Mask of Humanity

Back upstairs, John talked to the rest about what had happened, about the Chosen, while Cait and Nicolai dumped the unconscious man into one of the rooms and Nicolai locked it.

‘Give me the key, I’ll keep watch on him,’ said Cait, holding her hand out.

‘Later,’ said Nicolai. ‘I want you to remove my band.’

She frowned at him, ‘I thought you wanted John to do that.’

‘You seem more reliable, more reasonable,’ he told her with a smile.

‘Key,’ she said, bouncing her hand, ‘and I will.’

Fine. He didn’t care all that much. The Chosen were coming anyway, and Nicolai intended to take measures to protect all that was his. He handed her the key. ‘Follow me,’ he bid her, turning and heading towards his room.

With his Seed’s tendrils, he felt her pause behind him, glancing at John who looked back at her, both of their throats working, communicating over Local. John gave a little nod. Nicolai, with his face turned away where none could see, smiled as he opened his door and she followed him in.

He had already hidden all of his things apart from what was expected. On the table rested Kleos, his water bottle and some sustaining Seeds, a pouch of Oma crystals and a pouch of points tags. Some weapons and pieces of armour were scattered about. Everything else, such as his other bags of Oma crystals and points, the turtle statue, his other water bottles, was tucked out of sight inside the cabinet.

The key-rod was leaning against the table.

‘Close the door,’ he told her.

‘Why?’

‘I don’t like people seeing my room.’

She frowned. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know.’ Because I’m an insane, obsessively paranoid psychopath. ‘Close the door.’

With an exasperated shake of her head, she did. Nicolai handed her the rod.

‘This is the key to remove my band. You slot the twisty end into this part of my band, then touch your Seed against the other side and push a little Oma into it. Then you turn the rod, not sure if it’s clockwise or anti-clockwise. You know how to send Oma out of your Seed and into something?’

She wasn’t looking at him, busy staring at Kleos who gazed silently back at her.

‘What?’ asked the head.

She let out a little scoff and shot a strange look at Nicolai. ‘Nothing,’ she said to Kleos, then looked to Nicolai. ‘I… no. We’ve not really done much with our Seeds, just held onto them. Been too busy to mess around. But I do know how to do one thing…’ She ran her hands over the rod. There was a flare of light and the gold of her Mark slid through her fingers, touched it and returned. She paused, reading words that Nicolai couldn’t see. ‘I get it,’ she said quietly after a moment. ‘So, your Seed is ready to integrate, then you’ll be a Cultivator, whatever that means. But you can’t do that until you remove the band, because the band constrains Cultivators.’

‘That’s it,’ said Nicolai, smiling.

‘How’d you complete your Seed? I can understand the Soul Trap to get the Soul count up, but where’d you find all those Oma crystals?’

‘Went to a dangerous place and barely survived. You and the others may be able to do the same, if you’re willing to risk it. I’ll tell you more once this is off.’ He tugged at his band.

Her eyes turned distant, her throat worked. What is she saying to John? What is he saying back? Her expression was carefully blank. He didn’t trust her, but that didn’t mean much because he didn’t trust anyone.

‘Here,’ Nicolai reached out, tugged the rod from her grasp then slotted the twisty end into his bands key-hole, and held the far end of the rod out to her. He kept his other hand close to his rapier’s hilt, and his Seed’s tendrils kept careful track of those outside. No signs of an impending attack from them, and her body was loose and relaxed.

‘Have you ever connected to your Seed before? On accident or on purpose?’ he asked, his impatience peaking.

‘I’ve connected it a few times, on accident, and once on purpose.’

‘Then just put it against the bottom of the rod and do it on purpose again.’

Cait unwound a strip of cloth from her arm, revealing her Seed. It seemed very pale and lacklustre to Nicolai, barely fed. She put it against the bottom of the rod, and closed her eyes, focusing. Then she opened them. ‘I’ll expect an Oma crystal or two for however much I use here.’

‘Of course,’ Nicolai assured her, and she closed her eyes again. ‘Once you’ve connected, feel the energy inside of it,’ he continued quietly. ‘That’s the Oma. Push some of the energy into the rod. Your Seed won’t like that, it’ll try to keep the energy, and you’ll have to overcome it.’

Minutes slid by as she focused. Then he saw a tiny glow from the end of the rod, from her Seed. Her expression was now tight with concentration. He watched with bated breath as she twisted the rod, and his band jerked, refusing to open. She twisted it the other way and it moved and he heard a faint click.

She opened her eyes and released the rod. ‘I think it’s done.’

Nicolai’s mouth had filled with saliva. His breaths were coming faster and his heartbeat was elevated well over the norm. He pulled the rod away and his band opened with it, letting out a clank of metal as it unhinged. The space around his neck felt oddly naked without it. He dropped it to the ground and it clattered. Nicolai let out a laugh of delight and surprise.

‘You did it,’ he said, staring at her, then to the band, grinning, barely able to believe it. His body tingled and fuzzed with elation, making him want to move. He bounced on the balls of his feet, clenching and unclenching his fists. ‘You did it!’ he all but yelled, laughing. He felt odd, and realised he wanted to… hug her or shake her hand, something like that, and the strange urge took him by surprise. He struggled to control himself and stay where he was.

‘Yes.’ She smirked at him, quirked an eyebrow, seemingly amused.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘This is… thank you. I will help you, as best I can. You don’t know what this means to me.’ I can move forwards! I can become a Cultivator! He took two crystals from his pouch and tossed them to her, knowing it was an over-payment but too pleased to care.

Her bionic arm snatched them fluidly from the air. ‘I hope so,’ she told him, eyebrows arching. ‘I’m trusting you here. We all are.’ She stared at him thoughtfully a moment, her expression softening. ‘Still, I guess we have some common ground. Were you staying here with your friends, before the Chosen… well, before it happened?’

Nicolai knew immediately what she was talking about. One of his lies to the group, while he’d been tied up, was that he had lost friends to the Chosen. Keeping careful track of such lies had been a habit of his for a long time; necessary when you told as many lies as Nicolai did. Even in the midst of his elation and joy, that same habit reasserted itself, allowing him to react smoothly.

Nicolai formed his face into one of regret and pain. His eyes grew hazy as though lost in memory. He spoke quietly, looking past her.

‘Yes. That’s right. It’s been… difficult, without them. I don’t want to talk about it.’ He made a show of swallowing. As he’d spoken, he’d realised that there were no signs in this place that anyone but him had lived here anytime recently, and hastened to speak. ‘I cleaned up everything that was left from them. Seeing their things around here, it made me remember… and I felt… bad.’ Speaking these words made him want to giggle, and he quickly put a hand to his face as though distraught, hiding his twitching lips.

‘I understand.’ She nodded, and gave a little smile. A… kind smile? ‘Well, if you need to talk, I’m always here.’ She turned away, moved to the door, cast a glance over her shoulder. She considered him a moment, thoughtful, then she opened the door and left.

Nicolai sank into the chair beside Kleos, glad she was gone so he could relax his face. A grin stretched his lips as his true feelings resurfaced. ‘It’s off, Kleos,’ he hissed with mad delight. ‘Can you believe it?’

‘Yes.’ Kleos gave him a lopsided smile. ‘Will you do it here?’

‘Do you think it will take long? Will I be unable to fight?’

‘Mmm. It will be a big change. Never heard of what happens when one without a Soul gains one. Typically, those from most races are born with a Soul but are unable to Cultivate, and have to go through a process of gradually clearing their body before being able to do so. From what you’ve said and the amount of energy you had to put into that Seed, I think you’ll be going through that process all at once. I suspect you’ll be extremely vulnerable for at least some of the time it takes to complete. Maybe even comatose.’

‘I see.’ Nicolai considered the issue of being so vulnerable when surrounded by others. For Cait at least, Nicolai… he didn’t trust her, exactly, but he saw no logical reason for her to betray him, not now. She’d fulfilled the groups end of the bargain, she’d removed his band. That act held weight to him. Not quite a debt. But something.

But what of the rest? No logical reason for them to betray him either, but humans weren’t all that logical in his opinion. Might be another like the lawyer, seeing an opportunity to steal his Seed, or anything else. Perhaps he could ask Cait to watch over him?

He snorted, shaking his head. No, he didn’t intend anyone to know of how vulnerable he would be. He wanted to get it all over somewhere completely safe and unknown, somewhere cut off from others. Which now meant somewhere outside of what had been his safe place. Somewhere hidden. His mind immediately hit upon a solution, upon the perfect place for him to go.

He began gathering up his things, his tendrils tracking those outside. They were converging in one of the rooms, some kind of group meeting.

Nicolai debated whether to tell them he was leaving for a while. If he didn’t, they would quickly realise he was gone and freak out thinking he’d abandoned them. But if he did, well, they’d know he was out somewhere integrating his Seed. However, he’d take pains to ensure they didn’t know exactly where. What if they tried to stop him? What if John had a sudden change of heart? Or, what if they simply took him telling he was going to leave as a sign of imminent abandonment? He could all too easily imagine that, how someone would say he’s going and he’s not coming back. Then what? He’d have to kill them, which would be a shame after he’d spent so much time and effort not killing them.

As he continued gathering his things, Nicolai considered that thought a little more deeply. I could just go. No longer have to worry about how they could turn on him, how unreliable and how untrustworthy other people were by their very nature. Already his brief spate of gratitude towards Cait, his announcement that he would help them, was fading away.

He reminded himself that Cait had removed his band. Would the man he wanted to be consider that a debt? Would that man come back? How much did he want to be that man? From the other side, another part of him was thinking there were benefits to be gained from remaining in the group, that it was not entirely a bad thing. And, hadn’t he thought that it would be good for him? Help him… learn?

I will come back.

But it was best they didn’t know he was going. Too much that could go wrong. Still, if he was coming back, he ought to leave some kind of note. Otherwise they’d all completely freak out.

He retrieved a chunk of charcoal from the small pile of the stuff he had from fires over the past week, and scrawled, in very large letters, a quick note on the table-top.

GONE TO INTEGRATE SEED. BACK SOON.

‘We’re going on a little trip, Kleos,’ he told the head a few moments later, tucking it under an arm, everything else he owned now strapped to him or in the large sack he’d taken from the prison’s storage room, all hidden beneath his poncho. He quietly exited his room, not worried about being seen because they’d closed the door of the room they clustered in.

He headed to the main door and slid out through it, his tendrils trailing behind him as he left, keeping track of them as long as he could. They remained in the room, unaware of his leaving. He spiralled down the stairwell and out into the banquet hall. He headed across it, his tendrils stretching until they could stretch no more.

After unlocking the big door then re-locking it behind him, he headed out into the gauntlet. The undead up on the balconies were standing again, as expected. He activated his poncho before stepping out, his eyes turning upward to the balconies, and to the large crack in the ceiling.

He activated the Pegasi ring with his Seed, which had recovered from its strain, and drifted up towards the nearest balcony.

There he drew a knife and his new Soul Trap, then set to work. These light-bolt throwing undead gave more Soul points than the typical fare, and he made quick progress, even forced to duck into the side corridors as he was. After killing only five of them his Soul count was back to one-hundred percent, then he fed it an Oma crystal, and once more the message blinked in his interface, Seed complete and bonded…

Nicolai re-activated his Pegasi ring and rose up to the crack, then part-flew and part-climbed his way up through the ragged tear in the stone, struggling at times to fit his laden bulk through, until he emerged into the isolated, cut-off room up there.

After the first time he’d investigated it, he’d noted that the crack was lengthy enough that his Seed’s Soul sense couldn’t reach all the way to the balconies, let alone the ground of the gauntlet.

That had been when the idea first began to percolate. The idea that with the gauntlet below and the distance blocking Soul sense, this place was quite safe. Not one-hundred percent so, but he didn’t anticipate that the integration would take too long. From questions he’d asked Kleos here and there, he gathered it should take no more than an hour or two. Nothing was guaranteed, but he felt that for this it should be fast enough.

He closed himself in the deserted room up there, closing the door between him and the crack, then dumped the sack on one side, and settled into the middle of the room with Kleos on the floor before him, taking his Seed from his mouth and considering how to go about this. Other than him and his things, the room was empty but for the damaged torch on the wall, which let out an uncertain, flickering light.

‘You should strip. Put all your things aside,’ said Kleos suddenly.

‘Why?’

‘It could be that quite a lot of waste will be expelled from you.’

‘…really?’

‘It is often a part of these things, especially earlier on.’

Nicolai stripped, placing most of his things in a neat pile to one side of the room, but with his weapons within easy reach. He took a moment to feed his Seed one Oma crystal, replenishing the tiny amount of Oma he’d used on the Pegasi ring when he flew up.

‘Keep the water bottle handy, too, the cleaning one,’ came Kleos’ voice again.

Nicolai didn’t question this advice, grabbing the red water bottle and standing there a moment. ‘Anything else?’

‘Luck,’ said the head with a smile.

Nicolai nodded, smiling back. He pulled his Seed from his mouth again and lay on the floor, letting his mind drift and connect with it, checking it over mentally. It was fine and hale, feeling full and ready, eager to begin. Just to be sure he hadn’t gotten anything wrong he checked it one final time in a different manner, tapping his Mark which glittered and showed golden words above.

User Interface 376| Player #53,217

- Cultivation

> Seed Progress

Soul: 100%

Oma: 100%

Seed complete and Bonded.

Place your Seed against your chest and connect with it to begin integration.

Nicolai took a deep, slow breath, half-grinning, buzzing with excitement, then he placed the Seed over the centre of his chest.