August was left for a while as his body put itself back together, and while it did, that proved to be a problem within itself. His caretaker, while new to her line of work, had received enough information to understand what was happening, and thus, she’d contact her superiors.

As such, on a day that a dive was not scheduled to occur, Ms. Eting-Fesh found herself at the Rosavault household. She stood over an exposed August, his chest, and therefore his wound, on display, or rather, there should have been a wound.

She touched it, the seam that lined him, and she could feel it, that familiar presence, home. He wasn’t just recovering, he was doing it on his own, and she knew exactly what that meant. She’d leave without a singular word, and as the elevator sought to lower her to the ground, she’d abandon it.

As for where her presence would remerge moments later, she stood before a glass wall, a forest of people behind her. She looked at the little girl, and she couldn’t help but to grind her teeth at the thought.

“You lied…?” She looked at the child, ignoring her, as if it were deaf. “You lied!” She threw her hands against the glass.

Thus, she’d receive her response. The child would fall limp, and in the same breath it would regain consciousness, though instead of silver eyes, they were golden. As for where those eyes were fixed, on the woman herself, the one that had begun to back away.

“I did not lie… the boy is unique, how is that my doing?” A voice, two actually, that of the child, and that of a woman.

“His wounds…! Are healing on their own…! So tell me, what’s next…?! Will he begin to see emotions!?” She raised her voice, but all the while, she retreated.

“…You’re… afraid…? All you have… all you are worth… gone, if that becomes his purpose. I see it, your thoughts… but would you set the end into motion…? Would you render it all undone…?” The child awaited a response, one that never came.

As for the woman, she’d erase her presence from that depth and remerge on the shore. She’d fall flat on her ass, and from ripples in reality those of her kin would emerge, still nowhere to be seen, but present nonetheless.

“She’s betrayed us yet again…” Six voices.

As for the state of each, an older man that spoke like he was commanding a war. A young woman who sounded excited. A young man that spoke with distaste. An older woman who spoke with a grudge. A young woman with seduction in her tone, and finally a young man that was barely even talking.

“We heard her… we don’t have a choice… And if she gains another, she won’t be so desperate anymore… this could be the way…”

“We don’t believe that? Do we…?” The voices needed convincing.

The next dive was upon them, but that time, August was neither restrained nor gagged, instead, he was left to stand, free of all constraints.

It seemed the Sin knew the importance of the dive, to some extent, but what she was doing was against protocol. The argument could have been butchered; if they were concerned about safety then they should have moved to a more secure location, but that wasn’t much of an argument to begin with.

If the suspicions of Ms. Eting-Fesh were correct, if August was to be possessed by a strong enough entity, his mind would regress and he’d seek out his family, causing more damage in the process. They couldn’t leave the confines of the city either, as that would have just lured in a monster.

As for the underground, the infrastructure was far too important to allow such unpredictable experiments. The thickness of the walls mattered not to most Primordial concepts anyway, so they were at the best place they could have possibly been, above the clouds. It was rather dubious though, morally and ethically.

They were doing human experiments, and if failure occurred, they were preselecting the victims. Humans never change I suppose.

All concerns would ring null still as that otherworldly substance was poured into August’s veins and his eyes began to dance. The giant did hesitate, claiming observation of the dazed man, but her suspicion was confirmed when all on his own, he sent his mind to the abyss.

The Abstract was present in all sentient beings, and with the affinity he had, she assumed he’d be able to get there all on his own, if his mind was properly diluted of course, and she was right.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The substance they were using, ODFT-4000, was a byproduct of Fate existing in the material world and warping it around her, specifically salt water, but there was still a problem.

The substance they were supposed be using per protocol was DFT-6656. The difference I’ll have to explain. The closer the scales move to 4000, the more potent the substance becomes, as such, to prevent unnecessary risks, the substance used for dives is from the immediate year.

The reason being Fate’s existence in conjunction with Olympus’ purpose dilutes the substance and makes it palatable to humans. ODFT-4000 isn’t just Dissolved Fate, its Omega Dissolved Fate, the first of its kind, and it’s of peak potency, toxicity and volatility. So much so, that it dissolves organic matter in most cases.

The facts were exactly those, facts, but August wouldn’t be dissolved. As the diver, in consciousness alone entered the void, the connection to his body was threatened by the sheer presence he assumed in the place.

As such, a compromise had to be made, they’d watch as he fell over, expecting him to fall flat on his back. Well, he did fall on his back, but he didn’t hit the solid floors, instead, he’d fall into a still body of water, the abyss.

As for all on lookers, the man had fallen straight through the floor as if it was but a projection. They stood in silence for a few too many moments, the caretakers, the parents, and the culprit.

“What the hell did you just do to my son…?” Roman, imagining his experience a dream, because it had to be.

“I—… He should be fine…” Not even the giant believed her words, she couldn’t save him either, she wasn’t allowed into the abyss.

“Should…? You told us you’d be doing the usual!? What the hell is this!? Where is my son!?” Roman sought to approach the giant, but his wife acted as an obstacle.

“Calm down! There has to be an explanation for this… right…?” August’s mother trusted the council, up until then. The giant refused to look her in the eyes.

“I didn’t know it’d be this bad… his affinity is inhuman anyway, based on my guess, his mind should have been the only thing that entered the Abstract … it was only supposed to speed up the process… I thought it would—” Athena, the mother, interjected.

“You ‘thought’…?” The woman collapsed her eyes overflowing, thankfully, her husband caught her, she could barely breathe.

“What did you do…?” Roman asked directly.

“I gave him… OD—” The father interjected the mumbling giant.

“You gave him what…? OD… what…?” The man had words, but he had more than just those.

His right hand split down the middle, and from within his hand came a canon unraveling to be twice the size, polished silver. He’d point it straight at the giant’s head, but before he could even pull the trigger, one of the caretakers were already at his throat with a dagger.

He thought about it for a few seconds, the sight of her splattered across his walls, but ultimately, he realized that there was still more to live for.

The man would retract his weapon, and for her sake, he hoped there was a way to save his son. Thus, those were the plights of the material world, but to whom the danger is concerned, he was dealing with his own problems in the immaterial plain.

August would find himself in a city of stark white high-rises, buildings, but no windows or doors, but buildings nonetheless. There was a sky, but there was no contrast in a colorless world.

Black wasn’t a color either so the smog seeping form the bone covered ground wasn’t much to look at. The place had sound, smell, taste and feeling, but he couldn’t quite realize why.

He didn’t care much either, he had lost most he had reaching to that depth, there was no emotion, no creativity and soon he was about to lose something even more integral. He’d be compelled to walk, to find a way out and to find a way even deeper down into the collective unconscious.

There was no way he could have predicted what he’d stumble upon, that made it no better still.

As he roamed the streets, he’d hear a faint echo glaze the buildings and make its way to the ground. It sounded like a scream, not one of joy nor fear, but one of regret, he could feel it, the emotions as the voice came closer.

As he stood pondering though, the white before him distorted, and a warm, red, viscous substance washed over his front side. It even got on his face, forcing him to close his eyes. He’d wipe away the crude thing, and as he opened his eyes he’d see what had passed him by.

There was blood, and a lot of it, a rib cage, a heart, a spine, a liver, lungs, a brain, a skull, but none of it was where it should have been. The thing, or rather, the person, was splattered across the floor like a blotch of bubbly paint.

Yet as August looked at it, he felt nothing for their plight, or rather, he felt nothing much, not for the first one. He’d continue his stride and with every few steps another one paved the streets, splashing him with bodily fluids.

The sixth one did not scream and so he was startled by the experience, thus, his emotions began to bleed through.

He’d keep going, and with every crunch and splash his heart would skip a beat, but he refused to look at the things, for those were no longer people. He’d be forced to stop almost every time, confronted with the reality of the place, yet, he was inclined to ignore it, per the conditions of losing another piece of himself.

He’d keep going and even when he was assaulted with a splash, he ignored it, until he couldn’t anymore. The entire place had become a sea of red, unavoidable and blatantly taunting. As he looked down at one of the bodies—humanity trumping his goal—they were crying.

He’d be forced to think about it, the place was directly linked to people, so what was he really looking at, and were they actually people.

The thoughts got worse still, what could have led to such an event, why would so many people even throw away their lives. His emotions would finally pop as he stood in the remains of an entire people.

His legs lost strength and his lungs lost depth, but he couldn’t allow himself to fall, not into the remains. He had to get away somehow, leave the streets, but there was nowhere to go, no windows, no doors, only impending screams.