The Skawa bracelet answers, “I was here for the giggles. Bye!”
I don’t feel him gone, but he left my mind for the bracelet a while ago.
It was about half past 15, and dusk was falling upon us. Rhetta cast a Torch, but I had a concern. “Mom, could you lower the intensity a little? I would like to work on my Dark Sight, and I don’t know if I can do that in a fully lit area.”
“That will be no problem, son.” She dismissed the first Torch and started up a second one, maybe two thirds as bright as the first. “We may still need to read or write, so I kept a lot of the light. I hope that is dark enough.”
I activated Dark Sight and it did make a noticeable difference. “This should be good. At this level, Dark Sight is able to improve what I can see. Thank you. And if we need the area brighter, that will be okay. I have all night to train it.”
Dad started the next topic calmly, “Forrest, we are not worried about you.”
‘But…’ They are worried about me. Why?
“We notice things about you and your interface which seem unusual. You need not tell us anything more than you have, but we want you to know you can trust us. Whatever the full story is, you have our love and support. If that story is silence, we accept your judgment.”
I asked nervously, “What kinds of things do you mean?”
Grandma answered, “Well, your one day in seven nature to start.”
Arrjee interrupted, “He calls his days here ‘Tuesdays’. An Earth week was seven days, and ‘Tuesday’ was the name of one of them.”
Grandma continued, “Your Tuesday nature is unheard of. I have asked a lot of other awakeneds, one not more than a month old. No one understands. We know it is true, but it makes no sense. What makes you different?”
“I was told it was a new thing,” I repeated lamely from my first discussion with Grandma and Arrjee.
“You were playing a tactical game with your interface,” Onre pointed out. “Rhonda, Mom, cannot do that.”
Arrjee added, “You know temperament to be a derived stat mainly from charisma. How is that not common knowledge?”
My mom points out, “Your interface immediately gave you a quest to shore up a small lie I made. On your next Tuesday it was giving advice on class choices to someone besides you.”
Onre snuck in, “It was great advice. Thank you both, again.”
Boss, it would appear the jig is up.
“No shit, Sherlock. What do we do?”
Lying your way out is no longer viable. Your dad offered you the option of silence.
“Is that what you suggest?”
No, because I do not believe that is what you want.
“You are right. The more time I spend with them, the louder the silence will get. How much should I say?”
First, do not tell them about System or intra-galactic politics and history.
“I don’t understand why, but okay.”
When you get a chance, ask Skawa.
I notice everyone staring at me, waiting for some sort of response. “Please give me a moment or two to consider things. I was not expecting this conversation.” Uncle Ralf told me to take my time.
“Skawa, are you here?”
“Yes,” came the answer. “But I have not been spying. It is clear you were communicating with your interface, but I don’t know specifically what was said. I probably have some pretty good guesses, though.”
I told him, “You have my permission to monitor and contribute.”
Mine as well. Skawa, you may call me Interface. Dumbass here does.
“Well, ‘IIM E467-23.2B,JacquesLeidestrar’ doesn’t exactly slip off the tongue, does it?”
Laughter. “You guys are hilarious together. Good match.”
“We make it work,” I said. “We had just decided I am going to reveal a lot about my nature to my family. You obviously know Interface is sapient. Do you know what an immortal is?”
Skawa responded, “Yes. They were announced on Galaxy-Net 20 NIS years ago. I had suspected you were one from the start. As I spent time monitoring you, it became increasingly obvious. What is your one day in seven archetype called? The archetypes were not described, just that each immortal would have one.”
“Well, in English it is ‘tuesday’s wildcard’. I assume culturally meaningful equivalents were offered to others given this choice. Can we get to why I invited you into this conversation? Interface let me know not to discuss System and intra-galactic history. I asked why, and he said to ask you when I got a chance. I thought there was a good possibility that might be now.”
“Thank you, Interface. Forrest, when we found out that immortals would be coming to Heere, we requested that they not reveal the bigger scope of the galaxy. Our world came very close to destruction two millennia ago, and the wounds are far from being healed. We feel it is better that those wounds heal and be forgotten than light a hatred which would have no release. The hatred would not just be at our would-be destroyers Dark Silence, either. Many would begin to wonder if we gods were part of it. The truth is bad enough. We could not protect our people. War, especially, was shattered and remained so for over a thousand years.”
“Our conclusions were that informing the peoples of Heere would offer no benefits, and it would lead to destruction. The Cleansing completed two thousand years ago, and there is no revenge to be had, even if interstellar travel were an option.”
I asked, “The Cleansing?”
That is what we call OS’ annihilation of the seven evil alliances. Dark Silence was not even the worst.
Trillions killed, check.
“I understand. You have my silence,” I pledged.
See? He is a good kid.
I see my family still being surprisingly patient and sigh. Rina seems to be losing a battle with sleep.
There are two levels you can reveal to your family. They already realize I am sapient. That is the first level. Just admit it. The second level would be to also let them know you are immortal. I doubt they suspect that yet.
“Yet. That is the key word. I have a very smart and talented family. I love them and trust them. And I definitely don’t ever want to have another family meeting like this, with me being the center of earnest concern. I choose the second level.”
Let’s start this out as a family secret. If it gets out, eventually, it gets out.
Looking at the tired Rina, with her eyes closed, I think, “Well, she is ‘Skawa’s Friend’. “
“Rina,” I whispered. Then louder. Her eyes opened, and she looked at me sleepily. Everyone else is watching me with focus.
“I have two secrets to tell you and everyone. Will you keep them for me?”
“Okay, Forrest.” Then, puzzled, “What secrets?”
“First is a little secret. You know I have an interface like Grandma’s, right? It is very smart. Mine is even smarter than hers. Smarter than me. Smarter than Grandma!”
“Nuh-uh!” Rina defended.
“I believe it is, granddaughter. But I don’t mind. Forrest, can I talk to it?”
“Yes,” I responded. “He is always listening. I call him ‘Interface’, with a capital ‘I’.”
“Hello, Interface. I do not know why you are sapient, but thank you for sharing your knowledge with the family.”
You are welcome. Hello, everyone.
“Grandma, he said you are welcome, then he said hello to everyone.” Everyone responded with their own ‘hello’.
“You being smart is Forrest’s secret?” Rina asked. “Okay. I won’t tell. Are you smart like Sir Skawa?”
I gave a quick laugh.
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“I’m not answering that one. I don’t even know.”
Skawa chose to provide an answer, “Tell her he is just as smart as other friend’s of Skawa’s.”
“He is a friend of Skawa’s too, and all of Skawa’s friends are smart.” She accepted that answer happily.
Carrie decided to ask a direct question. “I know you helped Onre choose his classes. Sometime will you help me choose my secondary? I am going to be a tailor.”
We will talk about it later. Forrest has more to say right now.
“He says that he will later. He probably needs to know what you have thought about, what you really like, what your goals are, stuff like that. The same things Grandma would ask.” She was happy with that.
So I am ‘Grandma’ now?
“You wish,” both Skawa and I answered at the same time. That was funny, and I laughed.
“Sorry, Interface said something funny. Anyway, I have a bigger secret. Rina, I don’t think it would actually hurt anything if people find out. But it would make people think I am very strange and maybe a little scary, and they would always be asking me hard questions. So to keep your cousin’s life simple, especially please don’t tell this one.”
I paused for a minute to decide how to word it.
“Well, what is it, Forrest?” Arrjee asked. You already have the ability to play games with another person already in your head. What could be stranger than that?”
“Well,” my answer began, “probably just one thing. The ability to play games with another person in my head forever. I am immortal.”
Dad verified, “Not living seven times longer than us ‘immortal’? You mean immortally immortal?”
“Yes. This Tuesday thing will always be with me, too. I will age very slowly to 27, and then stop aging altogether. I could live on Heere for thousands of years.”
“‘Thousands of years’ is a very long time, but not actually immortal,” Mom deduced.
“Very true,” I answered. “Me, Forrest, is only part of my immortality. I fully expect to die some day. If and when that happens, Jacques, my first self, will get to choose another life just as unborn awakeneds do. No, that’s not exactly right. Awakeneds cannot awaken in consecutive lives. There has to be at least one normal mortal life in between. But every time I resurrect, I will remember Jacques and other lives I have lived.”
Onre had been thinking in a way I found disturbing. “So Forrest is not immortal. Jacques is immortal, acting out the life of a Covargh.”
“No! That is not correct. Forrest, me, is just as real and as much of a person as any of you. I happen to have Jacques’ memories, just as Grandma and Arrjee have memories of their previous lives. Whoever comes after me some day will have the memories of both Forrest and Jacques.”
No need to complicate the issue with talk of a limited number of remembered lives.
But Dad thinks ahead. “In dozens of lives, how much of Forrest do you think you will actually remember?”
“Dad, analytically, that is an extremely good question. But now, please, in this life, I want to be Forrest Just Forrest..”
“You handled that well,” Sklawa opined. “Using absolute honesty and sincerity to conceal the truth. You would make a good god.”
“You already told me I would be a poor god.”
“‘Forrest the Fix Everything’ would be a poor god. ‘Forrest the Limited’ could be quite passable.”
“Do other gods know I am immortal?”
Skawa responded, “I have not discussed it with any of them. But we’re an intelligent group. I would expect that any of us who spend any time with you would have at least a strong suspicion. Don’t worry about being different. We are happy for different.”
“Alright, son. Forrest I did not know what we might find out, so I came prepared to take notes. It turns out, I do not have anything to write down.“ Grandma said she had brought anxiety potion in case I or anyone became heavily stressed or panicked. She didn’t think she would need it, but she thought it best to be prepared.
Stand please,” Dad said. I did, as did he. Then he gave me one of the best hugs I ever had. All of them. Full hug session. They agreed that my secrets were mine to keep or reveal outside the family. That’s all I could ask for.
“Well, I already ate. I’m sure we will speak later.” Skawa then left, using his ‘vanished silence’ technique, allowing me to feel his actual absence.
----------------------------------------
By 16:25 the dinner crowd, if there had been one, had mostly completed their meals at Karzin’s Inn and moved on. Most of the tables were free, and even all three booths. The server saw there were nine of us and she assisted us in moving three tables together. It was in an area where we could talk without disturbing other patrons, nor they us. There was only one couple left eating, but there were still several patrons at the bar. Like most restaurants on Earth, the room lighting was fairly dim, which was not a problem at all for my Dark Sight to amplify.
It occurred to me that this would be only the second meal I have had on Heere. Last Sixthday we had snacks at the end of our school meeting, but it wasn’t a meal. Our dinner on my first day was a great stew with some bread. The only utensil we each had was a spoon. Now before each of us was a spoon, a 3-prong fork, and a sharp knife. I quietly analyzed those items before me, and also the glass in front of me. It had been over an hour since I had analyzed the items in my inventory and I scanned them. My plan was to rank Analyze to D before the evening was over.
Dark Sight might graduate to E any time now. Level 4 any moment. “Anticipa-aytion!”
I asked if we would be getting menus. That got some smiles and light laughter from most everyone, but Arrjee came to my defense. “He doesn’t know. Forrest, meals at a small inn like this are the chef's choice. He has made the same food for all his patrons this evening. It will be brought out to us in platters or large bowls just as if this were a formal meal at home. You do get your choice of drink, though. Water, wine, or beer, or more than one of those if you are thirsty.”
Basque style. Jacques always liked those places.
“Thank you, Arrjee. If whatever I am smelling from the kitchen tastes that good, I expect to be more than satisfied.”
From behind me, a voice speaks, “I assure you it does, Forrest Rhodes. I saw you a few days ago, but we did not get the opportunity to speak.” He moves to my side, where I can see him. “I am Lomer Karzin, owner, cook, and bartender. You may call me Lormer. What would you like to drink?”
About time I drink something other than water.
“I’ll have whatever beer you serve to patrons you don’t hate, And call me Forrest,” was my reply with a good natured smile.
“Your family must have been telling you stories. I only had that one barrel of Dog Frog Grog! Although I do admit to serving it to the, uh, most deserving.”
There were good natured smiles around the table, and he took all of our drink orders. As he was walking away, the notice popped up for Dark Sight reaching E.
“Interface, you do know I want to be informed when I reach Level 4, right?”
Your surface thoughts have made that abundantly clear. And I have that Anticipation song stuck in my own mind, thanks to you. I enjoy it though. Do you know Carly Simon won an Oscar, a Grammy, and released 22 albums of her own songs?
“I had no idea she was that prolific. I’m glad you like some of the same things from Earth that Jacques does.”
Rina had wanted to have a beer, but Ralf said she was too young, and that she wouldn’t like it anyway. She could taste his to see, though. It was barely a minute later that a waitress came out with a tray with about half our drinks. In the meantime, I am touching everything I can reach to analyze it. It wasn’t long before my stats display popped up to show that my ki was half exhausted.
There was a lull in the conversation, so I could say, “I must be doing something right. I have used up half my ki now in analyzing stuff and using Dark Sight, which ranked to E. Its range went from over two and a half yards to I think about five.”
“I’m really looking forward to getting that,” said Onre. “Still three weeks, though.” I told him he would love it, and that his rank would be ahead of mine before we knew it.
Mom suggested that I make a walk around the table analyzing everyone and everything, while we were waiting for dinner. As she said that, the second and final round of our drinks were brought out. I introduced myself to the waitress, and held out my hand to shake. I hope this isn’t rude, but she must have heard what Mom said. We shook.
Zedla Karzin – female hybrid, level 29, age 38
Innkeeper
“You may call me Zedla. I am Lomer’s wife. I remember still being excited about ranking everything. Good luck to you, Forrest.”
“Thank you, Zedla,” I replied. She headed back to the kitchen, and I started my walk around the table. Grandma was the fifth one. On dismissing her analyze window, I heard,
♪ “Antici-”
It was followed by a quick record scratch effect, and:
Achievement: Level 4
Granted skills available: HPR Boost, Share Health
Choose now?
“That’s great news. I don’t want to distract too much from our meal, so I’ll wait. I’ll be able to get a description of them before choosing, right?”
Yes.
“Everyone, I just reached Level 4!” The room had gotten a tad brighter, both within my Dark Sight range and beyond. The higher perception had kicked in.
Everyone congratulated me as I finished the round of Analyzes. I still hadn’t ranked it, so the xp which got me to 4 must have been from normal Analyze rank points, 1 xp per 5 rp.
As I sat, Dad told me, “We were not sure you could rank to 4 yet. From one point of view, this is only your third day, but from another it has been 14 days since you reached Level 1. So your level braking must be based on actual days, and not just the ones you experience.”
In surprised confusion, I asked, “What? Level braking? What is that?”
“You never mentioned level braking.”
It did not matter before now. I was going to explain when we spoke about your Level 4 choices. For now, know that you cannot reach Level 5 for 14 days.
Carrie told me she was surprised Interface hadn’t told me. Arrjee and Onre echoed the surprise. “Sometimes he likes to surprise me.”
That is incorrect. I always like to surprise you.
Dad explained, “Level braking can be frustrating at the low levels, but your nature has allowed you to avoid it until now. I’m sure it will affect how quickly you can get to 5, though. It stops people from leveling too quickly, and I believe it to be fair. Would you want hunters and adventurers to be able to level five times faster than those who work hard in towns? The carpenters, alchemists, innkeepers? Adventurers can still level faster, but not any more than twice that as a dedicated craftsman.”
After a quick ponder, “I guess I was sort of spoiled, thinking I would level as soon as I got the xp. So it is going to brake Arrjee and Onre advancement from the start?”
Dad replied, “Yes. They will be able to reach Level 2 the same day they get their Level 1. But it will be 4 days for Level 3 and 14 days for Level 4. It keeps going up, more days for each level. It is spread out so that it forces a minimum of 15 years to make Level 50. Very few people can actually get there that quickly due to xp requirements, but the braking by itself ends at 15 years from Level 1.”
“Interface, how many days for levels 6 through 10?”
From your first day:
Level 5: 28 days
Level 6: 47 days
Level 7: 70 days
Level 8: 98 days
Level 9: 131 days
Level 10: 168 days
“Almost half a year to get to 10. Smooth linear ramp. Okay, not crippling. Maybe the brake will work out and let me keep up with my team.”
Through Level 10 that should pose little problem. This will not limit ranking their skills, so in that respect they will pull ahead. There is more to this, but we should discuss it later. Food is on its way.
Dammit, he has figured out how to shut up a teen. “Joking, and thank you.”
“Okay, Dad, good to know. Interface says the brake will let me get to Level 5 in two more Tuesdays.”
The Kazrins each brought out big serving bowls of what appeared to be soup, and placed one toward each end of our long set of tables. Zedla said she would go get the bread. Lomer announced this was tuber and onion (? not sure) soup. It smelled great. Not full of spice but hearty just the same. He went back to the kitchen and those closest to the two soup bowls ladled us all a serving. Zedla brought out three mostly sliced loaves of bread and distributed them along the table.
Rina was close to a loaf and tore off pieces for her and I. I tasted the soup. It was hot, but not scalding.
Potato and Leek. Great! Sometimes mellow flavors are the richest of all.
“This is wonderful soup. There was something very much like it on Earth, too.”
Mom said that all of Zedla’s soups are delicious. Dad and Grandma agreed. The bread was also very good, but I did not want to fill up on it, so I only had one slice.
We finished off the soup and were brought what might be pork roasts. It was served with cabbage and something very much like apple sauce with some clove in it. More deliciousness. The cabbage included an herb that reminded me of caraway seed, but with a less intense flavor. Jacques had not been a fan of caraway, but he is dead. This was perfect!
I’m sure glad we’re omnivores. “Interface, if I am ever about to choose to become part of a carnivore species, remind me of this meal.”
Request registered.
We completed eating; as far as I could tell, everyone had been very satisfied with everything. I know for sure I was. I guess there was one exception; Ralf had been correct. Rina did not like beer. Mom paid for everyone. We thanked the Kazins and left.