Requiem

We end up making a few purchases at the bazaar before heading further around to find an acceptable set of lodgings. Darling found some silken streamers light enough to be carried by the smaller workers. Now that she has something to direct attention to her person, the translation can fulfill its purpose; dance and scent being an alien language for most people requires them to at least take notice of her before the effects begin.

As for us? She bought us a wooden sign to wear like a tassel from Acolyte’s neck. The little shop was able to make a wonderfully calligraphed burn etching onto the smooth wood surface. Now, we are apparently the {Hissing Honey’s Host}, which brought out an honest chuckle once she revealed what she wanted engraved. The delight we saw reflected in the crafter at our reaction is well worth the wearing of such a silly sign.

All told, this journey into a big city was a good choice. Our first step out of the woods before we met with Yojimbo was a true struggle. Our expectations of what could be struggled against with large quantities of magic and hope, thankfully leading to the subversion of that first meeting in the wilds with Toyo.

And yet, this easy merriment, these precious moments of joy and discovery- we see more beyond these things too. The back alleys where some children in rags run with stolen food instead of dirty smiles from games of pretend. The sweeping attention of guards not in finery, but still capable of meting out extreme punishment for good or for ill.

For all its lack of empathy, DM is right. We are too weak for this place. For the very illusion of security that allows us these small pleasures, that insulates these people from the fear they perhaps should have of our presence. That picture of tranquility can be shattered in a moment. Not by us, not for a place such as this at least.

Rather it is those for whom money and power have replaced decency and cooperation, they are the ones who hold the keys to peace. Without strength enough to {know} we can secure our freedom; unfortunate compromises must be made.

It is that mantra flowing through us that we seek to convey to the immaculately dressed man that has been following us for the last several minutes. Our unnamed self meets their eyes and holds it. Acknowledging the stalking predator while making our own challenge in the open. We know it sees us too, we see the shift and tilt as it looks at us anew. No longer merely an exotic beast, nor a tamed novelty to claim for themselves; they see the monster we will become should they threaten us.

They gesture as if tipping a hat to us in acknowledgement, but that gilded shine of their eyes, that too-slick smile with barely bared teeth. We know this is not over, not for them. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and there will be a dominant over them that recognizes what cost we could represent and will keep them in check.

But we doubt that. We are an unknown. We are also not unassailably strong, not yet, and certainly not at first glance. Not just our immaturity but also possibly our species’ obfuscation offering woe to balance the weal we’ve enjoyed from the common man.

Its eyes never leave our own even if it keeps its place now, no longer following us. Yet we are not something that can be easily lost or much less forgotten in a crowd. Our passing will be well known and easily traced once they are no longer being observed, this we know. Our only saving grace this time is their caution, their patience. Neither of which will refute that naked greed and gluttony we saw as its truth. And all of which serve only to make this a more dangerous adversary.

[Deep Mind mesh polyp grafted with Regeneration, Recursive Redundancy sub-node Acquired!]

{Conversion process deemed insufficient for task. Beginning new cardiocerebrum germination to better adapt to needs. Perfection is a goal to chase, but never catch, target always changing.}

Within us, we can already feel the flood of energies being routed from the temple area’s shrine into our main heart. What should have been months or years of rest between buddings is vastly reduced. Yet, despite the rush of life flowing into this new creation, its growth is remarkably slow. The extreme edges of sophistication and simplicity and efficiency of resources enact a terrible cost in design and prototyping.

DM’s advancement even without the physical manifestation lets us feel how well the upgraded skill enriches our memory and information processing. With Acolyte serving as the tools, our body the canvas and their grand vision directing one upon the other, our flesh ripples from within. Changing. Strengthening. But most of all, stabilizing.

Patterns and plans emerge from within us. Knowledge and expectations for how to move better on four limbs, on three, on six, on ten. Additional organs grown and adapted to intermediate tasks, with easy potential to shift and compensate for catastrophic damage or simple dietary supplementation.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

{Time to complete evolution, unknown. Soul membrane still fragile. Non-ideal conditions may result in strain if polishing for additional power.}

“{Hurry up and wait,}” we say to ourselves and in response to Darling’s fidgeting.

She’s been fretting ever since we arrived at our destination. Now that we’re in a rather long line waiting our turn for the attendant to direct us further, “^I know, I know. But Sergei said this was his best recommendation for us to establish lodging. Neither of us can really use a proper room but we can’t just bed down in any old stables! Not if we’re going to project any sort of self-respect in front of the Merchant’s Guild.^”

We can tell she’s getting caught up in feedback loops and anxiety, “{Do you think it will be that important for our future? The meeting here with this city?}”

“^Yes! I mean no. I mean- Yes, if this meeting goes well and we get approval we’ll have empirical evidence to support us going forward. If nothing else, it will be a useful tool we can add to our arsenal for dealing with people in the future.^”

“{And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll have gained experience and knowledge. We know that the two of us joke about our respective ages, but we’ve been around a while, we’ve seen and heard from so many kinds of people. If it doesn’t work out here, we’ll just move on to the next, heads held high. Just breathe my darling, Darling.}”

We finally see her take a moment to settle herself. Shaking off her nerves, she settles atop our sign for a moment and rests, “^You know. We don’t actually need to breathe anymore. We can, but the nature of the arcane infused in us doesn’t require it anymore.”^

We look at her askance, question plain in our posture, “{^But?^}”

She alights back into the air, buzzing around with one of her colorful streamers trailing behind, “^There are many levels of needs. The need to sustain oneself, to reproduce or preserve the species.

“^The need to explore. To right wrongs. To search for meaning.^”

We nod along, “{Yes. Alongside the needs for solitude. For companionship. For peace and for war. For purpose. The two of us are still young. We’ll find more that we’ll want and less than we’d like. Of that you can rest assured. Even the [System] recognizes our devotion to the future.}”

“^Were that said by anyone else, I’d be concerned. But I know you, Requiem. And thank you, for helping with the jitters. This has been the first time I’ve been actually nervous about talking to someone. I don’t know what came over me.^”

“{Think nothing of it, my queen. This will simply be the first conversation that ever really had stakes you understand and care about. Our meetings with Yojimbo and Sergei didn’t really have much impact because our goal was to learn about them as people. Now, we’re looking towards a business, with motives and plots unknown to us. Yet these machinations guard the keys to doors we’re looking to open.

“{It’s fine to be nervous, but don’t forget about what you’ve already told us. We have enough [Currency] to try again somewhere else. And we earned what we had on a chance encounter with a good person. There are more of those out there to find if we look.

“{Even if everything goes wrong with these guilds. We can still have those little moments, those more intimate meetings, and private contracts. As much grandeur as the big cities have, it is the mundane of everyday life that stays with you. It just goes unnoticed most of the time.}”

With our pep talk complete and our turn coming up, things go smoothly. Getting accommodations here ends up being an easy thing to work out and its only after we’ve secured our place that Darling even mentions Sergei’s recommendation. Turns out he’s well known here as well, and as we’re being led to our stall the attendant catches up on the latest gossip he shared with Darling as well as their own favorite stories about him.

The enclosure we’re led to is startling in its design. Like a garden of sand with a large smooth stone at one corner and a well cultivated tree in the opposite. An open sky above, but with an awning that can be moved to cover half, or even all of the space in case of storms or the desire for more privacy.

Even with the casual luxuries we’ve seen in the city so far, this seems far out of a price we could have gotten for a sale of some honey. Darling thinks so as well, once she gets over her awe at the display. She tries to navigate how to explain our financial situation while politely and diplomatically refuting the obvious mix-up.

But as she tries the attendant waves her off, “(A friend of Sergei and Services is a friend of (()). He has a retainer with us for some of our deluxe rooms when he passes through. Don’t worry about the price. We’ll accept payment for the standard package you purchased, but we’ll be better served providing our premium service to friends of his than we’d make from some random stack of money. That’s even if this room would be sought out.)”

With that hurdle cleared and finding ourselves quite drained by the press of so many people we decided to walk out onto the sands. Their radiant warmth a comfort, helping soothe some of the tension from both the weight of the city’s domain fitted tightly around us combined with the lingering unease at catching the gaze of that well-dressed predator.

There are advantages to being viewed as a simple creature, “{You seem full of energy, Darling, don’t let us hold you back. We’ll just rest here for a bit. Play our part for now.}”

“^You sure?^”

We nod to her and stretch ourselves across the sunning stone. It’s immaculate and we let out a groan of pleasure as it soaks into us in a way we didn’t know we needed, “{Yessss…}”

Seeing us well and truly enjoying ourselves in respite, she flies off with the attendant as they continue their story swapping.

As we lay here, we take stock of our choices that have led us here to this moment, and whether we should choose differently in the future or if this is the path we want to tread.

Technically, our first choice was to not accept the path of Death as our arcana… Or do we go back further? Based on the feeling we get about our titles, Sainted Monster is really the first real choice we made for this {new} life. That is the course we’re on that feeds into all the others downstream.

So, where does this river lead us.