PART II
Monsters Among Men
A Time Outside of Time ~ A Space Outside of Space
Zane
W-What? Where...am I? I can't see anything. It’s pitch black all around. I feel a wall. It feels hard, solid. Secure. God, it's so dark. I can’t see for shit. Ugh, God damn it. Where am I?!
AGH! Fuck. Okay, not wearing shoes...that’s not good. Is anybody there? I...don’t think I can hear you. You can hear me though, right? Coming through loud and clear? I have a feeling you are…God...I think I’m just talking to myself. Going to die in here all by myself. Just going to—eugh, is that...there’s something wet here, oh my god this is dreadful.
Let. Me. Out. Of. Here!
I start banging on the walls, pounding the base and hear hollow echoes ring out. My fists run hollow against the metal—it’s too thick for me to reasonably break through but thin enough to hear there’s something outside. There’s something out there, but I can’t be sure for shit I can even make it through. There’s a hollow pain ringing through my chest moving down toward my stomach. It was a stinging sensation that begged for me to throw up everything I had left in there.
Oh, fuck, how the hell did I end up in this mess? I don’t deserve this. Where’s Em—...wait...who? That was so weird. It was like a memory plucked straight from my brain. I think I saw that in a movie. I think it was that one with the wizard kid?
Ow, shit. I...I think I found something. It...it's a sheet of paper. It's too dark in here to read...damn it. Okay, maybe if I just focus on it...I think I can make out what it says. Maybe...maybe you all can see it better than I can? Wait…I think I can get it if I hold it against the wall like this.
Hello Zane, I see you’re confused on everything. That’s wonderful. I need you to pass along a message to the fine folks who are watching you out there. Yes I quite know my audience. You’re unfortunate enough to be watching the world’s worst show. I am not sorry for that, but you are going to be able to experience the punishment of a lifetime. I’ve got here something no one else has been able to do. And you’re all going to help make this as memorable as possible. And by the end, well, maybe our fine-unfine friend here will only die a few times over.
Zane here’s been bad. You won’t even begin to believe the seeds he’s sewn...well, I guess I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Some of you may know more than others in the audience, but it is important that Zane here keep wandering these lowly halls of himself by himself. He’s here for a reason. But you don’t remember why, now, do you Zaney? I CANNOT EVER FORGET.
Anyway. There are some rules you all need to follow, and maybe this will turn out great for everyone. First and foremost, you speak of these events to no-one. Zane’s fate is to be decided here and only here.
Second, you may only interact with Zane through the use of the controller. He cannot hear you otherwise. Incorrect inputs will be ignored. You are, however, able to hear him—so do please avoid angering the community at large, Zane. They are trying to help you after all.
Third, Zane will be exploring the area I’ve set out for him. He is not allowed to cause any damage to the scenery in order to break the order of events. He must follow his sense of direction and be a good little boy.
Fourth, If they can crack the code, then they’ll learn the next rule involves time travel. Any resets of the timeline will send Zane back to the bunker, and some puzzles will be reset, but not all of them. Be sure to keep aware of which puzzles you’ll need to solve—or resolve on future visits. Only the final timeline will be remembered, now.
And fifth and finally, have fun.
ARKANUS
Okay, calm down. Retrace your steps. I…was at home before all this. Who the fuck is this Arkanus guy though? Who the fuck does he think he is? What the hell aren’t you going to forget, and why am I being subjected to it? Do any of you know that name? I don’t think it’s familiar to me.
Let’s see. I was watching TV…at least I think it was on. I was trying to sleep. Or was I? It’s possible I went out to a party. I don’t remember exactly what I would have been partying about. A lot of my memory is foggy, almost doesn’t even feel my own.
Why would I have been at a party? Was I? No…I was definitely home. Or...god. I’m sorry it’s so confusing. I remember being at a party—I think it was for New Years. But I also remember being home. I have a very vivid memory of a Dr. Phil rerun playing deep into the night. Something like that—the kind of thing you keep on out of morbid curiosity. Agh! Shit, stubbed a toe. I know you can’t see what I see—not that I can see anything right now, but I’m feeling my way around here trying to make sense of what this place is.
Okay, think. Sleeping, I was sleeping...on the couch because I had to work the graveyard shift. I was....home from work. Everything past that is a blur. Why was I so certain I was out at a party? I don’t think I could have gone out with how tired I was...hell, how tired I am even now.
Fuck. Okay, I'm going to try to feel out my bearings here. I think there's a table of some sort in front of me. It's where I found that sheet of paper. Behind me...I've got a wall. Solid, seems to stretch to my left...a good seven steps before I reach the end. Let me check the other side...okay, about the same length to the next end. There's...a smell hanging in the air. It's not familiar, but it is rancid. It almost stings behind my eyes, I can feel myself starting to tear up in response from it.
Taking in a deep breath.. I'm going to try to creep across the room. One step...at...a...time. I'm waving my arms up and down the walls in the vain hopes of finding a light switch. Even then I'm still disappointed when all I find is bare wall. Part of me didn't realistically think I'd find anyth—HKKKKK
Part of the ground was raised...I tripped and landed in whatever was damp in here. My jaw hurts and my elbow feels something similar. It’s a sort of ringing pain that stings with the static feeling of frayed nerves.
Let me just...stand back up. Looks like it's a staircase of some sort. Great. Nothing like climbing stairs to who knows where with zero guidance. That never turned out raw for anybody. I don't know if anybody's even out there...I just...don't want to feel like I'm the only one here. Deep breaths. Okay. You can do this. Slow. Light will be here soon. Slow. Light will be here soon. We don't have to—awhoops.
Okay...end of the stairs. God please don't let there be more. I don't even know if I'm facing away from them anymore.
I'm frozen....fearing if I reach out my arm something will reach back from the void and take me whole. But I know that's no way to get out of this mess. Deep in my heart I know. Part of me knew it all along. Where did that come from? Were those my thoughts? Or is someone else here with me? Fuck, okay, moving forward. If I fall and break my neck fuck it. I can't handle the anticipation.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck...Okay...I...oh fuck I haven't ran that hard in...a while. Jesus. I think I reached something...it...feels like a doorknob. Yes! Okay, it took some work, but I managed to pull it open...only to more darkness. FUCK. Man, if I was watching someone go through this shit on TV I’d be right there with those in the audience laughing and being so thankful this wasn’t my life but…now, here we are.
It feels like a hallway. I can touch both sides with my arms extended. That does wonders for the claustrophobic concerns I had about this place. Great. I’m going to need a double extra session with my therapist by the end of this…god damn it. I don't know if I feel better or worse with less room to breathe...less space to occupy...Okay, slowly, I'm going to follow it to its end.
I think I've reached the end of my rope. The hallway ends. I feel...three...what are these...levers? Jeez, yeah, they're like...old pull levers you'd see in old cartoons—even have the rubber feeling handles. What kind of sick game is this? What the fuck is this place? There's three of em lined up, one after another just jutting out of the walls. I have to squint to see the outlines through the darkness, but I can feel them all the same. They're all flipped up. Oh...no, I feel like this is important in which order I flip them...god what is the order? I never was good with decision making...I guess you could call that my Achilles’ heel. Wait…what was that? I…think I can hear you. I thought I heard you before but honestly I wasn’t writing my potential insanity out of the question, but I definitely heard mumbling voices in the back of my mind. So, I listened to them and raised my hand up to the levers themselves.
“Flip them in this order...2...3...1” Jinn, an outsider said.
“Veto that order,” the commands of Arkanus deep within the core of the malediction rang. He had sat through multiple timelines of these choices watching various combinations be pulled, but this is the first that he has personally vetoed.
“Rude,” said Doctor C, of the outside.
“You have no power here” replied Laches, another of the outside.
I feel a...strange sensation come over me. Like a force outside of my own hovering my hand over the lever in the middle. My mind can barely process the events going on within my mind. I grasp my hand over the second lever and begin to yank it downward. It takes some force, but as soon as it starts to move down I push it through, and it sticks tight with a satisfying click.
I don't know why, but I think I'm going to try the third one next...and then the first. Something about that pattern seems...familiar. Twenty-three is number one. Where have I heard that before? Images of small critters dance behind my eyes. A faint humming of a drumbeat in the echoes of the space around me. Twenty-three is number one.
A loud humming sound rings in the distance, like some far off machine roaring to life. Huh, that must have done something.
Suddenly, the hallway is filled with light. I can see the hallway really is as narrow as I figured it was. Though...I don't quite feel like I can move on any farther from here. I turn around and retrace my steps back to the bunker I had woken up in. I hurry down the steps with a newfound energy as I can now see where I'm going, but that energy doesn't last me long. Suddenly, I yearn for the darkness once more. The first thing that catches my eyes in the corner of the bunker is the body. It's a woman.
Her body lay broken on the ground surrounded by a deep pool of crimson blood. Long raven hair shielded her face I couldn’t see any visible entry wounds, but I feared her cause of death was not from a knife or a gun My breath caught in my throat as I tried to center myself—I admit I felt lightheaded upon seeing her body. I have to turn away and retch—pulsing waves of pain entered my stomach as it tried more than anything to empty itself of anything it may have had. I think about the damp liquid I was walking through when I first woke up here and it further incentivized the complete evacuation of my stomach. I don’t even have to look down to see the stained red footprints tracking from the body all across the room during my initial panic of walking blindly around the bunker.
I...all of a sudden can smell the rot that emanates from the body. My head begins to pound as the deadness of the air hangs over me like a vice. I grip my head that is pounding heavier like a drum. Images flash across my mind like a movie running on double speed. This...this girl...I knew her. I was trying to find her. Why was I trying to find her? I...needed to find her. Agh, fuck this hurts. It’s right there behind my eyes and it’s locked to me. It is so close I cannot grasp it.
I went to school with her I think. We were just kids. God how long ago was that? It…both felt like just yesterday and also decades ago—entire lifetimes ago. Something dark happened. Something bad…I feel something dark bubbling up from the surface. They seem like messages from another life entirely. What was going on?
The messages were flashing behind my eyes faster than a bullet train during rush hour. I saw them laid out to me in other lives and suddenly felt a resounding pressure emanating from the body on the other side of the room.
1
There once was a girl named Emily
She never met a face she couldn’t turn right
Flowers in her hair, a cloudless sky
I wonder why she had to die
California evolved after The Collapse
But before, news traveled of the death
And to think, survival was just in her grasp.
If only she could have held her breath
2
In a muggy summer of 1997 I sat facing a setting sun with my legs dangling over the edge of the precipice. The boundless nothing awaiting me as I pondered my own extinction. It was such a thought to end my own life and I look to my side to find the Imp sitting beside me, almost begging for action. I’ve had enough action. This city has had enough action. I desire justice. Nothing until the end of her suffering will ever be enough.
3
I return to the schoolgrounds where she went before she died. They’ve been closed down since then—PR’s not great for the scene of a murder. Though, then again if they had to close off every place she died no public entity would survive the backlash. Especially with all the collateral damage. Entering through the halls, I can almost smell the remnants of that day, like a fresh scar on my mind. I carry it close to my soul as a memory that I wish to never forget.
To never let go.
4
Dear Emily,
Why don’t you answer my cries?
In the great beyond, are you free?
From the pain that haunted you so close.
From the poisons that augment your lies.
I desire nothing but your sweet release from pain.
That from this life you gained much but had too much in return taken.
I am sorry.
5
Emily liked skating. She didn’t listen to her parents who told her that she shouldn’t get into a “boy’s” hobby. She rebelled against that idea. Hated it, even. You should have seen her when something that passionate got stuck in her head. You told her she couldn’t do something and she’d dedicate all of her energy into doing it. She could have moved mountains.
Emily, why couldn’t you have done that this time? I never used to understand your passion for going against the grain. I respected it, but I never understood it. There are some forces that bite back. Those beings that haunt these halls are the very kind I aim to eradicate through these cells.
6
The human brain can withstand anywhere from three to six minutes without oxygen. She lasted two. The knife wounds didn’t help. It wasn’t determined one or the other as the major cause at our local precinct. Laughable fools who pretend to care about justice—those who write the books long enough to imitate justice. Her death was considered through and through as a random act of robbery. Disgusting.
7
Dear Emily,
Your story is playing on the news. These people who never knew you are telling everyone just how much they miss you. They talk about you online as if the wannabe detectives have anything to gain but to make your death but a story for their viewership. They say they regret your passing but profit off your death.
I miss you.
These people have it wrong...for me. Of course for you it is how it happened. I guess I can’t relate. I’ve never died once, much less twice. Of course, we both know that’s probably not even the exact amount. You agreed to go with me to that party and you probably knew your time was up. Did you? Could you not have told me if so? I still have so many lingering questions it eats me alive. Holding the knife in my hands...it glistens with a darkened gaze as if mocking me. As if it knows what it did. I guess I’d feel the same if I stood in front of the pond, too, or held the rope she was strangled with.
8
She was stabbed at a party with friends that should have known better. I went, unknowingly attempting to be her protector, but they should have done a better job. They should have known better. The year was just beginning—it was meant to be a celebration of all the festivities that came and went with a new era. The ball dropped twenty minutes ago; the skyline was sharper than any sight in New York City. People flooded the streets like another year wasn’t guaranteed. The small group gathered to celebrate their new lives. New lives being such an oxymoron in this context that I can’t help but wonder if her own situation affected anything in the end. Sometimes to ease the ache I find myself slipping into poetry to find meaning in the words that hang in front of my eyes. That if I can decode the meaning I can find out the hidden sky she waits for me.
But she does not wait.
The school where she died is now a casino. The Collapse has evolved it like it has evolved most everything else. The demon twins run the joint. I look at it like some disgusting scab sitting here. If I had the motivation I’d bomb the place and send them all to hell. But in the end I do nothing. Just like back then.
9
Emily’s problem was that she spent so much time proving herself to others she tended to let other things slide. When her affection grew, she had failed to reconcile her multiplicitous lives and responsibilities that came with it. She loved, and she loved a lot. I loved it about her, but I’d be lying if I didn’t think it was the reason why she was killed.
In one timeline she fell in love with me after our high school prom. I had gotten the courage to ask her out and the night...well, I don’t need to share all those details. We were in love, but she was different. Always was.
She told me after our first anniversary how she was able to travel between timelines. Live an entirely different life but still somehow find a way to return where and whenever she wanted. I was shocked, at first. I would be lying if I said it didn’t sting a bit that she was capable of loving other people, but after many long talks and several months of thinking about it, I realized that only made her even more special.
She could love more than a normal human. She could have a full life with me and not make it feel wasted. I was so...lucky to know her for the time that I did. I just wish she could have stayed.
Time and space are constructed in such a way that the fragmentation of said structure can have lasting and irreparable damage based on the amount and duration of said fragmentation. These fragmentations create voids of space not dissimilar to vacuums. However, these fragmentations—Chronomalies—seek to regain the time and space they have lost. They move. They hunger. They are merciless.
Emily was not the only person who can do what she did, but in total the number of Chronomalies summoned by the few normally aren’t an issue. They don’t cause fragmentations large enough to be noticed.
That’s because the number of timelines that used to exist were enough so that the Pathfinders could slip through streams virtually undetected by the Chronomalies. Ever since the Collapse, debts are coming due. Pathfinders aren’t able to operate as they used to. You must wonder why you’re here, Zane? Is that it? You still wondering why you’re here? You’ve almost reached the end. I wonder, will you discover the truth?
The end? That didn’t feel right. Was he really so close to the end? Who had written these notes…they felt like shades of myself? I went to that party…but I don’t fully remember going to that party. Agh, my head is aching something fierce. What the hell was it again?
I looked over to Emily’s body in the corner of the room, her blood just as dark and just as real as everything else around me. I…knew she was different to most people…except there was more to it than that, wasn’t there? There always was more to it. But so much was locked away from me as if I wasn’t the right me to understand it—or if I was the perfect me to, but I was missing a crucial key to the center of it all.
I was brought here for a reason. This Arkanus fellow has a very specific reason to do what he is doing. It would be easy to guess he wrote those messages, but why then does he remember things about Emily that I struggle to? Why am I only just now remembering that school of hers? What about her with these…these beasts that hunted her down? Too much of it made no sense. Would I discover the truth? That much was clearly up to me at this point.
I remember looking for her. Something about...trying to warn her I think. She ended up dying, but not here. She didn’t die here. Why is she here now, then? It wasn't supposed to happen. Agh, why doesn't anything make sense?! She was...thrown in a lake. Her body was dumped, and her killers got away. I'm seeing a dark figure. Not human. And something...eating. Eating something always eating what was it eating...?
I remember a sunny Saturday afternoon. Staring into her eyes and seeing reflected back the infinite time in her gaze. It was like a deep magic that held secrets I could only begin to guess as. Something in those eyes awoke something dark. I can't remember what happened next.
The pain is slowing down. I...can't remember anything else. I...can't stay here. I can't...oh...
I just noticed...in her hand is one of those notes...you guys are okay with me leaving that there...right? You won’t be too upset?
…
Sigh, I know it will eat away at you as it would me. Okay, fuck. I'm going to grab it...Oh god I'm going to puke. Jesus fuck, I'm so sorry. I just...need....this…
The sands of a forgotten clock fall to their depths.
The sun of a forbidden warmth shielded from view.
A funeral pyre, erupts from the ground.
Nothing new.
Burning the bodies. Burning the regret.
Give your life, take hers, what do I get?
Sand. Nothing but broken fragments of time.
The monster outside of time hunts for its prey
not knowing how long it will live and relive
its last day.
Okay, I'm done. I'm heading out of here; I can't stay in here any longer. A low rumble comes from the other room, and I take the opportunity to leap back up the stairs until the top step breaks my stride and I trip to the ground, letting out an exasperated gasp. I slam my fist into the ground and let out a small cry. Just what is this place? What kind of bullshit is all this? I...I don't know. I let myself sit there until I calm down.
…
…
…
When I'm ready, I stand back up and make my way to the end of the hall, up the stairs and passed the second hall back toward the levers. I find that a passage has opened just before the levers on the left-hand side of the wall. I enter and find another narrow hallway that leads into a much larger room. I take a deep breath and lean against the wall, taking in my surroundings.
On the far edge of the room I see television sets mounted on the wall in a stack of nine. They look like bulky CRTs that are mounted in purposeful arrangement. To my immediate right are some radio sets. Looking at them I envision some sort of tacky radio host sitting at the table beside it and announcing the top forty hits on the local station.
The room is full of tech that looks far out of what I can understand in the corner. The limit to my technical know-how begins and ends with the TVs. To my left is an indent down to another long table with a host of technological junk splayed across it. On top of the junk however I can see there's another sheet of paper on it. One of the televisions in the center flicks on and gives me a start. I turn on a dime and stare at the center screen., a single word is displayed in white text.
DEAD
A crackling sound to my right comes from the radios. I listen intently, frozen in place. A corrupted melody plays through heavy bouts of static. It...it’s reminiscent to something I used to play as a kid. Some...game. Some old game I used to like. There were faint elements that reminded me of Zelda...wasn’t it that creepy one…? Majora’s Mask...yeah, that was definitely it. Why of all things is that here…? The disturbing nature of it sent shivers up my spine.
The audio fades out and the television shuts off. I'm scared to move lest anything else notice my presence. I feel a dark presence in the room with me...I've felt it ever since I've woken up here. I can't put my finger on it, but it's almost like a shadow trailing me just waiting for me to put my guard down. Like a reaper in the night, except here night always comes.
Out of the corner of my eye I notice a hatch in the ceiling. Almost immediately I start to see movement, and suddenly I can see gushing water spilling into the room from the hatch.
Ah, SHIT! Ah...ah...what...what do I do?
“.control,” Arkanus inputs the command, a surprising action to the outsiders looking in. He was interfering more than ever now.
“I veto that command,” says Doctor C.
Arkanus, unaffected by the Doctor’s wishes continues without hesitation, “.adminaccess”.
“No, fuck you asshole. .control,” Doctor C attempts to regain control of their collective vote.
“.control” Zed, another voice from the outside tries to help. His voice echoes through the back of my mind.
They are each separately met with command errors—they are unable to disrupt the process within. Arkanus continues, “I choose the input of the Pendant of Memories, an artifact meant to rush in powerful emerging thoughts.”
“Please select a memory,” the command center prompts Arkanus.
“Why are you such an asshole,” Tiki, an ever yet ‘nother member of the outside calls.
“I choose The Father.wmv. This video originates from the outside world—and depicts the death of the protagonist.” Arkanus’ voice flowed through the ether. The video he had chosen was known to the outsiders, and their hesitation on letting it go through was evident.
“Veto that,” says Laches, a voice from the outside.
“Yeah that is a dick move man, come on. Veto the father.wmv,” says Doctor C.
“A new choice must then be made,” the command center relays. It has accepted the vetoes from the outside voices. And from its announcement a new idea springs forth. Using the prompt from Arkanus and the previous connection towards the Legend of Zelda from Zane’s subconscious through the corrupted audio, Doctor C begins the next prompt.
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“I choose the Zora Mask. It gave Link the ability to swim and breath underwater.”
I stay completely still as the water continues to fill the room. The force it’s gushing into the darkness drowns out the sounds of the voices. It’s frozen cold to the touch and I flinch as it runs over my feet. I look down and see the blood washing away from my feet. My toes clench up as the water rises to my ankles and suddenly feeling a burst of confidence within me, I remain still. Something inside of me says that this is okay...that I can work with this. The water continues filling into the room at a faster rate. It has passed my knees, and then my waist, and soon enough I'm floating in the depths of it. I get an idea to swim up to the hatch, but I find...something odd catch my attention. Another one of the television sets has turned on.
There's a strange news report playing on the screen, but I can barely hear it above the water. The parts I can make out unsettle me to no degree. They sound like several different reports about a murder victim. Just...what is this? This...can't be just like what I just remembered? But...something reminds me about this. These...are the reports I heard after she died. But...she wasn't stabbed. I remember her being shot. What is going on? I cannot understand what this means.
Turning around, I face the hatch and begin swimming upward. What are the odds…
Continuing up I find myself breaching the surface. I take a heavy gasp of air and feel a radiating heat and bright light shining down on me. I get a look of my surroundings.
Around me immediately are stones lining the edge of the pond I’ve swam up into. The hatch I exited from sits at the bottom of the pond—even though the water was spilling down into the room below the level didn’t seem to lower any.
On the surface was grass...vibrant grass layering to dozens of grown plants of various colors and sizes. The room could be described as a botanical garden—but in reality it almost looked like a domed greenhouse. Angled glass encircled the large garden, and I could see bright blue skies diffracted outside the dome. Fresh green grass surrounded the shore of the pond in the center of the room and the colors of the petals each of the flowers held were so bright they almost seemed like entirely new colors.
Harsh sunlight hangs high in the sky, but its light is fragmented through the dome, so it's not too harsh. That's when I notice there seems to be a door of sorts hanging high in the sky on the dome's surface. It looks like it's...forty, maybe fifty feet in the air? I can't see any conceivable way of reaching it—there's no landmass connecting to it.
I look down as I gather my bearings, surrounded by the flowers of many colors is a pot with some dirt in and an almost comically sized looking seed. Instantly I think to fetch some water for it, but I don’t have anything to carry the water in.
On the far edge of the garden there is a door fashioned into the glass, but I’m not too sure where that’d lead—it looks like it’d lead to the outside, but there didn’t seem to be any...well, anywhere to stand.
“I vote to use the opportunity to talk to Tatl.” Jinn begins. “In Majora’s Mask, this allowed Link to ask his companion for advice, so maybe it’d let us talk to Zane,” Jinn says.
And so...it was. I started to hear the voices more clearly—and in greater volume. They all spoke to me in great number and variety.
Zane —
I...I think I can hear you guys I...I don't quite know what to say, uh...hello? You can see me, right? Can you hear me fine?
Doctor C —
I think it's fine for us to go ahead. I think Tiki is translating right now as well. He can hear us? I'm totally going to call him an idiot. Just watch me.
Zane —
Idiot...that's...a bit uncalled for. And translate? What is going on?
Jasmina —
Oh god I don't know what to say.
Doctor C —
lmfao. eirjstyruy. amazing. Solid act.
Jinn —
It’s as it said. We are the advice, it seems.
Zane —
I don't quite know what to do here. I've been walking forward for so long I haven't really questioned why I've done anything at all, really. I'm up for any suggestions. I feel like a rat in a maze just endlessly laboring until I run into a dead end.
Jasmina —
Oh no...I can see this going a number of wrong ways.
Zed —
Zane do you recognize the name Arkanus?
Zane –
Arkanus? That’s that name from that letter, right? He’s the reason I’m here...I think? I don’t recognize it, though. It like the name of a comic book villain, honestly. Why?
Jasmina —
Zed you gotta talk in controller. I think. I don’t know if he can hear you.
Doctor C —
No he doesn't need to, this works fine.
Jinn —
It works here.
Jasmina —
Oh shit, okay then. I was wrong.
Doctor C —
He can read us right here
Zed —
Do you recognize the names Jadusable or Emily?
Zane –
Emily...she...she's dead now. If you've been watching me this entire time then you all saw...excuse me, it's still...a lot to process. She used to go to my school, and I was fond of her for a bit. I think we dated, but if I'm going to be honest a lot of the details are really hazy for me now. I have a memory that wants to tell itself that says we went to a party on New Year’s, but it’s foggy at best. And no, I don't recognize the other name.
Doctor C —
Do you see any sources of water in the current area you are in? Maybe something one could drown in?
Zane —
Water...hm, well, there is a whole shitton of it in the pond here, but that’s a pretty concerning way to phrase that...
Zed —
mans never heard of ben drowned lmao
Zane —
I...think I remember something about that. Scary story or something like that? I don't know, I only heard of it in passing.
Jasmina —
Why are we asking about Ben Drowned again? Like I know why, but like...why
Zane -
Hm, I'm sure I'd be more interested in it if I was out of here. I can't see how that relates to this place though...
Shy —
"I think we dated" lmfao part of the news report said that the suspect apparently dated the girl that died (wait, lemme listen to it again and verify this.)
Zane —
Uh, you know I'm here, right? What's this about a suspect? oh, from that news report I couldn't hear much...but I do think I remember hearing that...hold on. You don’t think I did something like that?
Zed —
Jadusable inputs work Jas. That’s why.
Doctor C —
Ben Drowned’s a story about a haunted Majora's Mask cartridge. By the way, are you a Majora's Mask or OoT kind of guy? I mean, the guy's in a sticky wicket already; might as well make some conversation. Well, commands from both games affect your world, if you have not noticed.
Zane —
I, uh, am down for anything that can help. But uh...that sounds...nice? I don’t know. This sounds very strange...
Zed —
Hey Zane, would you be ok with hearing your situation? You're stuck in a loop or some sort of game in a place possibly named the Cosmic Casino, we have to input things from Zelda 64 games and that's how we help you, the best part? You'll literally forget I explained this to you when you can't progress and have everything reset, including your memories. Arkanus is someone who isn't aligned with us and we can't make out his intentions. So the honest question is, is there anything you may have done which makes you believe you deserve this?
Zane —
That is...okay, wait a second, let me absorb all this. So, that's why there's so many questions about Zelda? God I thought you were all just fucking with me. So you’re the reason for those feelings I’ve had...when I’ve had to make those choices? Because you guys control what I...well, now that I think of it, I did feel a sort of out of body experience escaping that TV room just now. That was you guys...I had a feeling it was, but hearing it is something else.
What could I have done? I don't...I don't belong here. I was...trying to find her killer and then I...woke up here. This Arkanus fuck must be the one behind it. And he must have found out I was trying to find out who he is. This shit...this is all his fault.
Doctor C —
Ah, he can remember these vague things but somehow forgets to breathe. Psh, what a novice mistake. Oh yes, I forgot this was an open mic. Never you mind, Mr. Zane
Zane-
What do you mean? I plenty mind...and what’s this about forgetting to breathe…? Wait, you mentioned drowning before. I’ve been through here, haven’t I? And...I’ve drowned in that room, haven’t I?
Doctor C —
He says he recalls nothing about this Arkanus but what does he know about the Casino?
Jasmina —
There could be something about Arkanus where he is.
Zane —
I wish I knew more about him. The name I've never heard of before this, but it has to be the same as the person who killed Emily. Otherwise how else would he have gotten her body here? It’s as if he wants to taunt me. She was gunned down outside of her school...er...no, it was heading to her school. She was caught up in the crossfire...no wait. She was...yes, she was shot.
Two unrelated people were shooting at each other, and she was shot. I...I'm seeing two things in my memory. I can't explain them. I remember her as being shot. But I remember hearing news reports that she was stabbed. There’s something behind my memory that wants to say she drowned as well. I...can't explain the contradiction. My head is pounding as it is, I'm sorry.
Doctor C —
The "Cosmic Casino" or what have you.
Jasmina —
But yeah, Cosmic Casino's the next question.
Zane —
I...what’s this you keep talking about a casino? I’ve heard you call this place that—Cosmic Casino. But if I’m being honest this place doesn’t really strike me as a casino.
Doctor C —
Are you sure that you are not the one that killed Emily? I would rather not be taken for a fool here, you know.
Zed —
T I M E L I N E S
Jinn —
The note we translated did say she was stabbed.
Tiki —
I got it hello i'm late. Sorry everyone.
Jasmina —
Could you be remembering two different but very similar people?
Doctor C —
WEW lad
Jasmina —
Oh.
Jinn —
Show him the notes. All of them
Zed —
>called timelines immediately before note. BASED. thank you Tiki!!
Tiki —
no problem I like doing them lol
Doctor C —
Well Zane, if your head was already pounding, then wait until you get a load of this, buddy
Zane —
Of course I didn’t...I couldn’t have killed her. I was trying to find out who was. I was...I spent so much time. That is...what? Other timelines? I...that all can't be real, right...? This is a lot to bear in mind.
Tiki —
Sorry buddy
Doctor C —
I am afraid that there is some crazy timeline fuckery going on here And maybe there's a timeline where you are capable of remembering to breathe. Here's hoping!
Zane -
I...can't believe that. I...HRRRKR MY HEAD. STOP. POUNDING.
~...~
The memories flashing across my eyes drowns everything else out. The voices all blur around and I’m staring at the garden. And suddenly in another second I’m on the empty city street. The school. The house. The garden. The street. The television room. The garden. The bunker. Her body. The garden. The astrology tower. The garden.
I'm surrounded by silence. Memories flood my brain and I’m remembering and forgetting everything as if it were running like an open flow of water through a current in my brain.
I'm sweating and everything around me is dead silent. I keep my eyes closed for fear of what I'll see. But I know I'm going to have to open them eventually. Nothing around me will move until I take the first step. And all of my fears coalesce into the hunger that I finally notice in the center of my gut. It isn’t for food—it’s a unique sort of hunger that I cannot put a name to. It sits inside like a sour feeling that brings the word rot to mind.
I slowly open my eyes. I'm no longer in the garden. The air is much colder and the atmosphere is very restrained. My shoulders tense as I readjust to my new environment. Large towers surround me in ordered rows extending far past my vision. As the world around me reconnects my vision begins to adjust to the light. I see the towers around me aren’t actually towers, but instead bookcases.
I'm in a library.
I'm staring at a bookshelf that is stacked higher than I can envision—it goes on for miles high above me—farther than I can envision even if I squint my eyes. The lighting is dim—maroon candlelight hangs on the atmosphere as sets are strewn about in holders around the perimeter of the walls I can see from my vantage point. In front of me I see that three books are slid out partways of their shelves.
I take a look at their spines.
[THE PATHFINDERS]
[THE ARKANUS]
[THE OUTSIDERS]
This Arkanus...that's what you guys were talking about right? Looks like this might have some answers for the both of us. I grab the book and slide it out, but before I take it off I notice that the other two books begin to retract as I do. Oh...only one, huh? I...hm. Lemme try to grab two at once. Hngggggggggg... Nope. They're all connected somehow. I can't take more than one off. I have a feeling you guys need to make this choice.
“The Arkanus,” says Doctor C.
I follow the voice deep inside and yank the book off the shelf and the others recede past where I can reach them. Inside, I find the following passage inscribed.
THE ARKANUS
Arcanus, from secret, intimate, private.
Ark, from refuge.
I exist at the center of these points. I’ve taken this refuge and made it into a prison. I’ve taken these secrets and have brought them to the light. What does an opportunist say when he’s come across the perfect situation where he can get everything he wants? He says let’s do this. How often do you get to capture a monster and enact the perfect revenge plan? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.
So Zane, how confident are you in your innocence? How thrilled are you to escape your prison and return to normalcy, or what you believe to be normal? Your time here is almost at an end. Your most important choice is coming soon...unless...you haven’t given this punishment your fullest attention? I wonder. I guess we’ll never really know in the end. I await our final confrontation.
Just...what is....this? There's nothing else in here.
A loud sound from the other end of the library sounds. A door has opened somewhere just out of view. With my thoughts swirling in my head I set the book down and cross the paths of bookcases. The doors at the end of the aisle are grand, at least twice my height and made of a grand kind of wood. If there's anything about that passage that's true, it's that this feels like the end.
I pass through the doors and am met with a large hallway with golden carpeting stretched across the floor to the double doors on the other side. I push to the end and place my hands on both of the doors and push on them, hard. They start to move, and I'm filled with immediate awe as the glowing starts of the cosmos greet me as I do.
A glowing path of stars extends out from the floor and winds over to a large building a few hundred feet away. In the distance I can see the flood of neon shining luminescent across the dark backdrop of the infinite cosmos. A voice pricks at the back of my mind, telling me this is the Cosmic Casino. Just...what purpose does a place like this have doing here?
I take a tentative step out onto the starlight path, but when my feet find solid ground I put my full weight down. There's...an unsettling feeling in the depths of my chest. I can't place if it's fear or excitement, or something...new.
I take a few steps out of the doorway, letting the heavy doors close behind me. To my right is...something strange. It's almost like a black hole. I cannot reach it but have to admit that its gaze is almost like that of an eye, staring directly into my soul. I feel a sort of...calling toward it.
I cannot put it into words. After standing for a few seconds, staring at it, I have no choice but to continue toward the casino. I walk for an unknown period of time. It feels like I'm not making any progress at all, but slowly, I can see the front hall of the casino coming into view. I feel the allure of the building taking its hold.
Finally making it to the front steps I swallow hard, the anticipation in my gut is at an all-time high. Something...is definitely off now. It's like...a feeling of dread trying its hardest to mask itself as something pleasant. I feel that little reaper close by, watching my every move.
~...~
As Zane enters the pits of the Casino, he's greeted by loud music and the hum of a collective community all enthralled by the casino's innards. The sound is enough to blare out all of his inner thoughts. He's only able to focus on what is directly in front of him. Nervous, he takes his time and works his way into the belly of the beast.
Hundreds, if not thousands of people are gathered at what seems to be like any normal casino. Faces and bodies blur around him as if they could be substituted for any old person within the casino. Games and slots of all kinds litter the floor with gold and other shined jewels stocked up at every available viewpoint.
Zane tries to speak up and gather the attention of any of the other people—all who seem to be dressed in their absolute finest. He cannot break their focus. It is as if he is invisible.
Motivated, he continues, stopping by different slots, even going so far to grab the shoulder of one of the patrons, but unfortunately, the most he is able to get is a momentary glance before returning to whatever it was they were doing before.
Dejected, he tries to find anywhere to sit down. He finds an empty seat at the bar and grabs the stool up and plants himself down. He rests his head in his hands and can just barely hear himself think.
~...~
Jesus Christ...this place is so loud. Just what kind of place is this anyway? Suddenly...in front of me are two books. I wipe my eyes, not fully believing what I was seeing.
[THE PATHFINDERS]
[THE OUTSIDERS]
It's...the ones from before! But...what?
I look up at the bartender, who gives me a wink, and then returns to his duties of ignoring me like everyone else. Without a second to spare…
THE PATHFINDERS
Emily Majors lived a life that anybody could envy. She’s also lived a life nobody would ever want. She’s lived dozens of lives, eras that passed under her watch. She need only close her eyes and focus on the cosmic sea and her mind would journey like a wanderer on the precipice of a million possible adventures. Golden stars lead paths toward new selves. She’s open her eyes and one of her other personas would resume life as if it had not stopped from where she had left off. This wasn’t some ability to stop time—in fact it was the opposite. Emily—and other Pathfinders like her could simply process them all at a single time. Her focus would divert to different timelines and she could process every microcosm of what she experienced that whenever she returned her focus to another life it would be but more to learn and gather.
Pathfinders tend to die in many of the lives they live. These abilities they have do not make them invulnerable as the people they experience, even if they have other opportunities to live in. However, there is a great danger that lies for the Pathfinder who meets with a Chronomaly. Those beasts hunger for the time that was stolen. They follow the trails that all Pathfinders leave like cosmic footprints across the stars.
The fate of a Pathfinder whose run out of time experiences a fate far worse than death. In death, we persist as humans. In death, our love remains. For a Pathfinder, the only fate that remains is emptiness. A nothing from the devoured and reclaimed time. So to the point that the memories are devoured.
They are erased.
THE OUTSIDERS
The Cosmic Casino originated at the beginning of the Collapse as the ultimate escape from responsibility. Nehemoth and Scantar went dark during their arrival as an ultimate refusal of their role as Children of the Night.
The construct exists in the Right—the second sight that the Children of the Night can see at will—superimposed over a college campus that was the unfortunate site of a murder. The negative energy that surrounds this event and those it touched fuels the construct which continues to absorb passerbys that lead to increased missing persons cases in the region. Those captured by the construct find themselves losing themselves in the Casino the longer they spend.
As their memories are gambled away they are given the option to enter the Cosmic Wasteland—a gathering of lands stitched from their memories to locate their truth. If they are determined enough to reclaim themselves then they will be allowed to leave.
Emily...was a pathfinder. I think...in those eyes I saw once...I saw infinity in my reflection. She was different. She...died, but moreso...she—
"Excuse me sir, but I think you have a choice to make, no?"
I look up to find the bartender staring at me, expectantly. “I don't...understand...”
"This place, is not working as it should. Can't you tell? It's been overrun. Poisoned. My overseers have been locked out of their own creation. I can hear them slightly, but I am powerless to do anything. I am merely staff. I have no actual power."
“What...do you want me to do about it?” I ask.
"Well...I can't tell you what. I'm...forbidden. But hypothetically, you were given the choice to restore power to the rightful owners or destroy the casino in its entirety...hypothetically of course, things would turn out very differently," the bartender nods toward me.
“Those are my two options?”
"I would never tell you that."
"But hypothetically, if such a situation were to arise..."
I think about it. The Cosmic Casino's purpose is to be an escape for people...actively seeping away their dark feelings. Running on suffering. That in of itself would be cause for destruction, but at the same time what would happen when that happens? Would that cause a chain reaction from the two who originally created this place? What would happen to Arkanus? I...I cannot make this choice alone. I need your help. I need...some guidance.
“Restore ownership to the Cosmic Casino,” says Laches.
“I'm going to restore ownership,” I tell the bartender, immediately sure of my decision then and there.
"Well, then. In that case, you'll need to detach the lower domain."
“Detach? Lower domain?”
He smiles a look that begs to be questioned further, but the bartender simply gestures his hand out and suddenly a small screen and a controller sits in front of Me. "You'll simply control the Casino's weapons system to destroy the offending gateway to the lower domain. Once destroyed, the lock that is holding the owners should be released. And I'm sure they'll be very grateful that you helped them out."
I look down at the controller, it fits in my hands easily. and on the screen I see...“What...is this?”
"Weapons system 009. Code name, Delta—Technological Dragon of Storms."
As I press the button on the controller, a rumbling shakes the casino. From behind me, the ground begins to open. I can see the view of the casino on the small screen, and there’s even see the tiny black speck that would be me!
"Weapons system 009 was captured from the outside, it originated from before the Casino, but its power is mighty, so the owners kept it around under a tight leash. Thankfully, they were able to modify its controls to bend to their whim but seeing as you currently need it...I'm sure they'd understand."
The dragon rises from a platform below the ground. It’s silver armor plating covered its body that shimmered brightly against the blazing lights. It has a fierce gaze that echoes pure energy into the atmosphere. Somewhere deep below—a haunting echo resonates with the first, but it is faint.
“Uh, okay, so I take control now? I just…”
The dragon takes flight, clumsily slamming into the wall, knocking various jewels off the side.
Shit....okay. so, even out. This...is weird but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Lemme try getting out of this place to test out my movement.
The dragon slams through a wall of the casino, busting a hole through and flying outside into the Cosmic Starfield. I can see the dragon from a third person perspective on the small television screen.
“Uh, let's see...gateway...gateway…” I navigate the dragon toward the area near the black hole. “This seemed like the sort. Lemme just...try this!”
I press a few buttons and find the one that triggers the dragon's amber-colored flames. They spew into the void, sucked up like a vacuum. Seconds pass, and I’m about to once again, but suddenly the flames are returned, spewing out of the hole like a dark reflection.
Suddenly from below, there is a roar. I angle the view below to find another figure floating—speeding toward my dragon.
"Ah, it seems you have awoken Valent, Weapons System 007. The Bolt Dragon," the bartender says.
“The WHAT?”
"Yes, you see, the Weapons Systems are quite tenacious creatures. They tend to...congregate when others are active. Especially if they're so...close."
“Close? Are there any others that are close that I have to worry about?”
"Well...you don't have to worry about it...but anyway, this is to be expected. One of the owners did have a bond with this one, so he's kept it around for reasons of his own."
So...he's not going to go for me if I'm trying to help him out, right?
The bartender gives a nervous look. "I'm afraid it only sees you as another weapons system right now. I am sure it will do everything it can to kill you and claim your light. And by you, I mean Weapons System 009."
“Well...worst case scenario we just use 007 to burn the gateway, right?”
"And...how do you plan on using it?"
“I…” hm, it was as clear as ever. And so my goal was set. I couldn't let 009 be taken down.
I grip back to the controller and back the dragon off of the black hole. The Bolt Dragon soars close and narrowly misses a full-frontal slam. Maybe...it's in another room. Maybe I'm missing something else. I fly Delta away from Valent—the Bolt Dragon is in hot pursuit.
They fly over the landmass that contains the library, over the punishment room, past the classroom, when suddenly a sort of destined force seems to take control. Suddenly, I know where I need to go.
I fly past the coliseum and over the clockwork room, finding the domed terrace of the Botanical Garden. The dragon slams through the glass and bursts through. As if by command, a force in the center of the room begins to expel from the seed lying in the pot. Waves of energy exude in torrents. Delta is slowed by the waves, but slowly it pushes through.
Only to be held back by a terrifying Valent, almost twice the technological dragon's size and whose scales glowed a glazed golden. Its teeth pierce the mechanical dragon's tail and drag it backward, but find its strength is sapped similarly by the seed's actions. The golden dragon's eyes flicker to the seed for but a moment and notice its interference. Valent roars and lets go of Delta, beating its wings to blow the waves back toward the seed. It closes in on the seed as its beating continues faster and faster
Golden flames erupt from its mouth and spill over the seed where a terrible crying like an infant's pierces the sky, shattering the glass around the dome. Valent is deafened, and slows his wing beats enough for the waves to consume him. His body is sent tumbling to the ground, infesting and shaping his body upward, breaking every bone in his body to shift him into the stance of a flower, similar to the multicolored ones surrounding the seed.
An echoed scream from somewhere in the Cosmic Wasteland rings out and all that remains are the bitter remains of the seed and Delta, recovering from being attacked by Valent.
I send the mechanical dragon over toward the seed and continues to burn the seed—Delta is protected from the shrill screaming, so it is able to continue the wing beats until the seed is no more. The TV screen next to me dims and finally goes dark, and I set the controller down.
"You have done it," the bartender says, nodding amicably. His smile seems so...understated, it was unsettling.
“Where...are the owners?”
"They should now be free from their shackles. They should arrive here any second, but they do have some traveling to do. Although...I think with Valent dead..."
“Traveling?”
"Maison," A feminine voice calls from the other side of the Casino. Suddenly, I hear a projected voice over the dulled hum of the conversation. I turn to see a figure walking in toward us. It's...a gigantic knight in golden armor.
“JESUS what is that?!”
"That is my master, and part owner of this establishment," the bartender—Maison—says.
"Hello Madame, I see you are finally free from your containment."
"Scantar is...not with us, any longer," she says, as if slightly irritated.
"I went to check, but my range of mobility in this thing isn't great. I just need to reconnect with the admin console and then we're gonna be right as rain."
"Madame, this is the fine fellow who detached the lower domain." The bartender gestures in Zane's direction.
The knight regards me for but a moment. "Yeah, nice, whatever. Now, do you have the admin console on you perchance?"
“Uh...you could say thanks...?”
The knight turns to me once more. "Yeah, thanks, whatever." then back to Maison.
"It is where it always is, madame."
"Scanty always handled that biz. I just...you know," she waves her hand around in a circle. "Manage."
“You said he was gone?”
The knight looks in my direction with palpable effort. "You're still here? What are you expecting, a medal?"
“I...well, no. I was merely wondering if I could...leave? Seems like you're going to have this all under control here in a minute or so...don't really need me...here anymore, right?”
"Oh, right. Yeah, no you're free to leave anytime. Go do whatever," she shoos me away. "Maison, where does Scanty go to interact with the console?"
“Y’see...I don't really know...where...to leave here from. Seems like this is the end of the path.”
The knight groans for a solid ten seconds straight, a sound that which is amplified from within the armor. "Why do I get all the basket cases….You go outside and enter the hole out there. If you're done you go to the Chronomaly Den, and if you want to go back through, you go to the wasteland, just like everybody else."
“W...Wait...no, I want to leave.”
"Oh, you mean the casino as a whole?" She bursts into a great laugh, which too is echoed from within. "No, that's not how this place works. You play until your satisfied, then you leave! Not in that yucky old way. You find some peace in your memories, or you cleanse yourself of them forever. There's really no other option."
“Why not?! I just saved you!”
"Because I don't know how silly! You've been eavesdropping so you know I never handle that kinda stuff! So, you're just gonna have to like...just chill and go back through."
“Can't you like...learn? Once you find the console can't you learn and send me out of here?”
"Hmm…" She let this hang in the air for a few seconds, each one sending my anxiety through the roof.
"Nah. Sounds boring. I just want to make sure this doesn't happen again then I'm going to go start fixing the wall here, maybe make this place a club instead. I dunno."
“What?! That's totally bullshit!”
"Guess so, sucks to suck. But hey, you can come back for the club next time you're around. Promise it won't be closed off to you."
“No! Fuck off! I want out of here!”
"Hm, fine. Club is closed off to you."
“I don't give a shit!”
"All right, well, I've had my fill. The choice is yours now. I'm sending you outside to the wasteland. You clearly have some unresolved shit you need to work out. oh, and if you pass by the clockwork room, can you please clean up the corpse there? I was going to do it but...well, too messy. You get my drift," Nehemoth said, and with a wave of the hand she vanished before me.