“Did you hear anything from Bartol, he was supposed to be the one handling the jail cells this morning? There’s a ton of paperwork still in need of organizing,” asked Chipper to one of his coworkers.This question could be heard in the corridor on the way to the jail cell where Mirror was half awake, looking at the iron bar door, waiting. Someone replied from another area of the corridor, but it was too muffled for Mirror to hear properly. All aspects of their enhanced senses have gone down to twenty-five percent, and even if they were provided with sustenance, the food they consumed barely gave them the energy their components can function with.“Ho—what?” Chipper said as his footsteps stopped, he was nearer to the door now by the volume of his voice. “Did you say they’re on indefinite leave? What the hell? They’ve been absent for no reason since they worked here, and now they’re skipping work again. How the hell am I supposed to do my fieldwork if people slack in the office?”Anothe
The free day’s Imago had away from doing their daycare volunteer work feels like a respectful rest that was brought upon by the worry they were thrust upon. Concern was not the word that could surmise the loneliness they felt as they thought of Mirror and the time they spent apart. If not for the will they wanted to accomplish in integrating through the society they chose, or preferably the only one they have; they wouldn’t be “obediently” following the primitive law the humans established in this town.Subjecting themselves to learning about the society they thought would exist outside of the ruined city. Would the people fit amongst the technology they once stored and lived with back in the ruined city? They wouldn’t be having a hard time compelling themselves into weeding out potential lives to be loyal. As much, as they wanted to know what the world of humans is like now the most advanced city has sunken into nowhere but almost extinction.What is currently, slowly revealed in Ima
There were only two days until the inevitable trial for the incarceration of Mirror. The one fate Imago was given clue in from Chipper the day before Diyan visited them. Surprisingly, there was no revolt in their mind nor the will to completely fight, but the evidence that piled up versus the middle ground subjugation of the masses proved a greater enemy versus the face of indecision. Deciding to ponder Diyan’s words about the involvement of certain individuals to bully and acquire Mirror from the crowd felt like a horror movie gone wrong in the means of the rich and mediocre. Though, this sentiment was not originally from Imago but from Chipper who divulged Diyan’s information. It was clear that there are some forces they cannot go against unless they solve things the way they get out of a box and you’re a cat inside, pouncing outward forcibly. “Do you think the legitimacy of her words can be certain?” asked Chipper as they met during his shift break. “The last time I recall, Diyan
As much as Imago placed their feet lightly on the ground, they could not help but garner attention from the ladies who looked at them a little bit peculiar. Since the morning, Imago has shifted their physique and appearance to that of a young man, wearing a suit hiding their torso’s male lacking features. Easy as it is to cut their hair short enough to look manly, their facial feature was a different matter. So, instead of this debacle, disguising themselves to fit the bill of a theatre attendant or employee was the nearest they could think to enter the premise without setting any sights on Imago. They opted to naturally immerse in the opulence of being a patron with enough cash to walk in the theatre’s streets enough to scare them. Being in control of people around Imago by sheer presence was a unique experience to observe. People from within the community, used to Imago’s unbecoming messy self, poked their heads in curiosity and bias at the languid misplaced aura of awe that it pro
Sitting on the hidden part of their shed on the rooftop of the apartment complex, lit with the light of the town, was the picture of a woman smiling lazily at the lens of the camera. Their eyes looked dull in the color of sepia, but it did not hide her beauty and class that shone through the demure slump of her shoulders. Coifed braided hair adorned the back of her scalp while a crown of simple silver chain jewels laid on her forehead onto the edges of the braid that lands almost behind her inwardly curled ears. White was the color of her hair due to the hue that looked like several lines looked off contrast and too bright, but the setting of the background depicted the dark inlay of the streets she was photographed in with a simple light grey colored dress that was tied on the neckline by a striped ribbon. She was exuding a rich lady playing for the first time in a place unusual and nothing bothered her, not even the world that looked unusual. The document read Emmy Darmstadt*, she
Sitting in the courtroom, for the first time, felt real to Imago in a way a tourist would absorb the historical museum visit included in their travel tour. Conceptually it’s an educational trip filled with culture and tradition, but for the moment, it’s not the building’s history at play with the wonder but the people residing.Conjunctions of spilling vocal anger and the never subsiding volley of protests pour out the noise pollution filling the room as a few of the watchers sitting in the trial voiced their opinion’s one by one. Unfair comparisons built on biased stories gapped the families who witnessed the prosecution of the one person who they believed is the cause of strife and punishment for their relative, child, partner, or parent, to succumb to a spiral called addiction.Wary a person can become at the center of borderline lynching, Imago watched at the calmness Mirror exuded as the frown on their partner’s face deepened when the watcher’s outside of the main trial kept on p
The struggle to trap the stabber should have been solved when Chipper and the young man, identified by Mirror as Imago carrying a large bag, captured him in a body slam duo. Imago weighted themselves with the bag that contained their portable generator, conveniently on their body well strapped in the backpack bag. Their knee is on one shoulder trying to avoid the neck while their weight was heavier on the other knee that sat by the leg adjacent to the shoulder.“Augh,” winced Chipper, the stab wound now fully bleeding as the knife was still inside him.He body slammed the stabber just to have a chance to avoid the stabber’s escape, it was fortunate that the lawyer got in the way so that the swerve the stabber did, had to assume a sharp corner turner. The sudden turn takes time to step away and over, giving Chipper a chance so that he could force himself to heave his body over as a blockage.Chipper felt the sting become unbearable so the focus on his legs and elbow gave way when he po
The place Imago and Mirror stayed in was cheap for the middle class, enough for a day of stay. Sure, it was short-lived comfort, but Imago worked for a good conditional situation the two of them could talk with the owner. Business deals are not a thing Imago could haggle but sure enough, provide ample proof of their ability in as much sincerity as the owner liked despite being fishy in the way he sees the two. Agreeing to hire them with a trial of one week with the following conditions, memorizing routines, menus, services, and all major rules of the hotel. Within the day they had the deal. Sure enough, they met the requirements as if they naturally lived for it. Thus, the start of their first day to work in a hotel down in the northwestern area, near the town center municipality sparked a week. Such a thing would not have worked if they did not pass the first level of assessment, the aesthetic requirement the owner wanted for their servers. Moreso for how handsome Mirror was that th
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