Day One –
Ghost released a long-held breath and the world around him disappeared. He was left floating in a skeletal wireframe of the dreamscape. He looked around and saw the rooms designed for acclimatisation recently occupied by the warders. The long-abandoned battle scenarios created to train young recruits and the frequently used augmented transformation areas.
A cluster of shards appeared in front of Ghost.
Time. Power. Dimension. Mental. Technology. They twinkled merrily as they rotated in a circle in front of him.
Ghost had shards of his own. He had a class two channel shard. A peak class one mental shard. A projection shard. And the mysterious shadow shard that had made him one of the best infiltration experts in the continuum. Alongside the usual metal, neuro, and strength shards that every continuum soldier had.
Ghost bit his lip. This was going to hurt.
No being, except for warders and their arbiters were created to house more than eight shards. But none of them had a chance to break their racial bonds and become something more.
“Chance?” Ghost asked no one.
“Look at me. Lying to myself.” Ghost chuckled and muttered “I don’t have a chance. I need to do this if I am to finish what I started.”
Ghost looked up. He did not know why people did that when they spoke to creatures of light. Nevertheless, he did it. It just felt right.
“Adjudicator. Ripple. Witness please. I am living up to my bargain.”
A barrage of notifications appeared in front of Ghost.
You have found new shards.
Do you wish to slot five shards.
Error.
Your soul doesn’t have the space to house new shards.
Error.
Your quest ‘A Weapon and a Shield’ can not be completed without incorporating new shards.
The Ripple - 1793b75290317 has adjudicated and intervened.
Prepare for anathemic transformation and augmentation.
Ghost screamed as acid poured down his very being. His eyes rolled up into the back of his eyes and he fell. Alight quickly bathed him and arrested his fall.
“Wake up Ghost. This is only the first step. And you have a job to do mortal.” A dignified female voice rose Ghost out of his stupor.
“Uhhh…” Ghost shook his head and looked around.
Time had passed. Or had it? He couldn’t really tell. He…
Ghost smacked his forehead or tried to. He didn’t have arms.
He concentrated. He had two mental shards, a technology shard, a dimension shard, and a power shard to impose his will on the dreamscape now.
Ghost’s body projected out of his soul and into the wireframe. This time when he looked around, he did not see clusters making up regions, scenarios, and places. He saw light. Light he could bend to his will.
“Not so fast. That is my power you are tapping into. If you want to do that…” The ripple voice echoed all around him.
“I know. I know.” Ghost croaked out “I don’t think I am ready to do that yet.”
“You accepted the Light’s quest.”
“Yes but…” Ghost gulped “But the others they need to see me sitting their in front of the pods right now.”
The ripple considered for a long moment and then agreed “Very well. We shall work in tandem. However, you will not reveal my existence to the warders.”
“Why?” Ghost asked.
“You will not.” The voice became sterner.
Ghost raised his hands placatingly and looked around.
He exhaled “Well, adjudicator. This is a mess. We first need to get rid of the augmentation areas and then the acclimatisation areas. We don’t need them anymore. The training scenarios, we need them, but can we make them more appropriate for the trails?”
Day 2
Ghost appeared in a meadow. A platform formed under his feat. Spreading out to encompass the surrounding. Out of the platform a large pillar grew to support a roof with glass panes. In front of him, high priced levitating chair appeared on one side and a recliner big enough to fit two on the other side.
Just in case, Ghost added a plushie of an octopus on the recliner and a digital notebook to the levitating chair. Without taking a breath he continued adding finishing touches to the newly formed gazebo only stopping when coffee appeared in a carafe on the table in front of the chair.
He did know how, but maybe by some instinctive magic the two warders fazed into existence looking at the table with treats and the pot.
Ash was the first one to turn around. He looked at Ghost flinched and then looked around his surroundings. The unspoken flinch told Ghost more about the warder than anything he had dug up on him until now.
“Where are we?” Sheetal asked.
“This is replication of a place dear to me. It was a meadow in my farmlands, back on Reir. I met my wife here. She was sitting just over there. Reading a stone tablet.” Ghost smiled and pointed at the clear water stream “On the bank. Naked as the day she was born. Trying to sunbathe her pale skin brown.”
“That’s nice but why are you here?” Sheetal asked in a cold voice.
“I thought we could talk?”
“And why would we want to talk to you?” Sheetal snarled.
Ghost looked from her to Ash who had cream on his lips and a cup of coffee in his hands.
“I have coffee and treats?” Ghost asked.
“Not good enough.” Sheetal glared at Ash and stated, “We are leaving.”
The warders disappeared. With his new limitation and the adjudicator judging his every move, he did not try to stop them. But that was okay. He was prepared for this. He had all the time in the world. All he had to do was just speed up reality a day.
Day 3 –
The sky went through its day and night cycle and nothing else changed. Ghost remained in his spot with his eyes closed. When he opened them a fresh pot of coffee steamed out its aroma into the air.
The two warders appeared in the empty space in front of him. Ash once again looked at him and flinched while Sheetal just raised an eyebrow.
“Warders…” Ghost began.
He was immediately cut off with a harsh “No!”
Ghost lips twitched upwards, and he sped up reality again.
Day 3 –
Ghost needed to change his approach. He dismissed the structure and smoothed the grass under it. Instead of a carafe on a table, he spread out a picnic blanket with thermos of coffee. Next, he placed lawn chairs looking at the stream and took a seat on one. He poured himself a hot brew and just like that the warders were there once again.
Sheetal shot an annoyed look at the surroundings and then glared at Ghost
Ash looked everywhere but at Ghost.
“Again?” Sheetal asked.
“Could we please have a conversation, Sheetal.” Ghost asked.
“No. You kidnapped us. Tortured us and locked us up to perform some kind of surgery on us.”
“And… That is done. I needed a shield and a weapon to save the continuum or what is left of it. That is done. Let me help you, now.” Ghost explained.
“How are you doing this?” Ash suddenly asked.
“Doing what?” Sheetal hissed.
“Moving time.” Ash pointed everywhere “The day passing. He is doing that.”
Ghost grinned “Ah… Someone has decided to show one of his cards.”
“Stop that.” Sheetal pointed at Ghost and then tuned to look at Ash “Should we just kill him?”
“She, you are not a killer. The last time you decided to execute a person you stabbed him ten times without hitting anything vital.” Ash looked at Sheetal pointedly.
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“I killed that evil Taran guy.”
“That was in the heat of the battle, and you were angry. It was an emotional kill. That doesn’t count.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
“It means, that you killed the guy, felt great, then felt guilt, then sorry, and then more guilt. Until I stepped in and stopped that crazy circular logic.”
“He was an aug. Not one of the good ones and not one of mine.” Ghost tried to interject.
“Shut up.” Both the warders said together.
Ghost leaned back in his chair. At least they were talking in front of him.
Sheetal looked back at Ash sharply and in a threatening tone asked, “You did something with my mind?”
“Yeah, shot potentiality into that sun thing next to the ball of dust inside you. Your self-pity was driving me crazy.” Ash explained.
“That’s my mental shard. You can do that? Can I do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“And it worked?” Sheetal asked in a squeaky voice.
“Yeah! Peace and quiet.”
“Really? Really!? What about all the awful music you have subjected me to?” Sheetal folded her hands.
“Can we go back to the god king here? You know the guy controlling the day and night cycle?” Ash asked in a scream.
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I keep getting distracted.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s because our brains are mush right now.” Ash grumbled.
“What!?”
Ash looked at Sheetal for a second and then corrected his previous statement “It’s the dream thing. We are dreaming so why should anything make sense?”
“Wait, we are still dreaming?”
“Yup.”
“But it feels real. I know we came here yesterday and the day before. It felt real then too.”
“That’s because this place is like lucid dreaming, maybe?”
Sheetal and Ash looked at each other.
Ghost registered it more than saw it. A burst of information ping ponged back and forth between the two warders.
“We need to discuss this in private.” Ash nodded.
“I grab the coffee?” Sheetal asked.
“I’ll get the pastries. I am faster.”
They both nodded and ten seconds later Ghost was sitting in the meadow all alone looking at the blank space in front of him.
He shook his head and muttered “It’s like herding cats.”
Day 5 –
“Nope.” Sheetal shot out and disappeared with Ash.
Day 6 –
“Flip off ghost!” Sheetal appeared and disappeared.
Ash followed her.
Day 7 -
Sheetal started in a growl “Kiss….”
She pointed at Ghost “My…”
“Anthem!”
Ghost blinked.
Sheetal blinked back.
“Hehe…” Ash began chuckling softly
“I meant…”
Sheetal gave up and turned an annoyed expression at Ash who was had fallen to his knees in giggles.
She turned back and growled “You know what I meant.”
Sheetal grabbed Ash by the collar and disappeared.
Day 8 –
“Kiss. Her. Anthem.” Ash pointed at Sheetal and disappeared.
Sheetal gritted her teeth and growled “Come back you…”
Ghost heard the ripple laughing somewhere in the wireframe and begged “Don’t encourage them please.”
Day 9 –
“No!” Sheetal said.
Day 12 –
“Nah!” Ash spoke before Sheetal.
Day 15 –
“You need to stop hiding.” Sheetal looked at Ash sternly.
“I not hiding. Look at me. I am wearing a tube top and a skirt.” Ash raised his hands above his head and twirled like ballerina.
“Now you are hiding behind your sexuality.”
“Well since I am all sexuality, maybe it is hard to look past?”
Sheetal folded her arms.
“Oh, for gods sake. It’s not like you aren’t hiding behind a façade.”
“Me?” Sheetal asked in surprise.
“Yeah. You are like look I am so nice. I am so reasonable but what you are is corpo girl boss.”
“What does that mean?”
“You are ruthless.”
“Ruthless?” Sheetal asked with narrowed eyes and the world around everyone increased.
“See?” Ash looked at Ghost and pointed at Sheetal.
Sheetal blinked “When… How… Why are we here again?”
Ghost raised a finger “May I…”
And they were gone again.
Day 20
“Why do you look better now?” Ash grumbled.
“Decided to talk?” Ghost asked.
“No, not really.” Ash turned to Sheetal “What about you?”
The fact that Ash had to ask Sheetal the question intrigued Ghost. The warders, no matter how much they bickered amongst themselves were inseparable. After all, they knew each other’s thoughts. And the fact that Ash had to ask Sheetal the question said a lot.
Was he finally beginning to get through. If so, he needed to…
Flash!
Needless appeared out of nowhere and the warders were distracted.
“Needless!” Ash spun towards her and cheered.
“Ash, will you stop with the short skirts?” Sheetal groaned.
“Why? They are pretty and I have flawless skin.”
“Yes. But do you see anyone here who is interested in your perfect skin?” Sheetal asked pointedly.
Ash looked from a bored looking Ghost, an offended Sheetal, to an angry Needles who was ready to rip into Ghost.
Ash opened his mouth and looked around “I... Ah… I hate you all.”
Sheetal rushed to hug Needles “How long have we been in here? We have that mission. It will kill us. We need to…”
Needles stopped Sheetal from rambling “Relax, it’s just been a few hours.”
“I knew it!” Ash fist pumped and grinned at Ghost “Well played. old man. Too bad it didn’t work.”
Ghost chuckled “It will. I have years in here.”
Sheetal glared at Ghost “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need to train you.” Ghost sighed.
“We don’t want anything to do with you!” Sheetal screamed back.
Ghost leaned back “Okay then. Let’s continue this charade.”
Sheetal smiled ferociously “Yeah? I think you will need to leave this place sometime soon and then…”
“And then what?”
“You will see.” Sheetal growled and turned to Needles “What is he doing out there?"
Needles glared at Ghost “Nothing. In fact, the high councillor is catatonic on his chair.”
“He is a cat a, what?” Ash asked.
Needles looked at Ghost “High councillor. I must ask, when are you planning to leave the dreamscape?”
Ghost smiled “When I am done teaching everything I know to the warders.”
“And if you are here, who is going to monitor the med pods councillor?”
“You, specialist medic. The khara told me that they increased your knowledge base regarding the young warders here. You are perfectly suited to take care of them now that the khara are gone and you are Thrive.”
Needles looked at Ghost for a long moment and asked “And what about Thrive? Who is going to lead it in your absence.”
Ghost pointed at Ash “Ask him. He is a member of Thrive now. Will he follow my lead.”
Needles blinked “You can’t be serious. He is not even continuum.”
“Neither is the aug queen, anymore.”
“Yes, but that is different.” Needles stressed “She and everyone around her was continuum.”
“Specialist medic. Needless. If you want the job. Take it.”
Needless opened her mouth and just looked at the High Councillor.
“Yeah… See you tomorrow bro.” Ash waved and took Sheetal’s hand.
They disappeared.
Needles looked at the empty spot where the warders had been and then back at Ghost.
“You don’t look happy?” Ghost asked.
“Should I be?” Needles challenged.
“Your patients are recovering and are in high spirit. You should be.”
“You booted me out. And increased the processing cycles so that I couldn’t come back in. I am their primary health giver.” Needles tried to keep her tone level, but heat bled into her words.
Ghost nodded “My apologise doctor. I needed to do somethings in here which required processing power. I am done. You are free to come and go as you please.”
“To what end?”
“To train the warders. I will need your squad too. Superb Seven. Let’s see how super you are, shall we.” Ghost smiled.
Needles jaw tightened “We have nothing to prove to you, you amoralistic scum bag.”
Ghost raised his eyebrows in surprise and watched Needles disappear.
“Well-well. Who knew she had that in her? I am impressed.”
Day 32 –
“You never answered. How are you controlling the day night cycle?” Ash asked.
“I can do because of my mental discipline and my mental shards.” Ghost replied.
Ash pointed at Ghost “You see. That there. That is why we keep running away. You make no sense.”
Sheetal nodded “Yeah, you keep saying stuff flippantly. It’s like you want to hide things even though you say you want to teach us.”
“No, She, he does want to teach us.” Ash added “But only what he thinks is necessary.”
“Just the things he wants us to know?” Sheetal scowled.
“Yeah.”
“Very well.” Ghost nodded “Tell me what you want to know and let me see if I can help you?”
“How do I make plasma?”
“Why are glyphs real?”
“How do I use telekinesis?
Ash looked down at his legs “Why did they invent leather trousers? They suck.”
Sheetal rolled her eyes “Why do you want leather trousers?”
“They make my bum look bigger.”
“Why…”
Ghost leaned back as the two warders started discussing wardrobe. Maybe, he was going about this wrong. He could indulge their curiosity and build a repo with the warders, but that would require him to take the next step. Was he ready for that?
Ghost stood in silence for a long time. Long enough for the warders to give him curious looks and disappear into that world of fire that Sheetal had made. He could snuff it out but what was the point. They needed a place to retreat into and this way he knew where they were.
Although if he took the next step, he would always know where they were when they were in here.
By the time Ghost looked up, it was night.
“Ripple, I am ready.”
“Fine. Let’s start putting things together. I just hope they believe you.” The ripple murmured in Ghost’s ears.
Day 33 –
Ghost got up from his chair and looked at the sky.
The two warders looked at him and then at each other.
“What no pitches today?” Ash asked.
“Did you say…” Sheetal began to ask.
“No, She. I didn’t say that word. I said pitches with a P. I know you want to curse out everything around you, but it is not going to happen.”
“Fudge!” Sheetal sighed and added “I miss fudge.”
“I miss porn.” Ash sighed.
Sheetal stopped and in whisper agreed “Yeah, me too.”
“I need to get out of here and find someone to use me like a drum.” Ash whined.
Ghost cleared his throat loudly “Ash, I know you will be able to see what happens next. Would you relay the information to Sheetal?”
Ash narrowed is his eyes “What? What do you mean?”
“Use your sense shard and sensopathic abilities. You will see.”
“Huh?”
“He means be the camera jerk head.” Sheetal explained.
Ash opened his mouth to respond but Ghost spoke over him.
“I invoke the Ripple of Light. Judge my words and judge them true.”
A bright white light bathed Ghost for a fraction of a second.
Ash’s head snapped back in surprise. All levity escaped out of him, and he scrambled back while dragging Sheetal by her arm.
“What the?” Ash gulped and looked around “It’s everywhere.”
“What’s wrong Ash?”
Sheetal knew she couldn’t see the world the way Ash did. The way he had explained his sight to Sheetal was that he saw people but when he concentrated on something he saw their shards twinkling inside them. Slowly he had developed the ability to see the circulatory system delivering blood and potentiality to the organs.
Ash didn’t see that right now. In fact, when Ghost had initially appeared, his body was cracked and fractured. It had wisps of potentiality bleeding out of it. Suddenly, ghost lit up from inside, the cracks widened as if he was going to explode and then a pulse of light went out of him and then another, and again.
Sheetal recoiled. She knew she had gotten worked up and shouted and threatened to escape when Ghost wasn’t there, but she hadn’t expected anything like this. Earlier reality had been a paper thin in this jail. Now with every pulse it was getting deeper. The air started to taste of fresh flowers and mist. The ground gained a depth. Every bud in the false meadow began to sway in the wind.
And the corners in the back of her mind. The ones they could escape to. The places she ran her tests, all winked out one by one.
Ash took in a shaky breath “What is he doing?”
Ash could see that whatever Ghost was doing was just beginning.
A dot of light had appeared in the man’s chest with the last pulse. Now, it split into eight parts in a blink of an eye. Coating the man’s eight shards in a web of light.
“I invoke the Yaksha Agni. The formless one. The first flame. The one who light the fire of knowledge, truth and understanding in all sentience. I plead for you to grant me the power to pass on the knowledge I possess. I beg for you to open the lights blessed minds to understanding. And I pray to you to make them to be better people than me.”
For Sheetal, A fire erupted out of the floor in flash, and it was gone.
Ash on the other hand jumped when he felt a foreign presence look at them in annoyance. It didn’t say anything, but he felt as if it huffed at them and chide them wordlessly saying, so that’s where you are. I have been looking for you all over.
Sheetal yelped when heatless fire travelled through Ash and Sheetal’s veins, through their heart and settled in their minds. Along with it came curiosity. And questions like, how Ghost was doing this and what was he planning next, came unbidden to her.
“I invoke the Brahmahan. The creation of light. The child of force. Help me pass on the understanding I have of your nature in peace. And help me shepherd the warders on the path of light.”
Ash whirled as he looked around wildly. This time the effect of the invocation hadn’t been limited to Ghost and them. The world around them slightly changed. It gained life. Things like buzzing of insects, chirping of birds, and the rush of the wind assaulted Ash’s unready senses.
For Sheetal nothing changed. But she knew better than to doubt the sense a rising concern from Ash.
“He locked us in.” Sheetal stated.
“No.” Ash said in a small voice while looking everywhere.
Ghost undid his collar and took off his formal jacket.
Sheetal watched their captor’s unusual behaviour wearily “Ash, explain! What did he just…do?” Sheetal asked.
“He squished himself with something and then...” Ash struggled “It’s difficult to explain. But he locked himself in here with us, forever. I think.”
Ghost looked at Ash and smiled “Not quite. Sheetal. You are free to leave anywhere inside the dreamscape. Hmmm… That word doesn’t do justice to this place anymore. Anyhow,
after your bodies are ready outside, I promise you that I won’t stop you. You are not captives but guests.
“What?” Sheetal looked at the man blankly “What is wrong with him?”
Ash shook his head “It’s not him. It’s not all of him. Most of him?”
Ghost snorted and shook his head “Hmm… You know what? Explain what I have just done to your sister and when you come back. I will start by answering all those questions you have.”
Day 35 –
Sheetal and Ash looked around the colonial mansion Ghost had created for them. They went from room to room and picked one. To Ghost’s surprise they had decided to share one room and even slept on the same bed.
Now as he watched the warders as they emerged from the bedroom, he wondered how to make them feel less insecure. He watched Sheetal float ahead of Ash and look at the breakfast laid on the dining table.
“Coffee?” Ghost offered.
“Gods that smells divine.” Sheetal muttered.
“It’s not him. It’s the world. It not fake anymore.” Ash grumbled even as he salivated.
Sheetal picked up a mug and took a sip. It was amazing. Vanilla coffee with vanilla ice cream with a hunt of salty butterscotch over a dollop of whipped cream.
“Wow!” Sheetal said after gulping the first sip down.
“There is plenty for both of you.”
“What are you?” Ash asked in a hostile voice.
“I am Ghost. Or the best parts of him.”
Ash chewed on Ghost’s words.
“Did you explain to you sister what I did?” Ghost asked Ash.
Ash looked at Sheetal and pointed at the High Councillor “He did something to provoke fire itself, and now it has caged him and his shards until he teaches us everything we want to know. Then he created this world to be our playground.”
“Mmm… Close enough I guess.” Ghost nodded and continued “Are you ready to learn now?”
“First, we need you to answer some of our questions. The ones you haven’t answered up till now.”
“Like?” Ghost smiled and asked.
“Where are we? And by the gods if you say the Trials one more time…”
Ghost held up his hand and nodded “I get it. I get it.” He tapped his chin “Let me explain what the trials are first. The trials. It is an endless world created by aratas that follow in the wake of creation. The simple answer is that you are at the edge of universe. The complete answer is that the aratas are dimensional creature that look like quartz. Who risk falling into the fires of creation like you risk falling to the ground. They need to stabilise themselves and to do that they pick a planet. Those are called nexus planets. There was a time when your world, Earth, was the edge of the universe and a few aratas must have anchored themselves there. And when you civilisation learned how to ionize light their anchors began to activate. And you used that connection to travel here.”
Sheetal took a seat and leaned back “When you say dimensional creature…?”
“I mean creatures that work in upwards of five dimensions.”
“The shards.” Sheetal whispered and asked, “Are they the anchors?”
“Oh no. They are pieces of souls floating around in the universe. They represent what has been and what will be.”
Ash grimaced “What… I? I don’t… I don’t like you.” Ash finally said “And I don’t like this new jacketless version of you. So just tell me, what do you want?”
“To be yours, Ash. Make me yours. Let me serve you.” Ghost said
Ash opened his mouth and wordlessly pointed at Ghost “Uh… I need coffee.”
Ghost chuckled “So, will you let me train you now?”
“No!” Ash said at the same time Sheetal answered “Yes.”
Ash turned to look at Sheetal “Oh you got to be messing with me.”
“He is finally being open.” Sheetal defended her decision.
“That wasn’t being open. That was gibberish.” Ash couldn’t hide his frustration.
“Ash!”
“She!”
“Ash!”
“She!!!”
“Dumbo!”
“Nerd.”