by Jez Cajiao
I barely managed a handful of seconds before I started to thrash, I could feel the damn things in my head! My eyes felt gritty, as though moving them was encountering resistance, and I knew what that was. Those filaments were everywhere! They paused, suddenly drawing back and I had a split second of relief mingled with panic. Had I failed, and was about to be tortured to death, never to find Tommy, or was it over?
Then they struck. I thought they’d been bad before; now they were horrific. They branched down past microscopic levels, or so it seemed. They pierced me, driving into my body, cutting through cells and vessels, exploring my most intimate construction. each strand of DNA seemed to be examined, evaluated, and found wanting.
While this was going on, I felt the Pearl moving, dragged up my chest to the hollow of my neck, upwards to my chin, and I felt my lips being prized apart. Teeth that were painfully locked in place, gritted against the further intrusion, were slowly broken, forced backwards until they gave way, joining the seeming rivers of blood pouring from my entire body. I felt the Pearl drag itself into the back of my throat, and then burrow upwards, digging its way into my brain. It tore through cartilage and sections of bone, pushing aside and damaging sections of my brain. My mind filled with tastes and smells, before losing all of them at once, I suddenly couldn’t remember the taste of anything. I knew I loved food, but I had no clue what any of it tasted like anymore. It was a stupid thing, considering what was happening to me, but it became a sign of everything that was being done, of the ultimate intrusion I was enduring. Regardless of the fact the filaments were mapping my entire structure, including my most delicate parts, the thing I screamed out loud was this.
“BACON!?!?”
After another indeterminate length of time, filled only with my screams and the random spray of blood, the Pearl finally stopped. My entire body had been mapped and examined minutely, and I could feel small adjustments still occurring. The filaments had cut through my skin, leaving my entire body flensed. Countless tiny cuts covered my already heavily-scarred body, and I couldn’t understand how I was still alive. I should be dead, I knew; I’d felt bones crack, the filaments questing into my every part, from exploring the marrow in my bones, to splitting cells, invading my eyeballs and altering the cones and rods found within. I’d even experienced the memorable feeling of my teeth shattering as they were explored while gritted tightly together. Now that the Pearl had finally come to rest, it seemed satisfied with what it had found. I saw only blackness before me. Then, out of nowhere, smoke seemed to appear, golden in color, and it flowed together to form words that shone in the darkness.
DO YOU ACCEPT THE BOND?
I tried to make sense of it, my mind traumatized by the agony and horror of my experience, until a snippet of memory came to me, as though from years ago. West, telling me that Tommy had endured this, and it had transformed him. It’d given him the strength to survive and to win at the tournament. I had to accept the bond. I needed the magic. I would not be beaten by something that Tommy could do.
Yes… I thought. As soon as I’d made that conscious decision, more text appeared.
BONDING ACCEPTED…..ASSESSING…..
I felt heat flooding through my body, building up and fading, seemingly in waves that flowed outwards from the Pearl in my brain. With each pulse, I felt the damage diminishing, and sanity returned.
ASSESSMENT COMPLETE….MULTIPLE COMPETING BLOODLINES DETECTED….WARNING! MULTIPLE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES DETECTED. DO YOU WISH TO PURGE AND REALIGN YOUR GENETIC CODE?
I had no clue what this thing had found, but as the words appeared and I focused on them, the desire to know more was highest in my mind, which caused the Pearl to move on without pause.
COMPETING GREAT HOUSE BLOODLINES HAVE BEEN FOUND. ANCESTRAL MATCHES ARE IDENTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:
HOUSE SANGUIS…27%
HOUSE GREY 19%
HOUSE JORGU 15%
HOUSE VERT LEK THUN 7%
REMAINING GENETIC CODE IS IDENTIFIED:
LOCAL VARIANT HOMO NOBALIS 22%
LOCAL VARIANT HOMO SAPIENS 10%
GREAT HOUSE GENETIC INTERMINGLING IS KNOWN TO GIVE RISE TO BOTH ENHANCED STRENGTHS AND INCREASED WEAKNESSES. FULL POTENTIAL EFFECTS CANNOT BE CONFIRMED AT THIS STAGE. DO YOU WISH ESTIMATES?
Fuck yes, I want to know what this shit is!
ESTIMATED STRENGTHS:
ENHANCED BONE DENSITY
Your bones are denser than average, resulting in a stronger, more damage-resistant endoskeleton. 5% increased Constitution.
ENHANCED MUSCLE DENSITY
Your muscles are denser than average, resulting in slightly higher strength. 5% Strength increase.
ENHANCED MUSCLE ELASTICITY
Your muscles have a greater degree of elasticity than average, resulting in slightly faster reflexes. 5% Dexterity increase.
ENHANCED HEALTH RECOVERY
You heal abnormally fast. This form of regeneration is exceedingly rare. 50% healing increase.
ESTIMATED WEAKNESSES:
GREATER BONE AND MUSCLE DENSITY
You have a particularly heavy frame, resulting in a body that is significantly slower when swimming, and which requires higher levels of endurance to maintain activities. 20% Endurance decrease.
MENTAL INSTABILITY INCREASED
Anger becomes rage, attraction becomes infatuation. You are prone to bouts of rage that only a berserk would deem appropriate. 10% Self-control decrease.
BONUS ATTRIBUTE:
CHANCE TO COMMUNICATE ACROSS REALITIES
Being blessed (cursed) with four of the Great Bloodlines, you have an increased chance at interplanar communication. This may manifest itself as hunches, instincts, or voices. However, they are not necessarily correct, and the beings that send these messages may not have your best interests at heart…
WARNING!!! PRESENCE OF SECONDARY CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED. SECONDARY INHABITANT OF CORPOREAL FORM IS TENTATIVELY IDENTIFIED AS DECEASED NOBLE ANCESTOR. BEWARE!! SECONDARY INHABITANT CANNOT BE PURGED. ADVISE CAUTION IN ALL DEALINGS WITH THIS BEING…MENTAL COHESION ESTIMATED AT 23%.
THESE ARE ESTIMATES BASED ON CURRENT CAPABILITIES, AND HAVE AFFECTED YOU UNTIL NOW. PURGING THE GENETIC CODE TO INCLUDE ONLY ONE GREAT HOUSE MAY RESULT IN INCREASES OR DECREASES OF YOUR NATURAL GIFTS. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?
I thought for a long moment. On one hand, I was who I’d always been. There was no telling what I’d become if I took the ‘purge’ option. I could be stronger, could be weaker. But on the other hand, if I read this right, I’d be rid of the voice.
I’d had it all my life, but I’d never known what it was, or why it spoke to me. Tommy was a brawler naturally, quick to anger, quick to forgive, and never happier than when he was in the thick of it. I guess that came from our ‘mixed heritage,’ with the mercurial nature, but I’d always been slower than he was. Slower to anger, slower to trust, and more suspicious by nature. Once I grew angry, though, HE would wake up. A little voice, a tiny murmur in the back of my mind; the voice of madness, I’d called it. I once made the mistake of speaking about it to the shrink. Said it was an aspect of my personality I’d suppressed. It disagreed and told me in excruciating detail what we should do the bastard that dared speak about it that way. Whenever I lost my temper, it was there, cheering me on. Looking back at it now, it’d been there a lot of late. Ever since I caught Lou and it’d come out again, I’d felt it watching, waiting, even if it didn’t speak.
I considered life without it. I’d tried talking to it enough over the years, but it either didn’t want to talk to me, or couldn’t, and the knowledge that it might be a genetic twist that I could be rid of was…tempting, I couldn’t lie. Thing was though, it helped me sometimes, it egged me on, pushed me to be more violent and much more brutal, but it also saw things differently, showed me how to look at the world in a different light. Warned me when I was about to get into a fight. I knew when I heard it, and it was happy with what I was doing, I knew I’d gone too far already. Mind you, other times
, it could scream random words that made no sense, or just sob mindlessly at the edge of my awareness.
I wasn’t sure if I was sad that I couldn’t purge it. I was who I was, and who knew what I could lose if I did that. Besides, the Baron was an asshole. Last thing I needed was to be more like him.
Anyway, there was no way I’d risk losing that fifty percent increase in my healing speed. I choose ‘No’ after a lot of thought.
DECISION ACCEPTED…BEGINNING PATTERN CREATION…. FIRST NODE IS ALIGNED…. CHOOSE POSITION OF SECONDARY NODE…….
In my mind, an outline of my body appeared, with the pearl glowing like a star in the center of my forehead. I knew instantly, the knowledge filling my mind, that I would receive a point to distribute after every five levels, which could be used to improve a node, and five points to improve my body and mind with every level. The five points could be allocated to stats that corresponded to my characteristics: Strength to make me stronger, Wisdom to improve my memory and my mana regeneration, Perception to make me better with ranged weapons and more likely to spot things. They seemed obvious, yet a fantastic way to improve myself.
The ‘Nodes,’ however, were more complicated. Each meridian could hold up to ten points, and the body had meridians in the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, arms, legs, hands, and feet. I focused on my arm, curious, and I saw the meridians appear. They were dotted around, some close together, others further apart, but as I watched, they slowly brightened and dimmed.
As I continued to stare, I saw that each pattern would change me in little ways. My first point was in the brain, and allowed me access to my mana, as well as some instinctive knowledge. If I added more there, I would gain a five percent reduction per additional point invested in the mana costs of my spells. If I chose to increase my heart node, my health regeneration would increase. My lungs would increase my stamina, legs would increase speed, and hands would affect dexterity, but as I concentrated, I ‘knew’ it wasn’t only dexterity. Other options would be unlocked as I increased my abilities. As I grew in points, I would grow in abilities, and other greater abilities would unlock.
At a thought, the body in my mind’s eye suddenly changed. Text options appeared, floating next to each Node, with the improvements listed out concisely.
Brain: PRIMARY: 1/10 Spell Cost Reduction: 5% (Primary Bonus: 1 spell slot per point)
Eyes: 0/10 Vision Improvement
Ears: 0/10 Hearing Improvement
Mouth: 0/10 Vocal improvement
Nose: 0/10 Tracking and Detection Improvement
Heart: 0/10 Health Regeneration
Lungs: 0/10 Stamina Regeneration
Stomach: 0/10 Sustenance Required Reduction
Legs: 0/10 Speed Increase
Feet: 0/10 Stability Increase
Arms: 0/10 Strength Increase
Hands: 0/10 Dexterity Increase
I looked them all over, understanding the Nodes were influenced both by Primary and Secondary placement first. My primary was my brain, and choosing any additional secondary Nodes would net me a five percent reduction in spell cost, but the fact that it was my primary node gave me a further bonus. Each point invested there would unlock another spell capacity. I knew automatically that for every two points I invested in my Intelligence, I would be able to memorize one spell. I wanted to go straight down the rabbit hole of my stats immediately, but I forced myself to stay on topic. I needed to understand this. If I made a mistake, my build would be ruined straight away, and I doubted there was a way to redo it.
Adding my secondary Node gave me a new set of options. The meridians would be strengthened each time I invested a point into them, but as the secondary, it would be a stronger version of the usual bonus.
Head: Primary Node: Not possible to further augment
Eyes: Visual Boost: Chance for valuable or important details will glow to your vision, this will level with the relevant skill
Ears: Important sounds will become clearer with concentration
Nose: Scents will be stronger, aiding in tracking
Mouth: Your voice will become 10% more likely to have a desired effect on a target, soothing, seducing, persuading as required.
Heart: You will gain an additional ten points of health for each point invested in your Constitution.
Lungs: Your will gain an additional ten points of Stamina for each point invested in your Endurance.
Stomach: You will gain the ability to resist poisons 25% of the time.
Legs: You will gain a boost of 10% to your speed
Feet: You will gain a boost of 25% to your stability, reducing the chance of falling or being knocked down
Arms: You will receive a boost of 25% to your carrying capacity
Hands: You will develop crafting abilities at a 10% increased rate
I stood there for a while, thinking about my usual play style, before shaking my head and forcing myself to accept that this wasn’t a game, it was my life now. There were three choices that stood out to me: Eyes, Heart, and Hands. Extra health could be huge, literally a life saver, and crafting was my favorite part of any game. I also loved to use my hands in my normal life. The basic crafting training I’d received at the Baron’s citadel had been something I’d taken to with real pleasure. In the end, though, the real choice was easy. I needed to be able to see, and any improvement to that would be huge.
SECONDARY NODE CHOSEN……PREPARING TO AUGMENT IN 5….4….3….2….1….
My world vanished into a sea of agony again, The pain was horrific, this time centered on my brain and eyes. As they were reconstructed to allow the Pearl better access, I felt the needlelike writhing tentacles tearing the structure of my eyes apart and rebuilding them. I lost consciousness when it finally ended, sinking into blessed oblivion. As I went, the last thing I saw was another set of smoky words appearing:
CONGRATULATIONS, ETERNAL, YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 1……
◆◆◆
I awoke suddenly, a phantom pain from the implantation still screaming through my mind as I thrashed wildly and hit something hard inches from my face. I opened my eyes, seeing only pitch black everywhere, even as fluid raced down my throat and pulsed in my lungs in time to my frantic movements.
I panicked, all reason driven from my mind as this last change was too much to bear. I was alone in the dark, drowning. I pounded my fists, elbows, knees, and head off the inside of something, finding that it surrounded me on all sides. My mind screamed in panic, and all of this awoke HIM…
WhereWhatNooooNotAgainNotTheDarkAgainNoooo!!!
The voice inside my head roused suddenly, and a tiny calm aspect of my mind noted that it seemed more aware, and more…there than normal, as though it was close by my side, rather than just barely at the edge of my awareness.
Between its screams and my own, I started to truly lose my mind. I thrashed around, feeling the surrounding liquid suddenly start to drain away as a faint light began to show around the edge of whatever was in front of me.
I grabbed at the suddenly visible seams and jammed my fingers in. I forced them through, feeling them move even as my index finger on my right hand lost its nail, the tip becoming caught in a crack. I couldn’t stop, jamming my fingers in further and whimpering as the nail tore loose.
I finally had enough space to get a good grip, and I desperately pushed, heaving at whatever stood between me and the light. It held for a handful of seconds as I felt my muscles strain and start to tear. Pain bloomed across my back, my upper arms, even my thighs as I dug deeper, forcing it to give way.
With a sudden sliding sensation and the sound of cracking stone, it finally moved, slightly at first, then with a rush that sent the slab flying outward to impact the nearby wall with a resounding boom that echoed around the tiny chamber.
I fell forward from the box I’d been trapped in. My knees hit bare stone, and the rest of my body followed, even as the fluid I’d been suspended in washed across the floor.
I crouched there, shaking, dripping wet, and sp
asming as I vomited up the fluid, desperate for it all to end. As soon as the liquid was out, I sucked in a shuddering breath of warm, fetid air and cried out in pain, horror, and dismay. I curled up into a fetal position, pulling my knees as close to my chest as they’d go, wrapping my arms around them and burying my face in the wet darkness I found there. I lay there trembling, unmanned by the experience in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a small child, and I wept.
It seemed like seconds, but it was probably closer to half an hour before a sound drew me back from the brink. I raised my head shakily, feeling my eyes burning from the tears. My chest heaved as I panted. I tried to get ahold of myself, forcing my mind to examine the room I was in.
It was long and narrow. The thing I’d been trapped inside was a sarcophagus, and here and there in the room were the weapons racks I could remember from other dreams. Small spaces were set into the walls below bowls that had burst into flame with my arrival. The spaces were usually filled with votive offerings, but these were all empty. I glanced around, finding no other people, but equally lacking, I saw no weapons, no armor.
I drew in another shuddering breath, visually searching the room while I tried to get my brain in gear. I was in a summoning hall, but every surface was coated in cobwebs or weird piles of dirt, and the carvings that normally adorned the room were…covered.
I forced myself to uncurl, coming to my feet with a little stagger. Looking closer, then wiping at the nearest wall, I realized that I remembered this section of carvings clearly. It stood above a weapons rack that normally held the daggers, and I had noticed it in every dream I could remember. It depicted a figure, dressed in the armor that was usually set aside for me, saving people and killing creatures.
It didn’t sound like much, but it had always spoken to me; the fear etched into the people’s faces giving way to hope as a figure that looked like me helped them. It made me feel like a hero, and it gave me strength, gave me something to aspire to. In this place, though, it had been altered …defaced…long scratches marred the stone, and something dark had been smeared across it. I sniffed as I moved closer, and the smell suddenly assaulted my brain.
