PART II - WORM SIGN
Callie opened her eyes to a bright white light, instinctively shielding them while trying to get her bearings. She was just about to excitedly check on her points when she realized something wasn’t quite right. Lowering her hand, she recognized the familiar featureless-white nothingness that was the inside of her head.
“Finally!” Callie called sharply out into the void, gesturing with her arms. “Where have you been?”
Nothing responded.
Just to be sure, Callie checked her hands, seeing all the right number of tiny Gnome digits, and then pulled her hair around, seeing it was bright pink, as expected. So now what?
“Hello?” she called again.
Still, a lot of nothing happened.
“You know, I was starting to think I was crazy talking to you that first night,” Callie said loudly, turning slowly in all directions. “Even after Juniper said she talked to her own Symbiote, I still wasn’t sure. Juniper can be a little …” Callie waved her hand randomly in the air, “Junipery.”
Nothing.
“Have I at least been doing a good job? Except for Stealth, I think I’ve been learning all the Ranger stuff pretty well.”
With a frustrated groan, Callie sat down on the white nothing, part of her starting to get worried she was going a little bonkers and just imagined being here before, and that she was imagining it a second time. Quietly she hummed random notes, fidgeting with her hands to pass the time waiting for … anything.
Except for the first night, there had been no subsequent sign of Callie’s Symbiote, despite the promise that they would be able to speak when she was asleep. Vanis, ever the academic, had been eager to know if they communicated again, as had Master Healer Tasi, and both were noticeably crestfallen when informed that nothing had happened. Honestly, Callie was a little bummed about it too.
HHHHEEEELLLLLLLLOOOO
The sudden loud sound startled Callie and she jumped quickly to her feet. Spinning towards the noise, Callie finally saw what … or maybe who … she had been waiting for.
“Did … did you try to speak?” the Gnome asked the floating ball, grimacing as she rubbed her ear. If you listened closely, one could almost make out a word in the cacophony of discordance, but barely. It was as if a thousand different music notes played at once, none of them in harmony, while at the same time trying to form something resembling a word.
Green Circle ding
“You probably need to work on that some more,” Callie replied with a mumble.
Green Circle ding
Taking a deep breath, Callie pasted on a smile and asked the obvious question again. “Where have you been? I was worried.”
The glowing brown globe hovered in the air, almost seeming to tilt itself inquisitively, but it said nothing.
“Well, you said we’d talk again when I was asleep, but …” Callie said, trying to fill the silence as she gestured all around her.
Green Circle ding
“So why didn’t we talk this past week?”
The globe did and said nothing, simply floating in silence.
Eventually, Callie sensed this conversation might quickly go nowhere, especially given the communication challenges, and changed direction. “So …” Callie said, drawing the word out. “Now what? What have you been doing?”
In response, the Symbiote flashed up an emoji of an eyeball.
“Looking?” Callie asked, trying to decipher the meaning. “Looking for what?’
Red X buzz
Once again, the eyeball picture appeared, seeming more insistent this time.
With a shrug Callie said, “I need more.”
Thinking Clock
Seeming a little frustrated, the globe more insistently flashed up the eyeball, but this time followed by a hand pointing towards Callie. It repeated the two-picture sequence several more times.
“Eyeball me? Looking at me? Oh! Watching me! Watching me?”
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Green Circle ding
The idea of her Symbiote watching her was immediately a little creepy, and Callie’s face grew skeptical. “Watching me do what, exactly?”
Without any hesitation, the image of the hand pointing at Callie appeared, followed immediately by an icon-like image of an opened book, which then began to repeat.
“Me book? Me … words. Me … story. Me … learning. Learning? You’ve been watching me learn?”
Green Circle ding
“Oh. Okay. That makes sense, I suppose,” Callie said, her voice still slightly perplexed. Although, as she thought about it more, there probably wasn’t much else for the little guy to actually do.
“How … how did I do?”
This time there was a picture of a face, with someone holding a finger to their lips, as if a warning sign in a library. Immediately, a red slash sliced through it and there was a loud buzzing sound.
“Ow!” Callie mumbled, rubbing her ears again. Why would it be so loud in this weird place? The picture-message was pretty obvious, though. “Yeah, I’ve been having problems with Stealth.” Defensively, she quickly added, “But mostly that’s the only thing! Honestly, I think I’ve pretty much nailed everything else, so far. It even seems I’m pretty good with the swords, despite being so small. Well, except for getting smacked on the head earlier today.”
Green Circle ding
“That doesn’t hurt you does it? Getting rattled around in there while I faceplant or get hit in the head, I mean?”
Red X buzz
“That’s good at least. I’d been wondering.”
Green Circle ding
“Hopefully I’ll get Bronze tonight,” Callie said, babbling slightly and trying to appear optimistic, “and that will help improve my Stealth skill and everything else, too. Plus I get all those new skills! I’ve been watching the others and I can’t wait to try out some of the new archery ones they’ve been using. I just feel bad I’m not Bronze yet.”
Callie’s Symbiote tilted, seeming to inquire as to the issue. “I just really hate that I’ve been holding everyone else back,” Callie admitted, the disappointment evident in her voice. “I think both Shul’an and Jesca really want to reach Gold Tier by the time we’re done training, and for that to happen, Reynard needs to stop devoting so much time to just me.”
Green Circle ding
“If … If you have any thoughts or advice, I’d be happy to listen, or look, or whatever. I mean, I assume I’m not your first host, so I’m sure you have stories and suggestions to share.”
Green Circle ding
Trying to seem inviting, Callie stayed silent, hoping some of that advice might be forthcoming. Once again, nothing happened, though. This was frustrating. As much as Callie had hoped to speak with her Symbiote again, the challenges in communication, and cryptic responses were growing frustrating. If this continued, what was the point of future late-night dream sessions?
“Okay…” Callie finally said, slow and drawn out, after a continued awkward period of nothing. “Well, you just tell me if there’s something I need to know. I’ll take whatever help you can give me.”
Between the Symbiote globe and Callie, the form of a simple table appeared. It was made of a semi-transparent blue material, sort of like a heavy-duty plastic or glass.. Rounded in shape, it had a very modern Earth styling to it, especially considering the rustic furniture of this fantasy world. The top was set low, only waist-high for the standing Callie, and the Symbiote globe lowered itself to be eye-level with her.
Before Callie could inquire as to what was up, there was a flash, and a white box appeared on the table. It was bound with a long piece of pink ribbon tied in a bow, looking like a wrapped present. The globe of brown light seemed to grin somehow, and it put off a vibration of anticipation.
“What’s this?” Callie asked with a growing, crooked smile. She always loved presents.
The Symbiote responded with an emoji image of a bow-topped present, while it chimed out a happy sound.
“Well, I can see that,” Callie said, widening her smile, wondering what in the world could possibly be a gift in this dreamlike place. “For me, yes?”
Green Circle ding
“Thank you,” Callie said sincerely, still a little confused, but realizing this must be important.
The globe dropped slightly lower, and nudged the box forward.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll open it,” Callie said with a chuckle, able to tell that her headmate seemed to be getting excited for whatever this was. Knowing that cheered her up, the communication frustrations fading quite a bit, and Callie was happy to play along and enjoy the moment.
As she pulled the ribbon, it fell away. Once unbound, the box cover faded into nothing, and Callie found herself looking at what could best be described as a medal. Hanging on a blue piece of ribbon was a round medallion, which was smooth, having no shape or etching decorating it. The most important thing, however, was that it was bronze in color.
Callie’s eyes widened as she lifted the gift from its box, draping the sash over her hand to clasp the medallion. “Is … is this … does this mean I made it?”
Green Circle ding
Giddy with relief and happiness for finally reaching one-thousand points and making it to the next Tier, Callie leapt into the virtual air. “Yes! I made it!” As she celebrated, a huge weight lifted from her shoulders as her worry about being a continued drag on the rest of the Rangers faded, and the self-doubting fear of being an abject failure of a Ranger drained along with it. “Thank you!” she beamed to the floating globe.
YYYYOOOOUUUURRRRREEEE WWWWEEEELLLLCCCCOOOOOMMMMEEEE
“Ow!” Callie cried, instinctively covering her ears against the discordant roar. She glared at her Symbiote, probably harder than she should have. “Seriously. We really need to work on that.”
Green Circle ding
This time, the ‘ding’ sound was a lower tone, as if tinged with sadness.
“It’s great you're learning to speak, though!” Callie quickly added, wanting to sound somewhat encouraging rather than too negative. She was actually quite eager for the ability to talk without using pictures and sounds; this ridiculous game of Pictionary would get old pretty fast.
Looking again at the medal, Callie asked the obvious question. “What do I do with it? Do I put it on?”
Green Circle ding
With eager excitement, Callie quickly hung the sash around her neck, and then lifted the medallion to look at it yet again. There was a sudden flash, and the whole thing disappeared, turning to smoke or mist and getting sucked into her body.
“Hey, what hap…” Callie started to protest, but her words were abruptly cut off.