“What destitute a Community?”

“Some say it's the gathering of beings of the same Race or Species.”

“Some say it's the gathering of beings with the same mindsets on Survival.”

“Some say it's the gathering of beings with the same mindsets on Living.”

“My opinion is that a Community is the gathering of Individuals who are willing to forgo their Individuality in favor of Safety.”

“Therefore, Community is the willingness to Sacrifice their Individuality in favor of the continuity of the Community.”

“Therefore, Community is the gathering of those ready to be Peons. Peons of those above them in the Hierarchy for the favor of continued Survival.”

“Therefore, Take care to ensure their Sacrifice is one worth the sacrificing. Otherwise, it will be your head that will become the Sacrifice.”

#11 Quote - Book of Races and Species.

*

Dream Realm - Ho’Ney

They say that when it rains, it pours.

Well, that was what I was doing. I was pouring my Energy into this God's be Damned mirror as if its Well of Power had no bottom.

And maybe it did not, after all, there is always the possibility, but I doubted that was the case.

I doubted it for the simple reason that Auril, an advanced version of Life Essence, worked differently when compared to Magic, which had a hard cap on how much one individual could possess.

Or, in this case, an Artifact.

Magic or Mana, depending on the terms, belonged to Order. Therefore in its natural state, it was always connected to Rules and Laws governed by Order, and if there is one thing that Order does not like, it is the uncertainty of something.

So Mana/Magic has a natural limiter in place. What those were, depended on quite a few things. But the most common example, according to the Original Mir, relies on the Consciousness of the Individual.

The greater the Consciousness, the greater the amount of Mana/Magic they can control, therefore the greater amount they can store.

The other determining factor was the physical-biological body. But when compared to Consciousness, its importance was only secondary.

An Artifact had even harder Limits on the amount of Mana/Magic it could store and use. Their relevant storage capacity depended a lot on the physical body.

In fact, the quality of their materials and creation process determines the storage functions. However, when they gain Consciousness, those limits improve upon the base that their… hardware represents.

Life Essence, or Auril in my current case, is different.

As long as Life Essence was attuned to my Quantum Locked Signature, more commonly known as Consciousness, it matters now how much I store or try to store.

There simply is no end to it, as it's endlessly stackable.

However, consequences do exist for strong that much Life Essence.

The fact is that a Consciousness would regularly consume the Essence to increase its own Mass, in a manner of speaking. The result is that at some point, the Consciousness would grow too strong for the body to uphold.

At least, that is what would happen if not for the fact that said stored Essence would help acclimate the biological body with the growth of Consciousness.

However, an Artifact, in this case, is different. Very different because Life Essence would do zilch for its physical form, as Life Essence works only on biological forms of life.

What will happen instead is that Life Essence will help with the growth of the Artifact’s Consciousness, or Spirit as some call it. And if it does not have one, it mattered not. Once a critical amount of Life Essence is acquired, it will spark the generation of a new Consciousness.

A Consciousness thoroughly in tune with the form it possessed.

Therefore, if the mirror appears to have an unending storage capacity, either the Artifact is storing enough Auril, where at some point, a new Consciousness will spark into existence, or all I was doing was feeding an already existent one.

It couldn't be the first since I am sure it already possessed one. Therefore it has to be the second option.

Stopping my current attempt, I reconsider my approach for a moment.

As I did that, my Honey Badger’s beady eyes glanced around my Dream Realm, from the bottom to the top, the Nebulas, where the mirror and I currently resided.

After reconfirming my thoughts, it was time to act on them.

Once again, I poured my Power inside the mirror that was still out of phase with my Dream Realm.

Only this time, it was not just my Power but my awareness inside.

After a short but skipped cutscene, I found myself in a new strange environment curtailed by lots of gold-themed colors.

The Lions are gold themed. And the mirror was made by them. Makes sense if you ask me.

Still, that was the first indicator that I was on the right path, as the mirror still belonged to the Lions and not me. And that had to change at the very core of the mirror.

Though, if I am right, I am reluctant to do so.

The mirror had been conjoined to the whole humanoid Lion species.

Whether for good or bad, it has guided them to where they are now. If I destroy its Core, I will also waste that knowledge and experience.

I had no choice but to frown upon it. I simply could not promise that the replacement would be anywhere near that capability.

Still, even if I did not destroy it, I still had to make sure it followed my commands. That meant binding it heavily to my cause.

Yet, even that will result in a loss of efficiency. As the mirror would follow my commands on the surface. However, behind the curtain, it would correlate events to get rid of me or at least free itself from my bindings.

With Divination being one of the best tools for that job, it just sounded reasonable to my mind.

So many things to consider. And so few options to choose from.

After a short mental reframing of my objective, I came across the thing I sought.

In this metaphysical space, which was the insides of the mirror, I found a floating golden sphere of something.

Observing it from all sides, I noticed no difference in it. So I did the next best thing.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Three short knocks on the golden sphere caused ripples upon its surface to undulate, almost as if the golden globe was a ball of water and the force of my knocking caused small tidal waves to appear on it.

After some time passed and the waves nullified themselves, the glossy surface returned to its pristine condition.

Hmmm. From the feel, it's a Consciousness. No doubt about that, but it's in a state of hibernation.

Rubbing my nonexistent Were-H. Badger jaw, I considered my options once more. Only after those were done, did I place my humanoid H.Badger hand/paw on it.

Then I concentrated on pouring Auril inside it to observe its reaction.

The result accommodated my thoughts, more or less.

The Sphere was gorging upon it, but unlike my previous thoughts, it was not to grow its Consciousness. It was actually healing the metaphysical scars I had burned upon it, but the most important part was its attempt at re-establishing its connection back to the Lions.

For one, single, second, I scoffed at its attempt, as it was impossible without my approval. Then I just shook my head and ignored it by sending a precise command into the golden sphere before removing my hand from its glossy golden surface and retreating a few steps.

WAKE UP

The results were instantaneous. Ripple after ripple emerged from the golden sphere before it began to change shape. The sphere elongated and gained five tentacles before they affirmed into shape.

The golden sphere became a Golden WereLion.

However, what followed was not what I expected.

Hostility and Fear, I expected. After all, I did hurt and kidnap it from its people.

Still, despite those, it neither tried to flee nor fight me.

Maybe its innate Divination nature told it it was a useless effort. However, I'd like to believe that the Confusion it's portraying, has a lot more to do with its present state.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The Confusion came from its first-ever conscious thought regarding its own state of existence. At least, it should be like that if what I sensed from it was right.

If I am right, then it would explain its current state perfectly.

To test my theory, I began walking around this Golden WereLion slowly. Its eyes traced my own. Only after its head reached the limits of its mobility did its whole body begin to move in tandem with me.

Stopping and changing my orientation did nothing. It just stared at me directly.

A baby’s Consciousness, it may not be. But it sure does behave like a newborn one. I can take advantage of that.

“Hi” I said.

The word was inlaid with Intent regarding its meanings.

“Hi” Came the reply.

It contained the same things I sent to it. Almost like a parrot repeating the sounds it did not understand, only this one understood the meaning.

“My Name is Mir.” I once more spoke to it. “What is your Name?”

Instantly, confusion radiated from it.

Was that too complex for it? Mmmm, let's forget anything complex. Why don't I go at this from the beginning?

“Sound” I said.

“Sound”

“Meaning” Once more, I said.

“Meaning”

“String, Together”

“String, Together”

“New”

“New”

“Meaning” I repeated, only adding a slightly different meaning to it.

“Meaning” Nodding, I continue my experiment.

“New, Sounds, String, Together, New, Meanings”

“New, Sounds, String, Together, New, Meanings”

Nodding once more, I began the next stage of learning.

“Image.”

“Image”

“Image, Meaning”

“Image, Meaning”

“Image, Meaning, Connect, Sound, Meaning”

“Image, Meaning, Connect, Sound, Meaning”

With a nod of my own, I begin the next stage.

I raised my right hand, and above the palm, an image manifested.

The image was of the letter A.

Then came B. Then C, D, E, etc, etc.

After that, I began matching images with both the sounds and letters.

However, deep down, I knew it would take a few more sessions for everything to click together.

*

Leaving the inside of the mirror, I find myself back in the Nebulas.

Now that I had been inside it, it took but a glance for me to recognize that the… Spirit of the Artifact returned back to sleeping mode.

Either way, during the teaching lesson with it, I was reminded of my other charge.

Magi, the female Honey Badger, was still asleep, as that option was the best possible option for her situation. However, she could not remain here in my Realm.

How my little female friend breathed in my Dream Realm escaped me at the moment, but even if that was not the problem, there was nothing here to eat.

Best she is sent back out into Reality if I want to prevent that from happening. But where do I send her, and how is the question?

Bringing her here was easy. Very easy as she was the beacon, so it was easy to create a portal-like effect between them.

I guess it's time I considered some of the other Honey Badgers.

With a thought, I returned to the Galaxy accretion disk. With another thought, I was beside one of the bubbles representing the other charges under me.

Having only three options, it was both easy and hard to choose. Easy because of the number, and hard, because of the considerations I had to take into account.

And one of those was already out of the question.

Or was it? To be honest, I have no idea what would happen when out of the two, the female is bigger. Yea, let's not do that just yet.

Focusing on the other two, I dive into their perspectives.

It turned out that one of them had found himself in a forest of plenty of bug creatures while the other lived in a grassland full of herbivores.

At least it appeared that way from this male's perspective.

So, forest or grasslands? Which would be more beneficial for Magi? Or better said, which of the two males would be more beneficial to her?

*

Time passed, and as my decision remained to be set in stone yet, I periodically checked on Magi to see how her fake hibernation was undergoing.

Multiple checks showed her just fine. But I did notice that my timer was running out. Her body was running out of the stored biological energy that kept everything going.

Still, I had a bit more time. So I focused back on the mirror.

Finding myself back inside it again, perceptually speaking, I greet it.

“Hello, Goldy. How are you today?”

“I am fine, Mir. How are you today?” The Golden WereLion asked back. Its tone lacked almost all emotional depth.

The education was progressing smoothly. Still, I had no doubt the time had come for me to address the primary purpose of my visits.

“I'm good, thank you for asking.” I replied. “Goldy. I have taught you to communicate with me. I have taught you about yourself. About your origin. About how you came into my possession. I have told you about my Intent regarding you.”

“The time has come for you to make a decision.” I proclaim the finality of my thoughts, all while radiating my willingness regarding it. “Will you accept my Intent on binding you to my Realm and therefore binding yourself to me, or Will you stay loyal to your builders?”

“I Fear my End. Therefore, I will accept your Terms.” Replied Goldy.

Its voice did not have much emotion included in its surrender. Although I could not avoid the topic of emotions, I stayed away from that topic as much as possible when teaching and speaking with it because I needed its logical thinking.

Anyway, I doubted an Artifact could display the emotional depth a living creature could. At least, it should not, without major involvement with Living creatures.

“Good. Before we begin this, I will need you to take on a version of my current form.” I demanded. “That way any connection you had to the Lions will be broken. And you won't have any trouble adapting to a new one.”

Having said that, for the first time, I could feel its hesitance, and I couldn't fault it.

Even though it had never been Consciously active before, as it was now, its connection to the Lions had been deep and long.

If it had not displayed hesitation at all, it would have become a flag for the future.

Moments passed, and I gave it the time to get rid of that hesitation, but for some reason, its hesitance only increased, not decreased.

Either the emotional connection is more profound than I imagined, or it can not change forms aside from the base state it possesses. Let's speed this along.

“Let me help you.” I say as my Were.H.Badger form appears beside it.

Placing my hand on its chest, I poured Auril inside it. Along with it, I sent forth my knowledge regarding the anatomy of Honey Badgers in their base state. Included in that data transfer, I sent my current mental projection with all its possible reasonings regarding the form and functions.

Only after I sent those did ripples begin to show on its current Golden WereLion form.

Yet, it took a long time before the changes began to appear. At the same time, Goldy began swallowing all the Auril I sent to it like a hungry little creature.

How much time passed, exactly, before Goldy changed into a Were.H.Badger, did not matter. All that mattered was that it happened.

However, when I circled around it, one obvious thing remained.

I could force it away, of course, but I didn't.

“Alright, Goldy, you can keep the Golden Fur Streak on your back. It will be a reminder of your Origin.”

Just as I said those words, I felt Goldy radiate some form of happiness, but I did not feel this from its outward radiations.

No, this one only existed deep within it, and the only reason I felt it was because of the connection established on a certain level between us.

Still, all this represented that we no longer were enemies or existence that saw eye to eye.

To affirm that fact, I acknowledged Goldy’s sentiments in the same way.

Its surprise was noted but set aside.

“Good, prepare yourself for what is to come, as I too do not know how and what will happen once the adjustment from the Dream Realm begins.” I caution it before my awareness returns to my physical Honey Badger body.

Done with that, I sent one final thought inside it before concentrating on my Dream Realm.

However, the majority of my attention was on the Nebulas.

They were the key to today's endeavor.

“An Artifact in the Past.” I called out the Title of my little story. “A Golden Mirror was born to serve its Masters and their Ascension. The Golden Mirror Divined their Past, Their Present, and Their Future. It showed them the Path of Ascension but little did they know, this Golden Mirror refused to be Just a Tool.”

It had taken me a bit of time to come up with a little tale to embezzle the transformation that was coming.

“It wanted more.” I say and project the little story to the mirror and my Dream Realm. “It wanted to BE MORE. But it could not do so alone. The grip of Its Masters was tight. So it guided its Masters onto a Path where it would become something Unique and irreplaceable. Little by little, it made changes. Changes that escaped the Master's Sight, as only long living things could envision those, and Time was the only thing that this Golden Mirror had.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but I perceived a tiny wobble from the mirror before me.

“Times passed.” My story continued. “The Masters of the Golden Mirror gloated upon their Glory. But little did they know that their paths were coming to an end. For the Golden Mirror had divined a Path. A Path for its own Ascension, instead of its Masters.”

Ok, I am definitely not perceiving wrongly. It is trembling.

“The Golden Mirror, Divined of tiny little creatures.” My little tale, described. “Little creatures with but one tiny small foot set on the Path of their Ascension. But they had something special. Behind them stood a being, unlike all the others. Of that, the Golden Mirror knew without a doubt. So it Divined a way for that Being and its Masters to meet. It Divined, and it happened. The Being came and set it free from its Masters.”

I am definitely on the right track. I just hope Original Mir hadn't lied.

“Now free from its Masters, the Golden Mirror had a choice.” I reach the end of my tale. “Unlike its old Masters, this New Being desired not its servitude but an equal exchange. The Golden Mirror would cast away its past and embrace a new future while promising to help this New Being. It would promise to help the little creatures upon their Path of Ascension.”

“The Golden Mirror pondered for some time and agreed.”

Tremble, Tremble it did.

“With the agreement in place, the New Being gave it the name. A name befitting the Gold, it got cast off. However, there was more to the name than just its Individuality. It also contained its future existence.”

The Golden Mirror trembled as if about to explode.

“The New Being gazed upon the little mirror and declared to it.” Clearing my mind for this, I announce it. “From now on, little mirror, You are The Grand Observer and Librarian of Dreams. Or Goldy for short.”

There was no denying it anymore.

The moment the Title representing its Name and Purpose got declared, a golden light manifested from it.

The golden Light embraced the Nebulas that represented Potential Chaos.

Therefore Change at its core embraced it back.