What in the everloving presence of fuck was that?
I wait, as the bits and blips of flow mana trickle in, and watch it. Cold thoughts makes itself known, as he progresses.
Resource spawner, undefined, type Mushroom.
As the mana flows back into me, I swear that I would never ever get that low on mana again. Cutting the core off from inflow had been hard, this was as if I had just been savagely beaten over the head. This was unacceptable.
I carefully analyze the … thing.
I start by rotating my focus all around it, in the middle of it, and over it, before discovering that the above ground portion is just…. Too little. Below ground, a network of white strings pierces the ground.
Okay, there needs to be terms. I do not know where I know this from, but I must have been a really thorough person before this. Definitions were very much a thing in the past. Before… whatever happened happened, that left me in the present state.
I made sure the dropper dripped mana flows into me again, and then went to ponder the new thing. One nudge of the perspective, and I am half in the ground, that folds away for me. I perceive it as if someone had cut the scene in half, and opened it up for me.
At first, the half circle of white threads catches my eye. The base extends to a nice semi circle, as those….
Roots, some bit of my mind filled in the blanks, from who knows where…
Those roots spread inside the ground. Thus far, I am already conflicted. Roots, my mind filled in, needed material to grow in. I know that much. Things need to have a reason to be things.
Okay, so we got roots. Perfect. I can see them stretching out. Roots are important to plants, so this must be a plant. Plants, I realize, are very natural.
Okay, so a plant. I can be natural.
I decide right then and there that I will be defined by what I can do. Makes it easier to see what I can do, and how far I have come. IT just makes sense, rights?
In terms of terms, it also makes sense, because that allows me to do the very same thing to anything I take responsibility for. It seems very fair and balanced. I know, it is a mental shortcut, but come on. It would take me years of trying to remember a life I used to be not so quite sure I have had before I could come out of even a minor disagreement, because I would have to decide who discovers….
You see?
Simpler solution:
Step one : look at it.
Step two: see what it does.
Step three: if it is interesting and fun enough , give it a name based on the interesting and important bits.
I can see no fault in that.
So, this was a mushroom. IN my minds eye, the image of a disk on a stick arose. I Snickered, and wiped it away. IF this was a mushroom, I would treat it as if it was …. Muh’shroom. Get it?
So, what does my shroom do? I do feel like claiming it is a lot of fun. Not that anybody will know, but if someone asks, I made it, I get to name it.
Well, right now, it sits in the Crevice, like a V….
I stop, as something about this seems off. Okay, fuck the roots, do it top t bottom.
I do it again, and then I see it.
The Mushroom is growing. What I perceived to be a sort of skin at first is now slightly round, and as I watch, it is definitively getting rounder. It also seems to be jiggly. “Like it dances a jig”, my thoughts tell me. Okay. No point in asking what a jig is. But dancing…. Dancing shroom? Mushroom of dancing? Naaah. Too blase.
I observe again. It’s not like anything happens.
I shift my focal point, and turn around again. Now, the same strange effect of cutting the ground apart happens, only a bit more away, assuring me I did not accidentally hurt my mushroom.
The cut is right through the middle, and swiveling my point of perspective around, I can see that It is filled with what I guess can pass for some sort of liquid. Okay, very nice. So, my mushroom produces liquid, right?
Liquid mushroom? No, that would indicate that all of my mushrooms are liquid. It would not do. A definition, or a term must be better.
The answer comes to me after 604800 blips. Or, rather, then I see the next phase.
Over all of this time, I see the bubble getting bigger and bigger, and understand more of it. For one, I realize that what looks like roots is for stopping flow, and turning it into something…. Nourishment, I guess. Makes about as much sense as sudden rock sentience. Hey, I am not pulling punches here. I may, for all that I know, just be a growing rock with delusions of grandeur.
Anyways, time is not so much of the essence, so I play with the quasi roots. The mushroom is far enough away to not be a problem for my rock, so I am content with observing the process, and picking up pointers, and squashing them if they come from cold thoughts. I mean, the naming stuff…. That is annoying, but it has to be done. I dig a channel for the flow for the shroom, and maintain it. The increased flow rate makes it easy for the shroom to pick up mana, and turn it into…. Liquid, I guess? It looks very soft and squishy, just like a half ball.
The second the liquid reaches the circumference of the shroom, I see a small band of different coloured material, and after this, the shroom seems to no longer fill the ball, it just closes it off.
Maybe ball producing shroom is good enough?
I ponder, as I make sure the shroom has as much mana as it can take up, and brows up nice and bulbous.
Why?
Well, for one thing, that is what I am trying to answer. I asked myself what mana is good for, remember? Turns out, mana is able to be turned into liquids, and mushrooms. Look at that. This is why I observe. IF I manage to get this right, maybe I can make my own entertainment.
Plus,. You do not just suddenly figure out how to entertain yourself. You learn. There is stuff there. You , I guess, look at stuff, perceive it, and then go, oh, hey, that’s stuff, nice. I am pretty certain that stuff is already there, and most beings just have to look at stuff, and go, “Oh, hey nice, free entertainment.” Have I mentioned that I get bored?
Anyways, as fascinating as it is to ponder, something is happening.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The ball of liquid over the mushroom (Or, the mushroom's liquid containing part) is now almost complete. I notice that I can use the weird ground ability to see a slice of the ball, to measure it. I get why it is round. It is the ideal form to contain ….
I stop myself. One of those weird moments happens when I think about a problem, and I suddenly remember more.
Round is NOT the ideal shape. In fact, it is the mathematically ideal shape for a thing containing stuff, but in reality, it is a less than ideal shape. Liquid has weight. Weight means that at the top, yes, it is ídeal, but the more you go down, the more weight has to rest on the parts of the bubble (bubble shroom?) that are not the top. Making the structure very unstable. I observe the bubble in detail, and notice very fine structures growing at the underside, like the structure around the midsection. The idea what they could be useful for eludes me.
Weird mushroom? Non mathematical mushroom?
With the increase in liquid at the top, something has changed at the bottom too. The V shape of the mushroom core now has a lot of very fine hairs on the inside, that swim in the liquid inside the V. I must admit that the behavior of my mushroom is more and more bizarre. Liquid filled top, spiky hair and liquid filled bottom….
I wipe the thought away, as I notice the structures on the outside of the bubble are very … for lack of a better word, I call them pointy. Maybe just as spiky as the spiky hair roots inside the V shape.
Without much fanfare, the ball rolls off the surface of the mushroom, and a bit onwards. I see a bit of material coming out of both ends, and have my first surprise. The material is clear and like water, but immediately, as it leaves both the mushroom and the ball, it first turns milky, then like glue.
Well, it's not like I have any idea what any of that means. A part of me wants to sit back and observe, as something is finally happening. Plants are good at making things happen.
I have no idea about any of that, because quite honestly, it eludes me. What is supposed to be achieved with that? I mean, I mana’d it into existence, so it is supposed to have some traces from myself…. I stop, as I notice the flow has changed.
I monitor the flow, as much as I can, and find that I get waves. They are too irregular to make out yet, but noticeable, if for 604800 blips you had nothing else to do but observe.
I follow the waves in the flow, as they get more and more defined.
I spend a bit of time thinking about how much of an oddity it is. I sit here, thinking about how fucking weird that in and of itself is.
The spell gets broken when I have FUCKING MOVEMENT IN MY AREA!!!.
I see what my thoughts tell me is an ant. I make several important discoveries that very second.
1. Ants are cool. I know that, in precisely the same way that I know that ants are called ants. No explanation given, because that would make things too easy.
2. I am tiny. I always thought of the girth and roundness of my rock / core as terrifyingly majestic, but in relation…. I am barely as round as halved an ant, and that ant does not look very well fed or of the big sort.
3. Beings make waves in flow mana.
For a second, I am very fearful, as the realization dawns that I could as well perish by a fucking ant, which would be extremely embarrassing, so I keep calm. The ant does not react to me or the presence of my focus, so I try to guide her away from that silly old slightly round rock that nobody in their right mind would give a second look, I mean, what are you, stupid? Why would you pay attention to that rock when there is a ball mushroom there?
Look over here, coincidentally along the path of the biggest flow… that you beautifully massive ant take… there is a very weird looking mushroom…..
I am horrified beyond words, because what comes next pleases me greatly. Here I was thinking that stuff that I made was kind of fucked and bad, but….. The thought of the ant making a straight line to the ball the size of its head….
I am tempted to hold my breath, as the ant approaches it, clicking its clickedy bits, and wiggling its feelers. Finally, it makes a decision, and after much probing, it approaches the ball. It seems to pay no mind to the path of odd looking material just behind the ball…
The ant seems to take its time, and dispülay a measure of intelligence. It wiggles the antenna on top of its head, again and again, as if testing. Then, it carefully moves around the ball, before coming closer. Not noticing that the glue-like substance at the end has hardened, and is making the entire substance unstable, it makes a decision, and like some sort of very good and brave little ant, it gets behind it, and tries to roll the ball.
I get enthusiastic amounts of joy from it, as all the waiting suddenly pays off. The ball bursts, the liquid spews all over the ant, and it seems to be stunned for a second. Then, it takes a step back, its wiggly bits flailing like mad to get the rapidly hardening material off of itself, and breaks through the surface of the main mushroom. Parts of it start to get stuck, as its wild movements tar the surface, but soon, as the liquid covers the ant, the movements die down. When the movements of the ant finally stop, cold thoughts comes to the forefront.
“Invaders killed: 1. XP gained 12. Incursion over. ”
I am stunned, as I swivel my perspective around, to see inside the main mushroom, as well as keeping an eye on the former ball. I now gain a better understanding of a few things.
* The main mushroom is covered in a thick layer of rapidly hardening surface liquid.
* Inside the main mushroom, I can see that the root-like hairs outside and inside the mushroom have grown. Like roots, they wander inside the ground, and in the trapped now corpse of the ant. For a second, I imagine what it must be like to feel , to be trapped inside the sticky juice, unable to move, every movement harder and harder, as tendrils of root reach into the very material you are out of…. IF I could feel for the little ant, I would.
* The patch of land where the mushroom was was now smooth and white ish again. Even the flow slowly adjusted over it.
* The remains of the once liquid filled ball remain outside, deflated now, barely outside the area, dut with long and spikey bits reaching over.
I am happy, as I take inventory.
The mushroom….. The ball is popped, and even as I watch, I can feel the original mushroom growing. More of the fine roots grow in the ground, and the V shaped area gets a bit deeper. The roots seem to grow against the flow, trying to take in as much of them as possible. Okay, so that was to be expected.
I decide it is time for a name. I have held off on that one long enough. I think about it. Ant eating mushroom? Nope. Glue shroom? Goo shroom? Too indicative of what it actually does. . I made this, it is for me to enjoy. IF I want to give it a weird name, so what?
I settle on “Pimple Mushroom”, and am content. Innocent, and if anyone can ever check my work, all they can see is a Mushroom that they will only get if they know what a pimple is. I don’t either, but I remember pictures. Pimples…. Chambers of liquid, with an off colored top. That got popped. How or why, no idea, but I think I can get behind the concept.
Because it fits.
I am thorough, and try to analyze as much of it as possible. Who knows when the next fun will come by?
By now, the inside hairs of the mushroom have begun growing along the legs and body of the ant. It is clear that the mushroom, if it is such a thing, does not need nutrients to make the liquid, but it does need nutrients to grow. I agree with that perspective. A bit of a mean trap, but acceptable.
I look onto the substance that now covers the top. Kind of an elegant solution, if I may say so. It seems to act as a kind of sealing thing. The surface of the mushroom is broken, the thing on the inside gets hard. POSSIBLY, and I do not like thinking about it, if someone were to find a way to put a lot of air inside the main body, the entire thing would harden.
It sounds good, and it disturbs me. The mushroom has done nothing then be what it is. I resolve that I will not think about what can kill my only creation up to now until I have a sort of need for it. For all I care, that was mushroom self defense. You try to kill it, it has a right to try to kill you.
The substance has hardened out, and I see an almost crystalline take on things. It looks like something I vaguely remember as sugar. Sugar and plants go together, so I think it is fine to get that way.
“Congratulations”, cold thoughts goes again, just as I have settled into a comfortable lull of watching the mushroom rebuild, and possibly digest the ant body. “Achievement. You have managed to kill an invader before finishing the tutorial. As a reward, your mushroom has managed to evolve. “
I think about it for a while. IT would be pretty nice to just see what happens when “evolve” happens, to understand the process. My analyzing thoughts stop me. IF it was normal , cold thoughts would not tell you. That means, your input changes how it goes.
I think for a bit. My greatest problem right now is that it took a long time to have anybody come by. I had nothing whatsoever to look out for…
“Tutorial. ”
I think about this. I do not know the meaning of the word, but maybe the idea gets over. I focus, and try to be as specific as possible.
I would like something to evolve that makes more things happen. Something that attracts more things to the place. I would very much like that. Having no stimulation whatsoever is bad for me. I needed something cool to happen.
“Input accepted”
Cold thought takes his sweet time. Then, as if on cue, the mushroom starts to glow. NOt as fast as my core, but pretty consistent. I now have light. Not bad.
“Your pimple shroom has evolved to be
Glowing pimple shroom.
”
I am happy with that. Light is a valuable resource, if you have been in darkness. Light tells you what to look out for. Light makes it impossible to sneak up on you.
The surprise is that the fight was more than I expected. 12 XP would have taken me who knows how long. I have grown, and as a result, I am now bigger and better. My core clearly outshines the mushroom, so I have to do something about it.
Hey, cold thoughts, I think, as I remember my first “upgrade”.
Can I do a level 0 upgrade again?
“LAYER ZERO UPGRADE? “
Again with the volume….
“LAYER ZERO UPGRADE, COST 4 XP. YES/NO?”
Pricey, but as expected. Upgrades more than once cost more. First 2, then 4…. I could live with that sort of progression.
IF my theories were true, Layer zero would net me more information. And I could use all the information I could get.
“Yes”, I thought as clearly as I could.
The world takes on a new shade, as additional info flies into me.
* I now can measure things. (for example, I am now half a sample ant in radius, and pulse once every blip)
* I can name things. (Glowing pimple shroom is still a pretty good creation)
* I have an idea of materials (I am sitting on rock, while the patch of gooey white stuff is sugar, and the shrooms roots are mycelia)
* My area is now 8 times my own size wide, and 8 times my own size long. It contains one example of “Resource Node: Mushroom (glowing Pimple Mushroom)”
I approve of this, settle down.
“Status”, I think as clearly as possible, as I get ready to slip into inactivity again, building my reserves.
“Name: Charlie.
Gender: neutral.
Alignment: Neutral
Level: 0.
Experience: 8.419/16
Mana: 3.071/4 “
Mana Regeneration: 1 per 24 hours.
Ressource Nodes/Types : 2/1(Mushroom)
Upgrades:
Layer (Layer / Number): 0/2, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0, 6/0, 7/0
Activity: 1/week
“
I can live with that. That is, as far as I am concerned, a pretty solid block of progress. Looking good, numbers wise.
I settle in, and busy myself with the observations a sentient marble like me can do, including counting upwards. It may be fun to deal with things, but one should never forget a bout the basics.