Callie's Heroes

CHAPTER 13 - GREEN CIRCLE DING

Callie looked around herself and saw nothing but white. It was bright, but not blinding, and completely featureless. No source of light could be seen, and she cast no shadows of any kind. Looking down, she could see herself, well, her Gnome self in its normal off-tan skin. She pulled her hair around to her eyes, seeing it was still the hot pink color that was both expected and felt foreign at the same time. “At least there’s some color around here,” she muttered to herself.

She was in a room of some kind. Maybe. It was impossible to tell because everything was the same damn color. The wall could be meters away, or kilometers away. Callie could see no corners to give definition to anything.

“Why do I feel like I’m in some weird dream sequence?” she mumbled, and then called out, “Hello?”

Her voice echoed slightly, but nobody answered.

“Is anyone there?”

Before her, there was a ripple in the air. A basketball-sized globe of light appeared. The light itself was brown in color. In fact, it literally seemed to glow brown somehow. Surrounding the globe, like the rings of a planet, was a thin band of yellow light.

“Brown and yellow,” Callie said skeptically. “Are you supposed to be my Symbiote?”

The ball of light slowly floated in a circle around Callie, as if it was inspecting the Gnome. It otherwise ignored her, intent on doing whatever it was doing.

“Yeah, I've got to be dreaming,” Callie muttered. “Hello?” Callie asked again.

Finishing its orbit, it took up a position in front of the Gnome and just hung there, seeming to continue its examination.

“Hi. I’m Callie … I mean Calliope,” she said, playing along. “I think I’m your host.”

The Symbiote seemed to consider that for a moment, before a large red ‘X’ appeared in front of it, accompanied by a loud buzzer.

Callie jumped, startled, and winced. “What was that for?”

Once again, a large red ‘X’ appeared in front of the ball of light, with an equally loud buzzer sounding again.

“No? No what? No, I’m not your host."

Red X buzz

“So, I’m not your host. If you are my Symbiote, I bet you realized I’m not completely a Ranger, didn’t you?” Callie asked, a little irritated by the buzzing communication.

This time, a green circle appeared along with a light ‘ding’ sound.

“I was worried this might happen, since I don’t have a class, just a perk,” Callie sighed.

The floating sphere just hung silently in the air.

“I don’t suppose you can tell me what class I am? The Scryers just said I had a ‘void’, whatever that means.”

Red X buzz

“So what now?” Callie asked, hands on her hips.

This time, a blue question mark appeared in front of the sphere, with a soft, sharp whistle.

“Is that a problem? Not having any class of any kind?”

Blue Question Mark whistle

“If it makes a difference, since I have no class, I’m apparently not a Ranger. However, since I have no class, I'm also not not a Ranger. I know it’s a loophole, but hey, if it works…”

A yellow smiley face appeared briefly with a vaguely chirping ‘hee hee’ sound.

“Okay, you speak emojis! I guess I can work with that,” Callie said, smiling and deciding to just go with it.

The orb simply floated.

“Is me being classless that complicated an issue?” Callie finally asked. “According to what I understand, it will either work or not, so there’s no real danger. Is that right?”

Green Circle ding - Yes

“So that means you aren’t sure if you want to try.”

Green Circle ding

“Is it because I’m a Gnome? “

Red X buzz

No, but this time with an extra-long, extra-loud buzzing. And then the buzz sounded several more times, as if emphasizing the ‘no’.

“That’s good to know,” Callie said, relieved. “I don’t suppose there’s any way you can speak in more than single-picture answers, is there?” Callie asked, feeling frustrated at the game of twenty questions. “Are you able to speak?”

Red X buzz

The buzzing was much softer this time, though.

“Damn,” she muttered, wondering what could be the issue. “Can you give me a hint?” Callie finally asked.

An image of a globe appeared, but without any sound effects.

What did that mean? And then it came to her. “Is the issue that I am from Earth? That’s really the only other odd thing about me.”

Green Circle ding

Callie sat down on the featureless floor with a sigh, and the brown-colored ball lowered itself to remain at eye level. What could be the issue if she’s from Earth? A different life experience, sure, and of course, little knowledge of this new world. But the things she didn’t know could be learned, and her knowledge of Earth could provide a unique perspective, or even bring new ideas to the world. That was a good thing, in her opinion. So why would the Symbiote be concerned?

“Why is that a problem?” she finally asked, stumped for an answer.

The Symbiote hummed a moment and flashed the picture of a hand pointing towards Callie, then an arrow, followed immediately by the globe symbol. It did this a few more times.

It took a moment, but it eventually came to Callie. “Your concern is that I will go home, isn’t it?”

Green Circle ding

“Symbiotes are so rare, especially a hybrid one, that I would be a waste.”

Green Circle ding. And then three more dings.

Callie gave some thought to the implications. She imagined if she found a way to get home and what that would mean for the Symbiote. If she did, the experience getting here suggests she wouldn’t wind up back on Earth in a Gnome body. Assuming a dead body was left in her place, then the worm could just crawl out, so no real danger to it there. But if her body disappeared, and took the worm with it, would it still be attached if she was back in her human body? Would it just … evaporate? Wait, didn’t Vanis say there was a way to remove the Symbiote? He said it was dangerous, but if ways to mitigate that danger existed…

“I don’t know if I’ll find a way home,” Callie finally said to the sphere. “I hope to, but it’s not likely going to be any time soon that I’ll be able to search for a way, because I’ve got this Conscription Curse. So unless I somehow stumble on a way back, I’m pretty sure I’m stuck here. For a while, at least.”

Green Circle ding

“Vanis said there is a way to remove a joined Symbiote. It sounds like it might be dangerous, but if I found a way home, I’d do whatever I could to remove you safely. I’m sure I could find healers or other magic types to help make it safer. Might that address your concern?”

A white clock face appeared before the Symbiote sphere and the hand started to rotate around it.

“Thinking, are you?” Callie asked.

The Symbiote briefly dinged a green circle and then went back to the clock.

While she waited, Callie took some time to truly try to think about what her next steps could be as well. Assuming the Symbiote accepted her, she would wake up as a Ranger and learn a bunch of Ranger skills. The Conscription Curse said she had to serve, and the Demons sounded like an evil bunch. So supposedly, she would train, and fight and hopefully the good guys finally defeat the bad guys and all is well in the land. Assuming she didn’t find a way home, of course.

But then what?

At that point, look for a way back, right? Vanis must have access to resources in the Capital, those Scholar classes for example, that can look into how to get her home. Maybe he would help?

But what if there wasn’t a way? What then?

She could take up a vocation doing what she knew, numbers. What was the perk called? Bookkeeper? She could become one of those. Get a job in a city where that knowledge would be useful? Maybe Thucax could hook her up with his family business. That could work. They would need someone to help with the books, and she liked logistics, too.

Or maybe Vanis would want some help tracking down the people trying to usurp the throne? That would be an adventure, although the pay might not be great in the revenge business. Wait! He is the Prince, for crying out loud, money can’t be that much of an issue. So, a little court intrigue and a mystery to solve as something to do. Plus it would be good to help Vanis get his throne back.

But, what of the Symbiote? She was stuck with the worm for the rest of her long life, unless she had it removed. Was that fair to the Symbiote to retire from Rangering with over one-hundred fifty years left to live? Seems like a bit of a waste given how rare and valuable they are. So maybe Callie could do some Rangering stuff while she was in the prime of her long life? That depends on what Rangers do when they aren’t fighting demons, though. What did Thorn say? ‘Protectors of the lands, defending against poachers, monsters and other threats’? She could become a monster hunter, although the idea of killing as a vocation did not sit well with her. War and self-defense, or defense of others, was one thing, but being a hunter? That didn’t feel ri….

Wait! A hunter yes, but how about a Worm Hunter! That could be a great way to apply her Ranger skills by wandering the world looking for the little guys. Repaying the debt she carried for receiving a Symbiote herself, by finding more for other people. At an appropriate, if slightly discounted, selling price, of course. Yeah, this sounded like a fulfilling occupation. She’d have to research what kinds of skills she would need to learn to round out her capabilities, but Vanis could help with that. He grew up idolizing the idea of being a Worm Hunter, so he must have many thoughts on how to make that work. Callie couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the adventures she might have.

There was a whistle Symbiote’s clock icon disappeared and was replaced by the blue question mark.

“Huh?” Callie said. “Oh, I was just giving some thought as to what life in this world might be like after I was out from under the Curse, especially if we were joined and I couldn’t go home.”

Again, there was a flash of the blue question mark and the whistle.

“You want to know what my idea was?”

Green Circle ding

Callie held up her hands as if spelling it out on a theater marquee. “Callie Archer: Worm Hunter” she grinned. “Has a nice ring to it, right?”

The brown sphere suddenly reeled back as if in shock and flashed a repeated ‘X’ while buzzing incessantly.

“Wait! No! Not hunting as in killing!” Callie sputtered as she tried to explain. “It’s a person that finds Symbiotes in the wild so they can be paired up with someone.”

The ball of light stopped, replacing the red X with the question mark again.

“Yeah. My friend Vanis was telling me about them. It’s people that wander the world to find Symbiotes. Absolutely not about killing them in any way!”

Slowly, the Symbiote returned to its position in front of Callie, still seeming a little skeptical of things. Once again, it flashed the blue question mark.

“More? Well, I don’t know a whole lot more about it than that. But it seems like it would be a good use of my Ranger skills, to seek out more Symbiotes so they find new homes in people.”

The ball of light just floated there, and Callie had a sudden realization. “Do… Do wild Symbiotes actually want to be found? Or is that a bad thing?”

The Thinking Clock appeared and Callie sat patiently, and apprehensive, waiting for an answer. Finally, a green circle appeared with a ding.

“You took a while to answer there. So just to be sure, it’s not a bad thing to take one of you from the wild?” Callie attempted to confirm.

Again the clock appeared for an instant, followed by a repeating pattern of five images. A happy face, a right-facing arrow, a sad face, another arrow and finally a happy face. It continued to repeat as Callie wrestled with how to interpret it.

“So you would go from happy to sad to happy?” Callie finally said.

Green Circle ding

“Oh! A Symbiote would become sad to leave their happy home in the wild, but they would then become happy when they are joined with someone?” she puzzled out.

Green Circle ding

The two just looked at each other for a while.

“So …” Callie finally started to say, before trailing off. Finally she took a deep breath. “I’m just going to ask. Does this seem like something you could see yourself being part of…with me?”

Blue Question Mark whistle

“I mean, do you …” Callie stumbled again. “This really comes down to whether you want to join with me, given the mess I’m in. I’m just a girl who has no idea what she’s doing in this strange new world, and I have to admit I could use your help because of the Conscription thing. I’m not trying to guilt you. Well, actually I am trying a little bit. Maybe more than a little. What I mean is that I’d be very grateful to join together, and we can do what we need to to help defeat the Demons, and then see where life takes us. Things could change, but I’m open to what could happen if I am indeed stuck here.”

Thinking Clock

Callie fidgeted nervously, torn between saying more and coming off more desperate than she already sounded, or just letting things stand and give the Symbiote time to think. It was agonizing, and eventually she gave in. “Anything else I can say to help you make a decision?”

The featureless ball of light seemed to somehow look at her harder, as if it was peering into her being. Callie smiled uncomfortably at the scrutiny, feeling as if she was being evaluated on things she didn’t even know or have any control over. She eventually seemed to curl in on herself under the pressure.

“Three one four one five nine two six five three five …” she started to mutter to herself, singing random notes to each number. As she rattled off the numbers under her breath, she realized it was the first time since the showers that she’d needed to do numbers to calm herself. In spite of everything, being around her new friends had been what she needed to control a lot of her anxiety. She wasn’t sure what the meaning of that might be, but it was an interesting observation.

“Six two zero eight nine nine eight six …”

The Symbiote moved slightly, and then started flashing numbers picking up the count in the same cadence as Callie. “Two eight zero three four eight two five three four …” the two continued to count in perfect unison. “Seven zero six seven nine,” they finished together, reaching one hundred digits of pi.

“I … uh … count numbers when I’m nervous,” Callie said quietly, glancing at the Symbiote, before looking down into her lap and feeling ashamed for some reason. She shouldn’t be. Everyone had their ways to cope in the moment, and numbers were hers.

Green Circle ding

“Huh?” Callie said, looking up at the Symbiote.

Green Circle ding

“I don’t understand.”

Green Circle ding

“Yes what?”

Green Circle ding

A plus sign appeared, with a warm, harmonic chord.

“Yes, you want to…” Callie started.

Green Circle ding

Plus sign chord

“You want to join?” Callie whispered hoarsely, her throat choking up.

Green Circle ding

The relief that washed over Callie was nearly indescribable. It was as if all the pressure and worry and anxiety of the moment was scrunched into a ball and blown away in the wind. A split moment later, that relief turned to happiness, which turned to joy, which turned to a blissful sense of being accepted.

“Thank you,” she finally choked out. There was nothing else she could say.

Smiley Face

Callie found she wasn’t able to cry, despite the fact that her eyes were trying to. It must be a byproduct of this dreamstate she was sharing. “What… What do I need to do?” she finally squeaked out.

The Symbiote flashed the number zero.

“Zero?” Callie said, flummoxed for a moment. “Oh, nothing? I don’t need to do anything?”

Green Circle ding

“Oh. Okay.”

The sphere seemed to turn as if it was leaving.

“Wait! Before you go, will we be able to talk more in the future?”

The Symbiote flashed up a finger pointing at Callie.

“Me?”

Next, it put up the image of a face, with little Zs coming out of it.

“Sleeping? Oh, when I’m sleeping?”

Green Circle ding

And with that, the sphere spun once more, and disappeared into the white nothingness.

Callie had barely a moment to register that the Symbiote … her Symbiote … was gone, and that she was alone again, before there was a rushing sound and the world went dark.