The voices echoing out from the floating white orb within the ethereal liquid are all but familiar. This is a man’s voice, but one that Yume has never heard before. It is elegant, drawn out, and soothing. As if being spoken from a mouth that has never known evil, nor been tainted by desire. It is Holy and truly peaceful.

Yume feels a slight hesitation before merging with it but does so regardless. This is a memory that Adam specifically chose for her to see, after all, so it must have importance.

She is transported into a new body. It is not the body of her father, but an incredibly tall, thin man. About seven or eight feet tall. He’s covered in a long, white gown with its sleeves rolled up just above his wrists, slightly revealing some intricate, glowing tattoos.

Around his shoulders and draping down towards his thighs is a crimson stole, embroidered with golden thread around its edges. He hasn’t looked down enough to see clearly what they are, but the thread creates intricate designs towards the end of it. Resting around his neck are several heavy, shimmering, gold necklaces that match equally opulent bracelets on his wrists.

The man is walking through a hallway at the tail end of a long line of similarly dressed individuals. The hall is insanely tall, so much so that Yume can’t see the top of it.

There are cloth banners decorating the pathway, presumably hanging from the ceiling. On the banners is a peculiar design; a hand reaching out of a cloud, holding the moon, as if it were offering it. Below the hand, much further down on the banner, is a group of people kneeling with their hands pointed towards the sky, praying towards the moon.

Beneath the ground that these individuals stand on, the sky opens again, and rain drops fall below. The rain lands upon large herds of significantly smaller people. They appear defeated and hungry. These individuals mark the bottom of the banner.

Before Yume can process the artwork, the man directly in front of him turns around and whispers at him.

“Oh blessed be our lives, don’t you agree, Brother Mikazuki?”

Mikazuki? Yume begins to ponder, I wonder who this man is?

Yume’s host, Mikazuki, responds.

”Ah, yes. We truly are blessed by the grace of the Lunar King.”

“Can I ask you something, Mika?”

“Certainly but make it quick.”

“Do you pity those beneath us?”

After a pause, Mikazuki responds “Of course not.”

“You truly are a disciple!” The man laughs enthusiastically “I do not cry for the pigs at slaughter. Nor shall I at the burning of trash in a landfill.”

Mikazuki lets out a chuckle tinged in pain “We stand upon our forefathers’ promise. What good would our tears be for them?”

“That’s right Mika, this is our birthright. We have inherited the will of stronger men before us. I feel-“

The man is abruptly cut off when the line of men reach a curtain guarded by two heavily armored Sentinels. A strikingly pale child moves the curtains aside just enough to slip through. The child has white hair with precisely cut bangs that rest above their bright, red eyes. They almost have a slight glow to them.

The child holds out a golden bowl and gestures towards the first man in line.

“Offer yourself to our king as he has offered himself to you.” Says the child.

The man at the front of the line holds out his hand over the bowl. The child’s eyes begin to glow, drowning their pupils in a bright neon glow. The man is obviously in pain and trying to hide it. Suddenly, blood begins to drip into the bowl from the man’s hand. Starting as a trickle that then turns into a pour and eventually becomes a full-on stream.

The child curls the end of its lips up into a cruel smile.

“Thank you, Lord Shingetsu.” Says the man, stifling tears.

The men proceed one by one, offering their blood, and then entering behind the child, presumably named Shingetsu. It gets down to the final two, Yume’s perspective host, and the man in front of him. The man ahead of him steps towards the child.

Shingetsu holds the bowl up, asking for the man’s hand. He places it over the bowl and looks away from it, wincing. The child tilts its head and looks saddened.

“Why do you look away, disciple?” Asks Shingetsu.

“I don’t like watching it come out. I am frightened, my lord.”

“Our king has no use for a coward.”

Shingetsu’s eyes burn brighter and brighter, seemingly igniting the air around its face. The man in front begins to lift into the air, completely rigid. He stops after about ten feet, slowly rotating in place.

“P-please, I didn’t mean to upset you.” He pleads.

“No one is upset, for this is but human nature, fearing that which holds power over you. If it’s painful, you look away. If you do not understand it, you look away. We need not another set of eyes too weak to stare at discomfort.”

Shingetsu closes his eyes and the man’s body shrivels up into a tightly packed sphere. All his blood is wringed out into the bowl. It overflows and pours onto the ground, flowing past the side of the last man’s feet. Shingetsu notices Yume’s host staring down at the blood.

“You are of stronger kin than he who stood before you. Lend me your hand, so we may test your loyalty.”

Yume’s host stares intently at his hand as Shingetsu squeezes drop after drop out of it, into the bowl. He doesn’t dare blink after what had just transpired. The child finishes extracting his blood and creases its lips in another disgusting smile.

“You pass, but I had not a doubt you would. You are strong, Mikazuki, and a true patron to our king.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Shingetsu smiles and motions Mikazuki through the curtains. The room hidden behind the curtains is enormous. A long, steep path leads down towards a circular platform. The platform itself is gigantic; it must be nearly two thousand feet in diameter.

Huge air vents and fans line the walls of the room. The temperature from the cooling system has created icicles and a collection of frozen dust that lines every corner.

Suspended above the platform is a massive cocoon or egg. It’s covered in pulsating veins and connected to several pipes. Towards the bottom of the cocoon there is a small, shining red beacon illuminating the center of the platform. There are some sort of cords connected to the egg that anchor all across the rows leading up to it.

The other Lunarites are gathered at the bottom of the pathway, directly in front of the cocoon. They are all kneeling in prayer before this massive embryonic organism. Mikazuki walks down the path and joins them in.

On the walk down, the light from the egg illuminates the rows nearest it. The strange cords stemming from the egg are connected to people sitting all around them. Some of them are of similar age, while others are closer to bone than a living organism.

Strangely, as he descends the path, haunting choir music can be heard. It grows louder and louder, near deafening towards the main stage. There is no choir in sight, the sound is coming from an undisclosed location.

He reaches the bottom of the path that leads directly beneath the stage where the giant cocoon hangs. The men around him form a neat line around part of the stage’s perimeter. They all join hands and pull their hoods off, revealing their sickly, aged faces.

The men begin chanting “Oh, heavenly king, grace us in rain, grace us in water.”

The veins around the cocoon slither and twitch. As they continue to chant, a few of the veins detach from the surface and begin swaying freely. They waver over each member beneath them and then return to an idle sway above them.

Shingetsu makes his way in front of them and stands atop the stage. His hood shrouds his face and he holds his hands up. He turns back towards the cocoon and kneels beneath it. The congregation halts its chanting, and the eerie chorus tapers off.

Shingetsu now faintly whispers something towards the mass above him. It’s too quiet to make out his words, but the veins around its surface twitch and wriggle at each syllable. As the whispering comes to an end, a muffled, almost metallic shrieking can be heard from within. The harsh noise transitions lower and lower in octave, until it reaches a guttural rumble.

A thin, black, cord-like appendage bursts out of the bottom of the cocoon and falls limp upon the stage. Shingetsu walks carefully towards it, and the thin tentacle reacts to his presence. It leaps off the floor towards Shingetsu’s face, and he braces for its impact.

A loud CRACK is heard as it connects to his temple, and he falls to his knees. He tremors in an indiscernible mixture of agony and ecstasy. From the site of its connection, pulsating, red strands of light spark down his arms and legs. It’s so incandescent that it pierces through the fibers of his attire.

The men around Mikazuki collect themselves and resume their diligent prayer posture. Mikazuki follows suit and kneels once more with his hands intertwined with those around him.

The tentacle attached to Shingetsu’s face pops off and reels itself back inside of the egg. He picks himself up off the ground and turns gracefully back towards the congregation. He lifts his hands towards the air and stares directly towards Mikazuki.

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“The King has bestowed upon me the most incredible news. My gracious disciples, the bloodlines of our charitable donors and investors, and the nobles of old, tomorrow is our salvation. The perfect product which we have painstakingly crafted is set to be complete.”

He motions broadly towards the men before him.

“Enjoy your last feast as weak individuals, for tomorrow we hold god’s crown upon our head.”

Shingetsu makes a brisk exit up the path and heads out of the room, leaving the congregation behind. The cocoon grows more and more animated as veins peel off its surface and wriggle on its perimeter. One vein moves closer to the men and appears to sniff them out.

In a split second it shoots towards a man near Yume’s host and latches upon his face. Another vein breaks away from the sentient spaghetti cluster and attaches itself to another face.

Each time a vein shoots out, Yume can feel Mikazukit’s body tense up in anticipation. He flinches and watches the veins’ movements closely. Trying to determine who it will attach to next.

Those who have been chosen first fall to the ground and spasm in ecstasy. One by one the Lunarites collapse in a euphoric exchange of fluids. Until it reaches the last three members.

Mikazuki lifts his head out of his prayer position and looks towards two others who have also stopped praying. They somersault backwards, narrowly avoid veins attempting to latch onto their faces.

The cocoon begins to rumble, and a low, guttural scream comes out deep within it. The three of them get up and quickly make a run towards the cocoon. Veins begin to break off it and violently slap the ground around where they are running.

A vein collides against an arm of one of the sprinting members and they stumble to the ground. The hit was so powerful it ripped his hand off. He screams in agony before a smaller, more muscular hand pokes through his exposed flesh.

The man clicks and turns the Lunar node on his forehead and layers of his skin begin to peel off and fall to the ground. After a cloud of steam clears away, Gael walks out of this Lunarite’s skin.

Before Yume can ponder the possibilities, the three of them run up to the cocoon and stand directly below it, basking in the intense red light. Gael and the other Lunarite crouch next to each other with their arms prepped to lift Mikazuki up.

He places his feet into their hands, and they hoist him up as high as they can. Mikazuki extends his arms out and pinches the small source of light that’s beaming down upon them. The egg is now jiggling and the creature within is shrieking. He can’t seem to get the object loose from the cocoon and yells down to Gael.

“Gael! Cut my foot off.”

“Adam, you’re crazy!”

“Just do it! We don’t have time!”

Gael presses on his node and extends his plasma sword into Mikazuki’s ankle, severing one of his feet.

Mikazuki screams and almost loses his balance. Hypatia braces his other leg so that he does not fall to the ground. Pounds of flesh fall onto Gael and the other Lunarite. Adam emerges from the skin.

He has them lift him back up and he clasps onto the light again. Adam presses his node and extends a plasma sword himself. In one swift motion he slices the small beacon off the cocoon. Crimson liquid begins to pour down upon them.

Adam slips off their hands and falls to the ground. The three of them stumble to their feet and begin sprinting out of the room.

“WHO DARES TO DISGRACE THE KING” Screams a voice near the entrance.

The three of them stop halfway up the path and stare toward the noise. Shingetsu, along with the Sentinels are guarding the exit.

“You won’t be escaping so easily after an act like that!” Yells Shingetsu.

“Go back to your crib, little twerp!” Gael responds.

“Insolent…insolent…all three of you. To think you all had my respect moments ago. Adam, Gael, and Hypatia.” He snickers at their names.

“Moments ago, you were learning how to read! Maybe you should go back to your father’s teat!” Says Adam.

The three of them chuckle.

“You have no idea the repercussions this brings. You will know suffering, for I will teach you.”

“What could possibly be worse than life under The Chamber? Have we not suffered enough?” Says Hypatia, who is now out of her stolen skin.

“You will learn the moment you leave this room.”

“Guess we’re going to find out, then.” Says Gael.

They all run up the path directly towards Shingetsu and the Sentinels. The child’s eyes are lit in a bright fury. He begins to telepathically rip metal from the walls and hurl it towards the trio.

They dodge all that they can and use their swords to cut through any pieces they can’t. Within seconds they meet him. The Sentinels move in front and block their path. Adam and Gael violently slash at the armor, ripping piece by piece off.

“Get out of my way.” Says Shingetsu, as he lifts the Sentinels into the air and condenses them into miniscule balls of metal.

The hunks of Sentinel fall heavily at the ground. Now all that stand between them and the exit is this tiny, horrifying child. They attempt to sprint past him.

“There’s no need for haste.”

They ignore the child’s attempt to scare them and run past, down the hall. There’s a door at the end, around a hundred feet from them. Just when they think their get away would be clean, Gael falls to the ground. His full body weight slams into the ground aside from his left leg, which is being lifted into the air.

Shingetsu stands behind them in the doorway, dragging Gael towards himself.

“Sins do not go unpunished. What will it be, Adam and Hypatia, the King’s gift, or your dear, dear Gael?”

“Leave me! It’s too important. You must leave with it!” Screams Gael.

“Let go of him!” Screams Hypatia as she rushes towards Shingetsu.

Shingetsu flicks his head to the side, sending Hypatia flying into the wall. She lets out a pained grunt as she falls back onto the ground.

Adam runs over to her and helps her to her feet.

“We need to go; we can’t take this kid on. He’s not human.” He whispers to her.

“But he’s our partner, Adam! We did this, all of this, together, we can’t just leave him.”

Adam turns towards Gael, and then back to Hypatia.

“You’re right.” He says, as he and Hypatia bolt towards Gael.

“Tsk tsk…such a pity.” Says Shingetsu as he slowly pressures Gael’s body into the fetal position. “I can’t blame you for believing me, we don’t offer the best education to those in The Rung.”

Gael’s body floats towards Adam and Hypatia. Right before Adam’s hands meet his shoulders, his silhouette shrinks. Shingetsu condenses his body down to the size of a marble and then ignites it. The blood that once beat through his courageous heart rains down on his partners.

Shingetsu laughs hysterically. “You three had me quite convinced you belonged amongst gods. Now I can’t say you deserve even the sludge beneath The Rung.”

Adam lunges at him, but Hypatia grabs his arm back.

“I will be the cloud that drowns out the night sky. Once that shroud dissipates, I will have plucked each star from the sky. The only light amongst the suffocating darkness shall be the moon, and its face will haunt your pitiful last moments.” Shingetsu snickers.

“You will never kill enough of us to stamp out our light. There will always be those who wish upon the stars, even if they are falling.” Says Hypatia.

Adam and Hypatia make a quick glance at each other and nod. Shingetsu begins another winded speech about the stars, and they make their break for it. They rip down the hallway, tearing down banners as they go. Shingetsu tries to dodge and weave around them as they fall, but they block his vision.

“You may run as far as you please. We have ways of recouping your crimes.”

Adam turns to Hypatia as they continue to sprint. “Just ignore it. We have their secret in my hand.”

Adam looks down at his palm, ensuring that he does in fact still have what he stole. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear now that this is a bit more than just a lightbulb. This tiny, cut, gem is one of the pieces of Yume’s bracelet. The dark red node that she has yet to explore, either through her hand-port or through the Memory Hook.

This piece of her bracelet may have single handedly caused the culling. Adam, Hypatia, and Gael ripped it off some egg in the Pinnacle. Why? She asks herself. Before she can question anything else, her vision dissolves into nothingness.

The void of the Memory Hook swallows her whole once again, before spitting her out back into Junker’s shop. It feels as though she falls back into the chair. She gasps and heaves violently.

“Whoa, whoa there! Breathe darlin’!”

Junker rushes over to her and throws a blanket over her body.

“You’re shakin’, girl, what’s got into you?”

“J-Junk, I don’t even know where to begin.” She says, trembling.

“Well…just try your best. No rush.” He says, rubbing her shoulders trying to soothe her nerves.

“The first one, it was about their first trip to the Pinnacle. I didn’t see them make it all the way, but I saw them reach this ocean. It was like an ocean of blood and bodies. Smelled just like the sewer I came in on.”

“Jesus Christ. What’s the matter with your dad…leaving something so awful to see.”

“No…I think he wanted me to know. He wanted me to see the gravity of our situation.”

“Adam was a little different I suppose. I didn’t know ‘im that well, but from all the things Pat has told me, doesn’t sound too far off.”

“There’s more though, a lot more. The next memory was him, Hypatia, and this other leader named Gael. They were all pretending to be Lunar…Lunarites I think is what they called themselves.”

“Yep. Just like what I told you a while ago. Seems like you’re more of a visual learner, eh?”

“Sorry, I listened to all you said. It’s just a lot, ‘ya know?”

Junker nods.

“So, they all passed through these curtains that was protected by a child. Real creepy looking kid, think his name was…uh…What was it?” She scratches her head and looks away. “Oh! Shingetsu. This kid made them drip their blood into a bowl that was then given to a king. Well…the king is an egg…or a cocoon?”

“What are you going on about, girl?”

“The kid…I think maybe the cocoon is his dad? I’m not sure. The child fought them after they stole a node off the bottom of the egg.”

“No seriously, what the fuck are you talking about? What egg? And a child? Did your dad give you an altered memory?”

“No, Junk, he didn’t. The child killed Gael. Then the kid said that they were going to pay for stealing the node. I think that is what caused the culling.”

“Nope. Not a chance. When Pat came back down here, she told us all about the pool of blood and how the inner circle controls it all.” His tone becomes even more defensive. “She told us they were coming down to punish us for breaking in to the top.”

“I don’t think this is something you can just make up. I saw this child and its giant egg of a father. Why would I have this node if those didn’t exist?”

“I dunno, but that shit you’re sayin’ is impossible. Ain’t no way they’re hatching an egg up there. Why the hell are they grinding up all the Splinters then? Just for egg food?” He shakes his head. “They use the bodies for the elixir, darlin’, not for some giant egg.”

Yume’s face lights up. “That’s right, the elixir! You said they never figured out how it was made. Well, I saw!”

Junker laughs dismissively. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! This egg was covered in these huge veins. When the Lunarites met in prayer beneath it, they detached from the egg and latched onto their faces. I think all the blood from the pool was being pumped into the egg. The elixir was given to them from the king.”

Junker’s head falls into his arms, and he lets out a tremendous sigh.

“You are off your rocker, girl. I lived through this. You have no idea what actually happened. As you should be aware by now, nodes can be altered.”

Yume looks around the room debating her thoughts.

“Let’s go ask Hypatia then, she was there! I’ll prove this to you.”

“I’m not about to let you dig up old bones. Hypatia doesn’t need to relive this. It’s over, it’s in the past.”

“You really think she just gave me the Memory Hook without expecting some questions afterwards? Come on, Junk, you know she gave this to me for a reason. This has to be the reason!”

Junker snaps again “She gave you that because she saw your bracelet had cracked nodes. I don’t think she knew the slightest that it was full of nonsense.”

At this point, he can see Yume boiling up with desire and can see her mind racing to come up with another way to convince him.

He crosses his arms and lets out a hefty sigh. “I won’t allow it. I mean it, girl, don’t push your luck on this.”

Yume furls her eyebrows in anger. She hasn’t been bossed around like this since her time at the packaging facility. Robotic rule enforcers watching her every move, correcting any fails of efficiency or quality control. It stings coming from the one person she’s come to trust down here.

She grabs the nodes off the tray, the hook, and her bracelet. She huffs and puffs as she aggressively walks towards her room through Junker’s house, slamming the door behind her.

“I’ve still got another node here to look through, if you need me I’ll be watching more BULLSHIT!” She screams through the closed door.

She huffs all along the stairs down to her room and sits on the bed. It has been quite a while since she has felt an emotion aside from grief and anxiety. Anger boils inside of her as she stews over Junker’s pushback. Sure, he may have his reasons to dissuade her from asking Hypatia, but Yume deeply believes she wanted her to come to her afterwards.

There was a glint in her eye, something hiding behind carefully chosen words. This may help you find the answers you’re looking for…she thinks there must be something else here. Maybe she hasn’t reached the part that Hypatia wants her to see. Yume looks down towards the nodes clutched in her palm. Amongst the arrangement rests the final opal node, yet to be tapped.

“What secrets do you hold, lil guy?” She says as she presses it into the scepter.

Her vision cuts and she feels herself fall into the liquid void. She inhales the fluid and remains stationary until she hears a voice. Her mother is shouting something. It sounds desperate and angered. Yume moves close to its source and begins to hear clearer.

“He’s in here! He’s right here! Fugitive number one! Come get him!”