Day 127 –
Ash danced back from a pincer. The controlled use of his shards made the shuffle step easy. His hands came up and he quickly channel two zig zagging lines in the air.
Glyph – Stick.
Quality – Bad.
Duration – 2 seconds
Ash grimaced at the quality of his glyph. He couldn’t even blame the system for being partial. He could see that his glyph was a mess. Glyphs were more complicated than they initially appeared. They were not just simple designs and pattens on a piece of paper. They were three-dimensional marking you made to impose your will on a substance. Or that’s what the books said.
That was all great on paper. In battle, glyphs were a pain in the butt. Honestly if Ash, could just see with his eyes, he would have given up on them a long time ago. They were just too complicated use. But Ash had an advantage. When he tapped into his body, he didn’t see through his eyes, he saw every detail of everything in three hundred sixty degrees happening all at once in stark in black and white.
And instead of getting overwhelmed by it all, it felt natural. Now when he used his eyes, he felt like he was blinded to the world around him. And that is why he knew he had to move. There was a boulder coming for his head.
Ash dropped to his knees and watched a boulder smash into the scorpion stuck to his glyph. His sped-up senses caught one last look at his sparking glyph. Two of his zigs were two and three centimetres off. And a zag was not properly connected.
That was the problem. The world’s flaws appeared to him in pulsing flashes, making the sparking flaws in his glyphs even more jarring as they sparked. It was like blinded that spot for him.
Nevertheless, Ash was going to use every advantage he could get and he did just that by jumping back to his feet and facing the oncoming enemy.
He was too late to make a complicated glyph so he went with a simpler one. A circle with a dot in it.
Glyph – Block
Quality – Good.
Duration – 1 seconds
This time Ash smiled at the message. He could make it last longer by channeling more potentiality to it but he didn’t need to. Ash watched the pincer recoil of the six inch compressed air shield he had created. He let the potentiality streaming into his shards go and yelled.
“Hey! I am walkin here.”
Sheetal who was flying over Ash and flung her hand outwards and the boulder, the size of car came lifted back into the air and came down on the next scorpion.
“Sorry, was aiming for the other one.”
Ash sped himself up again and a barrage of glyphs shot from him.
“Ash, stop using so much potentiality.” Sheetal screamed down at her brother.
“If you have the time to talk. You have the time to kill.” Ghost chided both the warders from a hilltop.
Sheetal grumbled something under her breath. She could feel that Ash was down to fifteen percent and could sense the oncoming weakness through their link. Instead of replying, she raised both of her hands and began squishing the horse sized scorpions one by one to help Ash.
Two minutes later, Sheetal was dangling lifelessly two feet above the ground, panting loudly and trying to get more potentiality from the air. Ash was on his back. His lifeless eyes looking straight up at the sky.
Ghost appeared next to them and asked “So, do you know what you did wrong?”
“We used too much potentiality.” Sheetal complained.
“Nothing!” Ash panted.
“Actually, in this case Sheetal, Ash is right. There comes a time when you must fight for your life. And that’s when you use every bit of resources you have.”
Ash’s eyes regained colour and he looked at Ghost “Really? We did nothing wrong?”
“Oh, no. You messed. And boy, you messed up bad but that was before the fight. You couldn’t resist kicking the stone into the cave. Why couldn’t you ask yourself, why is a stone perfectly placed in front of the cave.”
“So… It was a trap.” Sheetal stated while gulping down air.
“And you Sheetal. Why did you pick up the biggest boulder you could find? Not only did you almost crush Ash’s head with it, you were also too slow with it.”
“But if I bonded…”
“No!” Ghost shut her down instantly.
He took in a deep breath and explained “First, you need to learn how to use potentiality. Have considered using a smaller stone?”
“You know she can’t aim right?” Ash slowly got to his feet and continued “I mean if the stones are smaller, they will go whizzing around. And will be hard to dodge.”
Ghost opened his mouth to answer and stopped.
Flash!
Four people in continuum armour appeared out of nowhere. One of them raised a finger and Ghost disappeared. They retracted their helmets and levelled their glares at the warders.
Ash looked at SS who had surrounded him with apprehensive looks in their eyes. JJ looked at Needles. Theory looked at JJ. And T, just looked constipated and his eyes darted around with a pinched expression.
Ash raised his arms and did a little twirl “I know I look good, but you don’t have to stare.”
“Ash, shut the flip off!” Sheetal who was floating over him responded in a worried voice and snapped “One more step, and I swear, I will crush you all.”
“We just want to talk.” Needles raised her hand to calm Sheetal.
“You go away, after our training session and return with armour and weapons. And now you want to talk?” Sheetal asked.
“Honestly, She. Let’s not blame them for that. For them it’s been what twenty minutes? For us it’s been more than a month.” Ash paused and his eyes turned hostile “But the ambush. Just after we finished fighting a bunch of giant scorpions. We can blame for that.”
“Didn’t I say, they will react like this?” Theory raised a finger and pointedly ask JJ.
“We need to clear this up right now.” JJ stated in his deep baritone.
“JJ, I love you, but I am with your wife on this one. Who are we to judge when a ripple has assisted in creating them.” Theory tried to reason.
“The light helped make the aug queen too.” JJ said in a firm tone.
“Enough everyone.” Needles snapped and turned back to Ash “And no, Ash it hasn’t been just twenty minutes. It’s been a few hours. So yes, you can blame us, we conferred outside and we came back in armour because we need answers.”
“And what happens when you don’t like the answers you get.” Ash was curious.
“Then we shoot you in the pods where you are.” JJ replied frankly.
Ash felt Sheetal starting to use her gravity and held his hand up “She. Relax!”
Sheetal looked at Ash in surprise.
“They are being open. Let’s be nice.”
“Ash.” Sheetal hissed.
“She they are spooked.” Ash pointed at JJ and T and asked “I don’t know why. Don’t you want to know why they are scared?”
“You know why?” Sheetal growled
“Let’s ask them first.”
The two warders turned to Needles.
“Well?” Sheetal asked.
“Go ahead, dear leader.’ Ash added just afterwards.
Needles looked at the two warders. They had become even closer to each other and were now completing each other’s thoughts.
“Ash, you said something that scared us.” Needles started slowly
“Scared JJ, to be exact.” Theory smirked.
“And E65.” JJ added defensively.
“T is always scared.” Sheetal said in a dismissive tone.
“She! Be nice.” Ash scolded and then turned to T “Bro, you really need to do something about that.”
Needles closed her eyes and continued with gritted teeth hissed “Everyone shut up.”
Needles looked around and noted that everyone was following her orders and continued “Ash you said, you can break reality. Is that true.”
Ash looked at Sheetal with a clueless expression “Did I?”
“Yes, he did. What about it?” Sheetal answered for Ash.
“Is it true?” Needles asked nervously.
Sheetal snorted “Is this what this about?”
“Is it true?" Needles pressed.
“No.” Sheetal answered and added “Needles, we have a classes. Do you have those too?”
Needles nodded “Yes. I am Battlefield Medic. JJ is Shock Trooper. T is a Grenadier and Theory is Tactician.”
“Well, like you we have classes and class trees. The class tree I am one is called a Reality Bonder. Ash is on the Reality Breaker class tree. That will be his final class.”
Needles gave a chuckling Theory an annoyed look and asked, “What is your current class?”
“I am a Binder. I can bind objects to myself.” Sheetal answered.
Needles blinked “What about you Ash.”
“I don’t want to say.” Ash muttered.
“Ash!” Sheetal hissed and then answered for him “He is a Floater.”
“A what?” Needles asked
“See, that’s why I didn’t want to say.” Ash threw his hands up.
“Like a log?” Needles asked.
“Or a dead body.” Theory chuckled.
“Oh, you think that’s bad?” Sheetal laughed “Think about when I called a piece of…”
Theory guffawed “No wonder he didn’t want to tell us.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. Wait until Ghost comes back.” Ash said loudly.
“No need. I am here.” Ghost appeared with a disappointed look on his face.
Needles eyes widened “How? You should have been ejected.”
“Specialist Medic.” Ghost sighed “I have admin rights, Needles. I stepped back to let you clear this misunderstanding.” Ghost looked around and added “And now that we are here, let us head off the next issue. Their races.”
JJ shrugged “What about it?”
“You have no issue?” Ghost asked.
“No. Not with their races. I am more worried that one of the most unserious people I have ever met has a class that can evolve into breaking reality.” JJ replied.
Theory sighed “JJ. Let me ask you this. Who would you prefer had that class. Ghost? The Aug Queen? The Mentor? Captain Ruhub?” Theory pointed shot his hand out and pointed at Ash “Or this lush?”
JJ looked at Ash. The warder, the short dainty boy looked at him with big black eyes with a cute little pout from under a fringe of cuter curls. His fingers tied together nervously, and a helpless look came over his eyes as his lips quivered. Honestly, he looked like a lost little girl.
JJ grimaced and growled “Ah…” The hulking shock trooper turned to T “E65, I can’t. And stop with the paranoia.”
T’s mouth flew open “I… Hey… I just said we should know…. I didn’t say kill him.. That was all you.”
“Well, whatever it was it’s over now.” JJ grunted “Warders. Ash. I am sorry for doubting you.”
“Good, now you can start training them. They are good at fighting scorpions and only fighting scorpions.” Ghost stated and disappeared.
JJ shook his head and walked to Sheetal alongside his wife.
Theory stayed behind and looked down at Ash with a smile “That was a very impressive. Very cute. Have you been practicing?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ash watched JJ start discussing their new training schedule with Sheetal and nodded “Yeah, haven’t gotten it down yet but it’s almost there.”
“Do you have more looks?”
Ash turned to look at Theory “Tactician, huh?”
“Yes.”
Ash looked at Theory and nodded appreciatively “I knew I liked you.”
“Thank you.”
“Was it your plan to shoot our pods if things devolved here?”
“No, I would have contained you here and lets Sheetal run free.”
Ash leaned back “Wow! That would have worked. Give me coffee, some drugs and a harem of beautiful people and I wouldn’t have fought you but...”
“But?”
“But, if I got bored then…”
“Then?”
Ash grinned “We all have our contingency plans, Theory.”
Day - 129
“Trail creatures come in three categories. Spectral, biological, and elemental. Biological variants are the most abundant in the trail. From Insectoids to multi limbed creatures, you will find them in seventy percent of the trials. Elementals, they are the second most abundant creatures. They can be made of water, earth, fire or wind. Or a combination of elements of elements. They are dangerous but they give out the best shards. Spectral make out only one percent of the trails. And if you are seeing spectral creatures my suggestion is to run.” JJ explained on a white board.
Sheetal looked at the blocks with percentage and paper print outs of the creatures and asked “Why?” She smiled and looked at the still fuming high councillor “Should we be afraid of ghosts?”
Needles snorted “No. And spectrals are not ghosts. Those would be spirits. Spectrals are class four beings who are energy based in creatures. They are sentients who have given up their bodies. They are all mad and can be extremely violent. One simple slice from their arm will bisect you in two halves.”
“Really?” Ash tapped his chin “That is very interesting. Now, can we please go fight something, please?”
Day – 154
Sheetal looked at her torn and tattered clothes and tried to get her tangled hair of her face. Ash stumbled to her and flopped down on the floor next to her. The four continuum soldiers in their armour stood guard all around them with their guns drawn.
Sheetal growled “What… What in the heck… were… those… things?”
JJ cleared his throat “That my lady warder was a squirrel. And there was just one.”
“Why could it fly?” Sheetal asked and complained at the same time.
“Anathema, Sheetal.” Needles explained “The same thing that is pumping in your veins is what mutated that poor creature.”
“Drove it mad. Most probably. Rodents usually run. This one fought.” T stated while lowering his large handgun.
Ash lifted his head and growled “I hate rats.”
“That’s too bad. Next ten days will be all about rodents.” JJ grinned.
Ash groaned.
Day 207 –
“Warder, the way you are using potentiality is incorrect.” Needles explained to Sheetal.
“How?” Sheetal asked.
“You are always using it. The way you are doing it is not letting any potentiality settle into your shards. If you don’t let your shards soak in potentiality, they won’t grow. And your growth will stop.”
“But if I don’t use it, I won’t be able to move.”
Needles nodded “Yes, I know.” She smiled “Sheetal do you think you are the first one to use a shard to sidetrack a disability?”
“Uh…”
“For someone so smart you can be so oblivious at times.” Needles chuckled.
Sheetal smiled sheepishly “So, how do we grow my shards?”
“There is an exercise. You push in potentiality into your shard and hold it there. Without using the shard’s affect. It will be hard, and you will have to be careful. Or you will crack your shard. But it is what you need to do.”
“Push…” Sheetal started.
“And hold.” Needles completed and asked, “Shall we begin?”
Day 223 –
“Thrust kid. Thrust!” Ghost yelled.
In response Ash threw his sword at Ghost.
Ghost sidestepped and looked at Ash in disbelief.
“I don’t like swords.” Ash screamed in frustration.
Ghost threw his hands up in the air “You are a warder. You will be dealing with noble men, and rulers of lands.”
“And?”
“It is a noble weapon.” Ghost explained.
“It is a farming tool.”
Ghost blinked and looked at the two continuum soldiers observing the sparring match.
Theory cleared his throat “Warder Ash. Why don’t you like swords?”
Ash turned with anger and yelled “Why do you like swords?”
“It gets us laid.”
Ash opened his mouth to retort and stopped.
Theory nodded “All beautiful people like swords. Now I am not saying you need to master the weapon. Just become proficient in it to attract the ones you call… Hot, was it?”
Ash dug his toes in the loose dirt and sulked “Fine, but I want my tonfas.”
Theory walked to Ghost’s took his sword and nodded “Sure. If you can out together a combination of a parry, repost, counter repost and a thrust.”
“Uh… I don’t what all that means.”
Theory looked at Ghost.
Ghost closed his eyes and with gritted teeth replied “I told him. He doesn’t listen.”
Theory grimaced “I’ll just show.”
Day 244 –
Ash puffed on a pipe and sighed “You know. I don’t get it. T shoots antimatter.”
Ghost looked at the white board and asked, “That fork thing it means something?”
Ash looked at the spot Ghost was pointing at and answered “You mean the E? At least I think its an E. It’s maths. Who know what mathematics means anyways.”
Theory looked at the board again in silence.
“I mean we have guns, Theory.” Ash whined “Why do I need to repost. Or was the reprise?”
Theory sighed “Ash, guns don’t always work. You remember the scuffle we landed ourselves in? The one with the large asura? We shot at the raks and they got back up again. We need swords to chop of bits and mess up their internals.”
Ash was silent for a minute
“This is nice.” Ash wiggled in his recliner chair and asked, “What is this?”
“Rub.” Theory puffed out some smoke and explained “It’s made from anthemically mutated flowers. This is my favourite. It tastes like jasmine. There are other ones. Some taste like cherries, some like oranges and one which I have been told, tastes like mint chocolate.”
“So, it’s like a vape that get you high?” Ash giggled.
“I don’t know what the means.”
Ash snapped his thin long finger “About that. You guys say you are from the Maurya Empire. We had a Maurya Empire in our world too. But it didn’t conquer Asia and parts of Europe. How did yours do that?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. Didn’t Chandragupta Maurya sire Bindusara and Ashoka in your world?”
Ash blew out smoke from his nose “Theory, I am named after Ashoka the Great. Well, I was. Before I changed it to Ash. Ashoka was the last king of the Mauryas right.”
“No. Weren’t your Maurya’s taught the Arthshastra?”
“Uhh… The arthshastra was lost in my world. So, I don’t know.”
Theory thought for a moment and then answered “Well this is how it went down in our Prithvi. Chandragupta created the dynasty. Bindusara stabilised and then realised that his legitimate heirs were spoilt rich brats. Meanwhile his bastard, Ashoka was a shrewd ruler. So, he had his brahmins assassinate his sons two days before he died. That left Ashoka who expanded his kingdom both to the east and the north. Then after his death, Ashoka, the second of his name and known as Ashoka the unstoppable, continued his father’s work. He had some trouble with Mongols, but he stayed strong. The wars went on till Ashoka the fifth, I think. But till that time the Mauryan Empire had become an empire and was exporting soldiers to Roma and its empire. Who reciprocated for a few hundred years until it fell and regions of acceded to the Empire. It’s only the Nords who resisted for three maybe four generations. Then the empire just ignored them.”
Ash held up his hand “Wait, Ashoka the Great didn’t fight his brothers in your world?”
“No.” Theory puffed on his pipe “The brahmins were… They did everything for the greater good. For the brahmaan, the universe, as they put it. They assassinated the unworthy. In fact, that started a trend. If you were a prince and you weren’t intelligent enough to rule or smart enough to get out of the way, you would be assassinated by the black garbed monks.”
“Black garbed… That sounds like ninjas.”
“I don’t know what those are but that also gave them an inordinate amount of power. And they might have taken over the empire, but a small law stopped their ambition. A law put in there by the greatest Brahmin ever born, Chankya.” Theory snorted and soft white smoke blew out of his nose “A law that stated that only an Ashoka who was the reincarnation of the older ones may sit on the imperial throne. Obviously, it was all bullshit and was struck off in the late eighteenth century but that’s how it went.”
“Dang!” Ash said while.
Theory stubbed out his pipe and looked at Ash “Ash. Allow me to explain in your words. You suck at swords. You will never be a swordsman, and Ghost will have to live with this fact. But you cannot rely on bludgeoning weapons. You don’t have the mass or the size to pull it off anymore. Basically, my friend, figure it out.”
Day 287 –
Ghost looked at Sheetal floating over the bank of the stream. His favourite spot. For a moment he thought she was going to sit down on the log next to it and dip her toes into the stream. Instead, Sheetal relaxed her body by sitting down in the air.
Ghost shook his head and snorted.
“I hope you are not developing feelings for her.”
Ghost looked at Ash.
The boy in response flicked ghost’s sword wiped in clean with torn piece of jacket and looked at him. Ghost looked at the sword silently. And then turned his eyes down to his empty palm.
The boy had cheated.
But Ghost had been distracted too. He had come to their usual sparring session, and in a bored tone muttered “Begin.”
And then Ash was in front of him. Stealing his sword, from his sheathe and stabbing him
through the chest with his own sword. While Ghost was busy deflecting Ash’s thrown sword with his bionic hand.
Ghost rubbed the spot while watching his former body shatter into millions of multi coloured dust particles. Conceptually, he knew he did not have a body in the dreamscape. He was the mind running this place and he could create another in a blink of an eye. Still, getting stabbed had hurt.
This was supposed to be lesson. On swords and sword form and the kid had surprised him. And now he was the one who was being taught a lesson.
After this lesson Ghost had planned to show Ash the futility of striking at a class one enemy. What he had planned had worked hundreds of times before, he had trained hundreds of class zeros and even put class one augmented in their place but with this kid he did not know if it would work.
Usually all he did do was nothing but use his potentiality to charge his pillar. That would push the light inside his living cells to create an aura. And his aura would shield and block all incoming strikes. If that didn’t dissuade an attacker, ghost would actively vibrate the region around him making the use of potentiality almost impossible.
But Ash was a sensopath. He didn’t even know what the boy would do in response. And how much it would hurt.
He should have known better. Ash no matter how he harmless he looked, he was a warder and one who knew how to fight. One moment he was ten paces away the next he was eye to eye with him. And then came the pain. All with those eyes. They weren’t numb. They were distant. Almost dead.
One thing they did tell him. Ash had executed people like this hundreds of times before and he would do it hundreds of times again. If he wanted a weapon, he had chosen right. Now the problem was that Ash was tapping into his body more and more while Sheetal was more hesitant about exploring her abilities. So how was he going to handle this?
“Hey, Ghost. I asked you question.” Ash stared at his captor.
Ghost blinked and recalled Ash’s question. It was becoming easier and easier keeping conversations on track after integrating his consciousness with the septum core.
Ghost looked at Ash and smiled “No, Ash I am not looking for a relationship. And even if I was, Sheetal is more like a newborn baby in my eyes. As are you honestly.” Ghost replied and added “I know how this will sound but it’s her mind I am in awe of. You…”
Ghost noted that Ash was looking at his chest while answered. Most probably trying to see whether he was lying or not. The boy was a menace.
Ash held out the sword for Ghost to take and smiled “Me???” leaning forward and fishing for a compliment.
“You are like a paper knife. A small one. One you should be careful while fishing in a drawer. Because it will cut you at the most inopportune moments.” Ghost replied.
He knew he was being impolitic knowing Ash’s personality, but he wasn’t in the mood today.
Ash narrowed his eyes and looked at Ghost. For a moment, they both stared at each other.
Ash had to agree that being a sensopath was awesome. He was awesome but being a sensopath? It was more awesome. Awesomer? No, that sounded dumb.
It had taken him almost a year to understand how awesome it was. It was like the people around him were blind. They didn’t see half of the things around themselves. Like right now, when he had squared off against Ghost. He had seen the man reach for his potentiality to stream it into his pillar. Before he could gather it, Ash had moved. Grabbed his sword and stabbed him with it.
He wasn.t worried about killing the man. Ghost was just not in his body. He was everywhere. Quite like that AI, Marshall Lara, had been everywhere. And that is why he was constantly thinking about something nonsensical. And he had found the best jingle now.
“Nirma! Washing powder Nirma…” Ash hummed to himself and saw Ghost flinch.
Ash smiled. So, he could read his mind if that was so, what had he parsed out of his thoughts and why hadn’t he brought it up?
Could it be. What had he said?
“Yes Ash. I do want to make you awesome.” Ghost said in a bored tone.
No. No way. Ghost could read his mind. But. Was he serious? And would that mean he would win? And would Ash have to make Ghost his? He really didn’t want to do that. He liked the guy, but he was having more fun stabbing the guy. And he wanted to be free.
Free of all responsibilities. Free to do whatever he wanted. Free to be himself. Free to dress up in short skirts and seduce everyone until he had a huge orgy going. But if Ghost was his, he would have to protect Ghost. And he knew that the scheming bastard would use that against him.
Ghost lips twitched upwards slightly.
Ash’s nostrils flared. He could take care of himself. Sheetal on the other hand. Give her a man who was older, bigger, and more powerful. And she transformed from being a headstrong the mad scientist to a teenager with a doughy dreamy in her eyes.
Finally, Ash grunted “Good, because if you even think about her like that, I will stab you. With your own sword. Again.”
Ghost chuckled and sheathed his weapon “Ash, sooner or later, you will agree that I have made you truly awesome. And then I will be yours.”
Ash grimaced “Are the new glyphs in the house?”
“Yes. Go ahead study them.”
Ash started to walk away and screamed “And I want my tonfas back”
Ghost shook his head and began to walk towards Sheetal.
Ash called out “And Ghost. Are you dying?”
Ghost stopped in his tracks for a moment. Ash was unnerving. That boy saw through more thing than a peak class one could. But today, was not the day to delve into that. Today was the day to say his goodbyes and break his bonds with his old life.
Ghost walked to the bank of the stream and looked at the log for a long moment.
“Ghost?” Sheetal asked.
Ghost stayed silent.
“What’s wrong?” Sheetal straightened and floated to him.
Ghost let out a long sigh “It’s nothing.”
“No, it is something.” Sheetal looked at the man and back at the stream “Why do you stare at this stream. I have seen you. You come here quite often.”
Ghost smiled “You are becoming quite perceptive.”
“No, that’s Ash.” Sheetal dismissed.
“Ash can see things. He is more… Reactionary in his approach. You reason things out.”
“Maybe. So, why are you looking at that piece of wood so longingly?”
“Its… It’s where I met my wife. It’s where we used to meet. Me, the young idealistic fool, she an ascended from Rier. I would run here without telling anyone and she would sit and wait for me, in this very spot.”
As Ghost spoke a wispy image of a woman formed. To Sheetal’s surprise, she wasn’t one of the clones from the continuum. She was Caucasian and a red head with freckles. The woman looked at Ghost and smiled. Then disappeared into wisps.
Ghost continued “When she would laugh the whole meadow came alive. I tried to capture that image from my mind and place it here. But this is a weak reflection of what it was with her.”
“What happened?” Sheetal asked.
“She went to fight in a war. A different one than what we are fighting here. I stayed back. I couldn’t leave the continuum.” Ghost whispered “They told she died quickly. Barely suffered. As if that made things okay. And now…”
Sheetal looked at her captor and couldn’t help asking “And now?”
“I don’t think I will be able to be with her in the next cycles.” Ghost’s voice broke.
“What does that mean?” Sheetal asked.
Ghost looked at Sheetal “When a sentient dies, their souls travel to the heavens. Where they wait for their loved ones. To live alongside them in bliss. Until they must reincarnate. And when they do, they reincarnate near each other so that they can find themselves.”
Ghost voice cracked slightly “But I did not die. I don’t think I will die. Not for a long time. She will have to reincarnate without me. And I will lose her forever.”
Ghost looked at the log longingly after his words.
Sheetal floated away from the man giving him space to with his thoughts and wispy apparition that kept appearing and disappearing.
Ghost closed his eyes, and a tear dropped down his chin “Ripple, you may start the integration process. I am in your hands now.”
“You always were Ghost. Your soul will serve the light now. Rejoice mortal, you have transcended your flesh.”
Day 318
Whoosh!
Ghost appeared next to Ash and asked, “What just happened?”
“She.” Ash replied with a grin “She was being She.”
“There was a hill there.”
“I know.”
“Are you telling me Sheetal just vaporised a hill?”
“Yup.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
Ash licked his lips and then shrugged “I was bored.”
“Did you help her with your glyphs?”
“We are alive, aren’t we?”
Ghost snapped his fingers, and the hill reappeared. A moment Sheetal was in front of them dusting grass and sand of her face.
“I almost had it!” Sheetal screamed.
Ghost gave her a stern look.
“I… Uh… Ghost?” Sheetal stuttered.
Ghost held up his hand “I don’t want to know. We will discuss this later.”
Day 354 –
“That can’t be right.”
Ash looked at Sheetal and in a bored tone repeated “He can’t lie or keep things from us.”
Sheetal opened a window on her hud and pressed a button. Nothing happened visually but in Ash’s sight the world shifted, and its edges went out of reach.
Ghost smiled and took a sip of his coffee “You once asked me, how am I controlling the day and night cycle. My explanation stands but let me add to it. I am controlling the processing power of the dreamscape. Or what was the dreamscape. My mental shards and the mental discipline I have cultivated allows me to dilate time or speed it up. That is why, for you, a day here is long. For me, when you are not here, I speed it up to go by in seconds.”
“Why?” Sheetal asked.
“Because I can’t just send you out there to get slaughtered in Jay 7’s doomed plans. I need to teach you about the world you are stepping into. I need to teach you how to fight. I need to teach you about the universe. Potentiality. The politics of Trials. And the reason you exist.”
“Umm… Ghost, you know when a man loves a woman. They do the dirty, like a lot and a baby pops out.”
Ghost looked at Ash with a deadpan look “Boy, do you ever think before speaking?”
“Not usually.”
Sheetal jumped in before Ash could derail a conversation “You said mental discipline. What do you mean by that?”
“Oh that.” Ghost shrugged “It’s nothing special on its own. I was taught a few tricks when I was trained in espionage to help me ignore pain, control my emotions and remain calm under pressure.”
Sheetal tuned and looked at Ash “Well?”
“What?”
“Can you ignore pain and feel nothing?”
Ash blinked “What? Why would I want to do that? Pain tells you that you are in trouble and how much. And if you need to fight, run or hide.”
“So, no?” Sheetal grinned and asked, “You are not John Rambo?”
“Who is Lambo?”
“Rambo you dunce. He was in MK ten.”
Ash shrugged “Nope. No Idea.”
“Let me guess you like Liu Kang and his shirtless form.”
“No, he is too straight. I am more of…”
“A Kenshi guy?”
“No. I like Kung Lao. The new one.”
“You mean the one full of himself in the reboot?”
“Yeah.”
“But he is obnoxious. Oh wait. I see why you would like him.”
“I know. I am going to have a toxic relationship with him. He is going to be like, I am the greatest. I am going to be like, I am awesome. We will fight all the time and then he will pull my hair while banging my brains out.”
“Wow. Your parasocial fantasy with a fictional character just freaked me out. I thought I was passed that.”
Ghost sipped his coffee watching the two warders. He had learned by their interactions that Sheetal needed time to think, and Ash usually gave her that time by using inane banter.
Sheetal turned back to Ghost “So, are we alive?”
“Yes. In a manner of speaking.” Ghost responded in an easy tone.
“Explain please”
“Your bodies were dissolved to create new ones. Ones made to suit your souls. I am quite excited to see how they will come out.”
“Souls…”
Ghost pointed at Sheetal “This, your current self is a soul, projecting itself into a quantised digital world.”
“I don’t believe in souls.”
“Okay hold on.” Ash raised a finger “Before all that. Let me remind you both how we got here. With the question, how did we get here?” Ash pointed at Ghost “And if you give me another cryptic answer, start talking about thirteen dimensions, souls, quantum physics, or string something… I swear to all the gods you believe in. I will punch you. I am not kidding.”
Ghost nodded “Hmm… Where do I begin? That is a difficult question to answer. Because how do you define here. Are we in the trials? Are we on Rier? Are we at the edge of the universe? They are all true.”
Ash raised a fist.
Ghost chuckled “The trials it not a world in the conventional sense. Rier is a world and to be more precise, the arata has latched on to a part of it. Remember, Arata’s are an inorganic sentience race. They look like quartz and usually bury themselves underground and create a stable dimension around themselves. From there they extract potentiality from everything around the region. But the trials arata is old. Really old. He doesn’t bury himself. He travels in the vortex at the edge of the universe gathering primordial energies for himself.”
“Quartz?” Sheetal asked.
Ash pointed at Sheetal “No. No. Quiet you. Keep going, Ghost.”
“There is a reason why you turn to ash after your death in an Arata’s world. They take everything that make you, you, when you die. The minerals, the water, the iron and the anything you are physically attached to. They only leave the souls and the shards. We don’t know why they do that, but I theorise that it is a part of some treaty.”
“Inorganic sentience?” Sheetal muttered
Ash closed his eyes and muttered “Give her anything new and she get distracted.” He turned back to Ghost and asked “Let’s go back to the edge of the universe. And more importantly, how the heck did we get here. And why aren’t we dead. And why there is air at the edge of the universe.”
“Anything else?”
Ash stopped and nodded “Yeah. Do people turn into ash outside the trials?”
“Reconsidering your name?” Ghost asked
“No. Should I?”
“No, you don’t turn to ash outside an arata’s domain. Now, let’s see. And I am just theorising here, but I think the reason you got here is because of soul shards. Every galaxy is different. They deal with soul shards differently.”
Sheetal whispered to herself “Underground?”
“I know what you are going to ask me. What are soul shards? And Ash you are not going to like this explanation.” Ghost looked up at Sheetal and asked, “Do you understand the concept of quantum resonance?”
“Yes.” Sheetal answered.
“No.” Ash replied and looked annoyed.
Ghost nodded “What about magnetic X points that create wormholes.”
Sheetal thumped down into her floating chair with a shocked expression.
“Okay, you stop looking like that.” Ash pointed at Sheetal and turned to Ghost “You speak normally.”
Ghost raised a hand “Basically Ash, you were transported here to the trails Because of shards. The trials, is a world, connected to a nexus planet at the edge of the universe. Reir, we theorise is a nexus planet. One made with the same particles that created Prithvi, Earth, and other such planets.”
“How did they get here?” Sheetal asked.
“Isn’t that obvious? They were carried here with the creation storm.”
Ash folded his hands on his chest and looked at the two geeks in annoyance.
“But those X points, they are up in the ionosphere.” Sheetal argued.
Ghost looked at Sheetal and in a soft voice answered “No, a planet has a lot more magnetic regions than the ones just outside it. Planets are made of metals and magnetic materials that create zones that interlap. Perhaps your people haven’t looked hard enough or…”
“Or they have been hiding them from the world.” Sheetal responded in a brittle tone. His voice gained an edge “And then they decided to power those regions by blowing up a nuke there to create X points. As if they already knew what was going to happen.”
Ghost gave Sheetal a pained smiled “I know how you feel. I have been there myself. Let me tell you the one constant I have seen across worlds and the universe. People in power hide things. Some do it to milk all the resources out for themselves. Believe it or not, they are the good kind. Some do it because they are scared. The worst ones, they do it to retain or regain control.”
Sheetal looked at Ash “Did your mother know what would happen in the hospital?”
Ash shrugged “I literally have no idea what you both just said.”
“Mother?” Ghost asked.
“Yeah.” Sheetal exhaled “She is the psycho politician who funded my project.”
Ghost looked at Ash.
Ash shrugged “She is not wrong. My mother is a psycho.”
Sheetal turned to her brother “Ash, I need you to think back. In all the snooping you have done, have you come across shards anywhere else in the world.”
“Motes. She. You called them motes.” Ash grinned “And yes. They are called soldier gems. Or Alatyr Stones by the Russians. I should have made the connection earlier, but they floated on Earth.”
“So, she knew?”
“Yes. I think my brother is in the Himalayas trying to get his hands on some.”
Sheetal looked at Ash “Why didn’t they tell us?”
Ash shook his head “I don’t think they know. I think what happened to us is different.”
Sheetal considered Ash’s words and nodded “Yes, Of course. We are talking about portal travel. Generating that much energy to power something like that would be massive. It would raise a lot of concerns. What happened to us must be an anomaly.”
Ghost slowly began “No, you are talking about quantum entangled particles that wouldn’t need to generate a massive amount of energy. It would want to return to its origin. Add potentiality to the mix and you are here.”
Sheetal felt a spike of anger from Ash unlike anything she had felt from him before. Sheetal tuned to look at him. His face had turned to stone. But she could feel the turmoil of emotions running through him and the sense of failure overlaying the anger.
“What? What’s wrong Ash?”
Ash almost whispered “She won. She finally got rid of me. Her problem child. You, the civilian who knew too much and Joshi, the only man who could have stopped her. Now she will bring in her people and after losing a son to the project, nobody will stop her.”
“Ash?”
“She, I think there are shards floating around in other places. But I don’t think they lead here. In fact, I think the people they send here are supposed to die.”
Sheetal sighed “Well that tracks with the answer to the question we have been asking.”
“Huh?”
“Where are we? In a dungeon at the end of the universe.”