rush to go wherever she was going, so I’m not afraid of being a nuisance. I point to the building I came from with an inquisitive look on my face. She stays silent for a bit, seeming to try and figure out how to explain what it is without words.

Eventually, she seems to figure it out. She walks over to the steps leading up to the building, where she sits and gestures for me to sit as well. I rest with her.

She points to the building and says “poetion.” She pauses, waiting for a response from me.

I nod and gesture to the building as a whole, repeating the word. “Poetion.” She nods in return. I guess that’s what this type of building is called. She then says a full sentence, it seems.

“Shu yu poetion aso poesiyato”

She emphasises the words “poetion” and “poesiyato,” so I feel like those were the two main words she wanted to get across. They share a root syllable - “poe” - so they are probably related by nature.

I nod hesitantly to get across the idea that I understand the idea of what she is trying to say, but do not understand the meaning quite yet.

She sits in the same meditative position I saw Itor and Magna sit in while we were travelling - the position they sat in while they were breathing in that incense - and repeats the word “poesiyato.” She breathes deeply while in this position. I wonder if this is the place they perform that religious ritual?

I decide to try to confirm that. I sit in the same position with an inquisitive look on my face, and breathe deeply like she did. Then, I use my hands to mimic the motions of striking something with a flint and steel like Magna had done, and use my hands to show the motion of something wafting up into my face, which I breathe in. “Poesiyato?” I repeat.

She nods enthusiastically.

She seems to be in a good mood, so I decide to push my luck. I point to the building - the poetion - and point my open hand in its direction, gesturing that we should enter. She looks hesitant for a second, but then seems to decide on an answer, and nods.

We get up from the stairs and walk in the building. The man at the desk seems to recognize me with a confused - and slightly exasperated - facial expression, but his face lights up at the sight of Sheia. I wonder if she knows the man, or maybe is a regular here?

She digs something out of a bag on her side, and places it on the counter. It sounds like it’s made of some sort of metal. It’s a small coin-shaped object, and looks like it could be made of some sort of silver?

Well, that’s the color and sheen it’s reminiscent of, but it definitely isn’t actually made of silver. It’s more like a crystal than a metal, with uneven bumps that go up and down in sharp, flat angles, and parts of it that reflect the light of torches on the wall almost perfectly, like little mirrors.

The man picks up the coin and puts it somewhere behind the desk, then gestures for Sheia and I to walk through the door he’s guarding.

Once I get inside, excitement wells up in me. I’m very glad I got Sheia to let me in here.