[Current Objective: Speak with Earth Mother]

“Ah, Darius, what a sight you bring on the eve of ascension,” intoned the Earth Mother, her voice smooth and enchanting, each word dripping with saccharine allure. Her movements through the air were fluid, almost balletic, hinting at a grace that might have belonged to a reincarnated prima ballerina. The temple's incense and carefully placed lighting only heightened her otherworldly presence.

“I do, Earth Mother,” Darius replied, his tone respectful but firm. “These individuals have proven themselves worthy and seek deeper initiation into the mysteries of the Human League.”

The Earth Mother shifted, a grand yet slightly clumsy motion, her eyes appraising Regan and me with an almost palpable intensity.

“Curious, yet anticipated. Come, children. I shall assess your emotional energies and purge the anti-energy obstructing your ascension to the true beings trapped within your mundane shells.”

With that, the Earth Mother rose unsteadily but with a determined air. She extended her arms for balance and began sweeping them in grand circles, reminiscent of a conductor leading a symphony only she could hear. The potent narcotic effects of the incense were becoming increasingly apparent.

I checked my stats screen and confirmed my suspicion: I was afflicted with the “Unstable” condition, granting a hefty boost to intelligence but rendering my perception whimsically unreliable.

The Earth Mother approached the central altar with all the drama of a magician unveiling their greatest trick. With a theatrical flourish, she pulled away a draped cover to reveal a sleek, black metal sarcophagus housing an elaborate computer terminal. At her touch, the machine sprang to life: panels slid open, monitors flickered on, and a keyboard emerged, seemingly conjured from thin air. Deep within its frame, the computer’s electronic heart pulsed, setting a complex cooling system into action. Fans whirred and coolant flowed through hidden pipes.

That’s some serious hardware,” Regan whispered, her eyes wide with astonishment.

“Yeah, it’s definitely impressive,” I replied, noting the obvious.

Regan shook her head, her gaze hardening. “No, seriously. That’s military-grade tech. What’s it doing here?”

I had to admit, she had a point. But before we could delve into the mystery of a high-tech computer in a temple, the Earth Mother began her ceremony, leaving us with even more questions and a sinking feeling that we were in way over our heads.

The Earth Mother stood wobbly, swaying like a piece of celestial driftwood, as she emitted low, rhythmic moans that hinted at either ancient rites or severe indigestion. With her arms moving in wide, sweeping gestures, she took deliberate steps towards the imposing black computer sarcophagus. Pressing a hidden button, power surged through concealed cables, activating powerful motors high above. Gears clanked and chains rattled as the temple platform was lifted into place within the heart of the pylon.

In less than a minute, the platform reached its position, while the Earth Mother danced around the computer sarcophagus in a performance that could only be described as overly dramatic. Then, abruptly, she began to twirl, gaining speed, her movements growing longer and more erratic. Her chanting shifted from guttural growls to piercing, unsettling screams. Her robes flared out like sails caught in a storm.

I struggled to follow the dizzying spectacle, but the heavy incense and the refracted light through the glass temple made focusing nearly impossible. I turned away, aiming for one of the empty beanbag chairs, only to find it wasn’t empty. Next to where the Earth Mother had been seated was the translucent outline of a man, barely visible but clearly clapping with slow, rhythmic beats.

Suddenly, the Earth Mother’s face filled my vision, her cracked and wild features looming large as if she had crossed the distance between us in a single heartbeat. I tried to pull away, but her grip was ironclad, her strength both surprising and alarmingly real.

“Are you ready, Child?” she intoned, her voice dripping with a condescending blend of cosmic significance.

“My name is Jonas,” I said, trying to assert my identity despite the uncomfortable proximity.

“Hush now, child. We are all nameless before the world. Our true nature has yet to be revealed. We are mere mortals trapped in human forms, but once we realize our potential, we can unlock the god within us and discover our true selves.”

Her words were gibberish, yet there was something hypnotic about her delivery. Her eyes gleamed with a kaleidoscopic intensity, enhanced by the countless crystals hanging around the space. For a fleeting, terrifying moment, I could have sworn I saw the glint of a player within the depths of her gaze, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Fear and uncertainty churned in my mind, intensified by the Unstable condition. Knowing it was a mental effect didn’t make it any less real. I forced myself to look away from the Earth Mother, desperate to find anything other than this deranged woman to focus on. I even searched for the translucent figure I had seen earlier, but it was nowhere to be found.

“Are you ready, Child?” she repeated, her voice now a mix of sweetness and steel.

“Yes, Earth Mother,” I said, eager for this ordeal to end.

“Good boy. Now, come. Come and be appraised,” she said, her unsettling kindness as chilling as it was insincere.

She guided me to the computer sarcophagus, and my excitement waned when I saw it was nothing more than a computer-based aptitude test. The contrast between the grandiose rituals and the test's mundane simplicity was stark, but I had no choice but to proceed.

The test featured ten questions, each presenting a hypothetical scenario designed to probe my character. Each question offered six possible answers, each mapped to one of the six attributes: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Endurance, Charisma, and Luck. The choices ranged from brutally violent solutions straight out of a barbarian’s playbook, to daring and elaborate schemes fit for a swashbuckler, to overly intellectualized responses, stoic solutions, kind and emotionally resonant answers, and finally, options left to chance.

I selected the charismatic options for each question. It seemed to align best with the Human League’s peaceable ethos. When I finished, the computer chimed and awarded me the Empath perk, which supposedly granted insight into others' emotional intentions toward me.

“Good. Good,” Earth Mother purred, scanning the printout that the sarcophagus ejected. “You will make a fine addition to the Human League. We will need shepherds to guide those with doubts toward ascension. I bestow upon you the mark of a Fellow Man.”

She pressed a finger to my forehead, just above my left brow, leaving a white smudge of makeup. It marked me as a member of the Human League—purely cosmetic, with no real benefits aside from recognition among the cult members.

“Now, don’t you look just darling,” Earth Mother cooed. “Now, it is time for your companion to embrace her destiny as one of us.”

“It’s a computer test,” I whispered to Regan. “You’ll get an attribute-based perk at the end.”

Distract them,” she instructed. Regan pressed her hand to her forehead as if seeking a divine revelation, rubbing a simple wire ring on her right index finger with her thumb. I had no clue what she meant, but I took the cue and started improvising.

As Regan approached the computer terminal, furiously tapping away at the keys, I launched into my performance. Channeling every ounce of exaggerated zeal I could muster, I threw my arms wide and began proclaiming an impassioned love for the divine energy of humanity and our destined ascension—whatever that was supposed to mean. Earth Mother watched me with an intensity that suggested she was deeply engrossed, while Regan’s frantic typing sounded like a typewriter on the verge of a breakdown.

“Do you feel it?” I shouted, trying to cover the clatter of Regan’s typing. “We are all interconnected through our god-like essence! We are more than mere wasteland dwellers seeking darkness and despair. We are exalted beings, molded in the very essence of human divinity!”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I paused for dramatic effect, hoping Earth Mother and her followers were captivated by my impromptu sermon.

“Look around!” I continued, my voice rising with feigned ecstasy. “We are not just survivors; we are the pinnacle of creation, the embodiment of existential magnificence! The universe itself bows to our will, for we are the chosen, the exalted, the improbably magnificent!”

Regan’s typing grew increasingly frantic, a chaotic symphony of digital desperation threatening to drown out my grandiose proclamations. I needed to escalate my performance.

“Can you not sense the cosmic weight of our presence?” I bellowed, spreading my arms wide as if to embrace the entire temple. “We are the vanguards of a new era, the harbingers of a transcendent tomorrow! Through our divine essence, we shall ascend to realms beyond mortal dreams!”

By now, I was lost in my own rhetoric, floating on a cloud of absurdly grand proclamations, hoping my performance bought enough time for Regan to complete her task.

“Envision, if you will, a future where we manipulate the very fabric of reality, where our thoughts sculpt the cosmos itself! We are the dreamers and the doers, the architects of miracles, the creators of wonders!”

Earth Mother’s eyes widened, either in awe of my impassioned rhetoric or perhaps due to the overwhelming incense permeating the air.

“Feel the energy surging through you, the divine spark that ignites our shared destiny! We are not merely participants in this grand tapestry of existence; we are the weavers, the loom upon which the universe is spun!”

Regan’s typing had become a blur, and I could only hope she was nearing the completion of her covert task. I needed to keep up the charade, to distract and dazzle just a little longer.

“Rejoice, for we are more than mere mortals! We are the chosen architects of our fate, the radiant beings destined to transcend the mundane and embrace the divine! Together, we shall rise, not as individuals, but as a unified force of celestial magnitude!”

With a grand, sweeping gesture, I took a deep breath, silently praying that Regan had finished her work. The air was thick with anticipation, incense, and the faint smell of exertion.

“And so, my enlightened companions, let us stride forward into the dawn of our collective ascension, hand in hand, heart to heart, mind to mind!”

I bowed deeply, hoping my theatrical display had bought enough time and wondering if I had perhaps gone a bit overboard.

“Done!” Regan called out, her voice strained. “I’ve completed the assignment, Earth Mother.”

The computer sarcophagus ejected another sheet of paper. Earth Mother grabbed it and scanned the printout with intense focus.

“Good. We need strong women to lead the masses toward ascension,” she declared, then marked Regan’s brow with the same white smudge she had given me.

Regan returned to my side, her face ashen and her hands trembling. Whatever she had seen on the computer terminal had clearly shaken her. She cast a wary glance at Darius and the other guard, noting their holstered weapons. When her gaze met mine, my newly activated Empath perk flared up, and I could sense her intent—waves of imminent violence. I shook my head subtly, trying to dissuade her from acting on her aggression.

We were far from prepared for a three-on-two fight. Darius was heavily armored, and the pistol at his hip was likely just the tip of the iceberg. He probably had more deadly weaponry in his arsenal and would not hesitate to use it if we posed a threat.

Fortunately, Regan seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and managed to compose herself.

Earth Mother pressed a button on the sarcophagus, causing the platform to descend to the docking station below. Another button slid panels back into place, transforming the computer into an innocuous black metal box. We stood in awkward silence as the whirring motors faded away.

“So...” I ventured cautiously, “what exactly is this ascension?”

To a player character, my question would have seemed absurd in light of my earlier theatrical performance. But for Non-Player Characters, who had likely tuned out my grandiose monologue as mere background noise, it was just another inquiry.

“It is the moment we have all been waiting for, child,” Earth Mother began, her voice adopting the reverent tone of someone explaining the marvels of a new appliance. “A grand release of our potential energies. It’s how we will shed our mundane human forms and reveal the little gods within us.”

I could almost hear invisible exclamation marks punctuating her sentences, a flawless imitation of enthusiasm and mysticism designed to ensnare the uninitiated—like a motivational speaker at a galactic self-help seminar.

“Ah, of course,” I said, nodding as if this made complete sense and wasn’t just a recycled trope from an old sci-fi novel. “The little gods within us.”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with the fervor of someone who had just unearthed the last golden ticket. “Through ascension, we will transcend our earthly limitations and merge with the divine essence of the cosmos!”

The room fell into a heavy silence, the gravity of her words lingering in the air like an oppressive fog. It was the kind of silence that made the absurdity of the situation glaringly apparent: standing in a decrepit temple with a self-styled prophetess who believed we were all gods in disguise.

“So, just to clarify,” I said, striving to keep my voice steady, “we’re talking about a literal transformation? Shedding our human forms and becoming... gods?”

“Precisely,” Earth Mother replied, her smile widening to a disquieting degree. “Ascension will unlock our true potential, allowing us to wield unimaginable powers and reshape the universe in our image.”

I nodded, trying to appear enlightened while my mind raced to comprehend the madness we had stepped into. Regan, still pale and visibly shaken, stood beside me, her eyes darting nervously around the room. The tension radiating off her was palpable, a stark reminder that we were treading a razor-thin line between curiosity and danger.

"That doesn’t really clarify anything. Can you be more specific?" I asked, hoping for a clearer answer amidst the mysticism.

Earth Mother’s response was unexpected. She laughed—a harsh, chilling cackle that reverberated off the temple walls like a cryptic decree.

"No, child, I don’t think I will," she said with unsettling finality. "You’ll have to wait until tomorrow evening. As the sun sets, this world will be illuminated by a new light, and we will take our place among the stars."

Her words hung in the air, a tantalizing promise cloaked in enigmatic language. It was as though she had recited a prophecy from an ancient text, each word heavy with significance yet maddeningly vague. I glanced at Regan, whose expression mirrored my own confusion and unease.

"Tomorrow evening," I repeated, struggling to grasp the implications. "And then what?"

"Then," Earth Mother intoned, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "the true journey begins. The path to ascension will open before us, and we will step into the realm of gods."

I nodded slowly, torn between exhilaration and deep concern. The grandeur of her vision was at odds with our reality—a small group of bewildered outsiders ensnared in a cult’s fervor. Yet, there was a glint in her eyes that suggested she genuinely believed in her preaching, an unwavering conviction that was both awe-inspiring and unsettling.

"Thank you," I said, though my gratitude felt hollow in the face of the uncertainty ahead. "We’ll... look forward to tomorrow evening."

Earth Mother’s smile was a mix of warmth and something darker. “As will we all,” she said cryptically before turning away to attend to some unseen task, leaving Regan and me to exchange uneasy glances in the dim light of the temple.

The platform clunked to a halt, and we were escorted out of the Temple, leaving Earth Mother behind in her mystical haze. As we retraced our steps down the gantry ramps, the Unstable condition made every movement feel surreal. Flickering shadows twisted and danced, making me feel nauseous. Regan clung desperately to the railing twice, while Darius chuckled knowingly and assured us the incense effects would soon be second nature.

By the time we exited the sanctuary, evening had fully settled over the wasteland. The landscape was shrouded in a peculiar twilight, with only sporadic floodlights casting a weak glow over the scrapyard compound. From a nearby tent, the distant clang of a dinner bell summoned the Human League members to their evening meal.

As soon as we were alone, Regan blurted out, “They have a nuclear bomb.”

“What? How did you find that out?” I asked, stunned by her revelation.

“They have a nuke,” Regan said, her voice steady as if explaining to a child. “It’s inside that massive computer casing in the woman’s bizarre temple. That’s what’s supposed to trigger the ascension. Today, I used a ring I made that boosts my hacking by thirteen percent. I hacked their system and found out her plan. She intends to destroy everything around here—including Rustborder.”

The details of how Earth Mother had acquired a thermonuclear device were less urgent than stopping the impending disaster.

“Did you disarm the bomb while hacking?” I asked, a glimmer of hope flickering.

Regan shook her head, looking frustrated. “I tried, but it’s an expert-level hack. Failing three times would trigger a failsafe, and I didn’t want to find out what that was. We need to get back inside so I can manually disconnect the device. It won’t fully disarm it, but it’s a start.”

I glanced back at the sanctuary, noting the workers heading for dinner. An idea struck me.

“Okay, I believe you,” I said, “but we can’t act now. This Unstable condition will only slow us down.”

Regan’s eyes flared with uncontainable fury, a red aura seeming to pulse around her in waves of anger. “So what? Are you saying we should just run? Hide and hope it all blows over? What about my mum and dad? Are we just leaving them to die?”

Her sudden shift in mood took me by surprise. It was clear her Unstable condition was amplifying her emotional turmoil, likely affecting the strength-based perk she’d gained in the temple.

“Did you not hear me?” I retorted sharply, my own frustration rising. “I agree, we need to disarm the bomb. Even if we tried to run now, finding your parents and ensuring our safety would be nearly impossible. Leaving all these people to die doesn’t sit right with me either. We’re not going anywhere.”

Regan’s gaze softened as she calmed down. Realizing she had misinterpreted my intentions, she accepted that she was in no state to attempt any ad hoc bomb disposal.

“What we need”, I continued, “ is to wait for our status condition to clear, then prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. We'll make our move in the morning. Trust me, Regan, I have a plan."