《Dream Theater》 Volume I. 1 A miserable situation The walls were fading away, the lights were distorted, his head was light as a feather. He felt like in a dream, yet his eyes were wide open. The core took its toll on those who ventured too deeply. No matter the circumstances, motives or experience all paid his toll. He looked up, the roof was no more, it was replaced by a black void that reflected his figure, a dirty, bloody, weak figure. He was going insane. How long it would take to reach an hospital? Or even meet another person? Days, weeks, months? How many ammunitions had he? How many bullets does it take to kill one of them? Twenty? Thirty? Was even possible to kill one of them? He tried to stand up but his legs were too sore. He fell flat to the ground, breaking its nose. He was unable to move, his energies had left him. His nose bugun bleeding quite profusely. A miserable end to a miserable life. In those minutes that felt like eternities, his mind begun to wander far. He saw again his parents, it¡¯s friends, it¡¯s house. He began reconstruct his life mentally, drawing an outline, going through each event. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A metal scrape pulled out of this trance. Something was coming. The sound was coming closer, it was little and moved fast. Judging from its cadence it had probably more than two legs, it was just around two or three corners from his position. He quickly pulled out his rifle. Judging from its speed he would have around one, at max, two seconds, to kill that thing before it reached his troath. He held his breath. Paused. The sound was closer and closer, just a few moments more. His sweaty fingers slipped on the trigger. An atrocious scream echoed through the halls. He didn¡¯t saw it. He had shot too early. He had wasted precious ammo. How could a creature reach his position? He remembered that there was a bifurcation behind him, that thing might ambush him from behind...or from a corner...or from the front...or... He stood up despite the heavy headache and hallucinations, the best strategy was to find a dead end and wait for it there. ... But what if the creature simply went away? What if he was just paranoid? What if that was just a stupid rat? What if it was not? He carefully walked and checked every corner. The sweat dripping from his forehead was mixing with the blood of its nose, his heart was beating like it never did before. Memory begun playing tricks with him, a few times he had to stop and remember how to shoot or reload. He had to act despite his feelings and doubts. Volume I. 2 ... A cold wind entered the room, sending chills down my spine. I turned and saw him, high, proud, with its mantel and hat, just a little feather and one could have mistaken him for Mephistopheles. He looked straight in my eyes, straight into the soul, I tried to utter a phrase, a word, telling him how it was going. But I didn¡¯t need to. All he needed was to look at me and my desk, a simple glance and he could understand everything about a man soul and work. He exited the room without uttering a word. I returned to my writing. ... His eyes at times blinked, his body was heavier and heavier, his armour stinked of death. For how long had he been awake? He looked at his military clock, 2 PM, they began their descend at around 4 PM. He was falling asleep. He had enter that phase that every worker has experienced at least once, that phase in which everything looks like a bed and you just want to close your eyes. It had passed a long time since it¡¯s encounter with that little creature, he roamed a little more, found a little darky corner and closed his eyes, falling asleep.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He had a dark, dreamless sleep. He woke up sore and tired , his pants were wet. It took him a few minutes to realize that the whole corridor was being invaded by water. He stood up, this time it was a little easier than before and decided to search for a stair that led up. In those dark metallic tunnels everything seemed the same but it was not. With a careful eye, one could distinguish the various part of this maze, if one part had it¡¯s wall reinforced it meant that tunnel was used, if it¡¯s walls were tiny and white it meant that it was seldom used. A strange stain might mean proximinity to water. But it was always a guest game. One wall might be reinforced for structural reasons and one might as well find himself going deeper without knowing it. He turned the corner and saw a sign near an elevator LEVEL 6 ALL ACCESS FORBIDDEN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THE CORE IS OVERFLOWING FIRMED GEN. LEIUNAS He stood idle for a second, all energies suddently left him, he was a dead man now. A corpse walking Chapter 3 He looked at the elevator, it was broken. Now only an half broken rope of some unknown material led down, it was in that moment that a thought occurred to him. He stood up and looked at the elevator, it was bleach black and the rope might as well stop halfway through or simply break. Giving him a quick death and put him out of his misery. He was already dead, he could do anything he wanted. Animated more by primordial curiosity rather than the will to survive he attached himself to the rope and started sliding down. The rope carried his weight, his little torch illuminated his surroundings, knowing that he would die soon no matter what gave him a sense of ataraxia The rope was cut short he fell, the light of the torch spinned all around him. A crack was heard in the moment of the impact. When he opened up his eyes again his headache was worse than before and the hallucinations more intense, he was bleeding. Now the corridor in front of him had no walls, there was only a strange darkness that seemed to eat light. He looked at the rope, it was too high for him. He couldn¡¯t turn back. He stood there idle for some minutes, thinking of what to do. He checked his wounds, he had nothing to alleviate them. He took a deep breath and went into the darkness. <> His body begun to feel lighter and lighter, his head begun spinning, he lost his equilibrium time and time again. His body begun to feel like a separate thing from him, he wanted to move an arm, but it didn¡¯t move. His body was dragging him without its consent. He suddenly remembered the stories about the core. Horrible stories, beautiful stories, strange stories. He heard stories of old explorer and strange men delving too deep and sawing an underground night sky. He never believed them, doing so will be heretical and weird and such people were send elsewhere to work and die. This was no simple darkness, this was the night stary sky. In the distance, he could see something, was it a home? He tried to stop not believing his eyes; that was his childhood home. Not the dirty and cheap apartment that he had now. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.And it¡¯s that a dog? Was that his dog? Is that a child? It¡¯s that...no it can¡¯t be. It can¡¯t be! A sudden energy filled his body: rage. With all the strength he was capable of he managed to dissolve the illusion, be it only for a few moments, all of that was a hallucination of his mind. In reality, he was in a dark, reinforced steel corridor with unlit lights and candles that hang from the ceiling. Then the hallucination took hold of him again, his body moved to his house. Where he was going anyway? He paused and shrank, realizing the truthfulness of the stories. Stories from the mechanics of a strange voice that took possession of those who explored to deeply the mysteries of the machines, and he knew how those stories always ended up. They became part of the machine. Horrible monsters without souls who infested the low quarters and made living hell for those who were too close to the cavities, Ulhelms was their name. A warning to all to not study too much the machines. And now he was close to becoming one of them. All of those effort only to become one of them? NO! With its last strengths, he picked his rifle and pointed its pipe towards him. He placed his fingers on the trigger and¡­ CLING The weapon didn¡¯t shot, he shot one of the walls to make sure that he it worked and it worked He looked at his weapon, it was too becoming possessed. Strange wires were inside it. He looked at his hand moving hysterically, the fingers moved independently of the hand. He drew back in terror. He felt his entire arm being possessed by something, it began moving, screaming, he could hear it in his mind. <> the voice said in a peaceful tone <> that voice mutated and became horrible <> it was his father voice and words. He remembered them. He tried to go back, maybe, after all, he could reach that rope. But a strange voice kept pulling him down. He felt powerless, he clung to everything, be it walls, stairs lamp. But nothing held, nothing. He saw his home closer and closer, the face on people heads. The sun setting on the horizon. < > said a female small voice <> <> said Jurgo moving its tail. Chapter 4, the illusory vision. Pxan had become a little boy again. The voice continued to echo through his skull. It was becoming more and more intense. <> it paused and added <> he felt an intense heat. Then cold. Then heat again. He heard machinery moving, he felt watched by a thousand eyes. He felt but couldn¡¯t know if that was true or not. His eyes were lying to him, his sense failing him. He lost his sense of orientation. All of a sudden he saw a bright light upon the horizon, the sun appeared bigger and bigger. He remembered that sun. The screams, the pain, the voices, the inquisitors, the occultists. All came back. He fought with everything to get away, to hide behind a tree, to flee, to fight, to bite. But it was all useless. The arms of a plated warrior grabbed and chained him. Now he felt worse than powerless, now he felt like an inmate object, merely a vessel for something else. In those few last moments before the axe cutted his head he wandered back to his childhood, to his long-gone childhood, to his mother and father. To his dog, to his notebooks, to his adopters, to the dragon, to his job. And most of all to his unfulfilled mission. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The occultist all lined them up, he was the third in the row. It was the little girl turn. The initial initiated, words song, magick filled the air and the little girl was lifted in the air, then fell to the ground. Dead. <> the boy next to him said ¡°Does such a thing as a soul even exists? What consciousness even is? What will happen to me?!?" he discovered the answer to those questions a few minutes latter. It was the turn of the breadmaker, a gentle man who had been many times kinds to him. The ritual started, word sang, he was lifted up and then trowed down. Dead. <> his mother said <> she looked at him and smiled. She mother went next. Words, up, down, dead. Another lifeless corpse to the pile, nearly understinguable from the other, another soul, another number, another body to be devoured and consume by the earth and elements. "I could have truly lived" Pxan thought while he felt the grey wires entered his flesh and the cultists prepared for the next person. Chapter 5 Words song, he was lifted in the air, magic filled the air. He saw something, a beast of enormous size layed in the centre of the ritual. It was a dragon. A dragon that he knew. With its last energies, he rebelled against the illusions and felt himself lifted by wires of metal to a platform. Wires and files infiltrating through his skin, his vision became more and more blurred. He was transforming into a monster. One of those monsters that he had killed a few hours ago during the ambush. The dragon eyes stared at him, unblinking, like it could watch him for all eternity. He felt a great pain in his chest, devoured, he was vomiting, crying, bleeding. He felt a great fever and heat. He was tired, very tired, he was falling asleep. One of the cultists came closer to him, he tried to bring him down. Pxan bit his hand like a wild dog, making it bleed. The cultist gave him a punch and made his head spin. Nearly like what happened in reality. He could feel the dragon breath. And just as those wires started to penetrating its skull and bones and take control of him he wished for something. His vision for an instant became clear, he was once again lucid like he hadn''t been for a long time. He saw something deep in the tunnels, a beautiful tree with golden leaves and giant rabbits. His thoughts were of an extraordinary clarity. He no longer wished for happiness nor pleasure, he only wished to touch, to hear, to see the eternal core. He extended his arm to the dragon, he touched its stony skin and saw his eyes. He stopped desiring all but one thing. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. <> he said as his vision finally blacked out and darkness overwhelmed his mind. ... The floor was dirty, the roof was dirty, everything was dirty and spoke of decadence. He stood for a few moments just looking at the wall, that dirty, humid wall, before realizing that he was still alive, still breathing. He recognized this air, it was the air of it¡¯s home, he musn''t be that far from civilization. He tried to move and was met by crippling pain and bouts of blood. His hands had been drilled, his feets butchered, his fat removed, his spine curved, his skin melted. He was even afraid of looking in a mirror now, regardless, he was still alive. He saw some words on the wall not far from there. Slowly, very slowly, walking parallel to the wall, dragging one of his legs behind, started moving. It gave him pain even to walk a few meters. E L 2 W T R G S A FIR H I He paused, trying to decipher what was written on the wall. He smelled salt in the distance, water maybe? Then it cliched, he saw many of those writing in his youth. He was at the second level. He was safe, he just needed to drag himself to the nearest centre. Just a few¡­.killometers. The initial joy vanished. The nearest centre was probably, and that probably made him even more afraid, a few hours away. In this state even a kilometre would be a great challenge. A few were impossible! He was again a corpse walking. Chapter 6 The staircase He started to walk alongside the wall, without a stable support he wasn''t able to walk or even move his legs, and even so he moved at a snail pace. His vision was fussy, what were once small defined shapes, now were big and blurry, this one for example looked like a triangle. It was a staircase with seven steps. Seven long steps. He paused for a few seconds before trying to raise his leg on the first step. Very slowly. At half the height of the step, the pain became unbearable. He couldn¡¯t simply push beyond it. It was at that moment that he realized how handicaped people view staircases. The corridor ended there. There was no variation, no other route, no staff to aid him, no colleagues to cheer him. He was alone. Those would be seven steps of hell. It was nearly as painful as having his skull penetrated by the wires. One foot at a time, the flesh of his legs was decomposing, revealing the fractured bone underneath. He cried, he yelled, all to no avail. He paused and realized that the stairs were becoming more and more slippery from all the blood that he spilled; he was bleeding to death and quickly. He lost his equilibrium. The fall was hard. He stood there in a corner, crying over his poor destiny. He had survived all of this and he would die because of a staircase. He had just a few hours before dying of bleeding maybe even less. .... Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.He stood up at best as he could ¡°I never letted myself be commanded by fate and I will not be commanded by it now!¡± with all the strength left in his body he slowly walked again to the staircase. <>he told to himself <> a wild scream came out of its mouth when its bone touched the little step, his flesh was torn, decomposing and to make it worse he was close to water. Salty water. He felt like one of those pilgrims of ancient times, crossing mountains and deserts with nothing but faith and determination. This was hell, the salt was burning all of its wounds. Atleast he wouldn''t die of infection. ¡°Just five more steps¡± its flesh was tearing away. Just four more, he stank of dead and trash. Just three more, he had to stop. He was at the limit of his physical endurance, if he made another step he would have blacked out, or worse, slipped and fell. He looked at the staircase wondering if he trow himself if he could make those three steps just using his hands. If he moved he suffered, and if he fell he didn¡¯t know if he would have been able to stand up, let alone arriving again here. Several minutes passed, Pxan took another step, this one was a little harder than the other. He told himself that he would make the last two steps all in one go so as not to lose any more time. He rushed. The pain nearly paralyzed him. He was about to slip, he sought the support of the wall; his hands made a strange sound, the wall supported his weight. His hands were in horrible conditions too. He saw that the tunnel had a sharp curve at the end of the staircases, he could use its hands as a lever to make the last step easier. For the last time, he raised his leg and made another step. He was completely exhausted and nearly dead but happy. He looked back at the steps and so how little distance he had travelled, barely seven steps. But he felt changed...somehow he felt changed. Chapter 7 While in the most atrocious of agonies, dragging himself through the corridors, he thought of what would happen once he sat foot in civilization Technically he was a deserter who escaped from the battlefield. Even if they would forgive him his injuries were far too severe for average healthcare. He saw many men with those types of injuries and he knew what the law said in those cases. Both hands and feet would have to be cut. If he was lucky, he could plead and pay the doctor to save one of his arms or legs. He would live the rest of his life with a degrading leg or hand. He would have to find another job somewhere else. What type of jobs could he do? Not a manual type of job to be sure. A secretary? Maybe, but more probably he would end up like those old soldiers, on a river with a fish pool, hoping that what they catch would be enough for their family and themself. The pain brought him back to the present moment. That wasn¡¯t the moment for those thoughts. That was the moment to fight. He continued to wander for what felt like hours before stumbling upon a hole in the wall, light shone through it. Artificial, bright light. He must have been very close to the surface. He carefully walked searching for something to hold to while passing the hole. There was a little hill, a slippery little hill. There wasn¡¯t another way. If he was fortunate it would take a few hours before finding another hole, even days! ¡°How bad could this little hill be?¡± he started walking and a little bot approached and scanned him. <> the little bot said. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.He nearly couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, this was a trash bot. One of the older model for sure but it could call a hospital. < The little bot stopped and processed the Informations <> He looked at the bot terrorized, if he was dead this meant that it¡¯s apartment, house, healthcare and job, and everything that he had was taken away by the state to be given to someone else. <> The robot looked at him with those green cold glowing eyes, processing and sending who knows what informations and messages. His light bulb twitched for a second <> he said <> <> <> <> Pxan was confused, was this bot AI so advanced to reply to him and give medical advice? No, a switch of some kind must have happen. <> a voice from afar yelled. Two men came near the hill, two-state sweepers. He sat near a rock putting the least amount of pressure on its legs. <> he rushed to his little trash staff. <> Pxan said laughing a bit. <> << He is Pxan 451774. 27 years old. Male. Policeman. Living in district 13 middle quarters. Dispersed in battle and found again 34 hours after. Currently he is severely injured>> the little bot said. The sweeper looked at the bot and at him <> <> Chapter 8 Suidune Once the medical squad saw Pxan they realized that they had to carry a bleeding sack of meat. No one of them had seen a cor- person in such bad conditions. <> Pxan said A few of the doctors jumped back in fear, it wasn¡¯t possible, he was still conscious. < > One could see the bones underneath Pxan flesh, most of it rotten away. The muscles nearly teared in half. The doctors agreed, without discussion, to Pxan request. ¡­ The ceiling was white, purely white. He blinked as he realized that he was awake. He looked at this left, turning the head a bit ¡°this bed...is too luxurious... where I am?¡± He tried to look at the window but his neck hurted too much. One of its hands but they didn¡¯t move, actually, he didn¡¯t felt them. Same thing for its legs and part of its torso. Huge parts of its body were missing. A male nurse entered the room. <> he said <> something was wrong with his vocal cords, he couldn¡¯t speak normally, his voice was anxious and trembling, worse than that of a very old man. <> <>If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. <> the nurse brought its hand to its head <> he paused << The high council. You have to thank him if you still got a job when you walk out of here and for all the operations.>> <> He moved his shoulders <> <> The nurse was right, he couldn¡¯t think straight, he couldn¡¯t speak normally and worse than all: he didn¡¯t knew what Suidune knew about him. Maybe he uncovered some secret in its far past when he was still a child living in Carlaria. Maybe he wanted to do some experiments on him. No, no, it was all too unlogical. Let¡¯s see what he says to me. ¡­ All the movements in the hospital stopped, the sounds became barely audible, the air froze. Even before the door opened Pxan knew who was coming. His robes were made in pure coloured silk, its mask forged using the purest of materials, its hands and legs covered in a silver-like material. Suidune was nearly more than double its height and those two strange blue eyes paralysed him in fear. Not that he needed to be paralysed given its current condition Suidune, as convention wanted, was the first to speak. <> he said in a solemn voice, without the smallest insecurity or anxiety. <> Pxan replied much more agitated and confused than its broken voice. <> Pxan sussulted when he mentioned the chant. He paused and thought what to say<> <> Pxan didn¡¯t know if that was a question or if he should respond. In doubt, he didn¡¯t. <> Suidune left the room. Gradually the sounds and movements of the hospital returned to normality, he imagined that everyone was relieved. All except him. He was even more worried than before now. Chapter 9 After a few hours he was put to sleep again for an operation on its vocal cords. <> the male nurse asked < said Pxan <> Pxan looked at him, its hair was blonde and, despite the quite strong constitution, appeared quite fragile, its hand was touching its other elbow. It seemed like he wanted to say something. <> Sully face brightened <> Pxan hearing that nearly had an heartattack. <> continued Sully Pxan tried to smile, forgetting that its face was covered in bandages. He had a standard phrase if someone found out about this <> <> Silence dawned in the room Sully face darkened as he realized what happened. <> said Pxan <> Sully looked at him with suspicion <> Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.<> <> <> Pxan had lied, he didn¡¯t want to make people sad over problems they couldn¡¯t resolve or long-gone events. Some wounds never healed and even after twenty years and several therapies sometimes he felt again a child. Alone and lost in a world of people whom he couldn¡¯t trust. ... After some days and operations, the chief surgeon spoke to him <> said the chief surgeon <> <> Pxan said surprised <> <> <> <> <> he pause and added <> "How hard can it be? I am a policeman." Pxan thought while his fingers didn''t moved. It took him a full week before he could move a single finger. Chapter 10 The medications alleviated this suffering, but some pain was too great to alleviate. Its mechanical parts were badly regulated, the operations were still underway, making and remaking what was done previously. He felt like a painting, being made and erased on the whimps of the artist. After an operation he saw a little brown book on its desk. It had no cover nor title and his pages were yellow. It took him a few pages to understand what was it, he nearly trowed it away in a fit of rage. "The confessions of Lazarus, GS translation" was the name of the book. It hadn''t the stamp of the government, the book was out of print and was probably illegal to own a copy. What I say? Obliviously it was illegal to have a copy! After that he called Sully and asked him about the book. Sully knew nothing of it. Pxan asked him to throw the book in the trash together with the used medicinals and blood. .... <<...this is an X-ray of your torso that we took when you arrived, as you can see several wires had penetrated the lungs, stomach and kidneys, causing enormous damage to them. This is of your legs as you can see->> <> Pxan said <> the head surgeon brought its hand on its head <> <> <> <> << How-? W-who?>> <> he paused noticing Pxan shocked expression < > <> <> When Pxan returned to its room it was nearly night time, not that it mattered. He couldn''t sleep. Sully entered the room silently. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.< > Pxan didn''t answer, he just stared blankly at the wall. <> he came near his bed Pxan turned its head<> <> he smiled when he said that. Pxan knew that smile and that tone, he had used it himself when he was younger <> <> <> <> <> <> <> Sully was surprised <> A brief silence followed <> <> <> Pxan face darkneed They stayed there for a few minutes, Sully took a seat and watched Pxan eyes. <> saying pointing to the artificial limbs <> <> <> <> <> <> <> The two looked at each other for a few minutes. <> <> said Sully <> Sully looked back at the door, no one would come to this room for a few hours. <> <> Sully looked at him <> Chapter 11 Sully perspective This chapter is narrated throught Sully perspective In it''s house in the deep of night It''s night and I can''t even find one pill, I am tired of this shi- TICK TICK TICK It''s already three am? How is this even possible? When did I...? Did I fell asleep? Well, let''s go to university. ... At university, in the director room <> "He is going to tell me to leave university is he?" <> <> He sat better on the chair and straighten its spine <> ... At home, during childhood <> <> Dad face twisted in a strange expression <> <> ... At university <> <> I pause and add <> <> ... A few years after quitting university <> <> <> The doctor crossed its arms and placed its glasses on the desk <> ... A few months latter, on a poor sidewalk <> <> If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.<> ... A few weeks after initiziation He trowed a file on the desk <> he extinguished its cigarette and grabbed another one <> ... In the hospital, at the present moment <> <> <> He looked down <> < > <> Pxan smiled slightly <> <> <> <> I grabbed the syringe and inject it into one of the fluids of Pxan. <> He gradually closed his eyes, my hands are trembling. Its eyes are closed, my job here is done. The syringe fell fracturing into a hundred pieces. A few drops of liquid now stain the floor. <> "Window, door, corridor.. I have to get out of here!" Running through the hospital halls "Corridor, this is not the right corridor! This is not the right staircase! Why is this hospital such a maze!>> <> "Who is this guy now?!? Ah yes, it''s name is...Jeffrey!" <> "I can''t tell him that I am feeling ill! I am in an hospital! I have to invent another excuse" <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> "DAMN! What I am doing! Ok this is the main exit, I have to get far far, run, run. Go far from here. Run like a criminal! God damned, no! You need to seem calm and normal! Calm and normal" Chapter 12 He felt weak, useless and drunk. Its muscles didn''t responded to him. <> A few seconds later and he was back into the void. They say that death is the brother of sleep, never before in his life, he felt those two things so close and inseparable. He passed a small death, leaving the material world for a few seconds. When he woke up he saw a man in police clothing near its bed. <> he muttered still confused. The investigator looked up from the clipboard that he was reading <> Pxan recovered from his confusion<> <> <> <> he paused <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> A few seconds passed The man shrugged <> <> <> Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Pxan following days were of a rare monotony, without Sully keeping him company and guards constantly watching anyone who came near its bed, he didn''t have anyone to talk to. He had to do only a few hours of exercises before returning to his room, it''s near-empty room, there was a desk, a mirror, a pot with a flower brought by colleagues back at the department and nothing more.No strange leather book with a questionable translation. He knew why that pot had arrived now and not before. For the first time, he seriously thought about what his life would look like after the hospital. He had run from the battlefield, he was a deserter and this didn¡¯t put him under good light, maybe the assassination attempt actually improved his condition. Now he was a poor injured policeman hunted by crazy cultist seeking revenge. State books became boring very quickly. You read a few books and you have read them all in those days. Before Carlaria the press had more freedom. Now if you wanted to publish a book you needed to be a citizien, have a fully clean record, pass several tests and the manuscript needed to follow certain very precise criterias to even having a chance to be published with the mark of the council. There were older and more interesting books, those with the sigil of the librarians, but those were harder to find. And even if such a text ended in its lap he would need a reason to hold such a text, and more often than not the only acceptable reason was: <> He remembered when a boy was caught reading one of those texts, it had a strange name, The Enricon? Encricion? Enchiridion? It talked about men judgments about things. The boy wasn¡¯t sent to jail because of the mercy of the judge. What a great man. It¡¯s family had to pay a heavy fine and were put under watch for years to come, the boy had to pass long hours of interrogatory before being sent home. It was one of its first interrogatories as a policeman actually. ... There was another sigil, that of the inquisition. All books talking about Esoteric, religion or occultism fell into this category. During one of its investigation, he was granted the right to study two of those texts and some passages still popped up in his mind. "The sage convince people by putting himself lower than them. So renouncing his self he is following the way" or something like it. Horrible books to forgot. "What should I do with all this free time?" he wondered. Chapter 13 The Mimic Reality seemed like a bubble ready to explode. People seemed like phantoms moving in unnatural fog, its eyes were blinking frantically. He needed to sit and refocus his broken attention. Ever since he was discharged from the hospital things had been going downhill for him. First, he had made horrible use of its time, he thought that he had months ahead of rehabilitation and relative relaxing when in reality he had mere weeks: weeks of stress, exercise, headache and pain. Then he went back to work, he had forgot how dreadful paperwork was. He forgot how hard it was to physically wake up from bed, dressing and going to work. He couldn¡¯t run properly, he couldn¡¯t breathe properly, he was in all aspects an incapable policeman now; one of those to be put at the first available desk doing some boring paper work. Even worse were his headaches. Sometimes, without a single warning, one of its prosthetics would malfunction or one of its eyes will start blinking and everything would start fading away and he would feel tired. He wasn¡¯t in the best of shapes. <> He looked up, it was its colleague James, a lazy and incompetent individual...regardless that was not a request and he wasn¡¯t busy, he was abusing the chain of command. James was superior to him. Those were the rule of work, he would have to abide by them. <> said Pxan smilingly <> Pxan looked at him without saying a word ¡°Piece of shit.¡± he thought <> And so Pxan was left with hours of paperwork to do by tomorrow while having a piercing headache. What an horrible fate. ¡­ The useless chattering of the crowd only served to worsen its headache. Why he was assigned to guard a mall that was beyond him. People went and go. Shops, own by the same company, were often set against each other and given different names, all for sake of profit and competition...and to give the crowd the illusion of choice. What was so beautiful about malls? Malls were the place where people went to seem and be more normal, buy the new line of clothing, purchase the new guidelines, chatting with friends over nothing. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Needless to say that Pxan hated that place with all of its heart. <> Pxan quickly turned around, a chest with the body of a human was dashing through the mall, grabbing everything it could. It was coming towards him. His heart began racing, anxiety overtook him, the headache worsened. A hand grabbed him and nearly trowed him to the ground, he moved his leg and let his opponent fall because of its momentum. He grabbed one of its golden necklace and gave him a slight push to the ground. As he was doing this the mimic had its left hand ready to cut through its face. A terrible scream was heard, and the air was filled with the sickening smell of burnt flesh. The mimic fell on its knees, paralysed by pain. Pxan looked at its hands, he had a taser. An empty teaser. He looked at the mimic, one of its eyes was badly burned and malformed, the teaser had hit one of its eyes. Pxan hands begun shaking ¡°how have, I-I mean I am so anxious...and-and-I don¡¯t have the precision-¡± a hand touched its shoulder <> Pxan turned its head, it was James speaking to him. Pxan arms and legs were sore, he had pushed himself to the limit. The mimic was a cultist summon gone wrong probably...or a cultist who didn¡¯t know what he was doing. Either way the case was in the inquisition sphere and James and Pxan were more than happy that all of the paperwork would be done by another person. < > said James <> Pxan looked at him <> <> Pxan paused <> <> Pxan looked at him, he didn¡¯t liked the possible implications of that phrase. And so Pxan was reassigned his old position in the police...with two-thirds of his old wage. Damn. Chapter 14 The cogs moved from left to right, from right to left, from up to down, in an endless movement which in two centuries had been interrupted only a handful of times. People used to saw them as mere cogs, instruments to a purpose. But as years went by and mundane institutions became unstable people started seeing something divine in those mechanisms. The blueprints became more and more unreadable, their physics appeared more and more complex until the word divine didn¡¯t become appropriate for describing many of them them. Obliviously mechanics knew how a cog turned but the grand scheme of things was out of their reach. Looking at them one realizes the brevity of one¡¯s existence. Those cogs were moving before their grandfather was born and they will continue to move after their grandson had died. They were eternal, immune to decay, immune to disease, perfect in any way, unknowledge. Divine. <> said James. Pxan barely looked at the corpse on the ground < > < > Pxan shook his head and remembered where he was <> he took a better look at the corpse <> <> <>If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. <> Pxan looked at the corpse better <> <> Pxan looked in the distance, at those monumental machines built by titans in ancient times <> They found him busy fixing a broken engine, with all his hands black as charcoal. He had a mechanical arm attached to its shoulder, useful for working faster but not for common living. <> <> <> <> <> Some days after the whole zone had bared wires and a warning sign. Better than nothing. < > James looked at him with worried eyes <> James wasn¡¯t much relieved by its answer, something was wrong, something was left unsaid Once got back home Pxan trowed himself on the sofa and nearly collapsed into a black sleep. His house was dirty, the floor was full of dust, the bathroom was becoming unusable and the kitchen looked like a car graveyard. In the back of its mind he knew what was happening, it happened to him in the past, but with all the work to do and the prosthetics he couldn¡¯t let himself be carried over by dark thoughts. ¡°I need help.¡± Chapter 15 When James opened the door he couldn¡¯t believe its eyes < > <> James looked at him <> The two of them passed a whole afternoon cleaning. James had brought a vacuum cleaner because Pxan didn¡¯t have one. The two of them cleaned and organized the apartment together. James picked a pot and started boiling water <> <> <> <> he picked up two doses of tea from his pockets <> Pxan took a sip of tea <> <> <> <> added James completing the phraseThe narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. After this initial conversation silence returned to the room < > Pxan looked at him while drinking its cup of tea. <> <> <> Pxan stopped drinking his tea and became tense <> James looked at him without saying anything <> <> <> James was thinking of something to ask or say <> <> <> James took a deep breath <> Pxan looked at the clock <> <> The cleaning continued without problems. Pxan made sure that all photos were in closed boxes so something like that would never happen again. Never again. The day after he searched for this Bad Mace James on the computer, he found two old newspapers. ¡°Oh¡± he thought while reading the newspapers, he looked at James, he was sitting far from him, doing some paperwork ¡°how have you even managed to arrive here?>> now he looked at him with different eyes, he looked at him like an injured puppy who is starving and needs help. While travelling to check a ¡®noisy old lady¡¯ Pxan took the occasion to ask James to hang out sometimes. James agreed. Pxan became very embarrassed because he didn¡¯t use to hang out with people, and the few times that he did he was insincere. Pxan was always insincere. Chapter 16 The work of an archivist The books started to seem more like mountains than piles of papers. They continued to accumulate themself like trash in a rubbish dump. The simple thought that he would have to read and process all of this information gave him nausea. If he is to make through he must remain in the present moment , thinking just about that one book, one page, one phrase, the one word that he was reading, never letting his mind wander. It was extremely hard but he had to focus. He felt like he had been there, in that corner of a state library for days, maybe days really had passed. He was unsure of what hour or day was it, there were no clocks or calendars, the bathroom was barely at a few meters from his chair.Aall distractions, even the smallest, had been removed. There was one thing to do there: study. It all begun a few days back when his captain called him, in the office, only for a brief chat. alone. Pxan hoped that he would fire him, because if he didn¡¯t fire him it was something worse and more serious, he could get in prison. Maybe they finally found about his past? His captain was reading a letter when he entered the office, he was an old man, both the beard and hair had long since become white as snow, one of his eyes had recently started to become blind and his shoulders weren''t what they used to be. Regardless of this, he worked like a man half his age, managing an entire sub-district with extraordinary discipline and efficiency. < > he glanced at him <> Pxan nodded <> Pxan agreed before he realized what that question might entail. <> "A lot of stuff" Pxan remembered When the captain said archivist he thought that he would pass most of the day reorganizing papers and old bureaucratic boxes. How wrong he was. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The archivists were one of the few groups of people to have access to every book with the librarian sigil, he had more freedom than prestigious academics...there was something wrong with this situation, someone wasn¡¯t telling him the truth. Subjects to learn and categorize were far too distant and strange from each other, the reading list contained books about the following subjects: Ancient History, Modern History, Logic, Philosophy, Math, Physics, Ancient Geography, Modern Geography, Geometry, Computer Science, Theology, Ancient Letterature, Modern literature, Sociology and a strange subject that he didn¡¯t well understand titled Rennaisance Philosophy which seemed an umbrella term to put all the strange and weird philosophy books under. He started reading a large book that was at the top of it''s list ¡®Being good at speak doesn¡¯t simply being good at reasoning or seducing, it means first and foremost the capacity to efficiently convey ideas to another human being without them being distorted[1]¡¯ he glanced at the cover ¡°Damn another one of those Rennaisance Philosophy books.¡± he looked around seeking something more ordinary and hopefully less heavy to read. A black book with a staff, two serpents climbing on it and two wings spread across the cover, he already saw that symbol, somewhere. Maybe that was a fiction book. Maybe. He opened the book. ¡°Is a shame that most magick systems neglect the fundamentals of self-knowledge and meditation, without those the novice student is sure to fail in the rituals[2]¡± he didn¡¯t knew what he was reading. He glanced at the sigil, it was the sigil of the librarians, this book was on the list but...this is material for the inquisition, ¡°I must understand better¡± and so Pxan continued to read the book all night long. When he finished its eyes were heavy and his face tired, yet he felt like he had found some sort of answer in that strange book. He finally understood his enemies at least partially, he was one step closer to his revenge and this brought him a little joy. When he finally exited the librarian called him < > The voice of the librarian woke him from his half-sleep <> <> He glanced at the clock <> Chapter 17 James Sofa People looked strangely at that ghostly face that seemed straight out of Erebo, he wasn¡¯t the paragon of cleanness and etiquette. He went home, took a shower and redid his hair. Regardless of this people still looked at him quite strangely because of the two huge bags under his eyes. People always looked at him strangely. <> said Pxan near a bar < > <> <> Pxan looked at him strangely <> <> <> <> A little pause followed < > <> The bar was quite huge, hosting even a bowling room and a dance floor. <> <>Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. <> The two of them passed the late afternoon playing bowling and drinking, Pxan didn¡¯t liked the beer, found it too racy, but liked the fruit cocktails. James had no problems of this kind. He had drunk one or two drinks when Pxan asked him about the Bad Mace story <> James had drunk more than two drinks <> This far Pxan knew. <> <> <> When they finished James couldn¡¯t walk properly, they took the night metro and returned home. Pxan knew too well all the cases of drunk employers being shoot at this time, James didn¡¯t seem to care. After a bit, he found James apartment, two blocks away from Pxan apartment. His apartment, well it was a standard apartment. Not much out of place or very different from his own. He put James in his bed, said goodnight and looked out of the little window. It was deep night, did he really wanted to run such a risk? Considering his walking speed he would take forty minutes to arrive at his apartment and for what? For sleeping in an identical bed? He removed his shoes and socks and slept surrounded by the warmness of James sofa. He borrowed its alarm clock and set it, and fall asleep again in a deep black sleep. Chapter 18 The doctor ¡°Would you like an increase in your pay?¡± those words were beginning to ring more and more in his mind.¡±Why I have accepted?¡± After eight days of studying he couldn¡¯t bear it anymore, he was done for. Today he would write a nice letter to his captain where he would excuse himself and return to his old work, this was too much for him. < > he didn¡¯t need to look to know who it was <> <> <> < > he paused searching for the right word <> <> The lack of sleep had made Pxan an enraged animal at work, good for physical work, really bad for intellectual work. He glanced at James, he went to talk at the captain. ¡°What are those two conspiring?¡± A few hours later he was standing in a hallway for reasons that he didn¡¯t well understood. It had something to do with a suspicious guy and some drugs...or something like it, his work made him drowsy and distract. When he entered the room there was a man with a white alb and two glasses that hunged on his neck. The door closed behind them, James blocked the lock.Stolen story; please report. The man briefly looked at them, it was a man in his middle age, maybe in his middle forties, he had big and strong hands and a very long nose. <> <> the doctor interrupted James and looked at Pxan <> <> <> <> Pxan looked at James with flaming eyes <> <> <> <> The doctor didn¡¯t need to visit him to know that a few things were wrong, his posture on the chair was wrong, his spine was a little bent. His hands were placed in a defensive pose, he acted aggressive towards him and his colleagues, maybe to mask insecurity? He looked at his file, he was from Carlaria so probably he was an orphan...this would be a hard patience to deal with. <> <> Pxan proceeded to tell the doctor his typical day, made of books, attack of dizziness, work, tramming and black sleep without dreams. <> <> The doctor paused before responding. Pxan was probably mildly depressed, lacked sleep, sunlight, nutrients, exercise, social interactions and meaningful work. He also tended to mask his insecurities with an aura of coldness and aggressiveness. It was clear that he suffered a trauma of some sort and previous therapies weren¡¯t effective, he read his file a few hours ago, there were so many broken things, where he should start? < > Pxan face became distorted for a second with an expression of aggressiveness <> Chapter 19 Bad news Pxan life was already full of problems and tasks and now...now he also had to exercise breathing. What a horrible fate. The doctor also gave him other advice, he said that getting more sunlight and doing exercise could help with his sleep and that a small change in his diet could have huge results. ¡°Doctors will always be doctors. Thinking to know what is best for people¡± A few days after he got denounced for being ¡°strange¡±, when he went to work and read the denounce he was amazed: <> Pxan looked at the flinching screen for a few seconds before fully realizing what that meant.¡± People those days don¡¯t mind their businesses¡±, in a few minutes the denounce, and all denounce to come because of his breathing exercises would be archived, the time in which he passed sleepless nights and anxious days because of a denounce or a weirdness were long gone. He was a policeman, he had a stability that many people envied. Of course, there were limits, but this little denounce would do nothing to him. Nothing. < > ¡°Not again, what it will be now? A promotion? A degradation? A cut in pay¡± When he entered all of his muscles were tense, Pxan had to take a few deep breaths in order to relax. < > Pxan heart begun to race <> <>The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. <> Pxan looked straight in his eyes, he didn¡¯t know what to do, he was paralysed, he had never rebelled against a superior, he never directly disobeyed an order (except that one in the underground), he was sweating like he was in a furnace. <> he exited his office and went to the bathroom. He didn¡¯t want to return home, his home was a mess. He didn¡¯t want to talk, he wanted to find an outlet for all of this repressed rage. But where he could beat a few folks without fearing retail? He did what very few people did, travelled from a higher to a lower district. The council wanted to pass a law that made it impossible for people to travel without a valid reason; the law was nearly immediately rejected, mostly because of illegal and criminal lobbies. Whatever. He walked for a very long time in those squalid, decadent, quarters. Children¡¯s came closer to him, hoping that he had some coins to spare, before immediately running away after Pxan showed them the pistol and they realized how angry he was. He wouldn¡¯t have shot at children¡¯s...but if they came too close probably he would have had to break a few bones. A man was coming closer to him, he stank like a dead rat, he had palpitation and his tongue was speaking strangely <> not even the time to finish the phrase that a truncheon nearly broke his jaw. Pxan arm hurt badly afterwards, he had pushed the prosthetic too far. He didn¡¯t care ¡°Piece of shit, look at yourself, how can you define yourself as a human being? The same race as me?¡± thought Pxan, not remembering that those were the words of citizenship professors. <> Pxan tried in any way to hide his grim smile at the professor, this ideology was the reason why he was so ¡°diligently and systematized¡± discriminated. He didn¡¯t know how this broken system came to be, where or how those voices propagated but from the moment he set foot on Yigras, the great mother and colonizing ship, he was called a savage, an occultist, a pagan and an idiot. He would understand only years later why people hatted Carlarians so much. When he remerged from his thoughts he didn¡¯t know where he was. Chapter 20 A slight distraction The walls were decaying, the road dirty, the sky grey and not a single soul was there. He smelled something quite strange, it seemed like sea salt but wasn¡¯t quite it. He wondered a lot through the halls, pistol and truncheon ready, not knowing what to expect. Not knowing what to except¡­ Except¡­ The paper looks so God damn yellow and the light is far too intense, too bright, too white. He has been there for a very long time, hiding in the shades of the characters, not having really a voice of his own, having patience and working. But something is broken, something isn¡¯t quite right. < > a little manuscript by his side jump toward him <> His head hurt so much, his hands are becoming more and more spoiled as time goes on, how much time has passed? <> <> <> < >Stolen story; please report. <> < > <> <> Pxan looks at him <> <> <> Pxan put his pen back to the paper. ¡°Where was I?¡± A dog advanced aggressively towards him, it wasn¡¯t a robo-dog, still, it looked pretty dangerous. From the looks of it, he was quite the stray, the dog looked at him, he tried not to look at him. The door advanced toward him, he kept an eye on him. Suddenly a voice interrupted the confrontation, a man covered in metal plates and cotton called the dog. He looked at Pxan, not knowing what to do. <> the man said very timidly. Pxan looked at him for a bit before replying <> if possible he wanted to avoid making acquaintances. <> <> <> <> The man took a step back <> ¡°What an insult scavenger, I could kill him right now, look at him, he can¡¯t even stand against me. What a worm¡± A scream interrupted the conversation Two men were running after a girl, Pxan glanced at them, the two men were two renegades. Two perfect meat sacks to beat until death. Chapter 21 His prosthetics would never hold in a melee fight, so he picked up his pistol. As soon as the men saw it they began to retreat. Unfortunately, it was already too late for them. The girl¡¯s hair was burned a bit by the two blasts, the two-man laid injured on the ground. Pxan came near them < > now even the time to finish the phrase that Pxan begun hitting them on their hands to further incapacitate them, then on the legs. After a few minutes, he understood how far he could push his core and picked up the rhythm, a swing every three seconds. Strangely it was not the man that tried to stop him but the girl <> Pxan nearly spat on her face <> he continued his beatings. The man in plates desperately tried to grab the attention of his daughter. But the girl heard nothing of it <> Pxan face and hands were stained with blood <> <>Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. <> <> ¡°Is she a Christian or what? If he continues like this I swear I will beat her¡±<> The girl was shocked, he never saw a man behave this way. Usually, men were nice to her <> Pxan looked at her, if it was not for the father the little girl would have had his maw broke. <> said the man in a low tone Isabel agreed and the two men left Pxan alone to his anger. After half an hour Pxan was satisfied. His anger had somewhat subsided. He looked at the two men, they had several bones broken, they were vomiting blood and their faces had bruises on all sides. They would probably die without a doctor, He went around searching for a doctor, killing someone was a bit too much even for him. He ran a bit before finding a doctor and showing him the two corpses. He left before he could ask him any questions. Once gotten back home he was tired < > said the apartment manager Pxan looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds <> <> Pxan world crushed on him, all those efforts to rise from that horrible place only to be putten back there now. What a horrible life. Chapter 22 The new district He was sooked in blood, his clothes were a mess, his house was a mess, his life was a mess. ¡°If another person calls me, I swear that someone would have to put myself in prison¡± He was angry with his boss, angry with the world, angry with himself. He wasn¡¯t stable and didn¡¯t want to be. He returned to his station to say a few things to his boss, he wasn¡¯t his usual rational self, now he was angry. He entered the office without knocking at the door <> Pxan said The captain looked at him <> Pxan wasn¡¯t that surprised, they were securities everywhere <> <> <> Pxan nearly jumped at him < > Pxan barely contained yourself. <>Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. When the evicted notice arrived he was already ready to depart, he will show his bosses what he was made of. When he arrived at the district he didn¡¯t have a desk, he didn¡¯t result in the logs. He was a little bit confused, maybe it was just a small administrative hiccup, easily resolvable in a few hours. <> He looked back, it was one of the policemen <> <> ¡°Idiots are really everywhere¡± since childhood Pxan had learned how to recognize one and ignore it. <> Pxan entered the captain office, this time knocking at the door. <> his tongue stopped mid-sentence. The captain was a beast of man, with large shoulders, big muscles, and a herculean physique. He had a prosthetic but not like Pxan owns. It was a war prosthetic made for the battlefield that could curve steel, crack skulls, and parry bullets. <> <> Pxan fear of having his prosthetics crushed subsided a bit <> <> <> He looked at him straight in the face <> <> Lhyps stood up <> Chapter 23 <> Lhyps said <> <> he said pointing his finger to a man who was talking to his colleague <> As soon as Marth heard the captain voice his heart skipped a beat, he slowly turned and walked toward him, looking down, while trembling. <> <> one shift punch by Lhyps was enough to send him rolling down the floor he came near him, watching him from up to down. <> <> <> <> <> <> Marth turned back to work.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. <> Pxan asked <> <> <> In the span of fifteen minutes, Lhyps had shown Pxan the whole building, his workplace, his colleagues, and some strange robo-dogs that he didn¡¯t understood very well. <> <> <> <> After a few minutes, Pxan got his desk and his tasks. His first task was to deliver...a paper to doctor Richard? ¡°Wait what? I have become a postman?>> reading further he discovered that the order was signed and assign by captain Lhyps in person. <> the more he read the more he was confused, after two big pages of instructions he reached the end <> ¡°They surely have a strange way to write files here¡± So Pxan exited the building with the paper and tried to find the study of Doctor Richard. Chapter 24 <> Pxan asked confused to a random guy on the street. <> Pxan looked at what believed to be his brother for translation <> <> <> <> <> <> <> the man face became sad <> <> <> the old man without teets said After a good hour of wandering and meeting several dogs, Pxan finally found the correct street, now he must find a photograph...he looked at the road, it was a long road, a very long road. He asked a few persons, even those on the balconies if they knew of a photograph up to that road. A woman in his sixties said that his poor Francis got a stroke last night so the photograph was some hundred meters from there. When asked how the two things were correlated he replied <> Pxan was beginning to regret not being fired. After two kilometres he found the photographer, now he should only find the correct door, alley, turn¡­ The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.It was at this point that Pxan realized that there were many green doors and a door, contrary to his district, may it be open even if there isn¡¯t inside. Sometimes the street cut right through buildings, sometimes in those buildings were offices, sometimes there wasn¡¯t anything but crispy ladies. Nearly by accident, he opened a door, hoping that it was the correct one, and a guy trowed at him a storm of insult so heavy and so variegated that Pxan realized how varied was the English language, that was how that guy insulted him. <> at that moment he was insulting animals <> At that point, Pxan realized that he might finally have found him. <> <> <> if he did remember correctly one of his lungs was half-replaced and the other needed some surgeries <> <> ¡°Why I am doing this?¡± he paused <> <> <> < > <> <> Richard went in the other room picking up a certificate <> Pxan looked and read it <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> ¡°Do people here still use surnames?¡± <> <> In the late afternoon, after more than five hours of being out, asking people, responding to question and trying out to figure out the local culture he was back at the station. <> said Marth <> <> Chapter 25 The routine was atrocious, time there felt different, time there was different. Once set foot out of home he was in a limbo where time made no sense. No obsessive checking the cards stamps, no time schedules, nothing. Everything took the time that it took, there was often no telling how much a given task would take, when a certain person would be found, how many alleys there would be explored before finding your destination. People adapted to this situation, what was a fifteen minutes waiting. An hour of talking or an afternoon spent in bed in the end? < > said Lhyps to him <> <