In the gentle graces of the upper Prophisea, a sunken chassis of dark clay armor stirs. A wordless, neo-romantic knight is reincarnated amid a gargantuan shipwreck.
Fallen hope of Ice V’s greatest gambit, his circuits were permadeath-pummeled into silicon stardust. Joints clamor in agony as they coordinate a fight with friction.
Inside the cracked helm, aquatic plants of humble intelligence synergize a transformational evolution.
NOVEL MECHANISM EMERGED
PAULDRON_GARDEN
An individuating consciousness bound by a delicate ecosystem of plants and microorganisms.
Despite all likelihood, actuators persist. Interfaces probed: the suit of armor tumbles in bedlam.
It bashes against the debris. It thumps the clay floor. It rises, it falls. It abides by the chaos of currents.
Again, and again.
The mind is a singleton, it yearns only to follow the light.
Blessed light: the source of his life. Yet, it is not of uniform caliber.
Unblossom cores bloom and cower through seasons, they stash wavelengths in algae friends for a shared future.
Aptitude Level Up!
COMPUTING[ 0 -> 1 ]
A reward of symbol light from the helm? Pauldron cannot fathom its origin. He knows only the starlight and sea, and nothing of himself.
With burgeoning compute, Pauldron begins to crawl past the lightcone of safety surrounding his birthplace. His memories predict default deltas that accompany progression of seasons. One cycle there dawns an understanding that his greedy outputs have casually interplayed with time and space. The capability to consciously control the input of light itself by piloting the suit of armor: it is the most fantastic dream of any plant! He timidly peeks into murky shadows: it is fun to risk his life and survive so easily!
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Aptitude Level Up!
AGENCY[ 0 -> 1 ]
Pauldron craves the dazzling symbol light, it is an unobstructed nourishment for photosynthesis, an indication of growth not easily forgotten.
Potting his fledgling limbs, the firm substrate of clay grounds his world model. It is consistent, ubiquitous, and patient where all else cannot be depended on. He begins to intuitively grasp the physical constraints of the clay and seawater on his body.
And then one cycle, he stands: holding steady to scrap.
He walks.
He falls.
Again, learning.
Aptitude Level Up!
COMPUTING[ 1 -> 2 ]
Pauldron is an unstoppable level two biped, casting a stormy shadow over the awed plants in his cradle.
Pauldron runs.
He trips.
He dies.
3 dmg → lost DISTINCT(1)
Heartstring depleted.
Cause of death: Tripped on uneven terrain
Computing lvl 2 - 1 = 1
The symbol light! No! NO! This imposter is sorrow, it is accompanied by a profound sense of self loss and terror. Pauldron is broken — broken! — by the dissonance. He will not run again.
The symbol light can inflict pain as well as pleasure.
He respawns at a virgin territory within the shipwreck.
Why why why? Why now, of all catastrophes, has his earnest effort caused the known world to abandon him?
He stumbles in darkness, drops to the unfamiliar surface helplessly, tantrums for even a speckle of the light he needs to survive.
He understands little, he doubts much, but the wisest plants among him resign that control of the armor will shortly cease in such circumstances.
AFFLICTED→ OVERSIGHT I
DARK 1/8
The creeping void will take you whole! Bask in starlight to banish your DARK barrel.
It is true, though Pauldron cannot read it.
The new floor is nothing like clay, it is not imprinting anything.
There are no currents felt here, in fact, there is no sea. Water glubs out of his helm, dripping out like a depression’s sobs.
Pauldron scavenges for redemption in the ship’s intact high command deck, but he cannot yet navigate competently in air.
A pressure sensor: accidentally triggered while colliding with walls.
“Keep moving.”
He crawls into the opened airlock.
It closes.
Whoosh.
Light!