As much as I would have loved to wake up to another one of my master’s culinary masterpieces the next morning, there were necessary evils that required tending to in real life. Rent, utility bills, sustenance, and other inconveniences of being an adult demanded the sacrifice of time and work. And so, I logged out.
During today’s evening shift in the nursing home, I had frequent flashbacks of the many elemental assimilations I had undergone. Throughout the day, my body would shudder at a particularly impactful recollection of the torture I underwent. Its imagery, which stole my breath away, occassionally flashed through me with a mix of beauty and pain.
As I listened to my music in the car during the drive to and back, multiple times I reached out for the familiar sensations of my stimulated gift, seeking both comfort and reinforcement of hope. . . I was unfortunately to be disappointed. In fact, it was more than just merely disappointment. The pains I underwent to gain affinities in those elements did not appear to have passed over to my real body in any way that I could recognize. In my mind and opinion, it was genuinely criminal that such a sacrifice was not meted out without a relatively equal corresponding reward.
It was strange though, as if something in the back of my mind or heart hinted that such failure to experience the change in reality was only temporary. . . I took solace in that new hope, and pleaded with the heavens that it wasn’t just a stray thought or fervent desire that would prove false.
I won’t say that there was no difference between the before and after in reality. There was a change and irregularity from which I experienced an odd feeling. It was a kind of raw and antsy sensation which affected me the entire shift. I figured it was simply an aftereffect of an overly stimulated psyche.
Although my physical body felt well rested from its time in the capsule, my mind was another matter entirely. The body uses dreams in the midst of sleep to give the mind rest between times of mental exertion. I wonder if some part of my mind was still lacking suitable recovery from the events of the past few days.
As I did not have the time or opportunity to be distracted at work, I simply pushed those concerns to the back of my mind and pushed through the toils of the day. The time seemed to race by as I went about completing my responsibilities of taking care of the residents.
Upon returning home that evening, I went for a swim to try and clear my troubled mind of those concerns.
With the water lapping at my plugged ears as I performed the repeating laps across the pool, I finally took the time to better break down what I was feeling.
The best way I could describe the change was that I felt kind of achy as I reached out for the accompanying feelings which were easily brought forth with certain songs, emotions, and intent. I felt as if my ability was somehow rubbing raw against something. The feelings and rushes of warmth and chills were still consistent and fulfilling to experience, but there was now an underlying ache to it.
It was like the aftereffects on a muscle which hadn’t been used in a long time or in a certain way, finally being stimulated far more than it was ready for.
Once I returned home from my swim and after a quick cleansing shower, I simply turned off the bedroom lights and lay on my bed. *Haha* I laughed quietly to myself as I realize I hadn’t lain in this bed for quite a long time. It had been too long since I had taken the time to just relax without concern or worry. A part of me was feeling both overstressed and a bit nostalgic. As I often do when I feel this way, I turned on my music, being careful to keep it at a reasonable volume level for this time of night.
I try to be considerate of my neighbors, at least when it’s late at night or early morning.
With the quiet tones sounding out in the pitch black of my room, I took this time to simply receive and feel.
.
.
.
There was no reaching and no intentional stirring of emotion in order to provoke a reaction from my gift. I simply lay there on my covers and let come what may. As my mind drifted on the random thoughts and recollections of the past few days and weeks, I felt a gentle peace come over me. It wasn’t strongly invigorating or empowering, but it was there, nonetheless. Looking up at the ceiling in the darkness, I had a lurking memory that inspired me.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Stars. . . I wanted stars on my ceiling. A smile tugged at my lips at the recollection of a childhood memory. At one point in my life, I had a plethora of glow-in-the-dark stars spanning chaotically across my ceiling. Although far from the real thing, it still gave off an ethereal glow which stimulated a kind of mystical atmosphere. Whoever says that childhood toys cannot satisfy an adult has never truly appreciated having a realistic looking star-lit night sky in their own bedroom.
With that memory a trickle of chills and warmth came to me unbidden but welcome, nonetheless.
A hint of moisture developed at the corner of my eyes as I simply lay there.
I was uncertain if I wanted to, or was even ready to go back. To be honest, if there was a way to slow time down here, then I would take this moment to just peacefully sleep. It was unfortunate that I worked again the very next day, and thus only had time for another full day in the VR world due to the 3 to 1 time ratio difference. If I hurried, I could take advantage of it.
And so, with great reluctance, I turned off the music and went to the capsule. Laying down I logged in and returned to the bedroom in Victoria’s home.
* * * * * * *
Upon appearing on my bed in my little room above the shop, I quickly looked over myself for any repeat occurrence of soiling my bedding. “Phew!” I was free of any notable staining of soiling. The relief that went through me was palpable.
I considered some possibilities for why it didn’t happen this time. Maybe since I had experienced a cleaning secretion right after the nature assimilation, I didn’t need another? Or maybe since I had logged out right after laying down, the subsequent offline time allowed for the additional cleansing to become moot. For now, I suppose I wouldn’t have any clear answers.
As I still wasn’t fully adapted to my strength increase, I carefully eased myself out of bed and stood up. Closing my eyes I reached out with my senses to feel the various changes. Several things appeared to be different from before!
The mostly stagnant air within the room stirred occasionally by a trace flow, was felt with excessive clarity. Trailing my index finger down my arm, I could distinctly feel and recall the lingering path it took as if I had a mental map imagery of it.
My thoughts were racing at a speed previously felt only at the peak of an adrenaline rush, yet I felt only peace and calm at my current state.
Best of all, I felt a new kind of vibrancy, lightness, and fluidity to my movements. Although still a little unbalanced due to the changes, they all felt so uniform as if I had experienced a complete elevation across the board in my capabilities.
Was this the result of all those assimilations? Removing my night clothes I went to take a shower.
As the staccato drops struck my body, the clarity felt with each fluid impact gave me a sense of omniscience over my being. If I intended, I believed I would be able to map out the entire pattern of impacts. In fact, I decided to do just that. My mind automatically began compiling a layered or timestamped recollection of when each drop struck.
As the seconds ticked by, the volume of information that I was striving to retain began to falter and fade into hazy recollection. Before even 30 seconds had passed, my structured graph had fallen apart and all that was left was the memory where every drop had struck me. After a full minute, even that map had become too distorted within my mind to keep intact.
“Hahaha!” I laughed aloud at the thrill of it all. Despite the lack of a true omniscience, this was still quite the leap in cognitive development and sensory recollection. I was certainly not disappointed.
Even as I contemplated it all, I began performing slow Tai Chi movements within the shower. I strove to reach a balance in motor movement, exertion of strength, as well as sensory awareness. Subconsciously my mind and body began finding the distinction between overbearing mental upkeep and the point of relaxing and passive control and awareness.
I spent another 20 minutes under the continued spray of temperature regulated water as my body found an equilibrium of sorts. Multiple times my stomach rumbled which I pointedly ignored until I was satisfied with the results. Finally, with my impromptu goal achieved and with more than a little regret, I turned off the water and exited the shower.
Soon enough, I was dressed and down at the table to see a repeat of the prior morning’s display. The gigantic array of bread, meat, and cheeses made me shake my head bemusedly at the effort and care of my absent master. I would certainly have to thank her later for her hospitality and concern.
With near complete abandon I began to chow down.
It wasn’t until I completed the massive heaping of food that Victoria appeared again, this time holding the Apothecary book I had been studying.
“Good morning master!” I greeted her with a respectful nod of my head. “Thank you for the breakfast.”
Her lips twitched in suppressed humor as she glanced between the empty dishes and my somewhat catatonic state post meal. “I’ve brought some light reading for you to work on as you digest your food.” Removing the now empty plates despite my protest that I would happily take care of it, she quickly wiped my section of the table down and set the solid book of plants in front of me.
Sitting at a chair near to me, she met my gaze before speaking. “We need to evaluate the extent of your growth and the changes you have undergone. Generally speaking, those who have assimilated elemental stones which aid in cognitive growth and development, are able to memorize content far faster than the non-initiated. I’d like to start off with retained recollection of details memorized from the before.”
Pulling the book away from me, she then opened it to a random early page before asking a series of questions. As we worked through the various pages of plants that I had memorized, I found that I had gained a far greater recall of previously skeletal details.
During the pauses between her question, my under-stimulated mind began wandering off topic. Just for kicks, I tried recalling the time that I had memorized a large portion of the periodic table. It was in high school chemistry that we had been assigned to learn it for one of the more difficult and heavily weighted tests. With simple intent, I found the imagery reconstructing itself. Various details of the elements began filling themselves in, mainly their names, chemical symbol, atomic mass, and general classification. What I had painstakingly spend hours and days imprinting into my mind years ago, only to lose due to lack of demand, now came back with a clarity I’d never before had.
As I reached the lines of the elements which were lab created and had not been found in nature, I only found myself unsure of those finer details.
‘This is incredible!’ The thought rushed through me with elation. What more might I be able to do, I had to wonder. With this massive boost in cognition, I felt like I had a near Eidetic memory recalling other bits of information learned from before. How much more might I be able to remember now from future studying?!