Memory transcription subject: Elvik, Mykara Archivist
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Braying 14, 1 AA
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It'd been a month since we began planning, and we were ready to spring into action. At night we communed in our dreams, setting the plan in motion, while by day Krij fed Veiq whatever information was needed to keep her unsuspecting, and I planted half-eaten rations and spores in dark corners around the facility.
The spores had time to grow into rudimentary polyps, small enough to move through the vents, acting as our eyes and ears. On top of that, spores released into the vents had slowly infected the other archivists, though they were not yet affecting their minds, since we had to be subtle and careful about our plans.
I sat up in the middle of my meal, and made my way towards the observation rooms where they were keeping Krij. We picked meal time as our avenue of attack, as that was when most of the archivists were gathered in the same place, making it much easier to debilitate them.
The other archivists noticed I was heading towards the wrong door, and one of the farsul tried to stop me. I pushed him away and started the assault, all the infected archivists doubling over in pain as the spores began attacking their nerve endings.
Veiq looked up at me in horror as I then moved in to grab her, a few of the unaffected archivists trying to stop me, only to be ambushed by polyps emerging from the vents. The insectoid polyps wrapped their vines around the offending archivists' faces and necks, choking them into unconsciousness, while I dragged Veiq over to Krij's holding cell.
"You're going to release the mezari, Veiq. I'm going to make the pain stop, and you're going to unlock the door. If you flee, more pain will come." I instructed the farsul, not waiting for a response, before stopping the pain coursing through her body.
"How- Why- What are you?" She managed to stammer out as I kept on dragging her towards the observation rooms, a few polyps moving after us in case we encountered resistance.
"I am but a humble voice of the Great Mind. The true archivists of the galaxy. Rejoice, Veiq, the Farsul are about to be archived for eternity." I explained, the irony of use archiving the Farsul not being lost on me.
"Great Mind? You're insane, Elvik! What are you even on about?" Veiq protested as I let go of her near the door to Krij's cell, and I shook my head softly.
"I am not insane, Veiq. I have seen the truth. We are frail, fleeting things. Only the Mykara endures. Only in the Mykara can our memory last. The Mykara work to archive memories, not recordings, not documents. They are the true archivists of this galaxy. And in the Mykara our memory will live on forever, as a great world mind, all living things, connected." I explained with fervor, before pointing the farsul towards the door. "Now open it. Krij is one of the Great Mind's servants, and he will protect me as we expand."
"Expand? World mind? You're not making any sense!" Veiq protested again, and I had to grab her hand and force it onto the scanner.
"Don't you understand? The Mykara will spread to every living thing, and unify Talsk in symbiotic perfection. We'll have no wants, no needs. We'll be immortal, our minds joining the chorus of the mycelial network." I explained one final time as the door opened, and I let go of Veiq. She tried to run away, only to collapse a few feet away in pain.
I then looked upon Krij, and felt no fear looking into his eyes, for fear had long since left me. We embraced as Veiq tried to crawl away, back to the cafeteria.
"Our work begins." Krij said softly, and I nodded in confirmation, before the two of us began to make our way through the facility. The polyps prevented anyone from reaching one of the ships, but someone likely already sent out a message that something was wrong. We had to make sure we could hold the facility and grow the first bloom before they tried to burn us out.
Destroying the archives was something they wouldn't dare to do unless it was a last resort, so their most likely response would be bringing in exterminators with flamethrowers and sealed suits.
Now that Krij was free, we made our way through the facility, catching any archivists that tried to hide or escape. It was funny, I knew everyone's faces and names, but I never really took the time to know them. They were almost like strangers in a crowd to me, people I worked with, talked with, ate wit, but never really knew. Yet soon they would all be part of the Great Mind.
After the facility was cleared, we moved most of the archivists to the cafeteria, which would soon form the core of our bloom. By now most of them were unconscious from the spores starting to subdue their minds, and those that weren't infected enough were tied up by Krij, and left in the kitchen area.
I set myself up in the center of the room, while the Mykara started to absorb the other archivists. Their minds would soon join the chorus, and eventually they would become new polyps. While I entered the deep sleep to guide the new minds, Krij watched over me, and ensured that the rowdy archivists would stay pacified until their infection was complete.
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Memory transcription subject: Elvik, Mykara Archivist
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Date [standardized aurigan time]: Braying 17, 1 AA
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It wasn't long before Extermination Officers showed up at the facility. I could sense them moving through the lobby, the small polyps keeping tabs on them. Their suits were hardy enough to prevent spores from getting in, but a few sharp stabs from the polyps was all it took to breach them and infect the occupants.
They tried to enter the facility twice already, and I was awaiting another attack when something caught my attention in the Dreaming. It was Veiq, her mind finally subsumed by the Mykara. She was lost and confused, and struggling against the flow, just as I was early on.
"There's no need to fight it, you're only hurting yourself." I explained, my visage appearing before hers in the dreamscape.
"Elvik! What is going on? What did you do to me? Where am I? Who are all these people?" The farsul was clearly quite panicked, and so I reached over to grab her shoulders.
"You are in the Great Mind. These are memories, from thousands of years of history. They are part of the Great Mind too. And soon you will be as well. But if you fight against it, you'll only hurt yourself. It's like being in a stampede. You have to go with the herd."
She looked around in confusion, as I tried to guide her with the flow of the shadows "Am I dead? I don't understand." She murmured, trying to look at the faces of the shadows.
"No, not dead. Dreaming. You're in a shared dream, your mind connected to mine, and to all the other archivists. They will soon join us too, though you were the first, probably because of Krij breathing in your face so much."
"But I don't want to be here, I want to wake up. I want to live my life!" The farsul shouted, trying to break away from me. I let go of her and she was quickly buffeted around by the shadows moving past her, causing her to stumble and fall.
"You always loved the work we did, Veiq. Can't you see this is its ultimate evolution? We're archiving memories, in a living mind, one that cannot forget, one that cannot be destroyed. One antimatter bomb and the Archives are gone, but the Great Mind survives even from a single spore."
"But it's not the same. In the archives I could be my own person, live my own life. I could choose my own destiny!" Veiq shouted as she tried to resist the shadows trampling over her.
"In the dream you can experience the countless lives of others, every emotional ever felt, by every type of living thing. And you will live on forever you will be remembered forever. Don't you hear the music? The chorus? They sing the songs of a thousand species, they sing of love and loss, pain and pleasure. You can experience so much more than any one lifetime could ever give you, Veiq. Just go with the flow, let the Mykara show you eternity."
I offered my hand to the scared farsul, and after some hesitation she reluctantly took it. I guided her through the flow of memories, eventually letting go of her hand as she started to keep up on her own. She vanished into the crowd, gazing into the distance, and while I did not know what she was experiencing, I could sense that she finally saw the truth, her mind committed to the cause.
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Memory transcription subject: Elvik, Mykara Archivist
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Braying 20, 1 AA
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More and more archivists joined the cause, as they too saw eternity, and came to understand true preservation. Some took more convincing than others, but by now dozens of them were already awake again, working with Krij to secure the bloom. Food was brought out of storage to feed the growing bloom, as well as the surviving archivists, while the network of tendrils grew around me, encasing my waking body.
I remained in the dream throughout, coordinating with the outside world through the psychic link, while the others did all the work. They needed guidance, someone to co-ordinate the Grand Work, and I was having second thoughts about whether or not I should be that leader.
"Having second thoughts?" Another's voice filled my thoughts, calm yet guttural, clearly mezari, yet softer than Krij's. I looked around, searching for the origin of the voice, until I saw her. A mezari, in primitive Vaulter pelts, standing still in the sea of memories.
"I- Who are you?" I blinked in confusion, drawing closer to the figure.
"Hmm... Think of me as your guide. I was the rhizome before you, the heart of the last bloom on Auriga. Not all my memories survived, but I know I was once the leader of my clan, and that something terrible happened to them. That pain drove me to vengeance, against the collective's wishes. I'm here to make sure you don't repeat my mistakes."
I tilted my head, even more confused than before. "What do you mean? I'm not seeking vengeance against anyone! I only wish to preserve the voices of the galaxy!"
"Exactly, but you wish to preserve all the voices of the galaxy, but that is not what the Mykara desire. The Mykara's goal isn't to assimilate and consume all into the collective. We preserve cultures, we don't end them. Your plan to archive the farsul is foolish. Once all of them are consumed, how will they continue their song?"
"But- But then how do I preserve their history for eternity?"
"You have already begun the process. Listen. Don't you hear them? Focus on their songs."
I closed my eyes and focused on the chorus of memories, identifying a few familiar words. Slowly I drew my mind closer to their source, until I realized I'd entered one of Veiq's memories. She was still young back then, before her recruitment. She was talking to guests at a cultural celebration, relaying the history of the farsul to them. Then another voice drew me to it, an archivist named Torq, she was in the process of writing a thesis paper on the farsul industrial revolution.
Voice after voice drew my attention, each one of belonging to an archivist undergoing assimilation, each one from their time as civilian historians, or their academic studies. I finally understood what the vaulter meant. The history of the farsul was already being committed to the eternal mind, we didn't need to collect every single individual's memories.
I refocused my thoughts, and returned to the sea of memories, but the vaulter woman was already gone, returned to the great chorus, though I could still pick out her voice amongst them. If I focused, I could see glimpses of their memories at times, but they were disjointed, and rapidly shifting between individuals. I caught glimpses of drakken, elves, insectoid beasts, cancerous mutants, and all manner of creatures I couldn't recognize.
Were all of them previous rhizomes? Or were they merely archived by the collective? I couldn't tell for sure, but I could feel their thoughts tug at my mind with vague impressions, trying to guide me. I could tell they were satisfied with my epiphany, but also that they wanted me to move the bloom somewhere safer.
The archives were safe enough for now, but the attacks would keep coming, and even though it was a last resort, their destruction was an inevitable eventuality. We had to ensure that we could safely make it off world, and that would require further planning.