Chapter 51 (2 of 2) A Nightmare Made Manifest. (Patreon)

It was 9 o'clock. He stared at the semi-translucent golden cube rotating in mid-air above his right palm. His fingers fell right through it, and he couldn’t interact. It glimmered in sync with the golden cube symbol that hovered above the surface of his skin on the back of his right hand.

He moved his palm one way, and the cube followed. He moved it another way, and the cube followed. He had been doing this for the last hour, ever since he woke up.

Stephen decided the only way he could stop panicking about the strange object that didn’t seem to exist was by completely ignoring it and not choosing to try to break it. Not that he knew how to do that, as it didn’t seem like he could touch it.

He got changed, had breakfast, tuned into his favourite esper combat show with his holographic projector in the centre of his lounge, then sat down with a mug of coffee to relax and take his mind off the weird dream and new parasitic – or maybe symbiotic? – cube that refused to detach itself from the space near his hand.

“Agent Lawrence, when are you going to break it?”

He spat out his coffee and whipped his head to stare at the semi-translucent figure of Lucille Goldcroft who seemed to be reclining on his couch with her legs kicked up. She shrugged and scattered into specks of light, almost as if nobody had been there at all.

“I was just asking.”

He continued staring at the spot for a long while, intently listening to see if she would say anything else. He hesitantly looked down at the cube hovering above his palm. If this wasn’t a hallucination…

He stopped moving, thinking deeply. Then with gritted teeth, he reached out with his other hand to ‘grab’ the cube and squeezed. The illusory sound of shattering glass sounded as the cube fractured into gold light and he felt some sort of vague pulling sensation on his mind.

Instinctually sensing he could make a choice here, he relaxed and allowed it to pull his consciousness away. When he next opened his eyes he was back in Lucille Goldcroft’s study in the Medallion skyscraper, sitting in front of her as she watched him with a smirk.

“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked.

He gazed wearily at her. “…you’re really Lucille Goldcroft?”

Her smirk widened. “Is there anyone else you know with my name?”

He looked around the room again. “Where are we?”

“We’re in a simulated space of the spiritual realm’s layer of imagination,” Lucy said, which clarified nothing for Stephen. “It’s part of the ability I awakened relating to the mind. I believe I’d be classified as a ‘psychic’ by the World Government’s terms.”

He gazed dully at her. “Psychics are a myth.”

“And yet here I am,” she replied nonchalantly. Lucille looked around. “However, you seem to be much more accepting of the situation now, so… let me change things up a little.”

She snapped her fingers and the world bent and morphed around her. Wallpapered beige walls and a golden chandelier swung above them, a luxurious leather armchair becoming his seat and a second chair forming behind him. To the left, he could see a tall window with views of gorgeous flower gardens below. Silk cushions sat on the windowsill and curtains of red velvet hung from above, tied with golden ropes.

The desk in front of him changed into an expensive, dark wood, parchment and fine fountain pens placed neatly on top, and the carved wood table sat on a carpet of dark purple. The décor was something he’d expect to see in a museum, not… in a modern house.

“Where are we?” he asked, turning back to Lucille… until he saw her and stared.

“In a simulated representation of my physical body’s current whereabouts. My study in my new house,” she said with a smile.

He stared at the black half-mask covering the right side of her face, the golden sash and leather corset she wore, the grey ascot and her vibrantly violet left eye. “And… why do you look like that?”

“Because this is a simulated representation of my physical body’s current appearance.” She smirked. Before Stephen could say anything, she clapped her gloved hands together. “Anyway, now that you have a better handle on yourself, it’s time we seriously discuss my proposition. However, you can return your consciousness to your body at any time you wish, Agent Lawrence,” she explained. “Although this works both ways. I can call your consciousness here at any time.”

He could sense the strange feeling of both his real body and this… simulated body or whatever and their sensations at the same time, so he just nodded.

“But… where are you?” he asked hesitantly, still confused about why she was showing him this place, and her reasons for calling him here.

“Where indeed,” she replied with a smile, standing up from her own armchair. “The most important of questions for those interested in the case of the disappearing youth on Earth last month. But it will be easier to show you.”

She walked over and he leaned back when she reached out her hand near his head. “I haven’t transferred memories using my Origin Skill as an intermediary though, so just to be safe…” Her index finger touched his forehead. “Remember to breathe, Agent Lawrence.”

His mind exploded with thoughts, memories, information, and sensations. Hundreds of years of knowledge flowed through his mind and he tried to retain even a small fraction of those memories within his mind. His heart beat frantically as he became aware of things he shouldn’t know yet: Magic, demons, beasts, wraiths, warriors, mages, dragons, immortals – skills, powers, empires, realms, dimensions, Earth, Events, a System, the Tower-

He woke up on his couch in his house, feeling breathless and with a pounding headache. He quickly checked his hand and sighed when he saw the strange glowing cube icon was still there.

Wondering what to do, Stephen tried to focus on the icon, willing himself to return. His mind was quickly sucked away and he found himself in the leather armchair again.

“Clearly, my warning to breathe was ineffective,” Lucille said dryly.

“What did you just show me?” he asked hurriedly, his mind still filled with visions of battle, titanic behemoths, and glowing runes.

Lucille smirked. “Where I am. And context for the proposition.” She leaned forward and grinned. “Which I know you will accept, because I have leverage over you. Remember, Agent Lawrence?” She spread her arms wide. “This is blackmail.”

He gazed wearily at her and then rubbed his eyes. “I- okay, please explain things to me. But first…” He held up his right hand. “Is this new tattoo a permanent thing? I don’t think tattoos are part of the Esper Union’s code of conduct for employees.”

Lucy let out a light laugh. “Oh, no. Only people who I’ve brought into this space can see that mark on you. You’ll still be allowed to be an elite Elixir Agent. In fact, my plans for you involve continuing your work and getting close to the more powerful people on Earth…”

___________________________________________________________________________

Stephen Lawrence’s form disappeared as he left the Simulacrum Realm, leaving Lucille alone. She sighed and kicked her feet up on the desk, closing her eyes as she relaxed for a moment.

She estimated it would take about two weeks before Stephen would accept what she had shown him. The good thing was she could accelerate time in this space, so she could possibly cut that down to a few days as he spent his time in the Simulacrum Realm taking in all he had learnt. Two weeks on Earth was the equivalent of two and a half months for her, and she didn’t want to waste a second when only 47 weeks were remaining on Earth until the System arrived.

She pulled up the first subskill of her Origin Skill.

[Sub-skill: Omnipresent Soul Framework | Type: Soul/Realm ]

Desc: All souls interact with the spiritual realm. All souls receive from and send information into the spiritual realm through their thoughts. This skill allows the User to register souls with the Simulacrum Realm’s Soul Framework, so they can enter the Simulacrum Realm as well.

Abilities:

Spiritual Reality – Consciousness immersion.

- Gives the members of the Soul Framework the ability to immerse their consciousnesses partially or fully into the Simulacrum Realm. Doing so will allow them to experience the artificial sensations and visuals of the Simulacrum Realm, seeing the Layer of Imagination and its imaginary structures.

Spiritual Network – Overlapping webs of thought.

- Gives the User the ability to register souls with the Soul Framework through contact with the User’s spiritual energy.

- Allows members of the Soul Framework to register other souls with the Soul Framework, with permission from the User. This is completed by artificially recreating the User’s spiritual signature and transferring it to the new soul through contact with the Soul Framework member’s spiritual energy.

[ ]

Congratulations, Stephen Lawrence, on becoming the first member of my Omnipresent Soul Framework. I knew that spiritual marker would have a use someday.

The last thing she had done when she met Stephen Lawrence was brand his soul with a slight bit of her own spiritual signature, just in case. And now she was able to contact Earth while still being in another realm.

Operation Super Schemers of the Secret System Club had begun. The second person on the list to be inducted into her future group of powerful politicians and businessmen: her great-uncle.

He would probably squeeze as many privileges and benefits out of her as he could for agreeing to her plans, just to make her pay for all the stress she had put him through while growing up. It was a small price to pay.

But there was someone else who’d become a member of the soul framework first. Someone who was particularly whiny and whingy, complaining that he wanted to join her VR sandbox game too as he sat on top of her study’s desk. So clearly she had to purposely ruin his expectations.

She focused on the strands of her spiritual energy in Scytale’s soul, put there by the bond between them, and her Origin Skill activated, pulling his consciousness into the Simulacrum Realm. It was so smooth the serpent didn’t even notice.

Really. He literally didn’t notice.

“Come on, just show me!” he complained, flapping his wings on her simulated table.

“But what if I don’t want to?” she said, looking at her gloved hand.

He clicked his tongue. “You are the Tower’s worst bond! You gained a skill that allows you to do whatever you want and you’re not letting me join in the fun?”

“Who knows what disasters you’ll make my constructs go through.”

“Don’t say that like you don’t enjoy a bit of destruction every once in a while too! I’m not even asking to control the skill! I just want to see it!”

She shrugged, pretending to sift through pages of Commission documents, which actually had completely illegible gibberish written on them.

Scytale jumped off the table and used his mana to open the door. “I’m telling Vincent that you’re not letting me see your skill!”

“As you wish,” she replied with amusement.

Scytale proudly moved through the doorway, his wings spread wide with self-righteous indignation. “Vincent! Lucy’s being mean… to… me………”

Silence abounded as Lucy waited patiently for her bond to return. A silver snake with his wings tucked close crept back into the room.

“Lucy, I think the Dragon Sovereign sneezed or something because Vincent and… uh, a bunch of stuff have been turned into System limbo paint.”

They had an intense stare-off. Scytale slowly narrowed his golden eyes at her while Lucy just cocked an eyebrow. The silence continued.

“I was right the first time! You are the Tower’s worst bond!” Scytale suddenly exclaimed, rearing up to flap his wings.

“I thought you were going to complain to Vincent,” Lucy stated smugly, crossing her arms. “Go on, Scytale, go find Vincent.”

“How do you expect me to do that when the System decided it wanted lesser races to burn their eyeballs today!”

She smiled. “You can leave whenever you want, though. So if you did really want to go find Vincent, then you could.”

“Yeah, I doubt I could explain all this to him.” Scytale looked around the fake study. “Would you even try to bring him here anyway?”

Lucille considered it. “Maybe eventually. But for now, I don’t think I will.” She smirked. “Last time I tried to discuss my Origin Skill he freaked out so I doubt that will be an easy conversation to have now that it’s fixed.”

“Well, now that I’m here, show me what you can do!”

Lucy stood up and the room around them both disintegrated to reveal the white space. Lucille hummed and crossed her arms. “What should I make… hmm…” She blinked as an idea came to mind.

Colour bled into the white space around them and Scytale looked around as metallic walls formed. Panels of high-tech controls and switches appeared on the plates and a steel walkway was placed under Scytale’s scales and her boots. The cylindrical tunnel slowly rotated around them as advanced technology glimmered with different colours. There was one last thing Lucy needed to add to make it realistic.

Her boots slowly lifted off the walkway and Lucy and Scytale found themselves in zero gravity, slowly floating in the chamber.

“A recreation of one of your old starship’s chambers, huh? This feels nostalgic.”

“And I spent so much time and effort on it too,” she grumbled. “I assembled that thing from the bottom up, and now it’s completely gone, not a trace remaining. The technology to rebuild it won’t even be available for another century and a half.”

“I know. I’ve probably heard the equivalent of years’ worth of your bragging about your starship.” Scytale tried to flap his wings to move but they made no impact on his momentum. He freewheeled through space. “Ugh. This is giving me flashbacks to Stage 10.”

“I’m finding this quite enjoyable,” Lucy said, acting like she was lying on a bed.

“Alright, this is cool and all, but can we do something else please?”

She smirked and dropped herself back onto the walkway. The chamber disappeared and she was left standing in the white space again, although Scytale… he was still floating.

“Uh… Lucy?”

She studied him for a moment before grabbing onto the tip of his tail and treating him like a balloon as she walked forward. “So, in the short term, I can’t imagine my Origin Skill being very useful for us. But when it comes to increasing our communication and information abilities, the benefits the skill provides are immeasurable.”

“Lucy, this isn’t what I meant by doing something else.”

The space morphed again to become a copy of her bedroom in the Aurelian Commission. A four-poster bed with velvet pillows, two wide and tall glass windows with cushioned windowsills, a walk-in wardrobe to the left and an ensuite behind her…

She walked up to the bed and sat down on it. Then she pushed Scytale up into the air.

“I also have a few vague plans relating to what the Simulacrum Realm could be used for in the future. From what I can tell, the skill does enhance my computational and simulation ability for spellcasting, but unlike with the Manifestor’s Cuboid Energy Matrix, spellcasting simulation is not its primary function or purpose.”

“That’s great and all, but… ugh!” Scytale flapped his wings and wriggled his body, trying to gain control over his endless spinning. “I know I have wings, but I’m not a sky beast yet! I like my land still!”

Lucy smirked and he was dropped onto the centre of the bed. He rolled over so his wings were no longer in awkward positions. He slithered over to her. “So, future plans?”

She nodded. “It will depend on what abilities my Origin Skill retains when it loses its status of a System skill, but I plan to take advantage of the cross-realm communication feature to set something up.”

“But set what up?”

Lucy hesitated. Scytale narrowed his eyes and poked their bond to find out.

Then his eyes widened. “Lucy, you are insane!”

She scowled. “Scytale-” Then she paused as she realised the emotions coming through the bond weren’t what she expected.

“You’re crazy! Absolutely crazy!” he exclaimed excitedly. “You’ll be only one person setting up the entire Tower’s information revolution! I can’t believe you plan to recreate the Network with the Simul-”

With a snap of her fingers, Scytale could no longer use his mental telepathy. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you learnt to mind your words now?”

He stuck his tongue out and flickered it once she let him speak again. “But there’s nobody here to hear me besides you.”

She sent him a flat look. “Does that mean you would’ve stayed silent if I had told you this in our real bodies?”

Scytale turned his head to avoid eye contact. Lucille rolled her eyes. “As I said, my plans are vague and all dependent on what abilities I’ll still have access to in a few years. The first stages of the Network construction won’t begin until I can return to Earth either. It would be better for you to put it out of your mind.”

Scytale sent across the mental impression of a clicked tongue. “Oh well. Still, it sounds exciting. Almost exciting as me getting my human body back in a few days.” He raised himself and flapped his wings. “I’ll have fingers and hands, Lucy! Imagine that, limbs with actual dextrous digits attached!”

She huffed a laugh. “I apologise for not understanding your enthusiasm.”

“Still, it’s a little bit sad that your Origin Skill isn’t going to be immediately helpful for fighting,” Scytale complained. “That means all of it rests on you getting a good second main skill.”

He came beside her. “What exactly are you planning on getting for it, anyway? A mana manipulation one?”

Lucy nodded. “I’ve considered it, and while it would be good for me to gain a main skill that increases my ability to wield Apophis and Ouroboros… I don’t think I’ll be proficient in them soon enough for that to be a worthwhile investment.”

She looked at her hands. “I’ll be going for a skill that takes full advantage of my atmospheric mana manipulation.”

Scytale nodded. “Are you planning on trying to artificially give yourself an affinity for all six essential elements like that Marellen mage you met?”

She shook her head. “No. While I won’t gain the elemental boosts to my spells by having affinities, I want to permanently keep my no-element affinity. At least… until much later.”

Her bond looked around the bedroom again. “What else can you do with this place?”

Lucille considered it, holding her chin. She hummed in thought and then pointed straight ahead with one gloved finger. “Well…”

The wall of her bedroom disappeared to reveal the white space beyond. Then, like pillars of toy blocks rapidly being assembled by invisible hands, the white space began to take on the form of a modern city filled with busy traffic. The walls and furniture of the bedroom turned to clear glass and slowly rose, allowing Lucy and Scytale to see the city from above.

Scytale jumped off the bed and snuck over to the edge of the room to look down. “How is there so much going on? I think I can even see fake people down there.”

“My second subskill states that the quantity of my spiritual power affects my ability to manipulate the Simulacrum,” Lucy replied, standing up to walk over to him. “But I can also set up constructs that run without my input. My spiritual power is responsible for creating the original details, but if I create enough constructs that link to each other, then the chain reactions can continue without putting stress on my mind.”

She smiled wryly. “Essentially, I have the sandbox VR, but not the algorithms or computer behind it. It’s my job to design a computer inside here.”

“Your Origin Skill also said that it takes its logic from the consciousness of everyone though, right?” Scytale asked. “Would that mean you can just create a bunch of possible events to test out in here?”

Lucy nodded. “Absolutely. I can even speed up time in here by making the Simulacrum Realm respond to my accelerated thoughts.” She grinned. “So, I’m going to need you to be my sparring partner, Scytale.”

He stared at her, then flapped his wings excitedly. “Wait, we can train for ages in here?! So it will be useful for helping you learn to fight!”

She shrugged. “There are still limitations though. For instance, I won’t be able to study scenarios where I’ve chosen an alternative main skill to my current one.” Lucille looked down at the city. “Because it’s our consciousnesses it brings in here, the Simulacrum can only replicate our physical body’s current skills. And if I increase our ‘stats’ in here, we don’t actually gain strength outside.”

Then she hesitated. “Unless I choose to create… a virtual reality simulator within the Simulacrum with different laws. And as this is a System skill, I could continue to make simulations… within simulations… within simulations…”

Scytale gave her a blank look.

Lucy sighed. “This is like literally thinking about thinking. I’ll drop this train of thought.”

They fell silent, just watching the city in peace as night fell, letting the buildings light up with brilliant neon lights. Then a silvery winged snake turned to her. “So… this is just a stray thought, but… if it brings consciousnesses into here… then couldn’t you bring your second consciousness into here?”

Lucy glanced at him, then at the city. After a moment, she opened her Status to look at the Simulacrum Realm and Alter-Ego skills. Then she focused on the Alter-Ego’s consciousness.

A notification sounded out for her.

[Error: Only the equivalent of one main consciousness of the user of Total Realm Mastery may reside within the Simulacrum Realm at any one time]

She shook her head with a wry smile. “It seems I can’t. But the wording of the warning is interesting…” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the ground. “Equivalent of one main consciousness? I suppose that explains why I was able to leave only a section of my consciousness slowed down to Earth’s time in the Simulacrum. That means if I segmented part of my consciousness into smaller sections then I’d be able to work on different parts of the Simulacrum at different times… and my second consciousness could possibly come in here if none of my original consciousness is inside because the System seems to count the Alter-Ego as a user of Total Realm Mastery too…”

Lucy looked at her bond and raised an eyebrow. “Why did you ask such a strange question in the first place?”

He flickered his tongue. “The thing you said about the Simulacrum only replicating our bodies’ current strength made me wonder if you could end up sparring with your Alter-Ego in here.”

She considered it with a strange expression. Eventually, she shook her head. “I can’t think of a single reason why I’d need to do that. Although…” She thought about it further. “I wonder if the similarities between the two Origin Skills would allow me to design spells in here and send them over for my Alter-Ego to use…”

Lucille sat down next to Scytale. “Food for thought I suppose. I imagine this skill will end up being used for a lot of things. From helping me visualise items I want to construct, to functioning as a literal mind palace, to helping me use my abilities…” She hummed. “While I doubt this skill will have an active role in helping me defeat the hero, a part of my consciousness will likely always be working in here in the background.”

“Don’t forget there was that other special line in your skill.”

Lucy instantly knew what he was talking about. “Imaginary creations currently cannot influence the physical realms,” she recited. “The System emphasised that line on the skill page, and has been careful to mention that it cannot currently influence them.” She crossed her arms. “I’m curious as to what the prerequisites for enabling that are… and what my skill will do once that function is enabled…”

Scytale opened his mouth to yawn. “Are you still sure you don’t want to bring Vincent and anyone else in here? You’re already planning on making some secret society on Earth, what if you lean into it and make an exclusive club for the entire Tower?”

Lucille shook her finger at him. “Don’t forget that this is still my Origin Skill,” she reminded him. “I don’t want to bring anyone in here who could potentially turn out to be hostile and reveal all the secrets in the Simulacrum.”

“Yeah, but Vincent? Hostile?”

She smirked. “If I brought Vincent in here he’d probably believe I’d just want to take advantage of the time dilation to give him more work.”

“But that is your fault for creating trust issues between you!” Scytale looked at the city beneath them again. “Still, while this skill is really powerful… I’m a bit worried.”

She didn’t reply, but she knew what he meant.

“First you had that strange mirror appear in your Tutorial, then you found out your Status was glitched, you received a freaky mask… then you got a System skill for your first main skill, the Authorizer and System contract thing has popped up and now this? A System skill for your own Origin Skill, something that’s supposed to be a very private and personal ability?”

Scytale shook his head. “What does it want with you?”

Lucille sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to find out over time. But… so far, it seems I’m valuable to the System. As long as I keep it that way, I’m sure we’ll get through it.” She looked at her bond and smirked. “Hurry up and get a good class soon so you can fight off any angry Demon Emperors, Scytale.”

He reared up and hissed. “Don’t use me as a shield against him!”

She just grinned and soon afterwards, they left the Simulacrum Realm so Lucy could continue doing work.

Three days later Scytale became an advanced beast.