Myth//OS - Chapter 88 (Patreon)

It wasn’t much of a surprise when Kruber and a handful of Tenok burst into the room right after Lucia passed out. Among the Tenok, some were familiar faces. Sarge and Jinx, I think. It’d been a long time since I went with them down into Crypt.

Kruber stepped in with a crackling energy rifle of some kind raised and ready to obliterate any attacker—only to freeze upon seeing me tenderly caring for the knocked out CEO. “What happened here?”

”Magic.” I shrugged, and picked Lucia up in a princess carry. “Different room?”

”Uh, yeah. Good idea.” Kruber pulled a key ring out of his pocket, and tossed it to me. “Third door down from here is a meeting room. We’ll get this cleaned up.”

”…” I nodded in gratitude toward the man, and turned to walk out the door. Willow followed right behind me like a shadow. 

“Two of you go with her just in case.” Kruber ordered, and dropped his energy rifle back into its sling. “Bruce, go down to maintenance and let them know we have a job for them.”

While the Tenok split up to start working, I carried Lucia out of the room. “Been awhile.”

”Indeed, ma’am. The lads still talk about that time you decimated an entire legion of Anarchs.” Sarge chuckled, and nodded to Lucia. “Is she alright?”

”Just sleeping.” I think. I lifted a hand and checked her pulse just in case. It was a bit erratic for an unconscious person.

Jinx, the hacker, pulled out a dataslate and tapped around on it. “Her biomonitor is reporting all clear.”

“…” Did all the Tenok have that kind of access to Lucia’s chrome? They were supposed to be death guard or something like that, though, so maybe it wasn’t a surprise. I didn’t have access… I didn’t even know she had a biomonitor.

A tendril unlocked the door, and I stepped into the meeting room. I set Lucia down on the table. Sarge and Jinx followed just behind me. White Ebonshroud flowed out and produced blankets to make her more comfortable. 

Unfortunately, it seemed to do nothing. Lucia tossed and turned on the table like she was having a nightmare. It was way too soon, though, wasn’t it? Didn’t dreams only start after being asleep for some time?

”Mrow?” Willow jumped up beside her and patted the CEO’s head with her paw as if that’d help.

I watched her for a few moments longer before jumped up onto the table beside her. Just before activating Dream Shift, I spoke up to the two Tenok watching the room. “Protect us. Be defenseless.”

”Ye got it, ma’am.” Sarge popped into a salute. The words were for them as much as they were for Willow. I gave the small cat full control over my Ebonshroud just in case she needed it, and laid back on the table.

🝰

I stumbled over my paws and slumped onto the ground. Being back in a cat’s body always threw me off. Thankfully, I had enough practice by now that I could quickly get used to it. I pushed myself up, and looked around.

I was once more in the dream realm. The faded, monochrome look to the place made it obvious. Without any hesitation, I slunk toward the only sections of the dream that were lit up and colorful. 

Lucia seemed to be dreaming about the city. I didn’t recognize where exactly we were in Bastion, though there were definitely some recognizable features along the skyline. For one, the floating island of Cathedral was near impossible to miss.

The city was… wrong, though. Instead of being full of life and active, the entire place felt empty and abandoned. No—that wasn’t quite right. As I approached Lucia, the dreamer, the world filled in with more and more details. People of all shapes and kinds appeared. They were unconscious though, and slumped over on the streets like the entire place had been hit by a mass sleep spell.

Lucia stood in the center of an intersection, just next to a blazing inferno of a carwreck. The drivers had seemingly fallen asleep mid drive, and crashed into each other to create massive destruction. I could feel the heat even from this far away.

”Mrow?” I called softly to the dreamer.

”Who—?” Lucia looked back toward me, and her eyes dropped onto my feline form. I expected the dream to shake like it usually would when a dreamer interacted with an intruder, but nothing happened. “Aylin?”

”Meow.” I stopped out onto the street and approached her. Was she awake? Her eyes—they weren’t clouded over like they usually were when she was sleeping. She looked fully alert and aware. Some kind of lucid dreaming, maybe? If so, then why this?

”I’m glad you’re here.” She crouched down beside me, and picked me up in her arms. “This place gives me the creeps.”

[Nightmare Collected - Dreaming City]

Alongside the chime of the OS, something else changed. A single black thread slowly formed in the sky just above our heads. It was a dark, voidal strand that bobbed and weaved softly in the sky, leading just down the road. Ether thrummed at the edges of the nightmare.

“Seeing these is never easy.” She sighed, and gently stroked the fur along my back. I got the feeling it was for her more so than for me. “At least this time, it’s almost peaceful?”

”Mrow?” Seeing what? What was this?

”I won’t be able to remember much. You might, though?” She patted my head, and walked just underneath the black strand. “Don’t try to change anything.”

Not like I could. I wasn’t the dreamer here, so I had very little authority over this place. I could maybe try to destroy this place, or cast Inevitable Tide over it? That was about it, though.

We followed the strand for a long time through the city, finding more and more unconscious people. The name of the nightmare was spot on—this was a Dreaming City. Not a single person or creature aside from us was awake. It was an odd nightmare to watch for more than one reason.

Eventually, we approached the source of the strand. Or, at least, what felt like the source. Miasma permeated the air, and a heavy feeling settled along my body. Each step made it all the heavier. This level of miasma…

I jumped out of Lucia’s arms, and formed a barricade of Ebonshroud to block her. “Mrow!”

”… I have to, Aylin.” She pointed toward the black strand leading forward. 

I shook my head rapidly, and reinforced the barrier to make it stronger. I could feel it now seeping into my fur. It was strong. Too strong. This level of miasma went beyond a mere rift into another dimension. It was like we were about to walk into one of them.

She sighed, and slid over the Ebonshroud barrier. “Don’t worry too much. I won’t remember much of this.”

Still. Even if she couldn’t remember, being exposed to one was never good. Their existence—it was outside of normal cognition. Even just seeing one in a memory or a dream was enough grounds for them to interact. And interaction never ended well for anyone. 

“It’ll be over soon.” Lucia took another step, and the miasma intensified. We were close to the source now.

“…” I took a step to follow her. I only managed one step. My brain throbbed in my head like a bomb had been set off, and the ether all around the dream reacted violently to something. Miasma swept through the streets, displacing the ether.

Alongside the ether, I was sent flying down the street. Just before I slammed into the ground, everything went black.

🝰

I shot upright, and looked around for Lucia. A small sigh immediately escaped me as I spotted her still peacefully asleep just next to me on the table. She was still fine. Lucia shifted, and her beautiful silver eyes slowly cracked open. 

My head throbbed, and I backed away from her. It felt like something had shattered inside of my head. It was slowly getting better, but for now even the soft lighting of the room felt bright enough for my eyes to water.

”You alright, ma’am?” Sarge asked me. 

“Yep.” My nose stung, and I lifted a hand to my face—only for it to come back bloody. I backed away, and formed a clot in my nose using Ebonshroud to stem the bleeding. A nose bleed?

”Your cat!” Lucia shot up right with a panicked expression on her face. It faded a moment later when Willow purred contentedly from where she was curled up in the CEO’s lap. “She’s alright?”

”Not real.” I took control from Willow for a moment, and turned her body into a blob of Ebonshroud. 

Once Willow was given control back, the cat turned to me and hissed. The hissing only calmed down when Lucia started to play with her ears. “She’s a construct?”

”Close.” I rubbed at my nose, and wiped away the blood. “Remember. Anything?”

“Um… oh! We figured out two strand magic!” Lucia’s face immediately lit up with a bright smile. “Next time, how about we experiment down in the training room instead? My office is probably a wreck, huh?”

”…” That wasn’t what I was asking about, but she made a good point. Did she not actually remember anything about the dream? 

That dream—it felt different then the ones I’d slipped into in the past. More… concrete, almost. More real. Not to mention I felt miasma inside of her dream. That was never, ever a good sign. Did one of them set their eyes on her, or was it something else entirely?

[Nighteye frowns. What are you talking about?]

You… you didn’t see any of that? A chill went down my spine. Nighteye saw almost everything that I saw, so how was that possible? And she definitely could see into dreams alongside me. She’d done so several times in the past.

[Nighteye’s eyes narrow. See what? What did you see?]

The dream. The dream with one of them in it. Surely you should’ve seen that, right? Actually, do you even know what I’m talking about? You never mention them even when I bring up the topic.

[Nighteye backs away without saying anything. A small, claw-etched note is left behind. The OS has codes for everything.]

Does that mean you can’t speak about it? Something similar to a Gaess, maybe? I waited for several moments, but Nighteye didn’t say anything more. Probably best to drop the topic, then. I wouldn’t be able to discuss it with her. 

Maybe the Arbiters—no… that kind of knowledge was infectious. If they didn’t know, and I brought it up, it’d be like spreading a plague to another world. Right, it was best they lived in ignorance. Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.

It does make me wonder how the OS and Guardian Stars fit together, though. From what I picked up, Nighteye was from the Miix’s home world. Also from what I could tell, the OS is unique to this world. It wasn’t in Serhymn, at least, and most other places I’d been to through rifts. Were they mere copies just like repeating rifts? Or entities bound to the OS through some contract?

I frowned and rubbed at my arms. The mysteries and intricacies were beyond me. I was still just a low-level D-rank Warden. I’d probably find answers with time. Or, maybe I could go to OuroSec and look around? That wasn’t a bad idea.

”You back with me?” Lucia waved her hand up in front of my face. “Aylin?”

”…” I totally blanked out there deep into thought, didn’t I? 

“As I was saying, you want to go get something to eat?” Lucia stretched out, and nodded to the two Tenok at the door. “You two are invited too, ‘course. It’ll be a while till they get my office fixed up.”

Sarge saluted. “If you want us too, ma’am.”

“Why not? It’ll be fun.” Lucia picked Willow up once more, and moved to the door. Willow shot me a taunting look, and snuggled into the CEO’s arms. “You coming, Aylin.”

“Yep.” Though I had half a mind to also transform into a cat and show Willow the error of her ways. When’d my constructs turn into such brats?

— — —

AN: Oh, right. What do you guys think about bad ends as auxiliary chapters? I was thinking it might be interesting to write a few, but I dunno. Would there be any interest in that?