“Every Community needs a central something that unites those under the Community.”

“For some, it is the common belief in something or someone.”

“What form that belief takes matters not. What matters is that there is always one.”

“A Community is strong when it's cherished and nurtured.”

“If that is the case, then what about the Badg’Er?”

“What does this Truth say about them?”

“Why does their Totem manifest and develop in such an unreasonable manner?”

#40 Quote - Book of Races and Species

*

Dream Realm - Goldy

Goldy, in his H.H.B form, sat in his center of power, the office from which he had control of the Library.

Currently, it did not have a name, as Goldy had no experience naming anything, so he’s been delaying it for quite a while now.

He did not want to give it an inappropriate name and be stuck with it for the rest of his life.

Therefore caution was the goal of the game.

Sitting in his own cushy chair, Goldy stared at the book in front of him. Then he looked at the ink and pen beside it. Collecting himself for a moment, he took the pen, dipped it into the ink, and began writing the latest entry into his personal journal.

Yet, before the ink actually reached the white paper or its equivalent, he felt a call on his attention.

Only one Being could call it with such clarity, currently.

That being the case, he removed the ink from the pen and closed his journal.

The next moment he was in his Master’s Laboratory.

The same moment he gazed upon his Master, Goldy noticed a second figure beside him. It was smaller than him or his Master. Goldy knew without a doubt that currently there were no Humanoid Honey Badgers, at least if one excluded his Spiritual self or his Master's form.

No, there was only one option left in Goldy’s mind.

“Master, is this Cirsy?” Goldy needed clarification, so he asked.

“Yawn. Yes.” Hearing and seeing the yawning happen, Goldy’s attention ignored everything else and focused on his Master.

Instantly, he noticed his Master's sloppy outward appearance and the heavy feeling of sleep being pressed upon his Master’s body. Even the way his Master rubbed his eyes with the right paw only exacerbated that notion.

All of that confirmed that Goldy’s Master should have already been sleeping, yet he was here doing something else.

“Master, are you alright?” Goldy asked.

“I am fine… don't worry.” His Master replied, a bit foggy with his speech.

To Goldy, it felt like his Master barely had the mental capacity to maintain a conversation.

“Like I said… This is Cirsy… To be specific… her Avatar.” Goldy heard his Master say. “I have no idea… how long I will sleep. Did not want her… stuck there for too long. It's not… a real body, but it will help her… in the… long run.”

“I understand, Master.” Goldy agreed because he knew how that felt, even if it was vague in his memories.

Nodding to his understanding. Goldy’s Master went on. “Good. Then take… care of… your younger… sister… in my absence.”

“Younger… Sister?” Speechless for a moment, Goldy knew not what to reply but seeing his Master’s tired gaze centered on him, he nodded. “I will, Master. Don't worry.”

“Good.” Yawning once more, his Master waved his right paw, and upon it appeared a golden orb. “Since… you will be… in charge… in my absence… I am leaving Alexander… to your care. Once the… first H.H.B pair appears and… their first baby is on the way… shove Alexander into the… developing fetus.”

“I… will, Master. I won't disappoint you.” Goldy agreed, and with his right paw, he took the golden orb. Observing it for a second, he considered the best place to place the first Honey Badger under Master’s care.

The next moment he remembered a good place in his office and sent him there.

“Yawn” When the yawn came, Goldy saw his Master close his eyes. To him, it felt as if his Master had already fallen asleep, only for him to open his eyes and stare at the female H.H.B beside him.

“Remember… Goldy is in charge.”

“I remember, Master. My memory is impeccable.” The female replied stoically for the first time.

Her voice was much higher than Goldy’s, so it brought him a bit of unfamiliarity as this moment became the first moment he ever heard a female voice.

“Good. Good.” Goldy watched his Master smile for a bit as he patted her head. And that was also the point Goldy noticed that the fur on the female's head was longer than his own.

Not by much, but it was there.

With that said, Goldy saw his Master look at him. “Be a good… big brother. Take care… of things.”

“I… will, Master.” Goldy replied, and those became his last words. As he saw his Master nod and vanish and leave him with the female Avatar of Cirsy.

*

Goldy and Cirsy stared at each other for a few moments before both noticed an abnormality interrupting their staring contest.

Goldy had long known where his Master would sleep, so his gaze immediately centered on the Galaxy Core in the middle of the Dream Realm. Cirsy was a bit slower, as she had yet to get accustomed to everything, but her gaze landed on the Galaxy Core.

They both tried their best to figure out what was happening.

One tried his best to look for the Truth, and one tried to understand the world she was born to.

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Both saw and felt parts of the picture, but both failed to see the big picture of Mir falling asleep in his own Dream Realm.

Unlike the thousand-year-long sleep, Mir had been forced into, where even his subconscious thoughts were almost nonexistent, in this case, it was different.

In this case, his sleep was much lighter. Therefore, while his active mind entered a sleeping cycle, his subconscious slightly altered things in his Dream Realm.

Nothing much, but the moment there was no active state to keep everything as solid as possible, the Dream Realm finally exhibited the Dream part of its Reality.

Everything became a tad bit more fluid if it could be described as such without using the Dreamlike word. At the same time, every single thing created and connected to Mir began to exhibit a bit less finality, yet at the same time, it gained more breath.

And Goldy was the perfect observer of it, as his connection to the Library of Dreams felt it the greatest.

Every single aspect of it became more Dreamlike.

Cirsy, on the other hand, felt the logic-based part of her falter slightly before her existence steadied enough to not lose herself too much in the experience. It took her quite a few moments to adjust to the new paradigm, but she was created to analyze data, and that was how she treated this event.

However, that was not the end of everything.

When the whole Realm they lived in shifted into this Dreamlike quality, the boundary that separated it from the Dream World outside it loosened slightly as well.

Almost as if the Realm they lived in attuned itself better with the Dream World.

The moment the attunement finished, the Dream World infiltrated Mir’s Realm.

In the same instant, something like a conflict of interest occurred. It wasn't a prominent conflict, but to Goldy and Cirsy, it was significant.

It lasted for a bit, but equilibrium got established.

An equilibrium where the Dream World accepted the rules of this tiny Realm, and this tiny Realm began to draw on the Dream World as another source of power, aside from what its Creator gave it.

The draw was insignificant, but over a long time, it would add up. Especially, when the Dream Energy that entered the tiny Realm got attracted to a White Flame, where it was transformed, through various stages, only to end up in the almost entirely depleted Nebulous Clouds at the top of the tiny Realm.

Despite all that transpires in the Grand scheme of things, the greatest of the upcoming changes came not to Mir’s Realm.

No, the fact was that its Dreamlike quality emanated a different kind of quality to the Honey Badgers in existence.

As the heart of the Psychic link to the Collective Unconscious depth of the Honey Badger species, the Realm began actively influencing the Honey Badger.

Unlike before, when it stayed a passive existence in the distance, only the most gifted or the most stubborn reached. Now that infinitely distant presence in their Dreams strengthened to such a vast proportion that every single Honey Badger went crazy with the desire to reach it.

All of that was possible because of the Arching Portal that Mir made. The Arching Portal became the beacon to call the Honey Badgers to Mir’s Realm for one single purpose.

To leave behind something and establish the first Dream/Goal for themselves.

None of the incoming Honey Badgers knew it, but Mir had made a slight adjustment to the Arching Portal and the small White Flame beside the Portal before going to sleep. The first Dream/Goal these Honey Badgers would establish is the beginning of their Journey towards Ascension.

Still, that was not the end.

In the dreams of every Honey Badger, no matter the Stage of Ascension, four more presences began to shine their existences.

It wasn't supposed to happen this early, but it did happen.

The Heart of the Psychic Collective Unconsciousness, aka the Dream Realm, echoed out, and four Totems responded to the influence through the Library of Dreams.

However, it was not the Totems that received the signal.

Neither was it the tiny Dream bubbles at the bottom of the Totems that received it. Specifically, the Fragments of the World Spirit housed inside the Dream Bubble received it.

Coming from a Consciousness that manifested from the collective unconsciousness of everything that lived in the World, it made it the best kind of material for the influence radiated by the Heart of the Honey Badgers Collective Unconscious.

Three distinct ingredients worked in tandem.

The Totem becomes the receiver.

The Dream Bubble became the housing.

The Fragment of the World Spirit became the mind.

All this was Mir’s plan. Nonetheless, he for sure did not expect it to happen like this.

No, his theory was that it would take time for everything to fuse into one Spiritual Artifact. So when the three elements attuned themselves further, moments after he went to sleep, there was no doubt that he would, at least, slap himself at least once for not figuring it out sooner.

The future slap to the face aside, when the three elements fused and became one piece of a miracle, there were bound to be others waiting.

This one came from the inside of the Dream Realm.

Specifically, it came from Cirsy, as she became aware of the Totems and their purposes.

Instantly, her influence radiated over the four World Spirit Fragments and began changing them in such a way that could only be acknowledged as one Digital Mind giving birth to four children.

Nevertheless, being Fragments of the World Spirit meant that they operated on different paradigms.

While the link established between them, it was not one of a subordinate and its master.

No, these Digital Minds evolved closer to brothers and sisters.

Although, there was a huge difference between Cirsy and the Totem Spirits.

The Totem Spirits were much closer tied to the Honey Badgers under its influence than those outside it.

At the same time, the Honey Badgers, under its influence, influenced the Totem Spirit back. Or at least they would in the future, once more Honey Badgers resided near the Totem Spirits.

If a name had to be given to describe these Totem Spirits, and if Mir’s knowledge regarding them got taken into account, then these Totem Spirits could be defined as Gestalts, a Collective Digital Imprint of lesser minds creating a Greater Mind.

Despite everything happening to these Totem Spirits, their birth had just occurred.

Meaning that without external help, they would remain relatively similar to each other, since there were not enough Honey Badgers to make them unique.

With that being the case, Mir desired them to be unique. When their birth finished, through the connection The Totem Spirits had to Cirsy, a certain package downloaded, so to speak, into them.

Back in the Dream Realm, even Cirsy was surprised by it, as she had no idea that something like it existed inside her. Once she became aware of them, she scrutinized them, but there was a lock on them that denied her access.

However, while she could not read them without her Master’s permission, she could see their names.

The Social package got sent to the Savannah to Magi and Maximus.

The Survival package got sent to the Southern Forest to Scar and Tina.

The Builder package was sent to Vast Grasslands to Wand and Lola.

The Spiritual package was sent to the North Eastern Mountains to Bai Hei.

Looking at the names, she could easily infer their purpose and what her Creator had planned, but when she looked deeper, there were additional packages to be found.

Similarly, those were forbidden, so she left them alone because their names told her enough.

Back in Reality, when the Totem Spirits received the packages, they began to embrace the uniqueness the packages brought forth.

The same moment they did, the presence they radiated in the Dreams of the Honey Badgers changed, as well. Right now, the change was small, but with time it would grow and attract Honey Badgers that could potentially embrace one of those four aspects.

However, it did not mean they would not be able to embrace others.

Mir did not want his Honey Badgers to become one trick ponies, so he ensured that the following packages contained aspects of the others.

That way, the Honey Badgers civilizations would prosper in as many ways as possible.

Once everything settled down, in a way, new norms would be established in the Honey Badger Community.

The outcomes of those norms remained for Time to reveal, but there was no doubt that a great shift once again happened in the Evolution of Honey Badgers.

Whether for the good or the bad of the other beings living in this shared World, it was without a doubt something they would have confronted in the future when the Honey Badgers made the first genuine steps any burgeoning Civilization had to overcome.

Make contact with strangers.