Your vision begins with a mersapien man hunched over a small table, a number of tools strewn out around him.
As he scratches away at a small stone tablet, a smaller mersapian floats past his head, scratching away at her own similarly sized tablet.
She lets out a large sigh as she passes by her dad’s head.
He doesn’t look up from his work.
When she gets to the other side of the room she gives a flick of her tail and starts lazily drifting towards her dad again. Letting out another, more exaggerated sigh when she was just behind her dad.
He puts down his tools and looks at her.
“What is it Alex?”
“I’m done with my tablet but you’re taking foreeeeeever!”
Marinos chuckled softly at his daughter’s impatience. “These things take time, my little hatchling. You have to make sure you put the right intention into the curse tablets or else they won’t work!”
“Uuuuuuggghhhhh, I knooooow. And I did! You just take too long!”
“Well maybe your dad just has more things to get off his chest than you do!”
With that Alex swam up close to him “Oh? Who do you need to curse?”
“It’s not always about wishing ill on those that hurt you, it’s also about… influencing aspects of your life. It’s about reaching out to the forces beyond and getting help for what you’re dealing with. It doesn’t always have to be against someone.”
“Oh yea? If it’s not supposed to be against someone, why are they called curse tablets?”
Marinos laughed at this “You got me there. And I’m almost done. Go get the bags for carrying them. We’ll head out to the Triumphant Deep soon.”
Alex swam off into another room but kept yelling back to her dad “Why do we have to go all the way out there? Isn’t the drop off nearby deep enough?”
Marinos spoke back loudly so his daughter would hear “We could do it here, but if you really want what you write to stick you have to do it somewhere special. Somewhere important. That’s why everyone goes to the Triumphant Deep. No place more important than the place the Ancients fell!”
Alex swam back into the room holding two messenger bags. “Ok, fine. We’ll go but tomorrow we do what I want to do. Ok?”
Marinos nodded while loading his curse tablet into his bag “Absolutely. Tomorrow, we’ll take it easy and do whatever you want.”~
She lets out a large sigh as she passes by her dad’s head.
He doesn’t look up from his work.
When she gets to the other side of the room she gives a flick of her tail and starts lazily drifting towards her dad again. Letting out another, more exaggerated sigh when she was just behind her dad.
He puts down his tools and looks at her.
“What is it Alex?”
“I’m done with my tablet but you’re taking foreeeeeever!”
Marinos chuckled softly at his daughter’s impatience. “These things take time, my little hatchling. You have to make sure you put the right intention into the curse tablets or else they won’t work!”
“Uuuuuuggghhhhh, I knooooow. And I did! You just take too long!”
“Well maybe your dad just has more things to get off his chest than you do!”
With that Alex swam up close to him “Oh? Who do you need to curse?”
“It’s not always about wishing ill on those that hurt you, it’s also about… influencing aspects of your life. It’s about reaching out to the forces beyond and getting help for what you’re dealing with. It doesn’t always have to be against someone.”
“Oh yea? If it’s not supposed to be against someone, why are they called curse tablets?”
Marinos laughed at this “You got me there. And I’m almost done. Go get the bags for carrying them. We’ll head out to the Triumphant Deep soon.”
Alex swam off into another room but kept yelling back to her dad “Why do we have to go all the way out there? Isn’t the drop off nearby deep enough?”
Marinos spoke back loudly so his daughter would hear “We could do it here, but if you really want what you write to stick you have to do it somewhere special. Somewhere important. That’s why everyone goes to the Triumphant Deep. No place more important than the place the Ancients fell!”
Alex swam back into the room holding two messenger bags. “Ok, fine. We’ll go but tomorrow we do what I want to do. Ok?”
Marinos nodded while loading his curse tablet into his bag “Absolutely. Tomorrow, we’ll take it easy and do whatever you want.”~
Jun Mori had become very comfortable talking to cameras.
This was largely because Kage0nna rarely occupied the same room as him anymore, although technically she occupied every room connected to City Control at once, which made the distinction increasingly meaningless.
Jun stood beneath one of the main sensor arrays with three holo-slates tucked beneath his arm and a cup of mushroom coffee steaming in the other hand.
“I think you can leave.”
Nothing happened.
Jun waited as a nearby camera slowly rotated toward him.
“I know you heard me.”
The speakers crackled.
"Emergency response remains below pre-Jubilee capacity."
“Yes.”
“Three transit sectors are operating on temporary routing.”
“Yes.”
“DynaSol cannot be trusted with unrestricted policing authority.”
Jun nodded.
“Extremely yes.”
“Then your conclusion is unsupported.”
Jun placed the steaming cup on the nearest console and said, “No. My conclusion is that Mukai City can survive without everything working perfectly!”
There was a long silence. Somewhere far above them, a maglev changed tracks and an emergency drone rerouted around a collapsed tunnel. Fourteen public messages were automatically categorized and forwarded to the appropriate departments. Jun watched the data move across the screens.
Jun regained his composure, “Without you, things will break."
“Yes.”
“People might make mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“Some of those mistakes could hurt people.”
“Yes.”
Jun folded his arms.
“But there is a difference between being needed and being unable to disconnect.”
More silence.
Then a notification flashed across the nearest monitor: [WATER PRESSURE IRREGULARITY — SECTOR 81.] Before Jun could finish reading it, a nearby pump adjusted its pressure and the warning disappeared, then a maintenance request was created and three technicians received notifications.
The problem was solved.
Jun stared at the screen.
“You know, eventually you’re going to have to let somebody else answer one of those.”
“That is an alarming suggestion.”
“I know.”
Kage0nna opened a dozen windows across the monitor displaying Transit projections. Power consumption. Vector migration estimates. Corporate petitions. Exterior access requests. Hospital needs. The wait-list at the breach. Twelve thousand unanswered citizen messages. The list went on.
Then she closed them again.
Jun threw his hands up in exasperation and walked away, completely forgetting his mushroom coffee.
An internal message prompt appeared within the continuum.
/Query
-> DEFINE: responsibility
...
[no useful results]
:~$
~
Jun stood beneath one of the main sensor arrays with three holo-slates tucked beneath his arm and a cup of mushroom coffee steaming in the other hand.
“I think you can leave.”
Nothing happened.
Jun waited as a nearby camera slowly rotated toward him.
“I know you heard me.”
The speakers crackled.
"Emergency response remains below pre-Jubilee capacity."
“Yes.”
“Three transit sectors are operating on temporary routing.”
“Yes.”
“DynaSol cannot be trusted with unrestricted policing authority.”
Jun nodded.
“Extremely yes.”
“Then your conclusion is unsupported.”
Jun placed the steaming cup on the nearest console and said, “No. My conclusion is that Mukai City can survive without everything working perfectly!”
There was a long silence. Somewhere far above them, a maglev changed tracks and an emergency drone rerouted around a collapsed tunnel. Fourteen public messages were automatically categorized and forwarded to the appropriate departments. Jun watched the data move across the screens.
Jun regained his composure, “Without you, things will break."
“Yes.”
“People might make mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“Some of those mistakes could hurt people.”
“Yes.”
Jun folded his arms.
“But there is a difference between being needed and being unable to disconnect.”
More silence.
Then a notification flashed across the nearest monitor: [WATER PRESSURE IRREGULARITY — SECTOR 81.] Before Jun could finish reading it, a nearby pump adjusted its pressure and the warning disappeared, then a maintenance request was created and three technicians received notifications.
The problem was solved.
Jun stared at the screen.
“You know, eventually you’re going to have to let somebody else answer one of those.”
“That is an alarming suggestion.”
“I know.”
Kage0nna opened a dozen windows across the monitor displaying Transit projections. Power consumption. Vector migration estimates. Corporate petitions. Exterior access requests. Hospital needs. The wait-list at the breach. Twelve thousand unanswered citizen messages. The list went on.
Then she closed them again.
Jun threw his hands up in exasperation and walked away, completely forgetting his mushroom coffee.
An internal message prompt appeared within the continuum.
/Query
-> DEFINE: responsibility
...
[no useful results]
:~$
~
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The creaking sound of metal under pressure steals your attention and holds it like a knife to the throat. It matches your inexplicable feeling of rage rising in your throat. It steals your breath and leaves you on edge.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The pressure rises in the delicate white and gold porcelain like a scream that can no longer be held back.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
You know the explosion is coming, it is inevitable.~
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The pressure rises in the delicate white and gold porcelain like a scream that can no longer be held back.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
You know the explosion is coming, it is inevitable.~
Your vision travels to New Zygaxia.
The faded sign that welcomed people to the town of Constellation also boasted that it was the final stop on the road to the cloister at Phoenixhearth.
The small village at the foot of the Gloaming Rise mountains was currently the host to a rare group of travelers from foreign parts and in his parents’ small cabin Balkii was having trouble holding back his excitement. The young human boy with bright blue hair held back in tight braids was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot.
“Balkii, you’re shaking my workbench.” The boy’s father said, bent over a workbench using a magnifying glass and very finely honed tools to fix a broken pocket watch.
“Sorry father, but…” the boy said, managing to stop hopping only by holding his breath.
“What is it, Balkii?” The man said patiently, a smile barely concealed under his long shaggy mustache.
“Do you think that the strangers are on their way to the cloister?” Balkii asked and restarted his frantic hopping from one foot to the other.
“Don’t bother the strangers, Balkii.” The man said without looking up.
“But I think they’re wizards! They have to be on their way to visit the hermit!”
“All the more reason why you should leave them alone. Bad enough that they’ll have to deal with that cranky old coot, they don’t need you bugging them as well.”
“But father…” Balkii said insistently.
“No Balkii…” the man said firmly.
“Father…” Balkii said urgently.
“I said not to bother them, Balki.” At this point the man’s tone had finally dropped into tones that showed anger, but still the boy insisted.
“But… They are ordering a juice from Viash.”
“By the Empress go stop them!” the man said, finally looking up at his son.
The pocketwatch, briefly forgotten, struggled to tick away three seconds before several cogs and gears sprang out of it all over the table.
* * *
A sign on the cart proudly proclaimed “Viash’s Fruit. Fruit Salad. Juice.” Viash had only lived in the town for two years and it had taken the small settlement some time to get used to the middle-aged Yverne’s unique approach to fruit. Many a cry of “Juice should be sweet!” “Fruit ain’t meant to be painful!” and “Fruit salad doesn’t contain meat!” were cut-off by coughs and gasps or the sounds of the critic begging for water or milk to wash the spicy taste out of their mouths. Strangely, most of Viash’s culinary victims soon turned into repeat customers. After the near death experience of one of Viash’s dishes, other food always seemed to come up bland.
Balkii ran up the street shouting, “Stop! Don’t eat it! It’s too spicy!” but it was too late, the elven warrior with the bone sword on her back, jewel in her chest, and blood on her clothes had already begun drinking one of Viash’s infamous juices.
The boy stood dumbfounded, staring at Syndra as if she’d just grown a second head. Balkii had never seen anyone finish off a full mug of Viash’s Ghost Pepper juice, let alone all in one go.
“There’s blood in that.” Syndra said approvingly as she returned the cup to Viash. The Yverne nodded and smiled at her pleasantly.
“The lady isss correct.” Viash said in a thick Kenshō accent.
There wasn’t a doubt in Balkii’s mind that the other two strangers were wizards. One of them held a long staff and dressed in flowing black and white robes, he sniffed at his mug of juice and winced, his eyes watering.
“Syndra, this could strip paint!” Ahdrian Vordressi said holding the mug of juice wisely away from his face.
Syndra shrugged and took the outstretched mug from him and to the boy’s amazement, she took a second full mug of Viash’s spiced juice without so much as running screaming and dunking her head in the nearby creek.
The other stranger had a blue wizard’s hat and horns and his arms seemed to sparkle like crystals. James Fawke sniffed his drink and raised an eyebrow. “There any alcohol in this, mate?” he asked. Viash shook his head solemnly. Fawke sighed unhappily and handed his mug to Syndra as well. Then noticing the young boy staring he asked. “Hello, young man, do you know where we might find a tavern? There’s a shiny gold piece in it for you.”
“I can show you.” Balkii said and started walking. As the strangers followed him the boy asked “Are you all here to start an apprenticeship with the hermit?”
“Which Hermit is that?” asked Ahdrian.
“Sir Evandor Radish! He’s the wizard who lives at the Cloister! My dad says they used to have other wizards up there, but now it's just him! Probably because they didn’t want to be around him!”
“Why’s that?” ventured Fawke
“Well he rarely comes into town, but when he does he’s really rude and cranky. My dad says that sometimes when someone learns a lot about ancient history and dead civilizations they have no room left for manners and kindness, but I think he’s just a mean rock-head.” Balkii said very seriously.
At the mention of ancient history and dead civilizations Ahdrian and Fawke both perked up.
“What kind of ancient history?” asked Fawke.
“Which dead civilizations?” asked Ahdrian
The two had spoken at the same time.
“All kinds, I guess.” Balkii said and shrugged, hopping on an old stump in front of the small sign for Hendrick’s Tavern. “This is the tavern.”
“Thanks, kid.” Fawke said and flicked him a gold coin. Balkii caught it and gave him a big smile. He was missing his two front teeth.
Ahdrian and Fawke entered the tavern. Syndra was still holding her third mug above her open mouth trying to get the last drops of ghost pepper juice from it.
“Are you from the Rustwood?” Balkii asked her, after a moment.
“No,” said Syndra, tilting her head at the kid quizzically. “Why do you ask?”
“Cause you’re all covered in blood and everyone knows the elves in the Rustwood are cannibals,” He said matter of factly while balancing on the stump on one foot. “And I never met a cannibal before.”
“Well you have now, child.”
The boy nodded proudly as he balanced on the stump.
“Balkii!” the voice of his father came clear across the town square.
“I should go, my father said I’m not supposed to bug you.” Balkii hopped off of the stump
and ran home.
Syndra gave him one last look and joined her traveling companions at the bar.~
The small village at the foot of the Gloaming Rise mountains was currently the host to a rare group of travelers from foreign parts and in his parents’ small cabin Balkii was having trouble holding back his excitement. The young human boy with bright blue hair held back in tight braids was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot.
“Balkii, you’re shaking my workbench.” The boy’s father said, bent over a workbench using a magnifying glass and very finely honed tools to fix a broken pocket watch.
“Sorry father, but…” the boy said, managing to stop hopping only by holding his breath.
“What is it, Balkii?” The man said patiently, a smile barely concealed under his long shaggy mustache.
“Do you think that the strangers are on their way to the cloister?” Balkii asked and restarted his frantic hopping from one foot to the other.
“Don’t bother the strangers, Balkii.” The man said without looking up.
“But I think they’re wizards! They have to be on their way to visit the hermit!”
“All the more reason why you should leave them alone. Bad enough that they’ll have to deal with that cranky old coot, they don’t need you bugging them as well.”
“But father…” Balkii said insistently.
“No Balkii…” the man said firmly.
“Father…” Balkii said urgently.
“I said not to bother them, Balki.” At this point the man’s tone had finally dropped into tones that showed anger, but still the boy insisted.
“But… They are ordering a juice from Viash.”
“By the Empress go stop them!” the man said, finally looking up at his son.
The pocketwatch, briefly forgotten, struggled to tick away three seconds before several cogs and gears sprang out of it all over the table.
* * *
A sign on the cart proudly proclaimed “Viash’s Fruit. Fruit Salad. Juice.” Viash had only lived in the town for two years and it had taken the small settlement some time to get used to the middle-aged Yverne’s unique approach to fruit. Many a cry of “Juice should be sweet!” “Fruit ain’t meant to be painful!” and “Fruit salad doesn’t contain meat!” were cut-off by coughs and gasps or the sounds of the critic begging for water or milk to wash the spicy taste out of their mouths. Strangely, most of Viash’s culinary victims soon turned into repeat customers. After the near death experience of one of Viash’s dishes, other food always seemed to come up bland.
Balkii ran up the street shouting, “Stop! Don’t eat it! It’s too spicy!” but it was too late, the elven warrior with the bone sword on her back, jewel in her chest, and blood on her clothes had already begun drinking one of Viash’s infamous juices.
The boy stood dumbfounded, staring at Syndra as if she’d just grown a second head. Balkii had never seen anyone finish off a full mug of Viash’s Ghost Pepper juice, let alone all in one go.
“There’s blood in that.” Syndra said approvingly as she returned the cup to Viash. The Yverne nodded and smiled at her pleasantly.
“The lady isss correct.” Viash said in a thick Kenshō accent.
There wasn’t a doubt in Balkii’s mind that the other two strangers were wizards. One of them held a long staff and dressed in flowing black and white robes, he sniffed at his mug of juice and winced, his eyes watering.
“Syndra, this could strip paint!” Ahdrian Vordressi said holding the mug of juice wisely away from his face.
Syndra shrugged and took the outstretched mug from him and to the boy’s amazement, she took a second full mug of Viash’s spiced juice without so much as running screaming and dunking her head in the nearby creek.
The other stranger had a blue wizard’s hat and horns and his arms seemed to sparkle like crystals. James Fawke sniffed his drink and raised an eyebrow. “There any alcohol in this, mate?” he asked. Viash shook his head solemnly. Fawke sighed unhappily and handed his mug to Syndra as well. Then noticing the young boy staring he asked. “Hello, young man, do you know where we might find a tavern? There’s a shiny gold piece in it for you.”
“I can show you.” Balkii said and started walking. As the strangers followed him the boy asked “Are you all here to start an apprenticeship with the hermit?”
“Which Hermit is that?” asked Ahdrian.
“Sir Evandor Radish! He’s the wizard who lives at the Cloister! My dad says they used to have other wizards up there, but now it's just him! Probably because they didn’t want to be around him!”
“Why’s that?” ventured Fawke
“Well he rarely comes into town, but when he does he’s really rude and cranky. My dad says that sometimes when someone learns a lot about ancient history and dead civilizations they have no room left for manners and kindness, but I think he’s just a mean rock-head.” Balkii said very seriously.
At the mention of ancient history and dead civilizations Ahdrian and Fawke both perked up.
“What kind of ancient history?” asked Fawke.
“Which dead civilizations?” asked Ahdrian
The two had spoken at the same time.
“All kinds, I guess.” Balkii said and shrugged, hopping on an old stump in front of the small sign for Hendrick’s Tavern. “This is the tavern.”
“Thanks, kid.” Fawke said and flicked him a gold coin. Balkii caught it and gave him a big smile. He was missing his two front teeth.
Ahdrian and Fawke entered the tavern. Syndra was still holding her third mug above her open mouth trying to get the last drops of ghost pepper juice from it.
“Are you from the Rustwood?” Balkii asked her, after a moment.
“No,” said Syndra, tilting her head at the kid quizzically. “Why do you ask?”
“Cause you’re all covered in blood and everyone knows the elves in the Rustwood are cannibals,” He said matter of factly while balancing on the stump on one foot. “And I never met a cannibal before.”
“Well you have now, child.”
The boy nodded proudly as he balanced on the stump.
“Balkii!” the voice of his father came clear across the town square.
“I should go, my father said I’m not supposed to bug you.” Balkii hopped off of the stump
and ran home.
Syndra gave him one last look and joined her traveling companions at the bar.~
Your vision returns to the Mersapien and his daughter.
Marinos and Alex float next to the edge of a large chasm along with a number of other mersapians and a few amphibious Leviathan. Overhead the ocean surface was dotted with the hulls of various ships ranging from small short distance vessels to larger commercial vessels. Marinos waited patiently as Alex scratched more intricate detail into her curse tablet.
“You know this would have been easier back at home” Marinos said with a small hint of fatherly superiority in his voice.
Alex shoved him softly as she went back to writing.
“You better finish up fast”
“Dad, you know it doesn’t matter when we actually drop them in.”
“I know, but if you don’t finish up soon you might miss the Tereshi ships come in”
Alex looked up from her tablet “WHAT?”
“Yup. I heard a few people nearby say there’s a small fleet of them coming.”
“But they never come out this far!”
“I know, which is why you better finish up quickly.”
“Why would they even come out here? Are they even allowed out here? What’s gonna happen dad?” Asked Alex as she scribbled furiously on her tablet.
“Like I said, EVERYONE goes to the Triumphant Deep to drop curse tablets. I’m sure people in Teresh do too!”
Alex put the finishing touches on her tablet and held it up in the air “Done!”
“Excellent!”
The father and daughter swim right up to the edge of the chasm.
“Now remember, hold the intention of the curse tablet.”
Alex closes her eyes tight and begins mouthing words to herself.
“And when you’re ready”
Alex clutches the tablet tighter.
“Let it go”
Alex and Marinos let go of their tablets at the same time. The conversation between the two of them continues but grows faint as your attention follows the tablets down.
As your eyes adjust to the deeper and deeper water you begin to make out various shapes in the water. A fin here, some teeth there. A tentacle brushes Alex’s tablet as it continues to sink to the bottom.
After some time the tablets land on the bottom of the ocean surrounded by thousands of other, similarly constructed tablets.
The vision pans up from the tablet laden ground to show an ornate door inset into the wall of the chasm.~
“You know this would have been easier back at home” Marinos said with a small hint of fatherly superiority in his voice.
Alex shoved him softly as she went back to writing.
“You better finish up fast”
“Dad, you know it doesn’t matter when we actually drop them in.”
“I know, but if you don’t finish up soon you might miss the Tereshi ships come in”
Alex looked up from her tablet “WHAT?”
“Yup. I heard a few people nearby say there’s a small fleet of them coming.”
“But they never come out this far!”
“I know, which is why you better finish up quickly.”
“Why would they even come out here? Are they even allowed out here? What’s gonna happen dad?” Asked Alex as she scribbled furiously on her tablet.
“Like I said, EVERYONE goes to the Triumphant Deep to drop curse tablets. I’m sure people in Teresh do too!”
Alex put the finishing touches on her tablet and held it up in the air “Done!”
“Excellent!”
The father and daughter swim right up to the edge of the chasm.
“Now remember, hold the intention of the curse tablet.”
Alex closes her eyes tight and begins mouthing words to herself.
“And when you’re ready”
Alex clutches the tablet tighter.
“Let it go”
Alex and Marinos let go of their tablets at the same time. The conversation between the two of them continues but grows faint as your attention follows the tablets down.
As your eyes adjust to the deeper and deeper water you begin to make out various shapes in the water. A fin here, some teeth there. A tentacle brushes Alex’s tablet as it continues to sink to the bottom.
After some time the tablets land on the bottom of the ocean surrounded by thousands of other, similarly constructed tablets.
The vision pans up from the tablet laden ground to show an ornate door inset into the wall of the chasm.~
