Moving lights distracted Akyl when she sat finishing her plate of sandwiches as she woke up from her daydreaming self. Sitting on the chair with an almost loose height adjuster made her inch her legs closer to the ground every time a random click of plastic and metal silently peeps under her buttocks. She may be heavy for the office equipment yet she never tries to adjust it back, or for most let her mind properly adjust back into the life she’s currently living. Her mind was devoid of the events from A-city whenever she was wide awake, both physically and spiritually. The moment she loose sight of daylight, a debilitating yearning sweeps into her core. This indescribable thirst dries her throat and tells her body to succumb in a lust without thought or remorse. Recovering from the second incident did not entail her pretending she did, but the moment her focus loose grip on the reality she wants to face the rise of its effects seem to come crashing inside her. There was never a mome
Reina only raised her head a minute after Akyl sat down on one of the chairs in front of her table. The “good day” Akyl said to her was not the trigger for her to stop reading but the fact she’s already done sending responses in the meantime.Smiling in her small smirking sort-of manner, Reina reached under her desk to hand Akyl a box of mint sticks she keeps for her consumption. Not for her breaks, breath freshening, or any other reason, but to simply serve as a throwaway to any guest she has in her office. That’s the kind of simple hospitality she’s begun to show, as Reina observed most of her employees shift their mood when they’re offered a piece of candy before conversing.Keeping her façade even in the presence of someone who is internally aware of Reina’s folly won’t hurt her, but it does seem to get on most people’s nerves. The way Reina perceives Akyl’s expression during the time they were conversing about her role and work here in the labs.“So, how’s the team faring?” Asked
In Horaz’s burdened groggy confusion, he could only muster the energy to stand, even though he saw how ruined his torso was from being opened. There is no telling him what to feel or do because by default he cannot understand that he should be dead by now instead of looking like a fish and floundering for air above ground. Miraculous as he felt when he woke up despite the pinching feeling from his feet to his neck, the reality of his skin peeled back to reveal his internal self comes as a slow descent of “what’s going on” to a silent scream.Eyes bulging in seconds with a slurring mouth that fell open, Horaz clasped the metal table underneath his tilted body that follows the flow of his footing on a stopper at the end. His feet laid solid on the stopper, but straps held his legs firm over the table that’s why he could only push his arms forward. Doing so broke a part of his skin but it only tore apart due to the clamp and metal nail. It stuck loo
Chapter 26Silence echoed through the spotless metal of the stainless-steel vents of the Northwoods Lab, except for the breeze that the exhausts send through these air ducts, other things often end up coming through the lines of this ceiling that the maintenance crew only cleans this area of the building twice every day but on specific times. One lands itself early in the morning and the other is late at night, something that the people in the middle of the day would never see the cleaning staff’s presence. That’s why on this midday, two crows, with aging feathers but eager yet discreet footsteps trailed in the vents like they knew and owned the place.The one ahead is a frazzled tall head crow that walked with its wings close to its body. It tries its best to avoid having any contact with the walls or ceiling of the shaft, except for the ground it carefully treaded. Behind the “frazzle” crow is a crow at least a wee bit smaller in height but quite plump in width, with a cute tiny fea
Neighbors in Trust’s apartment would have said harassing rumors or negative things about his keeping a pet, and the footage that the security got of him finding a way through the roof and spending time with his five crows. Though it was a deviant activity, he was not a teenager with an unusual history nor a citizen of C-city with a bad record to clean. Sure this activity was neither something bad, just eerily peculiar, it did not stop Trust from finding a way to charm and slip his way out of being the “weirdo” of their complex.Betts was more the weirdo, for some bizarre reason, just for spending time out the window and watching the city go by at two in the morning. A few residents spied her with her messy bed hair while she watched the ground like a hawk, then look at the sky, doing this for one hour until she shut their window hard. The echoing slam was even heard by Trust when he arrived home to her greeting him a “welcome back.”He wou
Minutes passed by before the snob crow finished spending a considerably wholesome amount of time fondly rubbing its sleek head on Trust’s hand. Friction from the crow’s slightly roughed-up feathers shows as a reddish spot on his hand. He dismisses it without feeling any inch annoyed for the now sleeping thing.Disturbing it to ask if it could still properly connect with the other crows might defeat any purpose because he can sense the energy of his connection slightly fading as if to rest. This now gives him an excuse to internalize what options he could to decide between saving or letting Horaz’s fate to that place. Included in this matter is the involvement of the **** company in what activities they plan to partake towards whatever goal they plan to meet, regarding Horaz.He did conclude that he should bear a sense of responsibility towards the young boy’s fate, but should he act now or pursue any action later? If any knowledge should be put into the plans he can come up with, he h
Down the bus stop where Trust parted ways with a couple of kids he encountered on his way down the stairs, instead of taking the elevator, he’d left his face on a perpetual smile while he waved goodbye to the kids. The kind of smile where he knows it can disarm an old grumpy man with a rifle and the wife of the old man wooed, enough that both old people gave him a piece of their pie of the day. Which is what exactly happened during the time he went down the stairs.The muscles on his cheeks ached as he naturally left a placid smile, enough to think like he was a creep, but to his surprise, people find it quite the good first impression. Not that his smile worked like that since he was young, but he did attract people with his unexpected boundless energy and friendliness when he was a kid. Except for Betts who he didn’t become close friends until that one time in the southern cemetery during their elementary days.Being friends with a kid with who he spent little time before that day w
The sheer confusion on Trust’s face must have shown itself because Izobra eyed his face with a plastered smile, a practiced expression meant to look natural but to those who are sharp enough can tell it was forced. Itching to express his opinion but cautious at the misunderstanding he can spark, Trust kept his face schooled, with the same practiced stoicism that is neither haughty nor unpleasant to the onlooker. Personally thinking what Trust thinks about this revelation could take him a few days of expressly stalking them through any means necessary until he manages to plan a physical method on how to assess their “not human” humanity. When he says “not human,” they express themselves in natural ways that defeat the reality of his current skill as a Primer with high adeptness towards presences. Like a sixth sense aptly heightened to a degree that could rival a well-coded program. “We’re also friends of the doctor!” said Aurea, who seem to show more upfront friendliness and a bit of
EpilogueThe caves underground lead nowhere man could tolerate, with the pressure of the world pressing over them, no one can follow the Primer monsters as they exit the premise of C-city. These Primers are not going to be eaten and smothered by power over time, however, they will co-exist in a community built by Memoria.Memoria who sat almost half a millennia awake under the ruins of F-city played another game of race between the lines with several other internet connection nodes that are knowingly joined into the old working cable lines of the dead city. Then when the race finishes, they rest for the while, thinking like a person, old and hesitant.They’ve long forgotten that they could easily browse these connections so that they could monitor the condition of the world and their old friends who now walks the human world with the grace that could only dignify those with experience. They have experience too, of a different kind, all collected from the vast brains and words of those
Hi, there Nate here :) I've enjoyed writing this story so far, but things have been complicated and I won't be able to write it anymore. There are some moments that I wish I could have fixed in the long run but it's gotten too much to hold in just one hand. After this chapter will be a short Epilog for a short mention of each relevant characters final activities before the future becomest truly a mystery. This story ran its course, pretty long if you ask me, and the development of some characters are slow but steady. There will be a new title coming after this for the coming month, it's tentative title is "Ocular to the Dying Sun." A saga of the Prime Magician and the realm of Slitark according to before their brightest star continues to deteriorate. Have fun reading, please do leave comments~
Small-stature wobbled from their place in shock and confusion. They could hear voices, words they thought would not be possible to understand even if they have a sprinkle of memories of being able to say such things, such words. Vocabulary had almost slipped their still able memory of what they seem to perceive as their selves before this blind-like body.Their comrade underlings did not comprehend the creature in front of Small-stature, making them react in a scared way, almost darting to scurry in escape. Managing to hail them back into the premise of Small-stature’s vicinity was easy, what with One-arm herding them back to where they are.“My, forgive me. It seems like you are a newborn to this body.” Soft-spoken, as Small-stature calls them, listened to them say. “Let me soothe your worries, we are not here to relish harm upon our fellow. Rather, guide them.”Hearing and understanding what Soft-spoken said took about a few seconds of Small-stature’s comprehension, but their underl
Two presences from the premise disappeared when the small-statured creature sensed the sensation of an optimal sound and light came from underneath the ground. There was a pause as they waited for the arrival of this, oh so, comforting resonance.Anticipation. Tension. Pause.There was a definite halt in their senses when another sensation overpowered their most awaited event, that was just been triggered moments ago. Because of this, they knew that there was something wrong. Something that would bring them great demise and abandonment, even if they know they could survive without this “thing.”Grasping this “thing” was an answered prayer they knew would be something that could help develop their comrades and these sweet-scented underlings of theirs. Telling them that they would grow and develop into better creatures that could well benefit each other. Without words, just sounds and resonance, deeds.Still, they could not help but waver in tenacity when they felt the loss of this “thi
Waking up in another body is hellish beyond comparison. Imagine opening your eyes to blindness you didn't know existed, with the light coming from nowhere and everywhere. You don't see with your eyes, but you feel the world ten times stronger with nothing but your body who is sensitive to every kind of noise. Magic would have been more believable than realizing that your blindness is not caused by pain of any internal kind, but by your eyes absorbed inside your skull, sunken deep. Protected by a layer of skin thin but tough, while a substance within shakes and serves to stay it in place. Something moved within their skull, surreal but they could feel it moving with every shake and stir as if a jar of pickles with one pickle inside swimming in its vat of juice. Why am I comparing pickle to my situation? Calming themselves was easy, they “breathed” slow and steady, through a nose they could not feel or sense its presence on their face, but they know its there. Wildly adjusting their t
Chapter 37Skies don’t rain beans or bacon, but Horaz, who’s gotten himself used to the way the Primer identity roams his mind, sees that this Primer sure knows how to mix the setting they stand in by displaying all food he’s been craving for. Nothing beats being human and wanting nothing but to satiate your day with all the good comfort food that lives in your head, at least the ones you’ve tasted before.He has been yearning to eat more than raw meat, which his tongue and throat burned from the bitter taste, not sweet or delectable, but bitter and tangy at the same time. The youth of sixteen years has not tasted flesh the same way it’s described with a raw steak, though he prefers well done, he probably would have had the chance to taste raw steak in the time his family would celebrate special occasions.But he prefers well-done steak, baked beans, and the occasional tacos on the weekends. Softshell because he needs to cater to his girlfriend’s taste for cleanliness, hence food with
“Stand… down,” Akyl said slowly to the escorts. Her eyes watched the one arm that clung to the tail.She could tell that the tail, or the identity that controlled it, is strong today. There must be a correlation between their method of physical examination and their tail’s response to their body. Rather, she could sense that Horaz is just realizing that there was more to the process happening in his Primer body and just noticing it now.The other escorts, with guns that bore metal ammunition, followed through but the tranquilizer bearer did not ease his aim. The escort shook his head in rejection of her request and Akyl had to acknowledge this.Purce stood still, feeling her tension, more from fear, stiffen her body. The only part that could move was her eyes and she watched in anticipation if the doctor would do something first, or the Primer’s tail.Because, by now, she could see that the Primer is not just fighting the tail but struggling to keep its hold. The twitching stopped for
The confines of Horaz’s room remained cold with the sprinkle of “nature’s touch,” meaning the occasional soil and other debris that could serve as “entertainment options.” Noticing the Primer consciousness be a creature of boredom was one the laboratory did not expect, and so did Horaz.Discovering this was not hard to conclude when the Primer tends to play and hunt the staff and escort that enters its domain whenever they feed or try to clean his “room.” At most, if they didn’t leave any kind of living creature to distract the Primer during its stay in the laboratory, the likeliness of it trying to destroy their place seemed likelier.Reina remembered the kind of creature the first Primer was, despite staying for only a few days in their presence. This alpha Primer did things in calculated actions as if, the creature itself wanted things to go their way so it could pretend to give them what they want.She concluded this according to how the staff then felt its actions were much devis
Purce had to double take, knowing that the answer used, one thump of any body part meant “no.” Hastily, she signaled to Elbi that Horaz – the human consciousness, did not agree to the next procedure.Because of this, Moss suddenly wondered why the electrical current request they were aiming to control, and monitor stopped. She saw from her peripheral that Dr. Akyl left her post, the other touchscreen panel, and approached Elbi and Purce.Elbi was adjusting the program, already on its way to booting up enough electrical charges in the ideal percent, but an abrupt stop in this charging requires a reset for the application and machine. Because if it did not stop and proceed to use for its intended purpose, it would go haywire or overflow.The very machine of the gurney can only hold enough electrical charge, the extra energy that flows through the needles are nodes that cannot let one charge in it stay still. It must go through and ride the sails and winds or else it will burn. This is n