CHAPTER 45: PHILOSOPHER’S STONE
“You have a Soul Alchemy Ritual to do,” Eve said as she handed Julie a sheet of paper. With all her strength, she lifted her arm and held it. Her eyes refocused on the instructions being outlined.
Notice of Phantasm Initiation #70432
Employee Name: Julie-Anne Kafka
Employee Codification: B34
Status: Intern
Department of Mythological Affairs - Cyberhawks Division.
The employee outlined above is instructed to head to Site B5 for Soul Weapon forging. Article 3, clause 4 of the Human Preservation Project’s Protocols & Guidelines Handbook states that any employee or agent with B status clearing or above that is found in possession or partially fused with an Abstract Rune must report said incident to the Department of Internal Affairs or Site Director personnel. The employee outlined above has complied with this protocol. In accordance with this established procedure, the employee outlined above must first be connected to the AGI network and undergo Phantasm Initiation under the supervision of Soul Chemist Dr. Zerkin.
Please report to Site B2 for a pre-initiation assignment.
Julie’s eyes widened. “Who is this Dr. Zerkin? I’ve never heard of him before.”
“A nutjob,” Eve sighed. “He’s the head of the Soul Alchemy sub division, Soul Vortex.
“I guess he got really curious by the rune you acquired. That Web of Dominion or whatever it was called. I read over the case file the researchers have done on it from the data they gathered earlier today. It seems to represent the concepts of dominion over spiritual beings? I am honestly not too sure, and neither were they. I guess they left it to the head of the department to figure out. The pre-initiation phase usually entails researching the rune as well as dealing with setting up the ritual itself. Dr. Zerkin will help you with that.”
Julie silently stared at the ceiling—she didn’t know whether she should say this or not.
“Eve…”
“Yes?” They locked eyes.
“Does the organization see me as disposable?”
“......” Eve didn’t know what to say.
“Are you guys just trying to use me? To fish for IRE A-1549? You kept me inside that quarantine chamber for a week straight, and yet you still assigned work for me. I thought I would join the Hand of Relics division, but instead, I was sent to the Cyberhawks.
“IRE A-1549’s interactions only happen through digital devices. Isn’t this too much of a coincidence, considering the organization knows of my connection to IRE A-1549?”
Eve’s frown deepened as Julie sharpened her gaze. What she was currently asking was something that she had been thinking about for the past couple of days. It was only after her recent interaction with IRE A-1549 that caused her suspicions to rise. And after what she went through in Site A3, all sorts of doubts began to cloud her mind.
“Answer me, Eve!” She shouted. “What the hell do you guys want from me?! Why are you barring me from seeing my own mother?!
“Why do you want me to go through all of this! You don’t even allow me to quit!”
Eve stood up from her seat—a shadow was cast over her face as she walked toward the door leading out of the infirmary. “I am glad you voiced this to me and no one else.
“I can’t answer your questions—the things I know about your case file is what you yourself already know—the rest is classified. Only Dr. Miguel and the other department heads know.
“But I do know one thing. Never ever say what you just said to me out loud,” her eyes sharpened as she stared back into Julie’s eyes. She could tell the poor girl was trying to hold back her tears.
“If you had voiced this to someone else, they might not be as lenient as me. I’ve seen Director 004 execute researchers like they were flies. So yes, you are disposable, and so am I and everyone else in our department.
“Keep your head down, and pass through this as you were instructed. You have no choice.
“None of us have a choice.”
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Several hours had passed since her conversation with Eve. She had been dismissed from the infirmary—her internal injuries had healed to “sufficient” levels, according to the doctors. Even though she was still partially exhausted, she was instructed to follow the procedures outlined in the sheet of paper she was given by Eve.
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The pre-initiation assignment, as it was called.
She walked down the hallway of site B. This area was even more heavily monitored than the upper offices she was familiar with. Countless PTF agents roamed around, leading researchers and other personnel to different areas. She was no different—a man roughly 8 feet tall holding some sort of rifle guided her toward Dr. Zerkin’s office. It didn’t take much longer for her to find it—a nameplate was attached to the door that had his name on it.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked three times. “Come in,” she heard someone say unenthusiastically. Julie creaked open the door slowly in response.
The first thing she noticed was the odor—a repugnant scent entered his nose—one that felt like a mix between vinegar and piss. She gagged in response. A single lightbulb was turned on in the entire room, leaving it very dim. Her eyes immediately refocused on the man sitting behind the desk.
He was an old man with an arched back. His gray white hair was receding horribly and uncombed. His face had an oddly shaped chin that was very pointy and his eyes were halfway closed, as if he was going to doze off any minute. Without even glancing in her direction, the old man continued to type away at his keyboard, his hands almost blurring from the speed he was going.
“Ahem,” she coughed. “Intern B34, Julie-Anne Kafka has arrived for the designated pre-initiation assignment.” She spoke as she glanced back at the Special Services agent who had escorted her to the office—he was closing the door to leave.
“Julie…” He muttered under his breath as he continued to work on his computer. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Julie! Ah yes, the intern that acquired that interesting rune!”
He stood up from the desk while staring at her. She glanced back at him uncomfortably. “Y-yes, sir.”
He walked around the desk toward her, “Truly marvelous! A rune with some kind of subjugation property is truly rare! You are one lucky intern, I’ll tell you that!”
He leaned in closer to her and grabbed her by the shoulders tightly, “How did you acquire it?! Is it true you hold a special relationship to IRE A-1549?! The higher ups won’t tell me anything!”
Julie shoved his hands away, “That’s classified. Please do not ask anything of me that could jeopardize the procedures outlined by Director 004.”
The old man clicked his tongue, “I bet that woman Eve taught you to say that…
“No matter. I will uncover the secrets of that rune regardless.” Julie didn’t like the sound of that.
He walked over to his desk and picked up a stack of paper, “Stop standing around, come and read these over!”
Julie sighed and did as she was told.
“Before we begin the ritual,” he said. “A few things are needed. Items that hold spiritual symbolism in the Beyond will be needed to facilitate the merging of your soul with the abstract rune. But before even that, we need to make sure your Soul Chain is created.”
He walked toward the door of his office and stepped out, “take the sheets of paper with you and follow me.”
Julie followed him out the door, “Soul Chain? The Beyond? What does any of this mean?”
He glanced back at her, perplexed. “You mean they didn’t tell you anything?”
“No…” She sighed. “I am just an intern…”
The old man pummeled his palm into his forehead, “These bastards and their stupid red tape… They always love making my work more difficult…
“No matter, I will explain it as we head to Site B5. Screw procedure.”
He began to explain to her what the Beyond was, and how it was tied to runic existences and a person’s soul. She was undoubtedly shocked. “You mean to tell me an entire other dimension of reality exists? And it overlaps ours?!”
“Che, if only it was that simple.” He skillfully walked around the agents crowding the hallway with Julie only a few steps behind. “The Beyond is truly incomprehensible. It exists infinitely across the universe and holds truths from both the past and the future simultaneously. It exists outside the bounds of our three dimensions of space and one dimension of time and is governed by a universal law.”
“Universal law?” Julie tried to keep up with him as he maneuvered the busy facility. “What is it?”
He shrugged, “Who knows. That’s the question every magi on Earth has been searching for since forever. Not even the few manuscripts we have from before the Age of Regression say anything about it. However, we do know it exists—we can observe its influence on astral anima regardless of where you are on Earth.
“Ah, and don’t ask me what astral anima is. I am too lazy to explain that.”
Julie clicked her tongue.
Moments later, they arrived before a metallic door with a strange lock pad to the side of it. Dr. Zerkin slid his access card and waited for it to grant him permission to enter. It only took a second for the indicator to flash green, and the latch clicked open, swinging the door with it.
Julie followed him inside. She was instantly shocked by what she found within the closed off chamber.The room was filled with bookshelves full of ancient looking tomes that were enclosed with cobblestone walls right out of a 16th century castle. At the center was a stone altar surrounded by candles that produced dim lighting. A purple gem was embedded at the center of the stone altar with symbols etched on its surface all around it. It felt alien to her—how could an ancient room like this be a part of the sleek and modern facility she was familiar with?
“Stop gazing and come here,” Zerkin said. “This room is a replica of something we found in the deepest dungeons of Neuschwanstein Castle in South Germany. It belonged to a cabal of witches. Even so, its value is immense.”
He pointed at the purple gem embedded at the center of the altar. “This is called a Philosopher’s Stone, a true rarity in the world of magecraft.”
“Philosopher’s Stone?!” She glanced at the purple gem again.
“Yes, but not in the way you think of it. It won’t turn things to gold, like in the legends.”
Julie turned away in disgust. “So it doesn’t create free money? Useless.”
Dr. Zerkin frowned—he karate chopped her on the head, “Stupid girl! This thing is worth more than any mineral on Earth! Without it, you can kiss creating your Soul Weapon goodbye!”
She rubbed the top of her head, lips pressed into a slight frown, “How does it have anything to do with my Soul Weapon?” she asked.
He pointed at the carvings etched into the altar. “This right here is a magecraft spellform called Soul Morph. The first step to merging with an abstract rune entails the creation of a Soul Chain.
“This is somewhat complicated, but what you need to know is that we will be morphing the shape of your very soul, and a Philosopher’s Stone is needed for this.”
“My soul… Will be morphed?...” She did not like the sound of that.
His smile widened into a crazy grin. “Why of course! That’s the very essence of Soul Alchemy afterall!”