5 Days Later..

The last few days had been strangely quiet and things had turned into a bit of a routine. With Seren having returned to living in my head rent free - HEY - just kidding! - things had once again changed dramatically, yet also paradoxically stabilised.

Okay yes, a routine filled with evading corrupted walking calamities and fighting mutated wildlife whilst repeatedly ‘teleporting’ down the motorway...but it is a routine nonetheless!

And now that she was back, it was like I had a second pair of eyes and ears to look out for me. Which meant that we ate the distance faster than ever before, gliding through the hordes and, like I said, things had started to become routine.

However, today was a bit different.

One difference was that 30 minutes had passed of me standing in the same spot and I hadn’t had anything try to eat, maim or lay eggs in me.

Which reminds me to remind myself to NEVER EVER go near a treasure chest that’s just sitting in the middle of the road, EVER again. No matter how shiny it looks..

I shuddered and suppressed the memory, further down to the place where I put other gems such as saying “thanks, you too” to service staff when they say “enjoy your food”.

Oh the social trauma..

But the main thing that was different about today was that I had come across a gigantic white grey cube structure taking up the space where the motorway should be, and oh so much more.

And right now I was just staring at it, wondering what to do.

Mysterious cube..You'd have loved my old friend the secretive EXP orb..

Damn, I think I'm going to cry..

#G#Grave# So let me get this straight. It's just a giant..cube?

#G#Godu# Yup. A gigacube.

#G#Mya# So, is there anything around it?

#G#Godu# Nope. It's just a giant cube structure, just..sitting there.

#G#Siya# Perhaps there are gifts inside?

#G#Mya# Sorry. That's my fault. I was teaching Siya about birthdays and gift giving during the holidays. Siya mi amor, not all things in boxes are gifts, sorry!

#G#Siya# Curses. But how do we know for sure if we don't look inside?

#G#Mya# That's…

#G#Grave# Girls got a point there Mya.

It was unsettling, but also incredibly fascinating. I was absolutely compelled to get a closer look, but I didn't really know where to start.

The thing must have been 1km tall and wide, but the base had a massive deep trench dug out around, so a third of it was below ground level.

#G#Godu# I'm just going to check it out. I can't leave it. I know it's the kind of thing that gets you killed in horror films but I'm probably the most qualified to inspect it with little risk and I'll need to go around it anyways.

#G#Mya# Alright, but try and keep your kind and naiveness in check this time bello.

I grinned at her endearment. She worries about us all so much, bless her.

#G#Godu# Heh, you got it Mya, don't worry. Alright, I'll check back in once I've had a look. Talk soon.

#G#Mya# Okay. OH and dinner will be ready in an hour so don't miss it. We have slow cooked beef with canned veggies.

Ooooooooo I will certainly NOT be missing that!

#G#Grave# Sweet damn! I'm heading back right now in that case. My ETA will be 40 mins.

I acknowledged and returned focus on the cube

So then my cubular friend. What secrets do you hide..

I began by keeping my distance and going anti clockwise around the trench. It must have been 200 metres wide and probably 200 metres deep, and it had been dug with a level of precision that just compounded the creepiness.

As I investigated, my mind became distracted as I couldn’t help but think back on some of the things that Seren had told me since she returned, which wasn’t a lot but it was encouraging and most importantly, comforting.

I had been successful in maiming the Cage-eater demon but forcefully activating Slipfold with the interference had somehow disconnected Seren from me.

Unknown consequences eh?

She explained that, after I’d abra cadabra’d, she’d been left in the decaying corpse of the demon having somehow managed to commandeer a cluster of EXP-like shimmer. Shortly after, she was flooded by the sheer amount of the Cage-demons EXP that was left behind by me that was still accessible to her to use. Which was fortunate because this kept her alive.

Fucking Majik makes no sense.

She had a limited amount of sensory information available to her in this state, but crucially there was a giant beacon telling her what direction I was so she could tell that I was alive, just not where.

So she had spent a few weeks figuring things out, with the first few days on how to move in this state, hiding in relative safety wherever she could find it.

And then, when she had mastered the basics of physical existence, she felt prepared for the journey and had left a message for Marri that would have unquestionably let her know I was still alive and set off towards the beacon.

Serens senses were limited to essentially what were energy fields created by Majik, but she reassured me that Marri and Lone were very healthy when she left. She didn’t divulge exactly what the message said, however, but she told me would undoubtedly get me in her good books and smooth the whole thing over.

Deeply concerning.

From her stories, it was a very long, seriously peril filled journey, with various creatures and entities attempting to claim her existence for their growth. Yet she was a survivor, “Just like you darling!”' and even though her fighting prowess was extremely limited in her cloud form, she had managed to defeat a few combatants.

But not all.

Instead, she had been taking names and inside the soul space was a newly raised plinth with a rather long kill list.

“I WILL have my revenge Godu, those slimes will pay for their transgressions. And the Wraiths..oh those bastards fucked around and they WILL find out..”

Chilling.

Returning focus back to the cube, it ended up only taking me 15 minutes to complete the circuit and I made sure to plonk anchors down on each side, just for the sake of having options if anything since the skill was very clear that I could place them indefinitely.

My library of fold points was easily in the thousands by now but Seren had been sifting through them whilst cataloguing the points so that she had as many data points as possible for-

..OKAY what the hell is this?

My train of thought was interrupted, as, on the other side at the base of the cube, there was a large ramp leading up to a doorway that looked small, but would definitely be huge up close.

The cube..it entices me.

A quick look wouldn't harm anyone so I folded down to the ramp and looked up.

Shivers ran down my spine at this completely alien structure; the surfaces were completely unnatural and whatever manufactured it, had done so with some kind of additive process. The tiny lines repeating the same pattern suggest so.

I folded up the ramp to the entrance and gazed with awe at the huge triangular entrance.

It was filled with a silvery white ferrofluid that rippled and crawled, seemingly breaking the laws of physics by maintaining its vertical structure.

A fluid doorway..adding that to the pile of weird shit I've seen.

All my instincts were screaming danger, but my sense of security was being heavily inflated by my Slipfold capabilities…I walked towards the fluid door.

(+)Request Tx(+)

Gain access to the Bastille.

Details: Approach the gateway.

What the flying piss is a Bastille? Some kind of fruit gum?

My uncultured and uneducated mind raced as I shakily approached. My temples were pulsing audibly and my heart was going mental. My instincts had gone from screaming danger, to rocking back and forth screeching incoherently.

What the hell am I doing..

But I couldn't stop.

I wiped my sweating palms on my trousers and swallowed nervously as I approached the liquid gate and finally I reached out to touch it.

It kind of reminds me of-

*BWAAAAAAAAARG*

Out of FUCKING nowhere, a loud klaxon blared out, making me absolutely shit myself - most thankfully, not in the literal sense - but I had jumped back a few metres and almost Slipfolded the heck out of there, only staying because of the writing that materialised in dark red glowing letters on the gateway.

"Fudging, bloody.. stupid jumpscaring.." I grumbled to myself as I read.

BASTILLE ACCESS DENIED.

REQ: 80 MAGN

"A SIMPLE SIGN WOULD BE SUFFICIENT IN THE FIRST PLACE DICKHEADS!" I threw my hands in the air, waiting for an apology or something but only silence and the whistling wind answered me.

"Tsk" I turned around and walked into..thin air.

Wh-

Everything went black.

…

..

.

“What the FUCK!?” I cried out and bolted up right off the galaxy bed, panic had taken over as I looked around.

THIS IS BAD GODU. REALLY BAD!-

“YES, but what the hell just happened?! Am I dea-ARGHHHHHHHHH!” I interrupted her but then was heavily punished with a paralyzing jolt of electricity.

AHHHHHH!!!

“HGGGGRRRRRRRMMMMMFFF!”

Seren was screaming.

I was screaming.

WHAT-GRRR-THE-HELL-AUGHGH-”IS HAPPENINGGGGG!!”

A sickening lurch pulsed through my stomach and my eyes felt like they were being sledgehammered into my skull, as my back arched and I felt something clamp down on me, draining away my energy, my strength..my very soul.

After a few excruciating moments, it relented, and I was left on the ground dazed, my eyes rolling in their sockets, I couldn’t make out shapes, I couldn’t think properly.

It was like I had been drugged and had cellophane wrapped around my head.

Ughhhhh…

I managed to lift my what felt like100KG heavy head, and drunkely looked at Seren.

Wha-she's… Chained up?

“Seren what…ugh. WHY are you chained up? What’s going on?”

Ughhhh…

She just groaned, her eyes were closed; Her head was lolling from side to side.

A transparent square appeared and words started to form.

[ALERT. CAUTION.]

[CRITICAL EFFECTS DETECTED: DISABLED. LOCKDOWN. NEURAL ORCHESTRA BREACHED. ACCESS CONTROL OVERWRITE IN PROGRESS..]

NO!

Me and Siya had tested the Cuffs of Lockdown and this was the exact status effect when we put them on. All except the access control, THAT was new and extremely worrying.

[ATTEMPTING MIND FIREWALL REDUCTION.]

[STANDBY..]

My head grew hot and I felt cold like I had a fever. Thoughts started to whisper at me, telling me to obey else I would be in serious trouble. That I just had to follow the orders and everything would be okay. They had my best interests and wanted me to be safe-

O-o..I.I’m not..

I started to wonder if maybe the voices were telling the truth..maybe they wanted-

N-NO.

Seren burst out from her chains, disintegrating them.

N-NO. REFUSED. DENY ALL ACCESS CONTROL CHANGES!! DENY! DENY!

[..]

[...]

[REDUCTION SUCCESSFUL.]

She slumped to the ground and laughed in triumph, breathing heavily. A small thought surface - since when did she need to breathe?.. - but it was quickly forgotten as I felt some strength return to my body.

HA!..Phew..managed..to..give them the finger..

She tried to stand up but collapsed, so I heaved myself up with a grunt of effort and tried to pick her up but she was so damned heavy I could barely lift her torso.

So I resorted to dragging her most graciously to the galaxy bed, grunting words out with each pull.

“Ughhhh-can’t-why-does-this-always-happen-to-mmmmmmmeeOOF!” with a heave I managed to pull her up onto the bed and then flopped down next to her, feeling completely exhausted from the exertion.

We both lay there resting, recovering what little energy we could.

They..attempted to mindhack you..but not..on my watch Godu..ha!..not on my watch..

Ooh give me a break..

“Who’s-”

Bad people Godu. They are not negatives, but they have corrupt signatures lurking on their clothes and skin. I can’t see them right now since you're taking a nap, but I can smell them and hear them, and I can analyze a few things..we’ve still got a few tricks up our sleeves!

She was right. As she fed me information directly into my thoughts, I could sense 4, no, 5, people near me and I was being moved. The fifth person was incoherent and kept disappearing somehow..

Must be stealth or some kind of blocker. Ugh. I hate stealth types..sneaky critters..

They were strong, but respectfully, actually fuck these cunts - DISRESPECFULLY, they were weak as shit compared to us.

Higher MAGN levels but still somehow weaker, my gut told me so. And my gut is never wrong…right?

“Okay. Okay. So at least we-um, I’m not dead. Huh... That is a good point. What happens to you if I die?”

Godu… She tilted her head to the side and gave me a sad frown. Don’t even think like that. I don’t know exactly what, but, what would the point be in my existence if you weren’t there?

“Okay sorry.. Shit..we are certainly in a bit of a fucking pickle though..”

Don’t worry. We just need to stay focused and wait for an opportunity. We’re cuffed, our stats are all reduced by 99%, we’re outnumbered, plus we’ve got a ‘mind fiddler’ in the mix and-

She trailed off and stared into the distance.

Silence.

More silence.

“..um, and?”

And..We're heading towards a place of death and violence. They are talking about some kind of arena and the corrupted. Sounds like a wonderful place.

“Fuck…okay. Let’s try and come up with a plan before we get there.”

The goal was simple: find a way to get the cuffs off ASAP. But the how was going to be very difficult. Unless someone else helped us we would effectively be at MAGN level 1 or normal human stats.

Which right now is like being a kid in an MMA tournament..

So either need a key or someone to take pity, or, try and bargain.

“Okay well..I guess I have nothing to do but wait until they wake me up?”

Unfortunately, yes. We are currently at their complete mercy. They can’t control us, but they can keep you unconscious. I’m sorry, I should have sensed them coming..

I ruffled her head and pulled her in for a hug.

“Don’t be daft, this isn’t your fault. No matter what happens, we’ll figure it out. Besides, Marri would come to whatever afterlife and annihilate me if I died before her..” I sighed a nervous chuckle.

She really would.

Heheh, yeah you’re right, she quite literally said that once in the past.

She conjured up a screen and showed me the memory of us dancing at our wedding where she straight up threatened my very soul with the same promise and with the sweetest smile - Haha man that was a fantastic day..

We decided to watch a few more fun memories, which actually didn’t feel weird with Seren, even with the new revelation that she was somehow a different entity.

She’d always felt like she was a part of me.

Alwa-###

####

###!

#!!!

!!!!

“MUUARGHHHHHHH!!”

Pain.