While the light was slowly returning to the chamber, I was able to see the interior again one more time but this time with a different mindset. I could easily feel something was silently listening and watching everything with utmost curiosity. He had no access to my memories before due to safety reasons but now that I have access to them again, he had access to all my memories too. It would take only a few days for him to watch the flash of my whole life but it would take years to use that newfound knowledge efficiently.
Muallim Nuran had already said five years of suggested probation time before attempting for my second awakening. By that time my academy life should have already finished and I would be ready to initiate my own chapter.
After a few more minutes, I was in full possession of my faculties again and rose from the stone altar. I stood up for a few moments to observe the interior of The Chamber one more time.
There was not enough time before the ritual so I couldn't pay attention to the details inside the chamber. Now that there was plenty of time before the second part, I took the liberty to investigate as much as possible. There it was, the will-reinforced heavy oak doors I used to enter the chamber, adorned with archaic runes that hint at its real age. The runes themselves were hand-inscribed before will reinforcement contrary to the modern techniques. The easy-to-see chisel marks even with an untrained eye such as mine were the proof of the carver being another soldier instead of an artesian.
‘Function over form.’ I thought absently while my fingertips moved on the rough runes. ‘As expected from one of the oldest chambers in one of the oldest academies in the whole Republic.’
‘Woodcarver Kamil, 102 Before Republic’ answered something in my mind to my unasked question. I froze for a moment, lost in thinking about what to do. Now I was alone in the chamber with no supervision and it- No, Reason, choose this moment to initiate communication.
“You can't know that.” I said while trying to stall time. “You are an infant sub-consciousness and even if you have access, my memories have no such knowledge.’
He didn't answer any of the charges but instead asked a question himself. ‘How much longer are you going to spend in this place?’
Although it was like a random question, actually, it was not. The Chamber was supported with not only best the mental and spiritual defenses to prevent anything from affecting the ritual but also with the best natural and supernatural defenses to prevent assaults both from outside and inside. There was no way anyone or anything that enter and exit this place until the end of the ritual.
‘Where did everyone go then, if the ritual has not ended yet?’ he asked another question taking me completely off guard.
‘Indeed… Where did everyone go?’ I repeated the question myself. In the end, the chamber was just one of the many hexagonal empty cells with a runic formation that covers the whole underground space of the academy. It had only one gate, a natural heavy oak thing which was definitely carved by some student or initiate during his academy years. There was no way that dozens of people could leave through this gate without me realizing it.
‘It was one of his early works and yes, he carved it during his initiate years. Long before he was started to be called The First Wood Sculptor.’ Reason filed me with random information about the history of the heavy oak door of The Chamber and its carver.
‘As I already said before, there is no way an infant subconsciousness knew that. Even if you had access to my memories there is no way that you know something that I don't. So stop being arrogant.’ I berated him, while still thinking about everyone that should have been inside the chamber. The door was still closed meaning the ritual was still ongoing.
‘Is that another test to see if I can control Reason?’ I couldn't help but think. Was I really sure that I had full control over my senses? Was it possible for Reason to hijack my senses without possessing me and making me see hallucinations? All of the answers to these questions were sadly…
‘Yes.’
‘So what, if I open the door with a subconsciousness that I have no control over? Would they fail me?’ I continued downwards in my thought process.
While I was contemplating, Reason talked one more time which made me stop my paranoid thoughts.
‘Although I really like this rare predicament and want to observe more, we don't have time for this kind of entertainment. Now if you let me help you…’ he said cryptically and then his voice came from my own vocal cords with a deep boom echoing inside the chamber.
“WAKE UP”
It said and I woke up. Not literally, but figuratively. The heavy oak door swung open outwards and showed me the outside of the chamber which was … a sea of light with nothing else.
Like a dam breaking open, memories started to pour down into my mind a second time in a short while. However, this time they were years worth of memories instead of just a few months.
“Damn Reason! Am I dreaming? Am I actually dreaming?” I shouted but there was no answer. Then I started to see icons and letters in the periphery of my sight which made my mind go blank.
If the feeling of being possessed was nightmare fuel, that this was the mother of all nightmares itself. For some reason, Reason launched The - God Damn- System without my consent and was not answering me.
“No, no, no! This can not be happening.” I screamed towards the ceiling. “Curses Reason you are not doing this to me, again.” I continued while trying to remember what was I doing before passing out and scanning my vitals through the information displayed in my peripheral vision.
My mind was already on overdrive while I was trying to analyze the situation but still, I tried my chance one more time.
“Reason, stop this right now, there is no need to go this far.” I yelled, trying to reason with Reason, then chuckled mocking my own naivety. Now that it came to this there was only one thing to do and I did what I was trained to do, alas much reluctantly.
“SYSTEM”
I addressed Reason aloud with its preferred name now that it left all his personality aside and started to act like an automaton.
AFFIRMATIVE
It answered confirming and I didn’t wait for any more now that there was no way out of this cluster mess without commanding my way out.
“STATUS REPORT”
I demanded and it obeyed starting to fill my vision with letters that summarize the self-evaluation of my own subconsciousness on myself.
NAME Agâh H***** ATES GENDER MALE CLASS FOUNDING OFFICER TITLES
DREAMBLIND
MIND AWAKENED
AUTHORITY HOLDER
LUCKIEST MAN ALIVE
AGE 21 HEIGHT 1.95 WEIGHT 94 LEVEL 5 CIRCLE 3 AUTHORITY 3 HEALTH 45 ENERGY
76 96 50
STAMINA 40 SANITY
14 20 10
MORALE
12 16 8
SPIRIT 20 STRENGTH 16 AGILITY 16 DEXTERITY 12 CONSTITUTION 16 STAMINA 16 WISDOM
14 20 10
WITS
14 20 12
INTELLIGENCE
16 20 12
APPEARANCE 14 CHARISMA
16 16 20
LUCK CONDITIONAL
MAIN NAME H***** TYPE SUPERVISOR ALIGNMENT
ORDER
MORAL
MERIT (S) HARDWORKING FLAW (S) TACTLESS SEMI NAME REASON TYPE RATIONAL ALIGNMENT
ORDER
AMORAL
MERIT (S)
RATIONAL
GENIOUS
PRAGMATIST
HARDWORKING
CHARISMATIC
VIGILANT
FLAW (S) NONE SUB NAME PASSION TYPE SOCIAL ALIGNMENT
CHAOS
MORAL
MERIT (S) CHARISMATIC FLAW (S)
IRRATIONL
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EMOTIONAL
DISOBEDIENT
CARELESS
UNTRAINED
INEXPERIENCED
It was probably going on pages and pages and after seeing just the first page I have already snapped. “I don't want to see this nonsense Reason. Show me the summary of my current status not your delusions of greatness and self-proclaimed competence. I said mockingly as soon as I threw a glance towards my, so-called, status report.
‘Luckiest Man Alive? Really? With no flaws? Not counting taking hostage your own host to accomplish your own agenda? Damn! I thought I would never need to go through this again.’ I thought involuntarily.
“STATUS REPORT”
I ordered again and this time it didn't show me random ramblings of someone with a superiority complex. Instead, it showed the results for the quantification of my self-awareness of my current status.
HEALTH 35/45 ENERGY 76/76 96/96 50/50 STAMINA 40/40 SANITY 14↓ 20 10 MORALE 12↓ 16 8 SPIRIT 20
ABNORMAL STATUS
SEDATED
CAPTIVE
“Damn Reason! Why am I SEDATED if you are already awake? And CAPTIVE? How did you let that happen?”
“STATUS LOG”
I ordered and it started to show the recent changes in my status as a list in my vision. Then I noticed the live drop in my sanity and morale and I got furious again.
SANITY 12↓ 20 10 MORALE 10↓ 16 8
Half of my vision was still occupied with meaningless numbers and letters, and the system was still updating them despite the situation. ‘There… Here goes one point of sanity again.’ It was so frustrating that I couldn't focus on when did I fall asleep or was captured.
“I have told you not to quantify my physical, mental or spiritual well-being. Now remove those numbers from my sight and show them on the silhouette as color codes in my peripheral vision.” I ordered it again.
While I was starting to find where it started to go all wrong, Reason obeyed the order. Now the head of the small human silhouette on the top left of my peripheral vision was yellow.
‘Damn!’ I thought. ‘One more problem on my lap.’
“ABNORMAL STATUS LOG”
Then I found what was I looking for in the log. According to the log, everything started with a shock. ‘What kind of shock causes bleeding? It doesn't make any sense.’ I thought starting to read the record in my vision.
ABNORMAL STATUS SHOCK ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EARS) ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EYES) ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LUNGS) ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LIVER) ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (KIDNEY) ABNORMAL STATUS CONCUSSION ABNORMAL STATUS UNCONSCIOUS ABNORMAL STATUS SEDATED (SELF) ABNORMAL STATUS CAPTIVE
There it was, the reason for my precarious situation. It took so much not to lose myself in rage and madness that I was literally reduced to a trembling and fuming mess in the end.
SANITY 10↓ 20 10 MORALE 8↓ 16 8
“Stop the countdown for God’s sake.” I screamed through my lungs.
This image of mine was obviously not real but alas, how can an obvious figment of my own imagination could be reduced to such a state of rage was really beyond me at that point. I tried to collect myself and calm down before continuing my evaluation.
“What does self mean Reason? Why are you not waking me up if it was you who put me to sleep?” I managed to ask at last. Although I still hate to call him SYSTEM, he still obeyed me when I used system commands. That was a small hope in this cluster mess.
“LOG TIMER”
I ordered and it showed something ridiculous again.
ABNORMAL STATUS SHOCK 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EARS) 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EYES) 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LUNGS) 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LIVER) 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (KIDNEY) 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS CONCUSSION 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS UNCONSCIOUS 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS CAPTIVE 74235 HB + ABNORMAL STATUS SEDATED (SELF) 74235 HB ABNORMAL STATUS CAPTIVE 71585 HB
Instead of a standard unit timer, period, there was a circadian clock pacemaker timer which was basically the number of times my heart beat after a special occasion. Even then, it was not accurate and there was a positive error which was indicated with plus signs. This was the first time I have been unconscious in my whole life let alone after awakening, thus I had no idea if this was normal or not.
“TIMER: UNIT TIME"
"CALCULATE: ERROR RATE"
I ordered again and the information has changed.
ABNORMAL STATUS SHOCK 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EARS) 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS BLEEDING (EYES) 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LUNGS) 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (LIVER) 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS INTERNAL BLEEDING (KIDNEY) 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS CONCUSSION 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS UNCONSCIOUS 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS CAPTIVE 9-12 P + 1-3 P ABNORMAL STATUS SEDATED (SELF) 9-12 P ABNORMAL STATUS CAPTIVE 9-12 P
‘What the..’ I thought, or couldn't more so… According to the log, I was unconscious for at least one period of time which was approximately one hour in short term. That was literally a death sentence. Something that shouldn't happen with three active consciousnesses.
“What is the error calculation method? Wait! Why is there an error in the calculation in the first place? Why don't you access the central timer with inscribed patterns?” I asked immediately but there was no answer.
“SPECIFY: ERROR CALCULATION METHOD”
I ordered and this time it named the method at the end of the screen. It was the healing rate over the energy regeneration rate which was basically the amount of energy spent to increase my basal healing rate and regeneration of it. I must have had some serious concussion so the healing boost kicked in while I was still unconscious.
But that was not the main problem. The main problem was that Reason had no access to the Central Command to correct the timer.
‘Damn!’ I thought. I was literally out there somewhere unconscious for more than one hour without the Central Command Interface access. ‘This only gets worse and worse.’
Still, it was not the time to dwell over that right now. The most important thing to do was to wake up as soon as possible and abort the system imposition over my mind.
“DEFINE ABNORMAL STATUS: CAPTIVE”
I asked this time. There was only one man and one woman by the time I woke up in an unfamiliar land and if I suffered from a concussion that was heavy enough to not only knock me out but also Reason and Passion too, the man’s end should have been worse… far worse.
How can something can knockout Reason and Passion was again beyond me at this point. It was certainly not something physical. Maybe a mental or spiritual attack?
HANDS and FEET TIED UP with ORGANIC SINEWS INDIVIDUALLY
‘That's it?’ I couldn't help but think. ‘Not imprisoned or confined, not even engaged?’ I couldn't help but get furious again.
“Then why am I still captive, Reason? Are you kidding me? What do you want from me.” I shouted and it, the SYSTEM, answered immediately with words appearing out of nothing in front of my eyes.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
REMOVE ABNORMAL STATUS: CAPTIVE
REWARD
REMOVE ABNORMAL STATUS: CAPTIVE
SYSTEM ABORT
PENALTY
PERMANENT CAPTIVE STATUS
POSSIBLE MUTILATION
POSSIBLE TORTURE
POSSIBLE DEATH
“Damn! Are you blackmailing me to release myself? What are you going to do if I fail? Are you going to possess me indefinitely?” I shouted. This was utterly ridiculous.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE
CAPTURE HOSTILE TARGET: ALIVE
REWARD
STATUS INFORMATION
PENALTY
RUNAWAY STATUS
“So when the stick doesn't work, you are showing the carrot? Listen well because I am only going to warn you this time, Reason. Either you are stopping this mess now or I am going to stop it myself.”
But again, there was no answer. With a mental sigh, I continued using the system interface.
“EXPLAIN HOSTILE TARGET”
I demanded and the text changed one more time to explain what was the situation in the periphery. Basically, there was no one but me and the woman in a shelter for all this time and I was expected to capture her to interrogate. ‘Easier said than done.’
“SYSTEM ABORT”
I ordered one last time to see if I can get away from this mess easily but sadly it was not possible.
DENIED
“You are going to regret denying me of this, Reason. Remember my word.” I hissed in fury but still tried to calm myself. This was not the time to get furious. It was time to compromise. Thus I choose to compromise, hoping he would compromise too.
“ACTIVATE: SYSTEM AUGMENTED REALITY ENGINE”
I ordered and surprisingly, Reason compromised.
AUGMENTED REALITY ENGINE: ACTIVATED
Now there was one last compromise to expect from Reason, one which would help me at least talk to him in a more normal fashion.
“ASSIGN AUGMENTED REALITY OPERATOR: REASON
I ordered the system to assign Reason himself as the operator so that he was the one that deal with the system shenanigans instead of me.
AUGMENTED REALITY OPERATOR REASON: ACKNOWLEDGED
He compromised too, making me sigh in relief at last. Thus, came the time for a compromise on my part.
‘As a rule of principle, we do not, by no means acknowledge blackmail…’ I almost heard Muallim Nuran’s voice in my head from one of her lessons. ‘...especially dealing with unruly…’
‘Yeah, good luck with that.’
“ACKNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES”
I said as I gave in to the blackmail and the sanction was completed.
OBJECTIVES ACKNOWLEDGED
The mechanic voice of the system declared and I took a step toward the sea of light.