In no time at all the female scientist Raine first met when she woke up as a little girl reached the place where both Alakoni and Raine stands.
“Director! I have to protest most severely for the treatment I have received while under the employ of the company! I am quite sure that there are no clauses that suggested that I would be subjected to bodily harm while serving the company’s interests when I signed the appointment letter!” Complained the scientist loudly as she stand in front of both Alakoni and Raine while folding both of her arms in front of her breasts.
Raine just quietly stands there looking at the scientist, wondering why the scientist in front of her became so upset because of losing an employment position.
Could it be that the job has good pay and benefits or is she serving a house mortgage or student loans without any reserve funds or savings? Or maybe both? Man, that is the worst.
Raine nods to herself, imagining the most likely scenarios while trying to understand the position the woman in front of her is in right now..
“As I’ve said through my personal guard Dr. Vahlen, I have apologized for your mistreatment and I have since reinstated your position. If it’s a matter of financial reimbursement for your trouble please let us discuss this in private at a later time.” Sighed Alakoni as she puts one hand on her forehead and shakes her head in exasperation.
“It’s not about the money! You can’t expect money to cover my distress at almost being terminated!” Protested Dr. Vahlen as she rest one of her hand on her hips and the other hand pointing at Alakoni.
Raine raised one of her hand which attracted the attention of both Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen.
“Sorry for disrupting your argument here... Dr. Vahlen, but it shouldn’t matter how bad your situation become as long as you are alive you can do something about it, then things will get better, right?” Advised Raine as she just want to hurry things along so she can return to her tree.
Dr. Vahlen looks close to exploding but before Dr. Vahlen can retort, Alakoni stepped forward from beside Raine, therefore blocking Raine’s view with Alakoni’s back. Alakoni then proceeds to slap both her hands on Dr. Vahlen’s shoulders and then grabbed it firmly.
“Now-now Dr. Vahlen, Raine here is right. As long as you’re alive then you can definitely do something to make things better right? Hahahahaha!” Said Alakoni with an unusual tone of voice and a bit of forced laughter at the end.
“Of..Of course director! I agreed with both of you completely! Hahahahaha!” Said Dr. Vahlen in an equally unusual tone and also with a forced laughter at the end.
Raine then stares at the awkward atmosphere, somehow both Alakoni and Vahlen are acting weird and their laughters sounds forced. Raine have a feeling that she was missing something but at the same time she also didn’t care enough to find out more.
Still, Raine is a bit curious why Dr. Vahlen’s face is pale after Alakoni moved aside so she can see Dr. Vahlen’s face, but shortly after Dr. Vahlen is dragged away by Alakoni towards the base of her tree, leaving her behind.
As Raine follows after both Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen, both of them seems to be in some sort of heated discussion ahead of Raine but she’s unable to hear anything they say since they are speaking in a low volume with each other.
After walking for a while, their group reach the base of tree. Looking around, Raine noticed that inside the secured cavern there are only three of them so it feels emptier than usual compared to the time when there was a group of young scientists gathering in front of the tree.
Both Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen was waiting for a short moment for Raine to reach their location and from what Raine can see, Dr. Vahlen’s face has regained some of her colours back.
“Ms. Raine, I apologize for the unsightly conduct from earlier. First my name is Dr. Vahlen, I serve as the science officer in this installation. Earlier in the lab you have met Professor Dexter, he is the Chief Engineer in this facility. Basically if you need some engineering or mechanical work, you can approach professor Dexter as that is his field. Everything else, you can approach me. In your case my field of study is biology and genetic engineering, that is why I was tasked to study the tree and the phenomena surrounding it. I am also an expert in other fields of study as well.” Said Dr. Vahlen while she stands in a rigid fashion.
“It’s nice to meet you as well Dr. Vahlen, I am sorry that you have to be troubled because of my escape yesterday.” Said Raine as she gather around the base of the tree with both Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen.
“Yes, about that. I would consider it even, if I could be allowed to collect some body fluid sample from your tree. You see, the higher ups are loathe to allow it and I have met a dead end in my research by limiting my research to observation and deep scan. To progress in my research I would need biological samples. So please give me permission..” Said Dr. Vahlen with a pleading voice at the end.
“Dr. Vahlen! This is highly inappropriate request to ask from Ms. Raine!” Said Alakoni with a glare towards Dr. Vahlen.
“But she’s basically the tree! Surely as long as there is the permission from the party involved then it should be permissible!” Argued Dr. Vahlen with some vehemence.
Raine tilted her head at Dr. Vahlen, wondering should she give permission? Perhaps she can allow it if she get some concessions from Dr. Vahlen.
“Dr. Vahlen, I will allow it but I have some conditions before I give permission.” Said Raine flatly.
“Anything.” Said Dr. Vahlen with relief on her face.
Alakoni became deflated after Raine herself voiced her agreement with the idea.
“First, you share everything you have learned about the tree with me. Secondly, and I think this is a condition given by Lai Dai as well, that you keep any knowledge you gained as confidential and it cannot be leaked outside. And finally, this sample is the only time it’s going to be free of charge. In the future I will charge for any further sample request, and this is subject to discussion and change if there is new information available to both of us.” Explained Raine on her conditions to allow body sample to be taken from her tree.
Dr. Vahlen then turns her attention to Alakoni.
Alakoni looks happier with Raine’s terms and she nodded willing to allow it.
“It’s fair Ms. Raine, I can fulfill the first term now if you wish, by sharing with you what we have learned about the tree so far.” Said Dr. Vahlen in a more positive mood.
Raine nodded giving Dr. Vahlen the go ahead to share the knowledge about the tree with her.
“Well what we know for sure is that the tree is somehow have the ability to connect to a different plane of existence or different dimension if you will. We can measure a time-dilation effect around it, in which some of our research group experienced different time while in the vicinity of the tree. By that I mean when we set up a specific time to meet back at the base of the tree, say at three o’clock, and then separates in order to collect samples. We would never meet up again at the base of tree at the same time! Some would be back in minutes, some would be back hours later after the specified time has passed for everyone else! The curious thing is the missing group’s time stamp on their omni tool shows that their perception of time is accurate to the affected individuals. We can see them! But trying to communicate with them while they are moving in slow motion is like trying to pull teeth and delay their return! And anyone we sent out from the base would be affected by the same phenomena if they happen to be in the same area.” Explained Dr. Vahlen with consternation.
Raine nodded, saving Dr. Vahlen’s words in her mind.
“Next, the tree is also capable of affecting the space around it. So we can say for sure that the tree can affect both time and space. The effect on space is more dramatic. As once in awhile we would have random animals suddenly appear inside the cavern even though the entrance and exits are secured and monitored. Furthermore, we are sure the animals did not just stumble inside the cavern from outside the facility.” Explained Dr. Vahlen.
“Oh! Like the facehugger the guards mentioned earlier! That animal came from here?” Said Raine as she looks around trying to spot one of them.
“Ah, yes! The only specimen which have escaped the secured area through the ventilation vents and killed a guard. The only thing alerting us of its existence is through the alerts sent by the alarms and cameras we have installed in the ventilation vents leading to and from this area. Otherwise we would have lost it. But once the bodies of both the specimen and the guard are secured during the security sweep, we have to cremate the body of the guard and the specimen in hazmat suits. As who knows what sort of biohazard would be unleashed in the population if we didn’t take such precautions? The guards have resorted to childishly calling it a facehugger but we, the scientists, have referred to the specimen as the ‘alien’ due to it being the only non-native specimen of Earth to appear in this facility.” Explained Dr. Vahlen.
“Then what sort of animals usually appear?” Asked Raine while putting a finger on her chin.
“The most often cases are usually small rodents, some cats and dogs, a few bats though curiously never birds and one more unusual case, a long extinct Javanese rhino. In fact the appearance of the rhino adds credence to the theory that the tree is connected to different plane of existence. As the Javanese Rhino have been extinct for close to a thousand years, long before the advent of genetic engineering. We have since cloned the rhino, market it and sold it to rich and influential families as a status symbol. I suppose it’s as if someone cloned a dinosaur in your time and selling it as a pet for a comparison. Especially after the second mass extinction event that have frozen everything on the world. A lot of animal went extinct but we have been slowly reviving the native species well adapted to the current cold through cloning and genetic engineering. The most common animals in the world now are seals, penguins, polar bears, arctic wolves and snow hares.” Droned Dr. Vahlen in lecture mode.
Raine keeps nodding automatically as she absorbs the information shared by Dr. Vahlen.
“Which is why studying the tree is so important as it can give us a better understanding of the law that governs space and time! Why, one application is to research a better method or improving our current Faster Than Light or FTL travel technology! The possibilities are endless!” Said Dr. Vahlen with excitement.
Dr. Vahlen then bent down closer to one of the exposed tree roots and with the omnitool on her arm, she activated a circular saw app. At the end of the omnitool a circular saw made from hard light started to materialize and spin rapidly making a buzzing sound.
“With that said, can I start making the cut now? I assure you I will seal the cut afterwards.” Asked Dr. Vahlen to Raine with some eagerness.
Raine shrugged and gestured at Dr. Vahlen to proceed. As Dr. Vahlen brings down the blade the sound of grinding and the smell of burning can be sensed. It took a while for Dr. Vahlen to cut through the bark but she manages to do so after a few inches of going deeper from the bark surface.
Raine then noticed that some liquid that looks similar to blood started seeping out from the cut.
Dr. Vahlen then sucks the liquid using her omnitool and then discharges it inside a single large erlenmeyer flask. Dr. Vahlen then repeats this process multiple times until the flask is full and proceeds to seal the cut using an organic sealant derivative which hardens very quickly and stops the bleeding.
Dr. Vahlen then lifted the flask high above her head as she inspected the liquid inside and sighed happily as she proceeds to seal the flask and labeled it with a biohazard sign.
“How do you feel during the procedure Ms. Raine?” Asked Alakoni after watching the procedure with some nervousness.
“It was itchy at first, then it starts to sting but I can feel it like an echo from a distance compared to a more direct pain if it happens to me directly.” Explained Raine as she rubs her feet as if the cut was made directly at her instead of the tree.
“Fascinating, the tree can transmit sensation to Ms. Raine somehow! Is this physical proof of quantum entanglement at work? Just imagine if we can recreate this artificially! Communication between vast ranges of star systems can be done instantly!” Said Dr. Vahlen excitedly as she cradled the filled flask like a precious baby.
Raine, seeing that she has completed her part of the deal then proceeds to sit and laid her back against the base of the tree. What is unforeseen to her is that the moment she has done so, her body starts to sink in against the tree. She managed to see Alakoni panicked face and Dr. Vahlen still cuddling the flask and cooing at it like it’s her first born baby.
Raine can feel herself surrounded by darkness as she fell backward horizontally.
Secondary body docking...docking…
Raine can register some words crossing her mind, yet no sound can be heard in the emptiness of the black space surrounding her. In panic, Raine willed herself to return back outside to where Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen are standing.
Docking aborted, secondary body being towed to the entry point.
Raine can feel her body motion being reversed as she can see the light of the entry point, she can feel her body approach it faster as the light source is getting bigger. Her head first exits the darkness surrounding her only to feel the pain of her head impacting the face of another.
As Raine held her head in pain, she lifted her face up and she can see Mrs. Alakoni cradling her face as her nose can be seen becoming bloodied from the impact with her head.
“...Sorry about that, turns out I can stay inside the tree and go in and out freely.” Said Raine as she hold her hand in a peace sign as half her body is suspended inside the tree as her top half floated around chest area of Alakoni.
“Never mind, I am glad you are alright Ms. Raine. I will go to the infirmary for some medical treatment and I am bringing Dr. Vahlen with me. Please remember that tomorrow you have a meeting with your bodyguards and I will be there as well waiting for you to resurface again to meet us.” Said Alakoni, as impressively she is still able to articulate perfectly even though her hand is holding her bloodied nose.
“Yes, I will be there. Once again forgive me for injuring you Mrs. Alakoni.” Said Raine as she bowed her head at Alakoni. Raine then stares at both Alakoni and Dr. Vahlen’s retreating back until both are about to exit the sealed door. Raine was going to dive back into her tree before she heard a loud exclamation.
“Raine! Your new outfit is very cute by the way!” Shouted Dr. Vahlen in praise.
Raine turns her attention back to the door and saw Dr. Vahlen waving her hand and the other hand beside her mouth to amplify her voice. Raine happily waved back and hurriedly dived back in, not wanting them to see her embarrassed face.
Secondary body docking...docking…
Raine once again register the words in her mind but this time she let the process runs. Which she may have regretted it later as her point of view suddenly shifted and Raine can see her own body from somewhere on top of her head. With a detached mind, she realizes that she is currently experiencing an out of body experience.
Docking complete...Primary body active...
Raine can see, in a 3rd person POV, her new outfit from top to bottom and both eyes are closed from what she can see through incorporeal eyes.
Curiously her current sights are orbiting her current form, which is an orb of light surrounded by darkness.
Engaging mana lattices...Spreading mana particles… Amplifying internal and external mana level…
The darkness surrounding Raine are swept aside as she can now see the cavern surrounding the tree, and the range of her sight kept increasing as visual inputs are being received from the spreading mana lattices.
Raine can see the tree itself growing brighter and the light starts pulsing as something seems to be happening to the tree itself.
Yggdrasil drive online… Connecting to the multiverse network… First time user detected in the multiverse network... You have received a friend invite from the Yggdrasil Council… Do you accept? Yes/No.
Raine registered the new information in her mind with some confusion. Tentatively she tries to project the response in her mind in order to accept the friend invite.
Since it’s a friend invite, surely it can only be a good thing to have more friends. Raine was thinking that as she sent out the ‘yes’ response through the multiverse network.
First time user has accepted the friend invite from the Yggdrasil council. Yggdrasil council has acknowledged and setting up a face-to-face meeting, secondary body is being prepped for immediate transfer to the citadel for a face-to-face meeting...
Raine can only stare blankly as her orb of light form is sucked into her humanoid body and as she opens her eyes, she was back to being able to see only darkness surrounding her.
Secondary body active… Neural core linked… Priming yggdrasil drive for transport sequence, destination: The Citadel.
Before Raine can shout in surprise, her whole humanoid body is being converted into particles of light. And unknown to her, the tree’s glowing pulses start to become faster, until with a flash, a pillar of light shoot out of the top of the tree towards the sky and disappears before it even reaches the ceiling of the cavern. The whole event are leaving a bunch of dazed security personnels inside the security control room, staring at the CCTV screens while recording the whole thing.
To Raine’s point of view, she is travelling at a faster than light speed with stars, suns, planets and moons passing her by inside the tunnel which reminded her of a spaceship traveling through a wormhole tunnel from Sci-fi movies.
At the end of the journey, which to her senses did not take more than a few minutes, she can see a large station, titanic in size with six separate open arms, connected with a ring at the base of the titanic station. The six arms are rotating slowly together with the ring on it’s base. Those are the last details she can see before her incorporeal form shoots straight to the ring at the base of the station.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The next thing she knows, her incorporeal form materializes and starts to become more solid and real like she was being transported by a sci-fi teleporter and are now being constructed in real time layer by layer. The process is done almost instantly and she wasn’t able to feel pain from the whole process.
Although, Raine made sure to stand still during the process and only started to move once she is sure that it’s reasonably safe to do so. Lifting her right hand, she marvelled at her real flesh and suit, travelling at the speed of light and reconstructed thousands of light years away seems very much magical rather than regarding it as a simple mundane advance of technology.
Looking around, she can only see whiteness around her and eventually she is getting edgy waiting for something to happen.
“Scan complete… Rematerialization successful… Disengaging lock...Welcome to the citadel nexus… C-137…” Announced an automated voice which reverberates across the white space surrounding Raine.
A door suddenly appears opening nearby Raine and tentatively she approached the door, as she let out her head first she became shocked with what she can see outside the enclosed space.
Raine can see a lot of people coming out of other white round room made from a shiny reflective material, it kind of looked like a snow igloo but more high-tech compared to the one made from ice and snow. Raine has no issue being transported across space like a spaceship, neither did she have at being surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar space. No, what bothered her so much is that every single individual out there looked just like her! The same face, the same body, there are some differences as some are taller and bulkier and wearing different clothes but essentially they all have the same face! Most are wearing casual clothes and they are either checking their itinerary, making small talks or queuing to be processed through a counter manned by another of her clone, the whole thing looks like going through airport immigration to her.
Raine did not know how long she has spent just standing there inside the strange room but it certainly must have been too long as she suddenly hears a high pitched whistle coming from outside. When she turns to take a look, she spotted one of her look-alike, although taller and with a more solid build, stationed within an armored guard post, with a whistle on her lips, wearing a security guard uniform and carrying an assault rifle slung over her shoulder.
“Hey! What’s the hold up over there! Disembark from your teleporter and proceed along the line please! We have more incoming from the multiverse network and they can’t materialize if you are still inside the teleporter!” Exclaimed an older Raine’s look-alike.
Raine then lifted one of her hand slowly and looks at the more adult version of her, with her longer leaves and fuller breast and rounder hips and everything.
“Sorry… Can anyone explain to me what is going on?” Asked Raine fearfully with a loud voice.
“Oh! A sapling! Come along to me miss, we’ll get you sorted out!” Said the security guard as she motions at Raine to come closer.
Raine then slowly exits the teleporter and went down the ramp leading out of the teleporter into the hallway towards the guard.
Raine have to spend some effort maneuvering through the throng of recent arrivals to the citadel nexus until she reach the place where the security guard is stationed.
“Hi, thanks for coming. As you can see I can’t exactly go anywhere.” Explains the older Raine look-alike as she pointed down to inside her armored guard post.
Raine lifted herself up the guard post and peered inside, she sees that the legs of the older version of her are connected with the floor of the guard post.
“I have expanded my roots to this area already and it will take a while for me to uproot myself. With my roots spreads out underground though I can monitor and control every aspect of this building remotely through this guard post. In case we ever get invaded through this facility, which is called the citadel nexus by the way, as this seems to be your first time here, I can spike the invaders to death with the ground itself. Although some prefer using other elements, earth is the only element with a physical attack attribute strong enough to pierce shields.” Explained the older version of Raine bragging about her chosen element.
Raine nodded in wonder and deliberately drop down from the post guard edge to the ground floor.
“Anyway, since you’re here, you must have accepted the Yggdrasil council friend invitation. Good job! That’s the best thing you can do in the multiverse. The yggdrasil council are great I tell you! They are very wise as leaders and they are very helpful with newcomers and the very young saplings. Ah! Your Guardian escorts are here to lead you to the council chamber itself! See you later Sapling! If you’re here again, look for me! My designation is F-035!” Said F-035 with a cheer as she bent down the edges of the post guard and waved at Raine.
Raine turns her attention towards a few more of her look-alike, though obviously these individuals are better equipped and looks more capable compared to F-035 in front of her. As the group walk through the citadel nexus hallway, other versions of her make space for them to go through the packed hallway towards Raine. The group reached the guard post where both Raine and F-035 are standing waiting for them.
“Greetings, are you the new arrival C-137?” Said one of the more senior looking version of Raine.
Raine nodded at the more senior version of her, while making sure she is standing still and observing everything she can regarding the new group that have arrived.
“Good, we are the Yggdrasil Council Guardians and we are here to bring you to the Yggdrasil Council for naturalization. My designation is N-007 and my partners behind me are M-014 and M-007. We will be your escorts and guides during your stay in the citadel. Please follow me.” Said N-007 in a strict and disciplined voice.
Raine stares at N-007 before resigning herself and make a move to follow behind them. With an escort ahead of her and a pair of escorts on each side, the foot traffic become clear for their group and they can proceed faster. But Raine cannot help but to feel that she became a criminal and are now being arrested by the police.
“I am sure you feel uncomfortable being strung along like this, but believe me this is for your own well-being. You could’ve been taken advantage off by older arrivals if you look uncertain, worried and not knowing what to do when you first arrive.” Said M-014.
“In fact, you should be thankful. Ever since the Yggdrasil council the council was first formed, they impose a rule for newcomers to be escorted and guided by Guardians. Because of that ruling, we have been getting steadily more prosperous and happier as a community. Plus, it is a tradition for the council to always make time for newcomers’ arrival and to personally bestow upon them gifts so that newcomers can excel, grow and contribute to our community. Truly they are wise, only wise leaders would know the importance of youth and education. We set aside a generous portion of the whole community earnings towards developing our young and new arrivals. In fact, we always joked about those society that cut fundings from education to spend on military affairs that they would eventually lose both and they would have no one to blame but themselves.” Said M-007 with a light cheer.
Raine didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, but after being sufficiently informed she certainly feel like an ungrateful person. She hope that the meeting with these Yggdrasil council is everything her escorts claim to be and the gifts that she would receive being an amazing one.
Raine’s mind is filled with these thoughts as she contemplate deeper while automatically following her lead escort N-007. However it seems that she gets distracted and before she know it, she bumped into N-007’s back, N-007 then turns around and looks amusedly at Raine.
“That’s cute, you reminded me of myself when I first arrived. I also bumped into my lead Guardian escort when they bring me to the Yggdrasil council. Too much information, too little time to process everything right? I have been there, so no worries little sapling. Let me bring you down to earth, behold we have arrived at the Citadel Tower. The residence of the Yggdrasil council!” Said N-007 while flourishing both her hands dramatically in front of the large and tall tower in front of their group.
Raine rubbed her forehead before moving to N-007’s side and shifted her attention to the building in front of her… And then she look up… and up… and up… The tower is unimaginably tall and it seems that it is connected to the other side of the ceiling, rather than a tower she would more accurately called it a pillar as it connected both the base and the ceiling of the massive station.
“... I have no words.” Said Raine looking back down to the entrance.
Raine then can feel a hand slapping her back.
“Just so! Now let's get you an audience with the council C-137! After that we can bring you somewhere to eat around here!” Said M-014 cheerfully.
Raine moved forward again, pushed from behind by M-014. As their group enters the citadel tower and through the lobby near the citadel tower entrance. When Raine approaches the lobby she can see a large, fancy and beautiful desk manned by a dozen of her younger look-alikes, closer to her current build.
Raine’s group approaches the nearest available receptionist and her lead escort N-007 showed her IDs by lifting her palm and a holographic image appears on the palm of her hand.
The receptionist version of her seems to be satisfied with something as she stares at the empty desk in front of her, her hands rooted to the desk, eyes looking around at something Raine and their group cannot see.
“Welcome back Guardians. Your group are cleared to escort the new arrival C-137 to meet the council now. Please stand closer together as we will send you through the elevator to the council chamber.” Said Raine’s version of a receptionist as she fiddle her finger over an invisible control panel in the air.
Raine looks around but cannot see anything that looks like an elevator inside the lobby with her and her group. Her escort then starts to group closer together with Raine in the center. Raine cannot see as her escorts are locking her view, but she clearly felt it when she was suddenly elevated from the lobby and pass through a hole opening in the ceiling and then her group travels speedily through a maze of dark tunnels. Looking down she can see that her group are standing on a fast levitating disc.
After a while of traveling in seemingly random directions, Raine’s group ascends once more after a ceiling hole opens up and then her group and the disc pass through the opening slowly. The disc then settled at floor level, leaving Raine’s group at the center of an audience room, surrounded by large dais. To Raine, it looks like her group just arrived in a circular chamber surrounded by high walls and the absence of any staircase leading out of the chamber she just arrived in.
Looking further up, Raine can see that surrounding her group are six figures. And like all the other individuals Raine has encountered in the citadel, these are also individuals with the same face and characteristics of their own. The only difference it seems, is age and level of power each individuals have over Raine.
The Yggdrasil council have more leaves over their head, which are being propped up by frames surrounding them where their branches grow over and form a sort of natural hedge around their body.
Each individual frames have different designs between each council members and because of this it is possible to differentiate each council member to some extent.
“Welcome, Yggdrasil from dimension C-137, and well met little sapling for accepting our friend invitation. You are here today for the naturalization process, where you will be accepted as one of us in this community, together with all the benefits and the obligation that such a position entails.” Said one of the figures of the council as she smiled in a friendly way towards Raine.
“It is always a pleasure for the council to accept new blood in the community and bestowed upon them gifts that will help you grow into a mighty tree. And today once again we will have such a pleasure.” Said another figure of the Yggdrasil council.
“You are a friend of the council, simply by accepting the invite and showing wisdom and the willingness to interact with your fellow Yggdrasils and realizing that alone you are weak, but together we are mighty.” Said yet another figure of the council as she took out a single branch and break it in half. The figure then took a dozen of the same branch yet are unable to break any of the branches.
Raine then realizes that each figure of the Yggdrasil council will have a turn to speak and then she shifted her attention towards the next council member in line. The next figure smiles at Raine and even waves at her.
“The first step in this relationship has been taken, next we move to the next stage of the relationship. A bond, a commitment, a pact, perhaps it can even be called accepting you as a family member. The next step is naturalization, by accepting this you will gain immense power behind your back, we will support you just as a family member would. We would only ask that in return once you are grown and are able to stand on your own roots, please decide how best you could support our community.” Said the 4th council member.
“Yggdrasil of dimension C-137, please walk forward and signal your acceptance of the naturalization by adding your blood inside the heart tree.” Said the 5th council member as she motions her hand towards the center of the council chamber.
Raine can see a hole opening on the ground in front of her and a small tree emerged from the opening.
The tree is small, it’s leaves and bark are blood red in colour and she can somehow feel that there are blood circulating inside the tree.
Yet for its ominous colour and content of the tree, it doesn't feel malicious, on the contrary it feels like life is flowing through the tree and is affecting its surrounding with an aura of invigoration.
Raine feels the joy of life, of adventure and of excitement from the tree as if the tree is the physical embodiment and proof that life is worth living.
Raine tentatively approaches the tree, leaving behind her three Guardian escorts as they stand at attention paying respect to the naturalization process.
As Raine approaches, the final figure of the council member took her turn to speak.
“The heart tree recognizes the sapling of dimension C-137. Approach young sapling and put both of your hands on tree to signal your acceptance within our community and to complete the naturalization process.” Said the final figure of the council member.
Raine stares at the tree in front of her, recognizing that this is an important moment in her life.
With a deep breath, she lifted both hands, and with resolve she presses both hands against the heart tree.
Raine felt pain on the palm of both her hands, and she can feel her blood, her life leaving her.
The tree drains her blood for a few minutes before she can feel her knees getting weak and Raine fell on her knees. Yet, Raine continued holding her hands on the tree surface until she can feel the tree stops draining her. Raine then withdraws her hands and took a few weak steps back, as the tree seemingly satisfied, it retracted back to the hole and disappears from view as the hole closes on its own.
Looking around, she can see that the surrounding figures of the council member and her escorts are bowing towards her at the waist level and then returning back to a standing position while looking at Raine.
Raine then saw one of the dais is growing a staircase from near her position inside the chamber, then the first speaker of the council member motions towards Raine to approach the first speaker.
Raine then feebly walks forward and ascending up the staircase into the circle of dais surrounding the chamber where she offered her blood to the heart tree. She walks slowly and weakly until she stand before the first speaker of the council member.
“Welcome C-137, you are now our sister and with that each of us will give you a gift that will benefit your life’s journey. We hope you grow strong and tall, walking beside us as an equal as we face life’s challenges and threats. I am one of the council member and my designation is Z-999. My gift to you is access to the Ragnarok System. As it flows through you, learn its secrets, empower yourself and educate yourself so that you can grow and prosper as one of us.” Said council member Z-999 as she cupped a glowing orb with both hands and pushed it towards Raine’s breast.
Raine can feel the hotness of the glowing orb entering her breasts and spreading to the rest of her body as the core at the centre of her being pulsed hotly and stays there until it cools down to a persistent warm glow which she can still feel within her breasts.
Council member Z-999 then motions Raine to move forward to the next council member to receive Raine’s next gift. Raine then realize that the dais are connected with each other, forming a circle surrounding the chamber below. Raine then bowed at council member Z-999, thanked her before moving on towards the next council member. After a short walk, Raine now stands in front of another council member.
“Greetings C-137, I am a member of the Yggdrasil council and my designation is Y-515. My gift to you is related to the Ragnarok System, although you would not understand the significance now, I grant you 100 stat points to be distributed when you are back within your own Yggdrasil tree. Choose the path you are willing to walk in life and distribute the stats accordingly, that is my advice to you.” Said council member Y-515 as she holds Raine’s stomach and transfer vast quantity of materials which Raine can feel bypassing her skin and into her stomach where it disappears without a trace, yet Raine can feel something is getting full in some corner of Raine’s mind. The council member Y-515 then stops transferring materials into Raine’s stomach and she motions Raine to move to the next council member.
“Hello C-137, I am a member of the Yggdrasil council and my designation is X-724. My gift to you is also related to the Ragnarok System as I am granting you 50 skill points. Once you have chosen a path, you need to stick to it and develop your skills suited to your interests and circumstances, that is my advice to you.” Said council member X-724 as she put both her hands on Raine’s forehead and proceeds to fill her mind with compressed knowledge, at the corner of Raine’s mind it sits like a closed chest box just waiting for her to open it. The council member X-724 then motions Raine towards the next council member in line.
“Honored to meet you, I am a member of the Yggdrasil council and my designation is W-357. My gift to you is the gift of experience, I am granting you 30,000 units of experience points. Enough points for you to advance towards establishing your first profession. Experience points are the sum generated by the application of all your stats, skills and knowledge. As you develop your stats, skills and knowledge in any way. Whether doing physical training, killing an enemy, studying in a library, devouring anything worth eating, they all yield EXP points. As EXP points accumulate, it will come to a point where you will experience a breakthrough to a new level and this will allow you to improve your own stats and your effectiveness in battle and your chosen profession. I recommend that from the start you choose your build and stick to it and don’t decide otherwise halfway or you will regret it as your chosen build cannot be redone, that is my advice to you.” Said council member W-357 as she hugged Raine and a tingling feeling can be felt all over Raine’s whole body as reflex responses are being written within Raine until the feeling passes and the process is complete. The council member W-357 then motions Raine towards the next council member in line.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you C-137, I am a member of the Yggdrasil council and my designation is V-100. My gift to you is a familiar token, this token will allow your Yggdrasil tree to design and create it’s own Guardian Force to guard the well being of your own Yggdrasil tree. The Guardian Force you can create will be limited only by your imagination and the power you are willing to part to maintain the Guardian Force existence, that is my advice to you.” Said council member V-100 as she pass a golden token, engraved with the symbol of the yggdrasil tree on both sides of the coin, to Raine’s outstretched hand. The council member V-100 then motions Raine towards the next council member in line as Raine pocketed her token on her cat tail belt side pocket.
Fleetingly Raine wonders why no one is questioning her attire choice but since on the way to the Citadel tower she have seen some versions of her walking around naked which she decided not to think about it.
“Well met C-137, I am the final member of the Yggdrasil council and the youngest, my designation is U-000. My gift to you is an elder Yggdrasil branch. You need to break the elder Yggdrasil branch in half when you are in great danger, for it will then summon one of the Yggdrasil council member Guardian Force to your location. The Guardian Force summoned would fight for you until you are safe again and it will be reverse-summoned back to their respective council member yggdrasil tree. Use it only in the direst of emergency as we are only willing to freely lend our power to members only once and we will not give you another once you have used it, that is my advice to you.” Said council member U-000 as she took out a blood red piece of a tree branch to Raine’s hand.
Since Raine has met with all the council members and received their gifts, she is now wondering what is she supposed to do now. The council member U-000 in front of Raine then clapped her hands and motions her fellow council members to join her at her dais together with Raine.
As all the council members gathered together surrounding Raine, council member U-000 holds Raine hand, the one that is not holding the blood red elder yggdrasil branch and leads Raine down the staircase towards the council chamber where her Guardian escorts are standing by, followed by all the council members behind U-000 and Raine.
Council member U-000 then pass Raine’s hand to Guardians escort N-007 hand, separating both U-000 and Raine. U-000 then returns back to her fellow council members and Raine standing in the center with her Guardian escorts surrounding her, and in turn are surrounded in a circle by the Yggdrasil council members.
“The Yggdrasil council hereby declare the completion of the naturalization of Yggdrasil with the designation C-137. From this moment on, we shall consider her as a fellow sisters of Yggdrasil and support her to the best of our ability. She will receive the benefits and the obligations due to her as a new member of our community. Council Guardian N-007, do you accept C-137 as your charge and everything that entails as you guide this sapling to be a productive and happy member of our community?” Said council member U-000 formally in a scripted manner.
“I accept C-137 as my charge and will mentor her in our ways and protect her if need be as she walks in her path of life just as I walk my path of life in the highway that we have built and maintained together.” Replied the Guardian escort N-007 as she holds Raine’s hand and recite the formal reply, ending the exchange.
Raine looks around at the surreal sight, she just arrived at a new and unfamiliar location as a newcomer and the first thing they did is arrange a meeting with the leaders and they have also arranged so that she will be guided and protected by a team of experienced and combat capable individuals who all look like her.
“Very well, this meeting is adjourned. May our paths cross again C-137, and just so you know... All of our names inside the citadel are Raine, just like yours.” Said council member U-000 as she waved cheekily at Raine.
Before Raine can reply to council member U-000, the disc she is standing on with her Guardian escorts descended from the council chamber and after travelling for a few minutes she founds herself back at the citadel’s tower lobby.
Raine then absentmindedly walked outside of the citadel tower lobby, followed from behind by her Guardian escorts.
“Tehe.. Hahahahaha!” Laughed Raine as she gets momentarily overwhelmed with information overload and the fatigue from having her blood drained.
Standing behind Raine, the Guardian escorts looks at each other and wonders what to do in this situation.
“Alright! That just happened...What do we say for a trip to the Purgatory Bar in the Presidium Commons area? I’d say she needed it more than we do.” Offered M-014 as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.
Raine turns her head slowly behind her, the thought of alcohol at this point is an attractive one.
“Alcohol sounds good, I just need a break from life.” Said Raine wearily as she hold and stares at the blood red elder Yggdrasil branch on her hand with sudden dread at the power she held in her hand and the power inside her breasts still pulsing warmly like a heartbeat.