by Skyler Grant
“Still not a seduction, Majesty. You are within a depiction of the mind of Yve Garland,” Lake said.
That made sense, one of the statues in the room did seem to be a carving of a nude Yve. It was a bit stylized to make her even more stunning, but that required less embellishment than it otherwise might.
“She has fancy tastes, then,” I said.
“She is a former Goddess of Passion and Fire, and before that was an Artificial Intelligence on another planet. You worshiped and loved her, once,” Lake said.
You’d think that all of this would jog something in my memory, but nothing did. I began to rummage around the room. Certain items had a strange glow to them—there was a chest near one wall, a picture upon the wall, and a carved fixture by the door.
“You keep saying a lot of strange things. Why would you bring me inside her mind?” I asked.
“Something has been done to steal your memories. You should be resistant against such things, but they appear to have overcome that. Yve’s mind is structured differently and you may be able to reach her here,” Lake said.
It sounded like a lot of nonsense to me, but I couldn’t argue that something strange was going on. I moved towards the glowing chest and found it locked. The top was made of tiled picture panels. One depicted Yve wearing leather armor with a lute against her back, another had her in plate mail and holding a two-handed sword. A third showed her naked and wreathed in flames, this beside a picture of her in business attire that might have been taken this morning. And there was a graphic display of her being tortured.
“This is some sick stuff she is into,” I said.
“I don’t think she enjoyed the torture, Majesty,” Lake said.
I hoped not. I really wasn’t into that sort of thing.
I experimented with the tiles and found that I could slide them. “A puzzle?”
“It must be so, Majesty,” Lake said.
I moved things around so that the depiction of her business attire was in the last slot. “I’d guess then that these are events from her life that are probably meant to be put in order. The last I know, but the rest is a mystery to me.”
“You can remember nothing of this?” Lake asked.
I tried. I really tried. I couldn’t, but almost of their own volition my fingers seemed to move the depiction of her in leather armor to the first location on the chest.
“There you go. Just like that,” Lake said.
“Don’t praise me for something when I don’t even know why I am doing it. I may have moved that piece there, but it doesn’t make any sense,” I said.
“I believe you should feel strongly about the next one. Look at them carefully.”
One that I would feel strongly about. The torture made the most sense, it looked grisly and horrific, and the sort of thing that should leave a lasting scar. I didn’t think that was it, though. Naked and in flames was another matter. For a moment I felt a rush of desire that was absolutely dizzying for all that it was also brief. I slid that tile into the second slot.
That left me with two tiles yet to place, the plate-mail and the torture. Try as I might I still couldn’t remember anything about them, but with two to go it wasn’t really all that difficult a conundrum. I tried both orientations. Torture and then plate-mail and there was an audible click.
I opened the chest. Inside was an assortment of photographs and a journal. The photos were strange. I was in them, most often dressed in plate or chain. Ashley from Accounts Receivable was there as well, so was Walt who I’d met at the bar—he was wearing the most ridiculous-looking hat. There were many things there I didn’t recognize at all.
The journal seemed to be just that, a list of remembrances, although on the last page was a hastily scrawled note.
Left 17 Earth
Left 3 Fire
Right 27 Water
Left 15 Metal
Right 12 Wood
Those numbers and directions made me think of one thing. I checked the picture on the wall and found that I was correct. Behind it was a heavy safe with a twist dial.
“Care to help out here?” I asked.
“I can’t too much. I could get you here, but these are your puzzles to solve even if you no longer remember the solutions. I’m bound by rules,” Lake said.
Why should I expect her to start being helpful now? If Lake had ever played any sort of role in my life I was increasingly certain it must have been a useless one.
I recognized the five elements, although I didn’t know what order they went in. Still, if I had to I could make guesses. I knew for example that the combination couldn’t start with either Water or Wood. To complete a proper safe combination of five positions starting with a right turn it would be right, left, right, left, right. But there were only two right turn numbers, and three to the left, so I knew I had to start towards the left.
Knowing that each number would be used only once gave me three options for the first turn, two for the second, two for the third, one for the fourth, and one for the fifth. Although it might appear daunting, in fact there were only twelve possible combinations for the safe.
I could make a further guess. The picture on the chest of Yve wreathed in flames symbolized her. I couldn’t see her being in the middle of this puzzle, which means that fire would likely come either at the start or the end.
The start seemed more likely. Knowing even one of the numbers reduced the possible combinations considerably. That made it one, two, two, one, and one. I’d gone from twelve potential combinations to four.
I didn’t get it until my third attempt. Fire, Water, Metal, Wood, Earth. I didn’t know what the elements represented, but then I didn’t need to.
Inside the safe were items that meant little to me. A paint brush, a few coins, a rounded pebble, and an intricately carved wooden key.
“Do you have any idea what these things are?” I asked Lake.
“Things important to her. When you go poking around in another’s mind the things you find don’t always have meaning to you. I’m hoping this means that she will be restored to herself when you leave,” Lake said.
There was one glowing object in the room I had yet to investigate. The carving beside the door of lovers in mid-embrace. I had to admire the detail. The key slid perfectly between their entwined bodies and with a turn gave another audible click. Flames billowed out everywhere around me and the room vanished.
Congratulations: You have successfully navigated a mindscape
Choose from the following upgrades
Puzzle master: During any puzzle you encounter in a mindscape you may invoke this ability and have the first two moves to the solution completed for you.
Memories: During a mindscape you may encounter objects of unknown significance. This ability will allow you to relieve the associated memories.
I was obviously capable of solving my own puzzles, I didn’t need any cheats in order to figure things out. Getting an idea of what someone else remembered though, that could be useful. Those items in the safe were mysteries to me and I wished I had some frame of reference for them. As soon as I willed my acceptance of memories the prompt faded and I returned to the real world.
Chapter 10
I was still in the bed with Yve, which although nice was interrupted when she rose to her feet and began to pace within the confines of the narrow room. I appreciated the fact that she hadn’t bothered to slip on any clothing.
“What did you do?” Yve asked.
“I was inside your mind. I think, at least that’s what the crazy naked woman said,” I said.
“Lake is in your head?” Yve asked, and then grimaced. “I was better in there. I’d never have let this go on so long. Yvera, get your ass in here.”
There was a swirl of smoke and ash, and a woman of stone and magma appeared, flames flickering about her flesh.
“Does everyone just feel free to wander through your bedroom?” I asked.
Yvera looked at us both. “Believe me. I’d have
rather you both put some clothes on before I came in.”
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. What is going on and why didn’t you shield me?” Yve asked.
“Whatever it is powered right through your mind and I lost track of you. I seem to be unusually weak here for some reason,” Yvera said.
“It happened when we docked with the castle,” Yve said.
“Could you two start making some sense?” I asked.
“He doesn’t remember?” Yvera asked.
“Doesn’t seem like it,” Yve said.
“Put your pants on and shut up, Liam. The adults are talking. It has to be Veros,” Yvera said.
Right. The Goddess was a complete and utter bitch, hot though. I got dressed while they continued to speak.
“I agree. Any idea how he’d have done it?” Yve asked.
“Standard mental manipulation wouldn’t work on Liam any longer, which means Veros probably has some of the material harvested from the lunar lab,” Yvera said.
“And he utilized it to materialize a gift. I can deal with that. Why are we surrounded by corporate fairy tale henchmen?” Yve asked.
“I don’t have a clue. I’m going to look around. See what you can do to get Liam his memories back,” Yvera said, before she vanished as suddenly as she appeared.
“Useless,” Yve said in a mutter, as she began to get dressed. The benefits of us crashing at her place meant she had a fresh change of clothes. I was looking more rumpled than I would have liked.
“She seems kind of a jerk,” I said.
“You have no idea. On the facilities map yesterday I saw a R&D lab, we’ll start there,” Yve said.
“Yve. I like you, you’re cute and you’re damned good in bed, and from a look in your head you’ve got a good sense of aesthetics…” I said.
“But you’re worried that it is your second day of work and I am totally going to destroy your happy little life. Rest assured that is exactly what I intend to do,” Yve said, and checked herself over in the mirror before grabbing my hand and tugging me along after her.
Well, it wasn’t quite time to report to work anyways. I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything to see the lab.
The laboratorys proved to be in the basement, a trip in the elevator taking us to a floor filled with impressive-looking and blinking machinery. A pretty blonde in a lab coat and glasses was studying a clipboard.
While three bears of various sizes, also in lab coats, napped in a corner.
“Are those bears?” I asked.
“Don’t wake them,” the blonde said. “I’m Doctor Gold, did you need something?”
“Why are there bears in your lab?” Yve asked, nearly as taken aback as me.
“I don’t know. They really aren’t very good at science and if they’re awake, all you’ll hear are bear jokes,” Gold said.
“Bear jokes?” I couldn’t help myself.
“What do you call bears without ears?” Gold asked.
“A genetics experiment made by a worthless pile of flesh called Gob?” Yve said.
“No. Bees,” Gold said, deadpan.
I exchanged a look with Yve. Neither of us laughed.
“That is why we are going to make sure they don’t wake up. You know Doctor Gob?” Gold asked.
“In a hate him and everything he stands for sort of way. Is he here?” Yve asked.
“No. He provided some of our samples. He’s a man as brilliant as he is handsome,” Gold said.
Yve’s smile looked a little strained. “I’d agree with you completely dear, except I think we’d mean two entirely different things. Listen, me and my friend here are both new hires.”
“Welcome to the company. DLC is the key to glee,” Gold said, still without any emotion in her voice. I hadn’t heard that corporate slogan yet. I kind of liked it, it was catchy.
“Say that again and I will set you on fire,” Yve said.
“Is she serious?” Gold asked.
“I don’t think she likes you,” I said.
“Doctor Gob isn’t married is he? It was only the one time. Well, three times, but the one night,” Gold said.
“Stop talking,” Yve said, and shivered in revulsion.
“I don’t think she likes him either,” I said.
“That isn’t very logical,” Gold said.
“This is Liam Ottani, he is a new hire assigned to sales. His memories are missing and I want them back,” Yve said.
Gold furrowed her brow. “Oh. This is about the new employee orientation. Yours didn’t take?”
Yve simply stared at her.
Gold pushed her glasses up. “Well, before we go further let me just say that although they are poor at science, the bears are rather good with murder. This lab is also filled with combat technology that can be turned against anyone making serious threats. That all said, we can make a deal. You aren’t the first to throw off orientation.”
Yve took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. Finally she gave her most winning smile, back fully into sales mode. “We’d like to hear more.”
So it was true? I was something else before? Until this point I hadn’t known quite what to make of everything, it all seemed a bit elaborate for a prank, but one never knew. It still could be, of course, but that was seeming more unlikely.
“New employees go through a skills assessment and then orientation. Employees too often are burdened with a personal life that keeps them from achieving the true satisfaction that can only come from dedicated work. Here at DLC we cut out all those useless bits as a service to new hires so they can focus on what is important,” Gold said. It sounded more memorized than sincere.
“You chop away our lives?” I asked.
“You probably didn’t have anything worth living for anyways. But here, here you have the chance to be a part of something important. It is possible to reverse the process, but I want something in return,” Gold said.
“Name it,” Yve said.
“Ms. White keeps trying to cut my funding. She took away my Bunsen burners and gave me a lighter. My coffee-maker got replaced by a vending machine. The bears do not drink coffee,” Gold said, deadly serious.
“That sounds terrible,” Yve said.
“Do you know the bears used to have cots? All just the right size and firmness for them, it was very cute. She took them away. Do you know what happens when the bears must sleep on the floor? They sometimes wake up,” Gold said.
One of the bears blearily poked its head up. “What time is it when you find a bear asleep in your bed?”
“Time to get a new bed. Go back to sleep. See?” Gold said, turning back to us.
“We know Ms. White’s new assistant. We’ll see what we can do to get her off your back,” Yve said.
“And if you see Doctor Gob, let him know I miss him and it wouldn’t be terrible if he visited,” Gold said.
I took Yve’s arm. I didn’t know what it was about this Gob fellow that set her off, but I could guess. Usually it had to be a former lover to get under your skin this much—they must have been quite the item.
“If we see him we’ll be certain to let him know,” I said.
Yve asked, “What is wrong with that woman? Is it the mental conditioning? It has to be the mental conditioning, right?”
“I don’t know, she seemed pretty right in her own head. I mean, crazy, but I guess I would be too if I was locked up in a lab all day with bears,” I said.
“We are going to find Ms. White, get her to back off, get your head straight and burn this place to the ground,” Yve said.
“You’re kind of the worst new employee ever,” I said.
“There is no ‘I’ in team and I’m all about me,” Yve said.
Chapter 11
Finding Ms. White was more work than it should have been. We stopped by her office on the seventeenth floor only to be told that she was off to visit Accounting on twelve. We met Ashley, who told us that Ms. White had already moved on to the Corporate Happiness department.
Corporate Happiness had all been fired when we arrived, and a trip back to her office informed us that Ms. White was now in Advertising.
Arriving at the third floor we got our first hint she must still be inside, given that most of the employees appeared to be outside and crying.
“Wow,” I said.
“She’s a winner,” Yve said, and led the way inside.
It wasn’t hard to figure out which one was Ms. White. Aside from the pale skin and ruby lips, her attire was all white. She all but radiated arrogance as she stood there with her arms folded, staring down at a pair of employees.
The two facing off from her were a study in contrasts, the woman dark-haired and stunning by any measure. The guy was bearded, heavyset, and somehow managed to look even more rumpled than I did.
“These numbers remain unacceptable. You’ve been given every resource you’ve asked for and yet still the expansion into new markets remains slow,” White said.
“Think they’re a couple?” I asked Yve quietly.
“Beauty and the Beast. It’s a thing. I am so sick of all this fairy tale nonsense already,” Yve whispered back.
Beauty said, “And as I have explained, moving into new markets takes time. We will get there, but we need to take our time and do it properly or else we’ll face real and lasting harm down the road.”
“So, fuck off,” Beast said.
White said, “We’ve wasted quite enough time. I do not know what you’re up to or what you hope to gain by delaying things, but I expect to see implementation of the plan by the end of the week or we’ll be discussing new leadership for your division.”
“No,” Yve said firmly to me.
“What no?” I asked.
“You are thinking to yourself that she is kind of hot and you’d just love to find out what is beneath that frigid ice bitch exterior,” Yve said.
I didn’t like that she knew me so well, when I still had no idea who she was—because that was exactly what I was thinking.
