Chapter 7
“An hour is what we use to tell time. There are 24 of them in a day. Usually, we would use the Sun in the sky to determine the time, but after the Day’s of Many ceremony, the days have been dimmer than normal.” Lyla explained as she wiped away tears. Kalex looked perplexed “I believe I’m familiar with an hour, although I’m accustomed to calling them units. There are 360 units in a day. I used to have various items that helped me keep track of time which made it a lot easier. Actually, I just made the translator, so maybe I can make some other stuff soon!”
Lyla shot her hands out to stop him. “Wait, before you start any of that, I have to know what’s going on with you. Ever since I saw you, things have been weird. There are so many things I’ve seen you do that I can’t even begin to explain. Before you make new blinking rocks, I need answers, so spill.”
That brought Kalex out of his excitement of finally being able to speak to Lyla. He shot immediately to his feet and bowed slightly to her. “Now that we can understand each other, I feel like I must introduce myself again. My name is Kalex Wounder… And I am a Seer.”
Lyla scrunched her face at the word ‘Seer’ and Kalex threw his hand up.
“Before you freak out, please understand that I am no threat to you or anyone else. I just want to live my life in peace, crafting things and training my presence. I’d also like to thank you for your help. I fear I would’ve died if that armored man in the town had connected with that stomp. I am truly grateful and will strive to repay the kindness you’ve shown me.” Kalex looked up with hopefulness stained on his face.
“Okay Kalex, a lot to unpack here. First of all, I’m not freaking out about anything you said, as I didn’t understand most of it. What’s a Seer? And what on Enternia is a presence?”
It was Kalex’s turn to scrunch his face in confusion which looked hilarious coming from a baby, causing Lyla to giggle. Kalex held up his pointer finger “Alright, it looks like we’re both confused about what we’re saying. To make it as easy as possible for each of us, let’s raise our hand if something we have a question about comes up.”
Lyla immediately put her hand in the air.
“A Seer is someone who can use their presence outside their body with more deftness than most can even use inside of their bodies. A Seer can also scan another’s presence and glean information about them without the person knowing. Seers can blanket an area with their presence to garner information about their surroundings and if a Seer’s presence manipulation is good, they can even interact with the outside world while their presence is cast out. When one becomes a Seer, they are granted a Lexidex. Nobody knows how or why this happens, but it becomes like a second brain that can store information, presence signatures, memories, and essentially anything else that isn’t totally physical.” Kalex said immediately.
Lyla sat down, eagerly looking to the child for more information, so he continued. “I miss my Lexidex, ever since I woke up in that burning town, I haven’t been able to reach it.” Lyla raised her hand as swiftly as she could.
“Not a question, but you didn’t just wake up in Fulrog,' Lyla fidgeted. "you were born in Fulrog.”
With a blank expression, Kalex slowly sat down, looking at his tiny hands. “Born? I was born? But how? One moment I was feeling Tora’s ion blade eating me away then the darkness…” Kalex stopped, pivoting his head to look up at Lyla. “I died. Tora killed me. How am I here with you now? What is happening?” Kalex shoved his face into his hands.
Lyla moved closer and put a hand on Kalex's head. “I’m not sure what happened but I might know someone who does. I never got her name but I’ve always called her Elder Viv. When I was young, only about 5 moons old or so, She told me about how our sparks never truly disappear after we die. She said that some of the strength that one’s gathered throughout their whole life would be transferred to a new life and that’s why my spark is so strong and that the Lumen gave me a gift more valuable than anything and I should work on making it stronger, not for only myself, but for the next person my spark will go on to."
See Kalex's attention, she continued. "Maybe your spark was destined for the body you’re in now. Although she never told me that you’d keep your memories after you died. I mean, having a conversation with a newborn is really weird. I think we should get her opinion on this. She would be thrilled to see something new!”
With hopeful feelings, Kalex lifted his head and smiled. “I’d like that. Anyone who can shine some light on this would be great. You mentioned that she said you had a strong spark, would you mind if I scanned you with my presence to get an idea? I had a brief look when I first woke up here but it seemed to have waned, then got stronger.”
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Lyla looked taken aback but relented. “Of course, but I have some questions about what you did to me. It felt like my soul healing but a little different and more intense.” Lyla peered down at her stomach and looked at Kalex who was seemingly in concentration.
Focusing on a single person was easier than breathing. Before he died, scanning others was a simple task, but still one that took effort. Especially to look deeply like he was doing now. What he saw was a world away from what he expected.
When peering into someone's presence, usually he was met with an influx of information that he could feel, but looking into Lyla, that information was organized and quantified. Surprised at what he was seeing, he looked deeper. Passing the words and numbers that showed, Kalex was able to see something similar to his area of darkness.
Lyla’s looked different in a few ways though as her’s seemed to be lit up with an amber glow. In the center was a spark, although it looked more stable, circular, and hummed with contained power. Another oddity was that her internal world didn’t seem to have defined edges and truly looked like it went on forever. Retreating his focus and looking back at the quantities shown to him, he decided to read them through.
Name: Lyla Graves
Rank: Eclipse Fragment (Blue)
Core: Healer level 6
Specialty: Soulcentric
Source: 82% internal, 18% external
Vitality: 8254/600
Myst: 4200/5170
Strength: Not Enough Information
Wisdom: Not Enough Information
Agility: Not Enough Information
Charisma: Not Enough Information
Luck: Not Enough Information
Stunned by what he was seeing, Kalex unconsciously eased out of his presence sight. Lyla shook for a moment as an energy she had only felt once before receded from her. “Kalex, are you alright? What did you see?” Kalex snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Lyla in the eye with a look of barely restrained joy.
“I saw your spark and it was an amazing sight! It looks different than mine but in a good way! It let off a mesmerizing glow. I also saw something that I only have one explanation for. Lyla, I saw some information about you. Usually, I would only get a feeling of someone else’s information, but with you, it was written out for me to read.” Lyla had a look of fear and curiosity.
“WHAT? It was written out for you?”
Kalex smiled at her outburst. “Yes! I’ve never seen it before but I have a hunch. When I would transfer information to my Lexidex and recall it, sometimes I’d get information in my head that I could read if I focused hard enough. I have a feeling my Lexidex let me appraise you and gave me a readout of the information it found. Some of it wasn’t shown and it said that there was not enough information.” Kalex took a breath. “I need to figure out where my Lexidex is and how to access it again. Maybe I can somehow feed it more information and get more accurate readings! This is the find of a lifetime!”
Lyla was nearly jumping up and down with anticipation and shouted “Tell me what it said! Don’t leave me in suspense!”
Kalex began pacing around in a small circle. “In just a moment, I need to figure this Lexidex situation out. I’m going to try to pull some information from it to see what happens. My eyes are going to be closed so please keep an eye on me.” Harrumphing, Lyla agreed.
With his eyes closed, Kalex focused as much as he could to pull up the last presence signature he had stored. It was the same one he’d used in his escape from Mourtia. Feeling the telltale sign of the false presence taking hold, Kalex heard a gasp from Lyla but continued with his melding. Right before the false presence was to take hold, Lyla yelled “STOP!”
Eyes fluttering open, Kalex was greeted by his translator. It was so close, he had to cross his eyes to get it into view.
Kalex was dumbfounded. Reaching out to the rock in the same way one would connect to a translator, a blizzard hit his brain. A male voice who spoke in clipped sentences sent Kalex into a panic.
“Neural Lexicon, owner: Kalex Wounder. Unit unable to shut down. Error. Host vital signs negative. Error. Unit remains active. Force reinstallation true. Not possible. Data loss zero percent. Error. Neural Lexicon not inhabiting host. Impossible. Neural link active. Connection to deceased host active. Error. Re-calibration protocol success. Fortified Neural link detected. Hello Mr. Wounder, I am Neural Lexicon.”
Kalex shot a look at a terrified-looking Lyla. “Did you hear that too or am I going crazy?”
Lyla slowly nodded. “I heard it. It came from the rock you made, I thought it was just a translator!”
Kalex gently took the rock in his hands. “This is something that might happen in a dream. Although I’m a little afraid, I’m really glad to have you back. But I am not going to call you Neural Lexicon, that’ll get old fast. How about Lex?”
The rock began to rapidly blink. “New designation: Lex.”