Jormungandr Goes To Hell - WE'RE IN HELL

>Well, it's been more than a minute. Just pull her away! You know, physically.

Yeah it's definitely been more than a minute.


"Alright." You say. "Come on now. That's enough mucking about cavorting with eldritch monstrosities for one afternoon." There is, of course, no response. You don't know what you were expecting really. "I told her." You mutter to yourself as you try to pull her free of the demon's icky grasp.

She's stuck pretty fast and, though it could just be your imagination, you'd almost think the more you pull against its grip the tighter it becomes. "I told her this was a bad idea. I specifically said 'this is a bad idea' but nope. Nobody ever listens to old Bracken. Don't know why I even open my mouth in the first place."

After a minute spent pulling and moaning you are no closer to extricating her from the monstrosity's tendrils but you are making steady progress in dislocating Jormungandr's shoulder.



With Plan A gone exactly nowhere you stop and contemplate an alternative, at a safe distance of course. No ideas are immediately forthcoming and it occurs to you that perhaps the Princess expected you to slay the demon should things go horribly awry.

You contemplate that possibility for a moment and decide that whilst you could obviously give that a go you should try to reason with the thing first. After all it wouldn't be very nice to go around killing people without even asking if they would cooperate with you first, even if they aren't actually people but rather treacherous amoral demons. Yeah that's pretty definitely the reason.


"Hello." you say awkwardly. "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Brigadier Bracken of the Hellian Standing Militia and I'd very much appreciate it if you would release my charge from your demonic clutches." Nothing.

"Hello...?" You repeat yourself and wave a hand in front of the heap of goop you have come to consider to be Sam's face. Yet more nothing. He's probably too distracted rifling through Princess Jormungandr's private memories and doesn't even seem to notice your existence. If only you had some way to force him to pay attention to you.

>Whatever you try to do, have it end with you getting yourself stuck in Memoryspace.

> Touch the green slime. There is absolutely nothing that can go wrong from doing this.

You can't believe you're going to touch this slimy bastard. "This is a really bad idea." You say, but like everyone else in the world you don't pay yourself any heed and you touch the demon slime.


In a moment your life seems to flash before your eyes. You relive the moment you sprouted from your Mother Tree, you relive a lonely childhood as a pupil of Tartarus School for Impressionable Young Minds, you relive your relationship with Rose; your first love, you relive a demon telling you to just hold on a minute.

Oh no wait that wasn't a memory that was Sam. "Ah hello." You say confidently. "I'm Brigadier Bracken of the Hellian Standing Militia and you're still not listening to me are you?" There is no response and your memories have since ceased to replay before your eyes. Resignedly you remove your hand from the slime.

> this girl is a lost cause, prolly got all sorts of demon-mind tendrils stuck in her already. Just use a particularly pointy piece of bark to get a blood sample and take it to that clonamawhatzit she was talking about earlier.

You are now Princess Jormungandr again. You are still stuck in some long repressed memory and for the last couple of minutes (or maybe longer, you're having difficulty keeping track of the time in this featureless void) Sam has been pretty much ignoring you.


Suddenly your father is there, holding you tightly and whispering to you that everything is going to be okay, that he's sorted it all out. His voice sounds strained, like he's been arguing with someone... or crying? To your annoyance you cannot help but feel reassured by his presence, but you're not going to let it go that easily.

"Give it up Sam." You say sternly. "I'm not going to be placated by your fake memories. Let me out of here, RIGHT NOW."
"If you could just be quiet for one second... your Highness." Sam replies indelicately. "Let me assure you that this is not some manipulation, simply the course that this particular memory takes."
"Yeah right." You scoff.

"Okay I believe we are done here." Samigina says finally, and you snap back to reality


"Um, hi." Bracken says. "This is awkward... I'll just... um... wait over there then."


"I don't expect you're going to tell me how to work my inventory now?" You ask.
"No, I-" Sam replies.
"Typical." You interrupt. "I don't suppose you ever had the information in the first place."
"No, I was going to say, I thought it would save time to insert the contents of the manual directly into your memory banks, and so I have done. You already have your information." Sam says. "You're welcome."

You are surprised to find that this is true. Though you have no memories of ever reading it you can recall the manual of the Mk. 4 Hammerspace Inventory Device in excruciating detail. It turns out it responds to a specific series of thoughts and gestures. You should never have a problem operating your inventory ever again.

Show Content

Spoiler 1. you have no idea, what the hell is this thing?,
2. the parcel that contained this inventory,
3. Princess Midgardsormr plush toy,
4. Amy plush toy,
5. portrait of Uncle Billy,
6. your favourite pillow,
7. your other pillow,
8. a candelabrum,
9. another candelabrum,
10. a flourescent pink towl,
11. the mirror from your dresser,
12. yet another candelabrum,
13. good god another candelabrum,
14. a candelabrum covered in some kind of half-solidified goop,
15. your green dress,
16. a stool,
17. what the hell is up with all the candelabra,
18. a hangar,
19. another hangar,
20. the cloning machine printout for the Jormungandr before you,
21. your cloning machine printout,
22. your yphone, no actually this is someone else's yphone (fenrir's?)

It appears your inventory is full... already.


Just to make sure everything's working okay you produce something from your inventory. You have no idea what this is. Maybe it's like when you get a computer and it inevitably comes with some pictures and music preinstalled, like a sample object?


"Yeah, well thanks for that at least." You say.
"I just hope that our future business will not be quite so stressful." Sam says.
"You think we're going to have future business?" You ask indignantly. "Do you really think I'm going to put myself at your mercy again? Didn't you get all the private and personal memories you wanted from me already?"
"Once more I apologise for the demanding nature of our transaction, but if I meant to harm you wouldn't I have done so already? I am not your enemy." Sam insisted. "And since you asked, I did not find the information I was seeking."
"Good I'm glad." You say. You turn to leave, but stop half way and wheel around. "Get out of my castle. You might not be my enemy but if you're still here the next time I come by I will be your enemy."


Bracken is, for once, silent as you make your way back through the library. Of course it doesn't last long and as soon as you're out of the secret passage he's retelling your encounter with Samigina.

His enthusiastic disbelief just washes over you. Your attention is elsewhere; you can't stop thinking about that memory. You wish you'd demanded an explanation from Sam, but you don't think you would have gotten one anyway. And that whole thing about your memory being a mess; missing time and repressed memories... And just what did Sam want from your memories anyway?


"He's just playing mind games with you." Bracken says. "Like, literally playing games with your mind. Just don't let him get under your skin..." he paused. "Not again at any rate."

"You might be right." You say after a moment. You try to shrug it off but can't help but scrutinise the library door. It doesn't look the most secure and you don't really like the thought of giving Sam any more free reign than he already has.

"Are you actually taking my advice?" Bracken asks incredulously. "That never happens. Want to make it two for two and let's hurry back on to the War Room and get this War Council out of the way?"

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