RE: QUIETUS [S!5] [Round 2: Krei'kii'kelriz]
01-27-2017, 05:02 AM
Anila opened her eyes. That is to say, one eye. The other was presently occupied; she strained for a moment to see it before realizing that was a lost cause, for obvious reasons. Her blue-tinged arms felt like lead. The rest of her body felt like denser metals. A memory came bubbling to the surface: lying on the wizard’s spike trap, the one that should have killed her. The voice of Wizard Jelly. Wizard Jelly! She perked up. Wizard Jelly would know what was going on.
Wizard Jelly, she spoke into her mind, what’s going on?
“I’m sorry, Anila.” The voice came out from between her lips and made its way, with a longitudinal effort of fits and starts, to her ears. It was familiar, but it was of a timbre not her own. It was, she realized, the alien and neutral tones that she only used to hear inside her mind, interpreted through the use of her voicebox. “I was hoping it would never come to this.”
Come to what, Wizard Jelly? She couldn’t seem to get up. One foot - the untinged one, twitched madly. There was something else stabbing into her good eye, and it took her a second to realize it was bright yellow light. Come to what? Blinking only led to more pain, and the cracking of a lightly dried crust of blood. Something shifted in a place inside her skull, which definitely didn’t seem like a good place for things to be shifting.
The blue parts of her body, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have too much trouble moving. The issue was that she wasn’t moving them. “I’m so sorry, Anila. I’ve arrived at your brain.”
Faint screams came wafting down the corridor, a long way away. Her remaining eye swiveled, revealing a tableau of blood and gore. Bodies in orange uniforms: she recognized them as her adventuring entourage, until recently. Now they lay impaled on spears and knives made of shrapnel and scrap metal. A few more bodies, clothed in mismatched, mad tatters of fabric. What had happened? She tried to shake her head, to clear it, to make some sense of what was going on. There was something pinning her skull to the wall behind her.
What do you mean, Wizard Jelly? She asked, even though she already knew.
“Our party was attacked by cultists. One of them rushed you with a spear. You suffered an intracranial perforation through the eye, penetrating dura, pia and arachnoid maters, clean through the frontal lobe and hippocampus, exiting through the bone of the skull past each layer and into the bulkhead behind you.” She took a breath that was not hers. “I arrived through your bloodstream and past the blood-brain barrier as soon as I could, replacing and repairing the relevant damaged functions. I endeavored to preserve as much of your psyche as I could, but you are no longer in total control of this body.”
Anila shut her eye, as tight as it would go. Lancets of pain came curling down her spinal cord, but she ignored them as best she could. I’m going to die, then?
“Not yet, if I can help it.”
What happens when there’s nothing left of me?
She closed her other eye, split eyelid closing over the embedded spearhead. “I don’t know.”
When that time comes, Anila quirked one lip into a twitching attempt at her usual jaunty grin, let me go.
“I hope I’ll be able to do that.”
And Wizard Jelly?
“Yes?”
Maybe I’ll see you in my next life. I hope so! You’ve been a really amazing friend.
“Don’t say that. It’s not over yet.” A blue hand came up to her head, trying and failing to dislodge the metal pinned to the wall.
It’s ok, Wizard Jelly. The next life is just the start, she gasped, as her head tried to slide forward and off the spearhead, pain momentarily shattering her thoughts, it’s just the start… of another… adventure…
Anila’s head came free at last, spattering blood and blue fluids afresh onto the metal floor. The rest of the body followed suit not long after, hitting the deck with a resounding splat. “Someone’s coming. Hold it together, Anila.”
Just another adventure…
***
The blue-green marble of repressed divinity spun madly around Rachel’s head, her torso, her hands. It was taking all of Rachel’s self-control not to take that power into her again. Even so, lashes of plasma came arcing from her hands, incinerating the madmen before her with more ferocity than usual. Anxiety pounded at her chest, a beat that had nothing to do with a heart.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
Rachel Wylite had been a responsible woman. She had paid her bills on time. She was one of the very few astrophysics students in the world unburdened by student loans. She had worked three jobs to get where she was.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
She had never been especially fond of children, not then and not now. She had never cared for them. Plus, Anila was hardly a child. Rachel owed Robin Pearson nothing.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
But Anila was so small, and so bright, and so happy. A more brilliant beacon of optimism and light than Rachel could ever be. Something precious.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
If nothing else, Rachel Wylite had been a woman full of purpose. And Rachel Wylite was a being built to purpose.
She would take care of Anila.
***
When I die, I’ll wake up… as someone else! Anila used her remaining arm to gesture vaguely upwards. If you’ve had a good life… the gods try and make sure everyone kind of gets a decent life...
Anila’s other arm tried to push her body upright. “But there’s suffering, right? There’s unfairness and inequity and bad things happen to good people. It doesn’t sound like the gods are so much involved as it is just… some kind of fucked-up magical cosmos.” Slowly, her legs eased their way underneath her body, leaning it against an unspiked wall. Her right eye opened, revealing a brilliant blue iris, complete with blue capillaries. “But what do I know? I’m just a wizard jelly.”
You’re a pretty smart Wizard Jelly...
Flames came rocketing around one corner of the corridor, interrupting that thought midway. Also interrupting the thought was a primal, throaty scream of rage, of a familiar pitch.
“Rachel! Rachel!” Weakly, she waved an arm. “Over here!”
:O
Anila watched Rachel round the corner - literally - slicing off the inconvenient wall that dared be between them. She started to shake, and she didn’t know why.
“Blood loss,” she heard Wizard Jelly say, in her voice, “Take us to Dr. Pearson.”
She felt still-hot hands blister her skin as they lifted her, cradling her among the power outlets. The pain barely registered. She shut her eyes.
Wizard Jelly, she spoke into her mind, what’s going on?
“I’m sorry, Anila.” The voice came out from between her lips and made its way, with a longitudinal effort of fits and starts, to her ears. It was familiar, but it was of a timbre not her own. It was, she realized, the alien and neutral tones that she only used to hear inside her mind, interpreted through the use of her voicebox. “I was hoping it would never come to this.”
Come to what, Wizard Jelly? She couldn’t seem to get up. One foot - the untinged one, twitched madly. There was something else stabbing into her good eye, and it took her a second to realize it was bright yellow light. Come to what? Blinking only led to more pain, and the cracking of a lightly dried crust of blood. Something shifted in a place inside her skull, which definitely didn’t seem like a good place for things to be shifting.
The blue parts of her body, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have too much trouble moving. The issue was that she wasn’t moving them. “I’m so sorry, Anila. I’ve arrived at your brain.”
Faint screams came wafting down the corridor, a long way away. Her remaining eye swiveled, revealing a tableau of blood and gore. Bodies in orange uniforms: she recognized them as her adventuring entourage, until recently. Now they lay impaled on spears and knives made of shrapnel and scrap metal. A few more bodies, clothed in mismatched, mad tatters of fabric. What had happened? She tried to shake her head, to clear it, to make some sense of what was going on. There was something pinning her skull to the wall behind her.
What do you mean, Wizard Jelly? She asked, even though she already knew.
“Our party was attacked by cultists. One of them rushed you with a spear. You suffered an intracranial perforation through the eye, penetrating dura, pia and arachnoid maters, clean through the frontal lobe and hippocampus, exiting through the bone of the skull past each layer and into the bulkhead behind you.” She took a breath that was not hers. “I arrived through your bloodstream and past the blood-brain barrier as soon as I could, replacing and repairing the relevant damaged functions. I endeavored to preserve as much of your psyche as I could, but you are no longer in total control of this body.”
Anila shut her eye, as tight as it would go. Lancets of pain came curling down her spinal cord, but she ignored them as best she could. I’m going to die, then?
“Not yet, if I can help it.”
What happens when there’s nothing left of me?
She closed her other eye, split eyelid closing over the embedded spearhead. “I don’t know.”
When that time comes, Anila quirked one lip into a twitching attempt at her usual jaunty grin, let me go.
“I hope I’ll be able to do that.”
And Wizard Jelly?
“Yes?”
Maybe I’ll see you in my next life. I hope so! You’ve been a really amazing friend.
“Don’t say that. It’s not over yet.” A blue hand came up to her head, trying and failing to dislodge the metal pinned to the wall.
It’s ok, Wizard Jelly. The next life is just the start, she gasped, as her head tried to slide forward and off the spearhead, pain momentarily shattering her thoughts, it’s just the start… of another… adventure…
Anila’s head came free at last, spattering blood and blue fluids afresh onto the metal floor. The rest of the body followed suit not long after, hitting the deck with a resounding splat. “Someone’s coming. Hold it together, Anila.”
Just another adventure…
***
The blue-green marble of repressed divinity spun madly around Rachel’s head, her torso, her hands. It was taking all of Rachel’s self-control not to take that power into her again. Even so, lashes of plasma came arcing from her hands, incinerating the madmen before her with more ferocity than usual. Anxiety pounded at her chest, a beat that had nothing to do with a heart.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
Rachel Wylite had been a responsible woman. She had paid her bills on time. She was one of the very few astrophysics students in the world unburdened by student loans. She had worked three jobs to get where she was.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
She had never been especially fond of children, not then and not now. She had never cared for them. Plus, Anila was hardly a child. Rachel owed Robin Pearson nothing.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
But Anila was so small, and so bright, and so happy. A more brilliant beacon of optimism and light than Rachel could ever be. Something precious.
“Take care of Anila for me!”
If nothing else, Rachel Wylite had been a woman full of purpose. And Rachel Wylite was a being built to purpose.
She would take care of Anila.
***
When I die, I’ll wake up… as someone else! Anila used her remaining arm to gesture vaguely upwards. If you’ve had a good life… the gods try and make sure everyone kind of gets a decent life...
Anila’s other arm tried to push her body upright. “But there’s suffering, right? There’s unfairness and inequity and bad things happen to good people. It doesn’t sound like the gods are so much involved as it is just… some kind of fucked-up magical cosmos.” Slowly, her legs eased their way underneath her body, leaning it against an unspiked wall. Her right eye opened, revealing a brilliant blue iris, complete with blue capillaries. “But what do I know? I’m just a wizard jelly.”
You’re a pretty smart Wizard Jelly...
Flames came rocketing around one corner of the corridor, interrupting that thought midway. Also interrupting the thought was a primal, throaty scream of rage, of a familiar pitch.
“Rachel! Rachel!” Weakly, she waved an arm. “Over here!”
:O
Anila watched Rachel round the corner - literally - slicing off the inconvenient wall that dared be between them. She started to shake, and she didn’t know why.
“Blood loss,” she heard Wizard Jelly say, in her voice, “Take us to Dr. Pearson.”
She felt still-hot hands blister her skin as they lifted her, cradling her among the power outlets. The pain barely registered. She shut her eyes.
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So very British / But then again | People are machines Machines are people | Oh hai there | There's no time
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Superhero 1920s noir | Multigenre Half-Life | Changing the future | Command line interface
Tu ventire felix? | Clockwork for eternity | Explosions in spacetime