January 13, 2019. The day I left Earth.

“Greetings Citizen Pandora.” A deep smooth voice says. It seems familiar, but at the same time I can’t place it. The empty room doesn’t give me many hints either.

“Uh hi?” I hear myself greet the voice, my past self blinking vigorously against the bright light shining in her face.

“I hope you will forgive me for this intrusion. It’s not often I need to act directly. But the System alerted me to the nature of your Matrix.”

“I don’t understand. What System? What’s a matrix? Who are you? Is this part of the game?” My other self asks, the blurry form making a motion with their hand and finally shifting into focus in front of her… me… whatever.

“No, I’m not part of a game. My name is Odeon.”

My past-self shields her eyes and squints. Odeon’s resemblance to the mad-elf I saw when I gained my class is striking. I know I’ve heard of Odeon before, but I can barely remember. In appearance, the only difference between her and the mad elf are her empty black eyes and a slightly rounder face. Her ears are just as sharp though.

“Are you an elf?” My past-self asks.

“No. But it’s a better comparison than god. Despite what my siblings may say.”

“Wait? You’re a god?” Rubbing my eyes, my past self squints at the ‘elf’.

The elf sighs, her wings heaving as she says, “That was my own fault, wasn’t it? No, I’m not a god. I’m just a mortal creature, like you.”

“Yeah. You don’t look like a god. Really good CGI. Like an elf/angel hybrid, maybe.” My past self paces around the elf, inspecting her plumage.

“It’s not important,” Odeon says, turning to follow past-me as I walk around her.

“Can I choose elf/angel as my avatar? That’d be sweet.”

“No. Listen… forget it. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you; you’re not going to remember anyway.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to wipe my mind? What sort of men in black game design is that?”

“No one's erasing anything. I’m just setting up a safety protocol. And part of ensuring it works means keeping this memory contained.”

“Wait. Why are you setting up a safety protocol?” There’s a quiver in my past self’s voice that makes me want to reach out and hug her. Even though I’m inside her.

“Because you are dangerous. Possibly too dangerous. But I’ve never been one to strip a user’s abilities away simply because of the threat they may pose. So, I’m setting something in place to keep you from destabilizing spacetime.”

“Uhh. Don’t suppose you could run that by me again. You’re going to keep me from doing what?”

“Limiters. On your powers.”

“Are you sure this isn’t part of the game? Feels like part of a game.”

Odeon doesn’t respond, her eyes flickering back and forth but otherwise remaining still.

“Right. I’m just going to… stand around doing nothing, I guess.” Feeling the hunching of my shoulders, and the way I’m curled in on myself, I again feel an instinctive need to give past me a hug.

“Oh. Oh, that’s… that’s interesting. You’ve been registered with the System for… over six-hundred years. That can’t be right. Oh, your matrix. Of course,” Odeon mumbles before looking up and seeing my past-self huddling. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve interacted with regular people.”

“It’s fine,” past-me says, shrugging it off and forcing a fake smile on her face I was far too familiar with before I came to Akilo. “But maybe you can explain what you mean?”

Odeon shifts, her black eyes glowing several different shades of blue before nodding. Her appearance in that moment is oddly reminiscent of Theglia. I can't help but think neither would appreciate the comparison.

“Very well," Odeon says, explaining what I might encounter on the new world. As Odeon explains the System, Attributes and even Facet to past-me, I can’t help but feel frustrated that this was all laid out for me then sealed away.

“Sab is going to be so jealous when I tell her about all this,” past-me exclaims as Odeon shows her how to channel mana.

Odeon raises an eyebrow but doesn’t deign to respond. It’s in this moment that I remember that Odeon’s a Creator. She’s the one that Demo’s always using in his curses.

Welp, that’s wonderful. Personal attention from a Creator. And she sealed my abilities in a box. Except… that means I’m supposed to be even more powerful? That can’t be right.

“Wait. I’m not going to be able to show this to anyone. You said I’m going to forget all about it.”

“Probably, yes.”

“Should’ve just stood around doing nothing. Knowing I’m going to lose...” Past me gestures with a ball of fire, then lets it flicker out. “Well, I guess that’s about on par for the day, really.”

“Oh, you’ll get your little ball of fire back soon enough. In fact, if the System’s correct, you’ll be one of the most talented mages to come out of your planet’s Integration.”

“Well, that’s cool. Am I going to be able to call lightning, like Storm?”

“Among other things, yes. Now, I should get back to work. The longer I’m here, the more of a delay before you wake up and discover your new powers.”

“Right, right. Sorry.” Past me floats the little ball of fire around, barely large enough to see. “So cool,” she whispers to herself as Odeon’s eyes continue to flash blue in the background.

Past-me doesn’t seem to notice, but when she whispers, Odeon’s eyes stop flashing for a second as she turns her gaze on past-me with a small smile. The first smile I’ve seen since she’s arrived.

“Oh. There’s another pesky little modification tucked away in here. Hmm. Best to just… yes, slowly allow her to be unshackled. My brother really needs to stop trying to steal people’s toys,” Odeon mutters in a voice low enough that I don’t know if my past self heard her. My past self certainly doesn’t respond. Odeon returns to her work for a few more seconds until her eyes stop flickering and she says, “well, that’s that. Take care of yourself, and good luck.”

Before my past self can respond, Odeon closes the box.

In response, the memory starts to tremble, my soul-scape in danger of collapse. I start scrambling to reinforce it, but whatever she did has destroyed the underlying structure. There’s nothing left to reinforce.

So, I start trying to build a new framework. Of everything I've tried so far, the soul-scape seems to respond better using things that are important to me. So, I try to assemble a foundation from my magic. I spend several long minutes, trying to build it up. But it fails, my soul-scape continuing to crumble.

As it crumbles it gets harder to concentrate, memories flashing into my mind as though I were reliving them with no awareness of my present peril. It’s not until I come face to face with the Ugly tree that I’m able to concentrate again. I lash myself to the Ugly tree, ordering my thoughts. Once I have the first of my thoughts in order, I secure more memories to the tree. But I can feel myself filling with guilt, dread and self-loathing.

The tree is solid, but it's a poisonous anchor. It could spell my doom as surely as having none.

So, I start searching for other memories. Places with strong visual and emotional connections.

The backyard behind our house — a frozen image of papa in his chair on the back porch — becomes my second image. It draws me out of the downward spiral, but I’m unable to attach any of my memories or skills.

It’s only once I move to Akilo I find a place that serves properly. The Smoulder-themed temple I crafted. Not the one they made for me. The first one I made with her back in our first dungeon. My fourth is Rufka’s cabin. Not Genitha’s. It’s the same but different. Not cluttered with Genitha’s debris, but Rufka’s instead.

Still a mess though.

Fastening my memories in place, I discover a problem. They’re floating disconnected. There’s nothing unifying them. This is emphasized when my thoughts jump around, disconnected until focus returns.

I try using Twilight, but it only connects memories by theme. It refuses to serve as the greater connection.

Thinking desperately, I attempt to Pause, needing to buy more time.

It works.

My crumbling soul-scape freezes in place, the disparate portions no longer careening toward each other. My thoughts become clear as well. They’re no longer scattered fragments.

And I understand what unifies everything.

It’s… my perspective and understanding. The very real way that my memories are connected to me, and I am to them.

Drawing my Facet from where it’s been pooling at the centre of my soul-scape, I begin weaving it through my soul-scape, creating a foundation of connections from memory to memory, thousands of lesser memories filling the space between the ones I’ve chosen as pillars. I imbue everything with a proper understanding of when as well as why. How and what are already provided. The where, just as much so.

As I shift my mental constructs, there’s a new problem. I don’t have enough major images to keep everything connected and stable. I need more. So, summercamp with Sab is incorporated. As is the village Uthica grew up in. Neither is enough on their own, but together they help create a balance.

It’s only as they’re all shifting into place that the shaking of my soul-scape starts to ease. What would’ve happened if I’d failed?

Luckily, I don’t know. If I’m truly lucky, I’ll never find out.

Attempting to open my eyes, I discover that while the darkness has cracked and sloughed away from the shell imprisoning me, I’m still stuck inside the Seed. And it would appear it’s a literal seed. I can make out forms moving beyond my now transparent and obviously egg-shaped prison. I try to yell out, but I’m unable to form any words. I have no idea if slamming my body into the walls has any effect. Especially since I hardly have enough room to move, the Seed having shrunk again. Or maybe I’ve grown. Either way, I fill the Seed… or maybe egg? Either way, I fill it completely at this point.

Since I don’t grow tired, I continue trying to escape. To get their attention. My tendrils of Facet are constrained, unable to pass through. As are my attempts to wield mana. Yet I continue to work, occasionally throwing myself against the egg-seed to test it as shapes come and go, the light growing dark then light again for over thirty cycles. I try to watch them, but there’s nothing but the barest of movement discernable.

So, I turn to runes. For once I’m thankful for my missing enchanting skill. Never once was it consolidated by the System. Every memory I have of it remains at my disposal. Can’t take away what it never gave me.

Eventually, I manage to link myself to the shell with an intricate working of Twilight, reinforced by several Integration points worth of Essence. Well, intricate for me. It's probably incredibly basic to Rufka, Fethix or… hundreds of other enchanters. Still, it's working. Mostly. With the limited ability to decipher stimuli, I get my first real observation of the outside world.

The room is empty, save for a large number of statues shaped like Smoulder. In fact, they look suspiciously similar to the anchors I used in my early attempt to save my soul-scape. I watch the room for a full day, based on the brightening and darkening of the entrance, but no one comes. It seems I’m going to need to get myself out of here.

Since I’ve figured out how to get sight working, it stands to reason there must be a way through the shell. I just need to adjust my methods to allow me to use Facet instead of light.

Another cycle passes as I work, barely aware of the outside, my attention focused on the runes. As the cycle changes once more, the fading light barely illuminating the chamber, I complete my adjustments. I feed an infinitesimal amount of Facet through the shell, creating a connection to the outside. This seems to be a trigger. My Facet suddenly snaps against the shell, causing the transparent barrier to crack. Several repetitions later, I manage to break the shell completely.

Staggering forward, I collapse to the floor. I fail to catch myself, my magic sputtering from disuse, my right hand still missing and my left insufficient for the task on its own.

Pulling myself up, I crawl forward, following the stairs leading to the light above.

I reach the surface. Above, a starry sky greets me. For a moment I think I’ve returned to Earth. But then I spot Ukila.

It hangs there, surrounded by stars I shouldn’t be able to see. Stars that were locked away hundreds of years ago. There are voices in the distance. Unfamiliar voices of K’tharn in the distance.

And one familiar voice.

Allowing myself to sink down before rolling onto my back, I stare up into the starry sky taking a deep breath. Still don’t know where I am. But I’m alive.

That’s a win.

There’s a growing sense of peace from within, and I realize I still have the Seed within me as a purring sound fills my ears with… not quite notifications.

“System Reconstruction Ready to commence.”

“Class Reconstruction templates unlocked: Void Cataclysm Lotus, Radiant Cataclysm Lotus, Cataclysm Yggdrasil Sapling, Gaia’s Cataclysm Oakling, Cataclysm Paradox.”

Then, with the warm voice still resonating in my ear, a soft nose pushes against my cheek. A feeling of smug satisfaction passes through mine and Smoulder's bond as she vibrates against my face.

Definitely a win.