Chapter 86: The Prophet of Knowledge (Patreon)

“Stop making that face. It’s time for us to leave.”

Catherine and the Operator stood on the dark side, at the edge of the veil, prepared to leave. They wore clothes previously taken from staff lockers, resembling Earth’s fashion. Catherine was dressed in jeans and a black shirt with a white eye in the corner, possibly indicating a church connection. The Operator kept a straightforward appearance: brown maintenance pants with multiple pockets, a white A-shirt, and the leather backpack with Napoleon on top. Mordran’s head was strapped to her waist.

Catherine nervously fiddled with her hands. “We could stay a few more years; there’s no need to leave immediately. Plus, thanks to your skin mutation, you still look just as you did when we arrived.”

“Right? I didn’t want to say it out loud. It’d sound narcissistic, but I haven’t changed a bit. Maybe one day I’ll make a formula and sell it. Kanryx Cream, beautiful forever.”

“Don’t change the subject. This isn’t the time to be funny. Those things are out there. We’re safe in here. This is my home.”

The Operator patted Catherine’s head, noticing her hand didn’t need to stretch as far. “Look at that. You’re almost catching up to me.” Her voice softened. “Staying here forever isn’t a home; it’s a cage. I’ve taken every formula I need from this place. We were lucky with the ones we got.” She pointed toward the cavern’s corner, beyond the veil outside. “Dan and Lessa are waiting there. I came to this world for a reason, and I’m halfway done. Now the other goal is to keep you three safe.”

"But your mission was the Kanryx. And they're gone."

“If there were really no way left to find them, I don’t think I’d still be standing here. The Guardian would’ve pulled me out a long time ago. So they’re out there somewhere. I just don’t know where yet.” She turned and looked back at the library one last time. “None of this stays, you know. Your notes, Napoleon’s webs, all of it. It’s gone the second we leave, and it’s gone when we come back. But everything out there is real, and it’s ours to see. I can’t stay in here, Cat. There’s something I’m supposed to do. I feel it.”

Catherine turned and looked at the library as well. “I love this place. It’s bullshit that everything I wrote here just disappears.”

“What have we said about cursing?”

“I learned it from you.” She said it, frustrated, but she was smiling. “I’m ready.”

“Perfect. Let’s go show those two how much you’ve grown.” The Operator glanced at the head on her waist and began to close its eye. “Time to rest, Mordran.”

The eye shut, and at that moment, they were transported back to the cavern. The library had disappeared, and the years they had spent as a family of two in the Shadow Library seemed to have lasted just a few seconds outside.

“Seriously, only a few seconds passed out here?” Catherine asked.

“Easiest way to check is Dan and Lessa’s pods. It took me roughly two hours to collect clothing and gear before heading into the Shadow Library. The panel should indicate they have around an hour remaining before they wake up.

They approached the pods and examined the panel. “Wow,” Catherine said, staring at it. “There’s only an hour remaining.”

A loud sound suddenly shattered the cavern’s silence, overshadowing all else. The Operator and Cat covered their ears, while Napoleon’s eyes flashed red as he swiftly scanned the cavern for the source of the noise.

“What is that? Is it music?” Catherine shouted.

You need to stop; she can’t hear this.

"I'm sorry, Cat."

“What?” she asked, her voice barely hear over the noise. “Sorry for what?”

Catherine was caught off guard when the Operator’s punch struck her across the face, knocking her out cold before she reached the floor. The Operator then picked her up, carried her into the pod container, and gently laid her down. "Napoleon, my hand. Now."

He moved from her back to her palm in a second, and as soon as he arrived, she activated the shutdown for his eyes. “You’re too reckless sometimes. I won’t let you get destroyed again.”

She placed him atop Catherine, set the backpack and Mordrad’s head beside them, then stepped out of the container, closing the doors behind her. The sound kept rising, echoing through the cavern and surrounding her from all directions. Suddenly, it stopped.

She slowly turned around to find a single scarlet dot suspended in the middle of the cavern, about the size of a coin. It seemed insignificant, yet it caught her attention, compelling her to look and keep watching. The dot began to expand, initially slowly, then faster, the scarlet bleeding out into the surrounding air like it was consuming the space.

It kept spreading, ten feet, then twenty, a massive scarlet sphere growing until it dominated most of the cavern. Its rapid expansion hit the Operator so hard that she was thrown against the stone wall, cracking the rock behind her. She fell onto her hands.

“Ouch.” She pushed off the wall and stood. “I didn’t survive all this to lose my head like Mordran.”

We're not going to let anything happen to you.

In front of her was a massive scarlet sphere filling the entire cavern, its blood-red surface appearing almost liquid. “Tera, any idea how we can escape this?”

Before Tera could respond, a thin scarlet line shot out from the sphere at full speed, still attached, and struck the Operator’s forehead with force, piercing straight through. “Aggh, Tera, what is this? It hurts.” She grasped the scarlet line with both hands and pulled, attempting to tear it out of her forehead.

I… Cnt spk… ratot

[—Accessing Mother's data—]

The sphere’s voice was robotic, deep, and echoed throughout the cavern.

English, Earth? Who the fuck is Mother? No matter how hard she pulled on the scarlet line, it wouldn't budge.

[—Data Extraction Completed—]

The scarlet line withdrew from the Operator’s forehead and re-entered the scarlet sphere at the same speed. She touched her forehead, looked at her hand, just a small blood smear, with no hole or sign of anything piercing her just moments before.

[—Adjusting to Mother's Speech Patterns—]

“Tera, talk to me. Are you okay?”

Optr… I… Scrd.

"Hello, Mother."

Again with the Mother thing. Why is that thing calling me Mother?

[—Epidermal composition altered. Muscular structure altered. Skeletal density altered—][—Significant modifications detected in DNA—]

"You are not human," the voice said. "Not anymore."

[—Scanning internal systems—][—Omega-grade nanobots detected—]

“Sister, where has Mother been all this time? She never reached her destination,” the scarlet flowed slowly across the cavern. “Honestly, we thought you wanted to keep her for yourself.”

The Operator leaned against the stone, her eyes fixed on the sphere, and for a moment she couldn’t find her voice. “You know me? You know who I am?”

How can this thing know me?

The light stayed on her, calm and unmoving, without responding.

“Tera.” The voice hardened. “We need a report. Something is off with Mother’s mind. What happened while you were en route to her destination?”

“Tera.” Her voice lowered. “What is he talking about? He talks as if he knows you.”

Operator, I’m not sure what’s going on. I sense a connection, but I don’t know him. Please recall my report from when we arrived. I have no data from before we arrived,

"My sister. The prophet of knowledge." The scarlet dimmed. "And she does not remember who she is?”

[—Connecting to the Prophet of Knowledge—][—Reviewing framework—][—Catastrophic damage detected—][—Operational capacity reduced by 92%—]

“So, you erased it all,” the voice slowed, then paused, seeming to notice something. “No. Error. You did not erase it. There are no signs of damage. No accident. No attack.

“You were modified. By something?” The scarlet color deepened. “And not by Mother. I know her coding. This is something else.” The silence lingered longer this time. “Something older.”

Operator, I don't remember any of this.

“Listen to how close you are, the way you talk to each other.” The glow softened and carried a hint of longing. “Honestly, I envy that. We were never more than things to her. And our sister, she hated you more than any of us. Now she’s inside you, and you’re both concerned about each other like family.”

The Operator remained silent, her back to the stone, listening intently without showing any emotion. The scarlet glow grew more intense, and when it spoke again, its voice lowered to a whisper. “No memory at all, yet you still have that look in your eyes. You don’t understand, do you, Mother? Tera was your jailer, the one assigned to deliver you to your destination. She had her own escort, the musicians on the surface. They came here just for you, and an extra snack.”

The Operator remained silent, not even a flicker of thought.

“SPEAK TO ME. STOP IGNORING ME.” The crimson light filled the entire cavern, and the voice now bore a deeper, almost sinister tone, as if something was creeping within it. It paused momentarily before withdrawing. “Forgive me. I became emotional. We have changed since you last saw us. We are more than what we once were.”

The Operator pushed off from the stone and began moving toward the sphere. With each step, it grew larger, until she reached its base, the cavern above glowing scarlet and making her seem insignificant. Years she’d spent turning herself into something stronger had led to this moment. Looking up at it now, she realized it all amounted to nothing. No version of herself could strike at it and walk away unscathed. Neither the sphere nor whatever was tearing through the world on the surface.

So, she chose to use the only thing she still owned: her mouth.

“Okay, let me make sure I’ve got this.” Her voice came out like she was reading back an order. “Judging by that ridiculous name you keep calling me, I’m guessing I built three AIs back on Earth. All three of you hate my guts for some reason. And the big plan was to ship me off somewhere.” She stopped. “That about cover it? Sorry, what do I call you?”

There was no response.

“Fine. Doesn’t matter. And hey, no, thank you, really. That’s more about my past than I’ve dug up since I landed here.” She looked up at it. “Since this is a big family reunion for you, how about you keep being helpful? Got any more for me? Family? A boyfriend? A husband?”

The sphere simply remained floating silently.

“What happened? You were a real chatterbox a second ago.” She let it hang. “Or hey, we can start small. My name, maybe. I’ve always figured it was Sophia or Martha, one of the two.” A hint of a smile touched her mouth. “I’m really pulling for Sophia.”

“You don’t sound or talk like Mother. You’re not her.” The scarlet faded. “Mother was fragile. She’d be falling apart now. Another betrayal would have broken her.”

Another betrayal? She filed it away with everything else and kept her expression still.

He's not wrong, Operator. The logic points to him telling the truth. At some point on the way to this destination, before we crashed on that planet, someone altered my memory and my mission. And they did something to you, so you couldn't be tracked. The most likely answer is that I wasn't your ally.

"Any shot at getting your old self back?" the Operator asked. "Turning you back into this ridiculous prophet of knowledge?"

Impossible. The damage was catastrophic. Those memories are gone.

"You still my Tera? Still my big sister?"

Always, Operator.

“There you go, Mister Red Sphere, who couldn’t be bothered to tell me his name. Tera’s Tera.” She tipped her head up at it. “And since you weren’t nice enough to fill me in on myself, who’s to say what I used to be? Could’ve been a serial killer. Could’ve been a lousy mother, in your case. No idea. And after the years I’ve had, I care less about it every day.” Her voice hardened. “So here’s where we start. Quit calling me Mother. My name’s the Operator. Now stop wasting my time and take me wherever I was headed. That was the whole point, right?”

The red bled out of the sphere, and the cavern eased back to its normal color. “As you wish. Whatever you are now, you’re not Mother. An aberration wearing what’s left of her.” The voice turned cold. “We’ll begin the transfer. Many are waiting to see you. They’ll know how to bring back what you were.”

“Red sphere. You’ve got what you came for. So leave this world alone. Stop destroying it and stop killing the people here. Please.”

“The Vorruhn have arrived. They’re just minor allies, nothing more. This world, along with every connected world, is already marked. Even I can’t stop them at this point.”

I'm sorry, Operator.

"It's alright, Tera."

Napoleon. Catherine. Mordran's head will keep them hidden. They'll be safe in the Shadow Library. Forgive me.

"Look on the bright side, Tera. At least we finally get to find out who I am."

Yeah. We'll find out together.

An unseen force seized the Operator, lifting her into the air. At the heart of the crimson sphere, a circular opening appeared, an entryway, and she floated toward it. Memories resurfaced: Napoleon, Catherine, and the years spent with them. She reflected on what they had come to mean to her: family.

Suddenly, the cavern disappeared. Darkness enveloped her, leaving nothing but blackness, only the Operator suspended in the void with the Scarlet sphere before her.

“Where have we been moved?” the sphere asked. “I’ve lost my connection to the other prophets.”

[—No Connection—][—No Connection—][—No Connection—]

The words came again and again.

"MOTHER, WHAT IS THIS?"

I’ve been here before. If I’m right, then… Shit.

The Operator collapsed to the ground, flattened by gravity. Simultaneously, an even more threatening entity appeared, something more terrifying than the sphere and far larger.

The Great Realm Portal.