An attitude problem
Kato continued to follow the cavern walls, searching for the source of the light. Reaching a bend in the tunnel, he froze, then took a step back, circling his chest, the ground ahead of him was split as if the Cogul himself had struck the floor.
It was clearly out of place, a crater, where above was just solid rock. The power to generate such a force, without the time to build up momentum in the open sky … it would have been immense.
Cracks spread throughout the ground in a roughly concentric pattern, a testamentto the shockwaves that would have emanated from the site of impact. Splinters and large shards of rock, some larger than his forearm were disorderly scattered about the tunnel as if the ground had thrown a tantrum and flung its possessions around it.
If it had wanted to make a statement, it had succeeded. Kato strained his ears, searching for anything, but he heard nothing. He wasn’t exactly certain what he was listening for, but it never hurt to be cautious.
After calming himself down, Kato felt slightly less daunted by the prospect of being trapped underground with yet another monster.
He regarded the crater, it glowed brightly, for a moment, Kato wondered if it was still hot from the energy produced by whatever had happened here, but he would’ve felt it. The air would have at least been warm, but it was as cold as it had ever been. He quickly rebuked himself; he would’ve heard it if this was recent, it was likely the entire tunnel system would have shaken, whatever happened here for all he knew could be measured in aeons not mere hours or days.
Kato did not want to go in the crater, it was not high on his list of things he wanted to do, not by a long shot. But just like curiosity had been the end of the cat, Kato was destined to go out the same way, he just couldn’t help himself, and took the first step down.
The crater must have only been 20 feet deep, but to Kato it felt like an eternity. Each step he took dragged on longer than the last. Adrenaline and fear working in tandem to warp his perception of time.
Despite his growing sense of unease, Kato reached the bottom. There was nothing, just more glowing, and better yet it came from under the rock. Kato looked at it, the sheer disdain in his eyes could have bored through concrete … Unfortunately, the ground stayed mockingly still. He sighed.
Kato set to work on uncovering the source, it was tempting to just leave, but he couldn’t, not now, not with what the light could mean. Escape. Sunlight. He pushed himself on, there was no stopping now.
Thankfully the bottom of the crater was not solid and instead built of the same loose shards from above. Funnelling these pieces into his bag, that never seemed to fill, he made quick progress.
To say Kato was disappointed would have been an understatement. ‘No exit’, Kato rubbed his temples gently, fighting the urge to groan. ‘There never had been and most likely never will be’ Kato thought morose. “Another rock, oh but not just a rock, a glowing rock, uh-mazing.” Kato stated, his voice flat.
Kato stared at what he had exposed. It was a sphere, likely composed of some type of stone or another. It had a rich, dark purple complexion and glowed softly, casting out a light, golden hue.
‘That’s strange, but it doesn’t help a lot’ Kato ran his hand back through his hair. He thought briefly of leaving it behind, even though it was an oddity,that was all it was, it didn’t hold the key to his escape, and he was a little angry he’d wasted his time even getting to it.
Perhaps in other circumstances he wouldn’t have reached for it, held back by his irrational dislike for the object, but he did. The instant his fingers brushed the object, the world around him warped. “AHHRHHRRRH” a wrenching cry filled the air sound of pure terror. Was that him? or the world screaming in pain as it was twisted apart. He firmly screwed his eyes shut, just focusing on himself, ‘this is not happening.’
Seconds later Kato’s sense of balance returned, and his eyes flashed open. “Finally lost it have I? guess it had to happen eventually”.
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When Kato opened his eyes, he was not in the crater, he was not even in the tunnel system.
Relief washed over him, the darkness and cold stone that had been his unwanted companion over the last few days were gone. ‘Had it really been days?’
Free, for now. Unless of course the ceiling had been painted the colour of the sky and was now imperceptible to the human eye. “Knowing my luck” he trailed off and examined the surroundings.
The ground beneath his feet was filled with natural cobblestone, smoothed by countless footsteps. This pattern stretched outwards in a wide circle, its edges giving away to a carpet of soft, brown earth.
Kato could practically taste the life in the air. Further back, lush greenery pushed its way skyward and animals unlike anything he’d ever seen mingled in this otherworldly paradise.
A gasp escaped his lips. There were houses, real houses ahead of him! admittedly they looked weathered and abandoned, but still, it was a sign. ‘People’ the world pulsed though his mind, as he trembled with excitement.
“///??????////?//??”
Kato startled out of his reverie, immediately span in a 360-degree arc, searching for one of the same creatures that had spoken to him earlier. Maybe he would get another bag, this day just kept getting better and better.
“Hello” he called out looking for the creature.
Slowly tuning when a sharp pulsating stabbing pain in his head brought him to his knees. It passed moments later, and he scanned his surroundings again, “hope it’s not one of the bad ones” Kato reminisced, on edge, thinking back to the creatures’ betrayal.
“Recalibrating.” It was definitely the same voice as before, but this time it spoke to him in his own language.
“Hello” Kato said hope flaring within him “where are you? I can’t see you.”
“Adjusting to new language, recalibrating based on new users’ attributes.” The disembodied voice stated robotically.
The world warped again, and Kato found himself staring out at... no houses, no lush wildlife, even the paved cobblestone had been taken from him.
“What?” he stammered out, realisation setting in.
“NOOO WHERE’D IT GO? BRING IT BACK!” He yelled.
“Processing request”
Kato stopped, broken out of his dismay, hope blossoming within him, only to be swiftly killed moments later.
“Request denied.”
“Please” Kato softly said, the hurt in his voice apparent, but the voice did not deign to respond.
“Well, what do I now?”, Kato muttered staring at the grey desolate landscape ahead of him.
“Training module 1 for the sick and frail available”
Kato looked around him, it was empty “I guess if there’s nothing better to do,’ he said resigned.
“Do you have anything suitable for me” he asked clearly unimpressed with the option previously stated.
“There are no lower options than training module 1 for the sick and frail, regrettably” the monotone voice stated plainly.
“You think I'm sick and frail?” Kato said perplexed, he was at least, in his own esteemed opinion, faster than the average person. Perhaps he lacked in strength, but he certainly wasn’t sickly or frail.
“Best estimates put current attributes at approximately a fifth of those of somebody who was sick and frail, it is surprising you are not dead.”
Kato waited but the voice did not speak again.
“Can you at least make it less insulting”, he stuttered “just call it training module 1 or something.”
“Processing, updating naming conventions to deal with fragile ego, training module 1 of wow look at him he’s so brave, trying his best, truly an inspiration now available.”
“Passive aggressive much” Kato muttered, “damn voice, I will try my best and then you’ll see my true strength” he said resolved.
“All newborn kittens will fear your name in time” the voice said. Kato, not sure if it was his imagination or not, thought he caught a teasing undertone in the otherwise monotone voice.
“Damn right they will, for I am Kato the bane of kittens” he proclaimed with great braggadocio. He immediately felt foolish, silently hoping the voice would not pick over his boast.
“Newborn kittens.” It stated, Kato’s face began heating up, colour filling his cheeks.
After a small pause its then said, “in time.”
Not a hint of mockery could be heard in its voice, but Kato was cut to the core, “Cogul bless me” he moaned into his palms.
"If it has upset you so, that I wanted the name changed you may change it back" he stated, hoping to make peace with the voice.
“That is acceptable” the voice said “calibrating… training module 1 for the soft, weak frail man with the black hair, slightly above average height, with weird eyes and who has to complain about everything he comes across for no particular reason available now.”
Kato stood back stunned, did it just-
“Do you wish to proceed?” The voice stated, not a hint of animosity could be detected, even when its words strongly implied its presence.
“Um yeah, just give me a second alright, I’d like to ask you some questions.” Kato began.
“Confirming” the voice said, then a moment later “one second has now past, beginning training module 1 for the insecure little weak dumb-dumb standing over there now.”
“I didn’t literally mean one second” Kato started. But it was too late the machine had made up its mind, and the space around Kato began warping again.
‘This is happening way too often’ he thought to himself as his surroundings settled again. He looked over at the new environment, “great…just great” he stated grimly.