Mask of Humanity

Nicolai could hardly believe it when after twenty minutes of breathless jogging through the dark of the tunnel he was back in his safe place, the door locked behind him, and he was whole and hearty, the sack in one hand, the rod in the other.

‘Hah!’ he shouted a laugh, turned a slow circle before Kleos’ jar, tapped the glass until the head woke and stared at him. Nicolai, grinning, shook the sack and the rod in front of the head which gave him the typical frown and Nicolai laughed again before putting it all aside and pulling Kleos from the jar.

‘Look, look.’ He giggled, upending the sack to dump his treasures onto the table and they clattered and rolled there, their value at that moment beyond words for him. And to think, he’d accused the demon of shorting him. Now, seeing what he’d gained, and with the rod in his hands, he couldn’t have been happier.

‘Very nice,’ said Kleos tolerantly. ‘Where were you? I thought you might’ve died.’

‘Not quite.’ Nicolai grinned. ‘I was stuck down in the prisons, but now my Seed is complete.’

‘I see,’ Kleos’ eyebrows rose in what just might have been a pleased expression. ‘Still have that thing on your neck,’ said the head, looking at his band. ‘Did you find the keys to the library?’

‘I found some keys, maybe the ones you’re after. And the band is still on me for now—but not for long,’ Nicolai said, smiling. He twisted the band around his neck until the lock was in front and raised the long rod, tilting it until he could push the twisted key-part of the rod into the band until it clicked. He rotated the rod. It caught, his band jerking, and he applied all the force he could while it refused to turn. He tried the other direction, accomplishing nothing more. Was it stiff? The giant had turned it easily, but the giant was a giant.

‘That’s not going to work,’ said Kleos.

‘What?’ Nicolai paused, staring at the head.

‘You need to inject some Oma into the rod.’ It was frowning something fierce, chewing at its lip. ‘By touching it on the other end, shaping it as you turn the rod.’

Nicolai looked down the length of the rod. It was over a metre long, far more than the length of his arm. He pulled the twisted end out of his bands lock, rotated the rod to look at its butt and saw there a little circle that sparkled in the light.

Nicolai’s smile vanished.

‘It’s to stop a prisoner gaining one of the rods and opening their band all by themselves. Even if you could reach the end, I don’t think it would work. Someone else needs to do it for you.’

‘Are you shitting me?’ Nicolai stared at the rod, his mind blank, so shocked and disappointed he didn’t know what to think. ‘What if I break it in half, make it shorter?’

‘Then it’ll be broken,’ Kleos said, and snorted a laugh.

After a moment of frenzied thought Nicolai took his Seed from his mouth, held it to the end of the rod, injected a little Oma and felt it take shape. He tried to slot the other side of the rod into his band while keeping his hand there but it was far too long. Injecting more Oma then moving as fast as possible he pulled his hand and Seed away, put the key-part into his band and turned it. It didn’t work.

‘Ok, work with me,’ he said, connecting to his Seed, telling it what it needed to do, and he left it in place on the end of the rod, then put the key into the lock and turned it. The Seed remained there on the end, but the rod wasn’t turning.

‘You need willpower to perform shapings. I seriously doubt that thing can do it without your mind behind it,’ Kleos voice rang out like a funeral bell, dull and solemn. ‘I’m telling you, it wouldn’t work anyway, even if you had arms long enough. Someone else has to do it.’

Nicolai slumped into the chair, collected his Seed and put it back in his mouth. ‘Fuck,’ he said.

‘Yep,’ said Kleos.

Nicolai snarled, teeth and hands tight, something stirring within him and demanding blood and death and madness. ‘No,’ he hissed, putting his hands against his eyes, shaking his head side to side. ‘No.’ He wasn’t going to lose control again, not over something so simple. He resisted the writhing impulses with grit teeth and tight focus, shoving down.

‘Calm, calm,’ Kleos spoke quickly. ‘It’s simple. You just need to find another human with a Seed, and have them do it for you.’

‘Of course.’ Nicolai had squeezed and pressed at what he felt, and it had changed. This was just a minor setback. He was making good progress. Nicolai grinned at Kleos.

‘Soon, I’ll have it off,’ he muttered, hungry. He paused, thinking, and his mind fell upon the first available solution. ‘I met someone some time ago. A man.’ He recalled a dark man with a bionic arm, and a good fight. Johan. ‘I might be able to contact him over the radio.’ He checked the torches, and saw they were orange shading towards red. Back then, he’d agreed with Jonah to check the radio as night fell, listen in case they needed one another.

It was an uncertain alliance, made almost a week ago. Would Jonah still be listening? Was he even still alive? Perhaps, perhaps not.

It was an hour or two until night. Nicolai eyed the shadows, which were innocently still but with an air that suggested they could start creeping and crawling at any moment. Need to stay busy. What to do? His eyes fell upon the back of his hand which glinted gold.

Nicolai moved to the centre of the room and tapped the back of his mark.

User Interface 376 | User #53,217

> Map

> Cultivation

> Quests

> Challenges

> Contracts (2/3)

You completed the Quest: Heart of Darkness, and may claim a reward.

Claim now?

‘Claim,’ he said, his unease fading to be replaced by excitement.

His Mark pulsed and the stone roiled before him, a statue rising. Magic, he thought, a smile pulling his lips, still enjoying the sight just as much as the first time. Nicolai stepped back to give it room, his head tilting as it loomed till its head almost touched the ceiling, a prickling of wariness tingling his spine as he found himself sidling towards the tables and the weapons. But the statue was unmoving. It was a statue of a man, a very tall man with two tiny horns either side of his forehead and a tail, but other than that, he could have been human.

‘Imperial,’ Kleos hissed.

The tall man was staring down, his stone eyes seemingly fixed on Nicolai. His face bore a faint, contemptuous smirk, as if he was looking at something that at once disgusted and amused him. Ornate, flowing robes carved from the stone twisted around him, and he wore a strange glove on one upraised hand with a pointing finger.

From this finger there extended four looping tendrils of stone, each of which ended in circular floating plinth that held four boxes, spread in front of the statue.

Nicolai grasped his rapier, which would be useless against something made of stone but it helped him relax, and moved around the side, past the boxes, to reach out and touch the statue, his Mark shining.

Reward Shrine (Tier 2)

These shrines appear to grant rewards to Marked who have completed a Quest or Challenge within the game. They come in various types and tiers.

From this Shrine you may claim one reward from four options, and are also granted an additional reward after choosing.

This particular shrine depicts an Imperial Cultivator of the Euklid.

The Euklid are amongst the Five Founding Races of the Divine Empire. Known for their strength of arm and talents with fire, one should remember that behind their stony exteriors and skills at battle they possess a nature as calculating and ruthless as any other Imperial.

The Euklid are often found leading Imperial raids against lesser races, and are experienced in exterminations.

The Imperial word for Human is synonymous with vermin.

‘I don’t think he’d like me,’ muttered Nicolai, frowning up at the statue’s sneering visage, mind lingering on the word vermin.

‘No. He’d probably kill you. And he’d definitely kill me,’ said Kleos.

‘Why?’ Nicolai was truly confused by this. Earth had never had any contact with aliens. What could they have done?

‘Because he’s an Imperial.’

Nicolai cast an uncertain glance at Kleos. The way the head said it, it was as though the words should explain everything. ‘I don’t know what that means,’ he said.

‘The Divine Empire considers itself the ruler of this reality, and they offer two choices to the rest of us. Serve, or die. The People chose to serve.’ Kleos snorted. ‘Look how that turned out,’ it muttered.

‘Where is it? Where are all of these things? Heaven, the People, the Imperials. All I’ve seen is you and this castle, some statues. A lot of undead. A demon, or perhaps two.’

Kleos’ eyes widened. ‘You met a demon? A real demon?’

‘Yes. It was called Paxolnaz, and a description called it a 9th Circle Demon.’

‘Of course. You wouldn’t be alive had it been any higher. This castle would be a ruin.’

‘What’s the difference?’

Kleos frowned. ‘I’m… I don’t know the specifics. Demons from each lower Circle are significantly stronger. As you are, I’m surprised you survived being near to a 9th Circle Demon, let alone anything higher. It must have been trying quite hard not to kill you.’

‘I made a Contract with it, it’s not allowed to harm me.’

‘Good, that’s good. Make sure it stays that way. As to the rest… I already told you as much as I know about Heaven. It protects us, and binds us. The Imperials, on the other hand…’ It snorted. ‘You ask me, they were just here first. Got a leg up on everyone else then pulled up the ladders, now they lean over from way up there and throw lightning down at anyone who tries to build a new ladder. I’ve heard they cluster close to Heaven, though I don’t know what that looks like, exactly. It’s said that they are trying to take control of it.’

‘I assumed they already control it,’ Nicolai muttered. ‘You said they consider themselves the rulers of this universe. But not of Heaven?’

‘No. Heaven is above them, I know that much.’

‘But it doesn’t control everyone?’

‘I think it’s more… hands-off.’

‘Yet it brought me and humanity, here,’ Nicolai murmured, frowning. ‘Heaven seems very important,’ he said, watching Kleos carefully, ‘yet you know so little about it.’ Was Kleos lying to him, or hiding something? Their Contract should prevent that, he’d specified honesty as a requirement. But perhaps Kleos had wormed in a loophole he hadn’t noticed?

Kleos chuckled. Not a happy chuckle, it was a self-pitying, miserable sound. ‘You think I have all the answers, but I’m just slightly less confused than you. I’ll tell you a little of my past. I was born on another planet, one far from here. I don’t remember it well, I wasn’t there long. I was captured as a youth, and taken here, to this world. Back then it was called Tepolis, rather than Nightmare. I served the People. Didn’t have much choice. I was one of their Living. First as a knight, then a commander. Gained more power, more influence. Then…’ It fell silent, a sour expression forming on its face.

‘You attempted a coup,’ said Nicolai, recalling the description he’d read upon examining Kleos.

‘Stupid.’ Kleos let out a bark of angry laughter. ‘So stupid. My point being, that’s all I ever saw, ever was. Born on some backwater. A life fighting in this place, stamping out revolts and killing people the Lords wanted gone. A brief moment of idiocy later, and I was turned into this. Not long after that, the People Transgressed. Then, an infinity of nothing. Of sleeping and darkness, brief moments of light, more sleeping. I only saw an Imperial once, from afar, and I never saw Heaven, only some of its works, things you’ll see, too. That Mark on your hand is one of them.’

Nicolai considered asking more while the head was being so talkative, but Kleos’ expression had grown dark. He recalled how Kleos had distracted him some days earlier, saved him from a descent into madness. A favour I can now repay.

‘Let’s see what we have here,’ he said, smiling at the head, gesturing to the statue and the four boxes. ‘Perhaps something that’ll help us get you a body.’ But I doubt it. From the way Kleos quirked an eyebrow, he knew the head doubted it, too. Nicolai turned his eyes away from the head. The boxes pulled at him, igniting greedy imagination.

One of the boxes was long, rectangular. One of them was quite flat and wide. The other two were simple square shapes. Drawing closer, he peered at the tops of them, and saw each bore an image, and words. These turned out to be very to-the-point.

The long rectangular box had an image of a shotgun, and the words Mossberg 500.

The flatter, wider box had an image of a poncho, and the letters Y1a.

The first of the square boxes had an image of thermal goggles, and the letters TNA50-B1.

The second had an image of a charge baton, and the letters STBT-200kv.

Nicolai recognised each of the names, but he reached out a pressed a hand to the first of them regardless, interested to see what the Examine text would say.

He had a decision to make, and he intended to thoroughly investigate the choices before choosing.