This latest trip to Vajrayana wasn't nearly as smooth as the last two.
Technically, Morgan was standing still, ankle aching, his arms outstretched, and fingers clawed to grip an Artifact that was no longer there. Yet all his senses reported that the world around him was moving at speeds that would make even Lysander blink twice. Even through closed eyes and sunglasses, a kaleidoscope of bright, colorful lights still managed to reach his retinas. These lights entered his notice as small and dim before growing exponentially, reaching a crescendo only for them to suddenly veer off randomly and disappear behind him. Intangible wind screamed as it tore past him, always heard but never felt. The howling gale would remain constant until one of the lights zipped behind him.
The experience was like the late-night drives of childhood summers when he slowly drifted to sleep as the car zipped by the lampposts lining the highway.
This might have been a comforting comparison if he weren't teleporting through space-time. The fact that Morgan could experience anything this trip and not the last two confused him. How could transferring from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them be compared to anything other than falling asleep on the couch as a child and waking up in one's own bed?
The Scientist desperately wanted to see what was happening. Unfortunately, one of the Enchantments placed on the Artifact must have paralyzed him as a safety feature. He suspected the condition also applied to the Princess, for she didn't move a single muscle throughout the whole space-bending ordeal. Morgan worried that his little girl would suffer permanent eye damage from the harsh light searing her sensitive, lidless eyes. However, he had to begrudgingly admit that the safety feature was a necessary evil since a blind gecko was better than Momo yeeting herself off whatever space-time bubble they were in. Fortunately, the turbulent flight between Universes lasted less than a quarter of a minute before they landed.
Literally.
Decades of experience took over the millisecond before Morgan registered that he was falling. His knees bent, and one arm braced his head while the other shielded Momo just as his boots made contact with the soft floor.
Pain exploded from the ankle as he fell a distance equal to a step on a staircase. He wanted to scream, to fall down on his ass, to rip off the boot and see how bad the damage was. Sadly, such luxuries were too costly in a possibly hostile environment. He pitched forward hard before balance was regained, and only then did he open his eyes.
[Look alive Spirit.] Ordered Morgan mentally, spinning on the good leg to scan for dangers the unknown planet might harbor. [See anything?]
Once again, the Professor had been teleported into the company of trees, though this was no orchard but an actual forest. Graceful willow-like trees dominated this patch, their long gray leaves drooping from the slender branches. The forest was likely old-growth as trees ranged from wrist-thick saplings to ancient specimens with trunks wider than Morgan's arm span. Under him, the ground held a kind of spring to it from years of timber falling, providing the perfect nourishment for the white carpet moss covering every inch of the floor like freshly fallen snow.
It was cool, the air tasting crisp and damp, like a rainy fall morning. Whether the time was morning or far later, it was impossible to tell when the sky was obscured by a gray canopy.
The fog didn't help visibility much, either. In fact, the fog was unnaturally thick in the area. Morgan watched a vapor droplet roll off a leaf before falling into the low-lying fog that came up to his knees. Little lights shone with a warm yellowish glow within the sea of mist, and dozens could be seen sparsely scattered between the tree trunks.
"We're clear." Whispered Ego.
[That's what they want us to think.] Morgan tore himself from sightseeing to find the closest tree capable of concealing his bulk. Finding one that fits the bill, he hobbled over, carefully favoring the injured ankle. [I wanna check on Momo. Cover me.] After examining the branches above, kicking the trunk, and stomping the ground around the tree provoked no discernible reactions, he crouched to examine the reptile.
Crested geckos are a docile species, known for being tail-droppingly skittish at best and suicidality jumpy at worst. The Professor was ready to catch Monochrome the second she made a break for it. However, Momo needed no such consideration. She sat calmly on his open palm and regarded her parent quizzically. He moved her from side to side and saw she turned her head to keep him in sight.
"You're fine," he sighed in relief. "Good. So tell me, girl, did you see anything on the way here?" He gestured vaguely skyward with a finger.
"Err." Squeaked Momo unexpectedly.
"Oh?" chuckled Morgan, affection for the tiny creature welling up inside his chest. "I'll take that as a yes. Was what you saw interesting?"
Her head craned upwards, and he did the same, curiosity and caution demanding to know what caught her attention. Yet there was nothing above them but empty treetops. Regardless, Momo continued to stare at the sky, her large unblinking eyes seeing something the human could not. Or maybe the Princess was simply lost in reliving the memory.
Now, that was an exciting idea. What had Monochrome Morgan witnessed within the folded space between here and there?
"Damn, I can't believe I missed the whole thing." Morgan paid for his incompetence with an offering of chin scratches for the little miss. "Next time, I'll have to be more vigilant so we can watch it together. Would you like that?"
"Err!" She squeaked again, this time with more gusto.
"...Hold up." The Scientist narrowed his eyes on the ten-year-old gecko he had raised from an egg. She had never been so animated in their typically one-sided conversations. This time, it felt as if she were really communicating with him.
The Princess tilted her pretty head to one side, almost as if she were curious to hear what he had to say. Then she suddenly went utterly still, her natural instinct when something large enough to eat them came shambling along.
"So Morgan." Said the Spirit from over his shoulder. "Notice anything… odd going on here?"
"Yes, and something tells me it's only going to get stranger from here." The Professor stood straight, turned, and finally met his smiling partner face-to-face.
image [https://i.imgur.com/u84FFbS.png]
"So, what do you think? This is my Avatar, the metaphorical shell coating my Soul," they explained, giving him a twirl that somehow failed to disturb the thick mist clinging to the floor.
What did he think?
They wore a two-piece robe or cassock, as it would be called on Earth, though the so-called clothes were part of them. The outer layer appeared to be made of a single stretch of midnight blue wool covering all but the right arm and side of the chest. There, the lighter navy blue inner layer of the robe poked out, and a loop of mala prayer beads made of a dark reddish wood wrapped around the wrist. The cassock made direct observation difficult, but if the theming held true, then their footwear is likely sandals or slippers of a monastic style.
Skin as black as the dried ink scrawled on a tome clung tightly to the thin frame of their humanoid body in the few places not covered by clothing. Morgan thought them to be hairless due to their bald head until their eyebrows twiched slightly. The hair there was a shade or two darker, like their nails. Otherwise, the Spirit's facial features were the mirror image of their voice. An androgynous beauty that made them almost dreamlike, old and young all at once. On closer inspection, one could judge their appearance leaned ever so slightly towards the masculine.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
What truly captivated the Scientist's interest were the eyes and mouth. Their teeth, tongue, gums, and palate were all a solid, ethereal blue that glowed dimly in the forest's low lighting. Ego's eyes were similar to their mouth, but where an iris should be, a white light burned instead.
"I think you look like the ghost of Vesak past, here to reveal the moment I lost my way," said Morgan dryly as he gently guided Momo back under his shirt. Once she was successfully coaxed to safety, he looked back and saw Ego pouting. "What? That was a compliment. I like the Avatar. You're the first alien I've seen that didn't just look like a drop-dead gorgeous model wearing special effects makeup. The spectral monk vibe is like a breath of fresh air."
"Coming from you, I suppose that would be a compliment." The Monk sighed before walking around the tree, but when the next words came, they did so from behind. "I don't sense any Essence around us, so we should take this peaceful moment to speak."
He turned, finding Ego had seemingly relocated eight meters to seat themselves on a mossy log. There, the ambient lighting was marginally brighter since the new seedlings had yet to grow enough to block out the cloudy sky.
Morgan went to join them, sending the pool of vapor into a swirling chaos in his hobbled wake. When he sat on the fallen willow padded with white moss, his weight caused the decaying wood to lift slightly on the other side.
"Momo saw you, so you're clearly not a hallucination being projected into my vision. I can also physically hear you." The Scientist mused aloud as the Monk absently played with their beads. "That being said, you're not interacting with anything except for yourself, sound, and light. That would make this Avatar something like a hologram." The intrusive thoughts won out, and Morgan attempted to poke a bead. As suspected, the finger and thumb passed right through the solid-looking wood as if it weren't there.
"Ghost fits the theming more than a hologram, but you'll get full points anyway. What you see is one of several ways I can manifest my Avatar. It's the form that requires the least amount of Aether to upkeep since it's mostly incorporeal." They explained while unwinding the stringed beads from their wrist. "But if I'm willing to splurge a bit…"
Ego's side of the log lowered, and at the same time, the fog around them began to shift wildly in the gray light. "Think fast." They tossed the beads over to him.
Morgan's arm shot forward, this time making contact with the accessory. He watched with rapt attention as they swung through the air; the weight felt realistic. The sensory observation continued from there. They smelt strongly of wood oil. He felt the ruin carved in the grain and heard his nail scrape the surface.
"Can I lick this?" He asked sincerely.
In response, the beads winked out of existence in his hands, only to reappear around their wrist. Morgan felt the log tip down to his side again.
"It might look and feel real, but it's still a part of my Avatar, like my clothes. I can remove them from my person when I'm corporeal, and they behave like normal objects until I change them or they get too far from my vessel."
During the previous night, Ego explained that Spirits could exist without possessing a vessel, although doing so came at considerable risk. Their kind has a different relationship with Aether than other Mortal species, as every member had been a Cultivator before shedding their Body and Mind. Unlike everyone else who had to consciously interact with cosmic energy, Spirits unconsciously absorbed it like plants taking nourishment from sunlight. A helpful trait, but there were severe drawbacks, such as a need for a vessel to actually store auxiliary power. Without one, they would hardly make any profit from the Aether absorbed vs. the Aether spent to exist. Using any of their abilities would essentially kill them until a new vessel could be found.
"What's your range?"
"Let's focus on- Huh… Good question." The Spirit frowned before disappearing and reappearing in the same fraction of a second. "A little less than 11 meters. Any further than that is like hitting a brick wall. But let's focus on what's important," they spread their arms wide to indicate the foreign landscape around them, "the here and now."
"Yeah, wherever here is." The Professor's heart quickened as excitement began to build up within him.
Now that they had returned to Vajrayana, Morgan could at last use the most extraordinary tool Eris had bestowed. The Bodhisattva had been strangely cryptic about the exact nature of the ability she grafted onto his Soul. Her warning had been anything but cryptic, as the divinity had promised that using it on Earth would be worse than useless. Once he returned to Vajrayana, though, she hinted that activating the ability near their landing zone would yield interesting res-
"Wait, didn't you see the information window?" Ego cut off his train of thought with an incorporeal air chop.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he shrugged, assuming they were referencing one of the other tools their Patron had given them. "But if it's important, feel free to share with the class."
"Hmm, I got the window the second we touched the ground; I'm surprised you- Oh, I guess I'll have to actively project it since the tool is linked to me." The Monk closed their eyes and pursed their lips in concentration. "Get ready."
A patch of skin over the sternum suddenly felt unnaturally warm. Fearing the worst, Morgan tried to peer down his shirt to see if Momo had forgotten her traveling etiquette. But he didn't get the chance.
When Ego said information window, Morgan couldn't help but picture something ripped right out of a video game: a little table chart displaying boxes of information that would hover in the air at eye level.
Unfortunately, he was wrong; he could not interact with it, period.
image [https://images.finitevoid.dev/userImages/d375895b-a8f6-46ed-b0f4-9a63e1dd8150/d9b86b3d-ec26-4c64-b5b4-3363fa96b092.webp]
Incredibly, the window being a distraction wasn't an issue, as the window was simultaneously there and not there. Morgan could read every word with no issues without focusing directly on the window. It functioned almost like a single frame of memory kept in pristine condition and ready to be called forth at any moment.
However, before anything else, Morgan peeked down his shirt. Thank the Heavens and Bodhisattvas alike, there was no 'accident' waiting to greet him. Thankfully, nothing was noteworthy besides a gecko and the Aether reservoir.
"An island planet of semi-sentient clone trees, where every speck of land holds a vast variety of Beasts?" The Scientist chuckled dryly, all the excitement setting his blood on fire. "Damn, Eris really hooked us up with a perfect launching point for my Tantra research. Granted, I'm still a little unclear about the exact definitions of some terms used." He turned to ask the Monk if they could shed some light on the Threat Levels, only to be beaten to the punch.
"We can talk about the Threat Levels later." Ego sighed while massaging their temples. Clearly, they disapproved of Morgan's view on things. "Do you understand what a Wild Sector is?"
Well, no. But the man knew what 'Wild', 'Sector,' and 'None' meant. So when all three words were in the same text block as a response to 'Government Body', he took a crack at it.
"An area where civilization has no hold over and the only law is the law of the jungle?"
"That's good enough for now. Do you realize that on a planet consisting of only 5% inhabited land, we might be thousands of Li away from any major population point? It might take us years to find a single person, let alone the Capital city!" Their voice never rose in volume but by the end Ego was whispering with the energy normally reserved for cursing the heavens.
"Oh, that's why you're upset." Morgan understood now and made to comfort the Spirit. "I wouldn't worry about it. Our Patron was fully aware of our goals, and I doubt we're too far away from some kind of hub of civilization. To be clear, I'm confident of this not because I trust her but because of the nature of our deal. As she agreed to, the chosen location must be able to grant us both a reasonable chance at success."
Naturally, he left out an important detail, which would only further upset the Monk. The Professor and Eris had argued over what constitutes a reasonable chance and eventually they landed on an accepted definition. That being, 'a scenario that is more likely to occur than not, regardless of outside interference'.
He was satisfied at first. However, the more Morgan looked back on it now, the more flawed the definition seemed. Technically speaking, a win/lose ratio of 50.01% success and 49.99% failure would fit perfectly.
Hmm. Morgan suddenly felt a pang of worry for the people of Earth left in that cunning woman's care... Oh well, nothing he can do about it from out here.
"I get what you're saying." Ego said, unconvinced, though with some hope tinging their voice. "But what if we look in the wrong direction? If the town is West and we go East, we're as good as dead."
"The trick is to travel in every direction. Trust me, I know how to navigate with paper and a compass." The Professor said with firm conviction before shamelessly changing the topic with a completely innocent question. "Is there anything else you feel is important and need to discuss?"
"Important at right this moment? Not really, no. In the future, I'll start filling in gaps in your knowledge about common topics such as proper etiquette, Xenia protocols, and of course the Heavenly Dao. But that can all wait till we've settled down first."
Morgan, not for the first time in his long life, thanked the poker face mastery that New England and familial ties had forced onto him. Each of these future lessons sounded as captivating and exciting as a PowerPoint seminar. Thank whatever deity watched over his homeworld that presentation slideshows went out of style as the old generation passed, and the new one became the change they wanted to see.
Still pouncing on the opportunity Ego had unknowingly presented.
"Oh... It sounds like you have a lot to teach me. Before we get going, I wanted to talk a little more to give my ankle time to rest. Don't worry; I'll be fine." He added quickly, as the Monk's face fell as they forgot about the injury. "But in the meantime, I was hoping you could tell me what you know about Bloodlines."