Robert was in pieces, parts scattered though the Link.
Fragments of a thought, formed together.
A sense of self emerged, senses emerged...
His back
Robert Glass
'Is it my back?
My physical representation of a back.'
Was sticky
He was propelled throughout the link. Slamming into and congealing with himself
His sight returned.
His eyes caught something darting around to his left
Twisting his head so he could see, he strained against the sticky back
Tentacles: as far as the eye could see.
Dark pink lines in the blackness
Robert struggled in earnest
Now realizing he was well and truly stuck
Robert Glass
'I am on a tongue.'
The texture was a cat's tongue.
He realized, that's what all those pink lines were.
Tongues
Whipping back and forth
Like angry tornados
Something flashed across his face
He saw it flutter down below his feet
Robert Glass
'What was that?'
He looked down
He wasn't in the link.
Below him was the link.
The connection between minds lay open before him
But the link was growing distant
This was a void
Robert was pulled away and he turned his head up
Above him was a creature of incomprehensible size.
Stretching the bare horizon from end to end in eyes.
The creature seemed to be growing, but no...
He was just getting closer
Robert Glass
'That will eat me.'
His struggling was in vain as he was slowly raised up.
Moments passed and Robert slowly came to rest
He looked back down
At the end of the tongue was a bulge, fading into white.
He watched it gyrate
Robert turned his attention toward the creature above him.
At it's ends, the creature was pustulating new eyes.
As he grew closer he realized one eye was watching him
Robert Glass
'Well, this is a weird way to die.'
And then he remembered
Robert Glass
'I am already dead...
So what is this?'
There was a pause when he finally reached the creature's mouth.
It was about the size of a house
Another smaller mouth pustuled out next to the eye
NULL
"You've made your bargain: Why have you tried to make another."
Robert blinked
NULL
"You were mine, but you have poisoned yourself to me."
Robert Glass
"I was yours?"
Robert took two breaths to think
Robert Glass
"Does that mean you aren't going to eat me?"
NULL
"I can not, to your detriment."
Robert Glass
"My detriment."
NULL
"If I do not eat you, something else will."
Robert shrugged
Robert Glass
"If I'm eaten I'm eaten, what's it matter by who."
NULL
"You do not understand.
I eat only the surface - the uniqueness - not you.
This is mutually beneficial."
Robert Glass
"How? I'm dead aren't I."
NULL
"I receive the nutrients I need, and unfettered access to that food source.
In exchange I act as a recorder of lives sworn to feed me, collecting nutrients as you grow.
When I eat you, whats left behind is happy: at peace. for as long as humanity lives."
Robert had doubts; was he actually out of the link.
He tried to stretch his mind in a direction to follow down a path in the link...
Nothing
NULL
"I also shield against others.
They have taken root elsewhere, but here...
Here is mine."
Robert said nothing
The creature pulled him closer
NULL
"So shall you fix it."
Robert struggled weakly against the tongue
NULL
"I can not touch it, it is in you deep: which is why I have not eaten you."
Robert Glass
"And if I say no?"
NULL
"To the void with you."
Robert Glass
'The void is a mystery...'
He contemplated
Robert Glass
"And if i say yes?"
The tongue brought him up to the thing's eye
NULL
"The infection spreads quickly.
Look."
And he did.
Through the whipping tongues he saw the link as he never had.
From the outside.
From a direction he could see all points in the link at once.
Among the infinitely dimensional plane he saw a spot He identified as Al-tok.
A dark growing withering fractal oil in the link
NULL
"I saw how Alice made the serum.
I understand it.
It forced a human to have thoughts it couldn't otherwise have.
Thoughts that have invited...
That."
Robert knew the sound of perfect disgust then
NULL
"You shall create a serum to force this intruder to remove itself from my food."
Robert shook his head
Robert Glass
"You want my sister, she was -"
A divide opened in the creature
A fleshy chasm, ending at the mouth attached to the tongue he was on
Robert was yanked across the creatures landscape
A forest of red-bubble-gum trees stretching into the sky
A sky: ideas and connections shown brightly
A dark fractal moon growing
Robert watched as mountains that were the creatures flesh came and went in a flash
Suddenly they stopped, at a reeling tongue
At the end, being pulled toward him, was his sister
He tried to wave
His arm just jerked on the tongue
NULL
"You will construct a serum of my design."
The mouth commanded
She sounded incredulous
NULL
"One of you.
If not you: him, having what he needs from you."
She struggled against the tongue
Alice Glass
"Why should I help you."
NULL
"It is your fault: your responsibility."
She smiled at that, looking at Robert
Alice Glass
"When have I ever taken responsibility."
The eye scowled at her
NULL
"Your antics will not be tolerated."
The two tongues slammed together
Robert and Alice felt the impact into each other.
When the tongues parted there was only one
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'What happened?'
That wasn't his thought, the voice was wrong
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'Robert?'
NULL
"You have everything you require."
Robert Glass
"You just put her in me?"
NULL
"You will be given the formula and process to synthesis."
A boil exploded next to the eye: a spray of pus rushed toward him.
It congealed forming into a tentacle that whipped into his eye
Robert screamed.
Part of his mind was being overwritten
Old memories drugged from the depths to fodder the process
NULL
"Go forth and sterilize!"
The tongues shot toward the link again.
Beside him the mouth reformed on the tongue next to him
NULL
"I can do nothing once inside, I will place you where it can not find you.
You will require a physical body."
Robert Glass
'Should I even be helping this thing.'
It was his own thoughts, echoing his sister's
Robert Glass
'It had promised to eat me after all, if I removed that thing...'
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'Wait, it was going to eat us?!'
Robert thought at her in mock astoundment
Robert Glass
'A giant creature with a billion tongues...'
He continued while they fell
Robert Glass
'Has no intention of eating you.'
Alice's mind - like every mind - was a turmoil of stochastic half thoughts.
Robert waited for her to properly think at him, though he was helpless not to know her mind inside his
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'Seriously, should we be helping this.'
They looked at the link.
At the growing fractal moon snuffing out parts of the link
Robert Glass
'We can deal with this creature after that, if we decide we want to.'
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'Do you?'
Robert Glass
'Do I what?'
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'Want to still get out.'
Robert Glass
'We are out.'
Robert felt a turning in his head: a refutation from Alice
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'You: look.'
Robert felt his attention turn to the tongues.
They were everywhere: touching nearly everyone and everything
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'We are cattle to it, maybe we poison the herd.'
Robert considered
NULL
"We are approaching; I would not appreciate finding another species to eat."
Robert felt the barrier to the link as a thin soap bubble
Quite enveloped him, as he fell at the edge of all things
Towards a ship
%%%%
Gerald was alone on sub-deck three starboard, clipboard in hand.
He was carefully watching the shield hold back the storm
He gripped the metal railing
All that was keeping him from the void was that thin iron, the shield held the void, and only the void at bay.
The rippling colors on the shield were concerning Gerald, he remembered it's solid purple glow from long ago
Gerald Whitewater
'We are going to need more adventurers...'
The end's dreadnought had energy requirements.
It needed dreams.
So Alacira and Whitewater provided...
Well, they had the dreamers provide...
He made a mark, then wrote some numbers
How many new people they would bring on, and some rough calculations
Gerald Whitewater
'Eleven...'
At most that many, but that was only for the shield.
He had the rest of the list he was holding to inspect yet
Gerald Whitewater
'Onward ho...'
It was time to inspect the navigation array, then the -
He felt the floorboards vibrate first, the thud came second
Gerald spun around
A man was splayed there, on deck, the metal floorboards dented in a crater around him.
Gerald had just turned away from the only door out of this observation deck.
So this man came from out there
Gerald backed away
Gerald Whitewater
'Alarm, raise the alarm.'
There was an intruder on board
Gerald noticed the the tugging on his wrist
A small turquoise bail rattled and glowed, its gravity turned toward the intruder
Gerald Whitewater
'Is it a piece of, or is it...'
Gerald couldn't finish the thought
The man started moving
Gerald ran out of the observation deck and closed the door behind him.
The metal door closed with a thud, spinning a wheel to lock
In the underbelly hallway of the ship, above and to his right, he saw the red button
He pressed it.
An alarms blared
Gerald Whitewater
'You have the radio...'
He grabbed the radio from his belt and click it on
Gerald Whitewater
"Captain, copy?"
Tense moments passed and he heard banging on the door behind him
Lana Alacira
"What's going on, Gerald?"
Gerald backed away from the door
Gerald Whitewater
"You got your white whale here in sub-deck three, I think..."
Gerald waited, the door was locked, it would -
A small red dot appeared in the metal, it grew brighter shifting in color to a bright white.
Then it slowly started moving
Lana Alacira
"Locking decks below you, evacuate to the top."
Gerald started running in earnest
Gerald Whitewater
"Copy, it's getting in..."
Gerald stole a glance back, watching where the dot of blinding heat had reached.
It was making an arc, but it was not far along
Gerald Whitewater
"Estimated fifty seconds until it breaches."
The stairs up would be to the right, down the hall, he could make it
Lana Alacira
"Get up here and -"
Gerald didn't hear the rest, behind him was an explosion
Boom
%%%%
Gerald woke up some time later, when Wilbert was fishing him out behind the broken pieces door
Wilbert
"I've got one over here."
Alacira came rushing over
Lana Alacira
"Run faster next time, do you need anything?"
Gerald waved her off
His arm hurt, but besides that...
His gris-gris kept him alive at least
Gerald Whitewater
'Battery must be low...
rationing too much lately.'
Gerald grabbed at his arm, and slid a gold and iron band down under his sleeve.
And held it with his good hand
Gerald Whitewater
"Reserve is running low..."
Alacira curtly nodded.
He placed the gold band in his pocket
It would take more dreamers to find algera - the current ones would expire soon - they needed it for the shields, and now this...
His gris-gris was a small thing, all things considered, but still...
Gerald Whitewater
"Is it still here?"
Lana Alacira
"No.
We thought it took you as well,
Now we're only missing one..."
Just one...
It could have been worse, Gerald rationalized.
Still, he was glad we wasn't that one
Gerald heard a rumbling above him
Not from the ship, but from the shield
Gerald Whitewater
"Who's missing."
Lana Alacira
"One of the dreamers."
Gerald updated the list in his head
Gerald Whitewater
'twelve needed now...
Or as low as ten children.'
Children on averaged attract more algera on their dreams, although they were less sensitive to it's effects
Gerald got up
Slowly, testing each limb first
Lana Alacira
"What was the color?"
Gerald grabbed his wrist
The one with the small banded leather bracelet
Gerald Whitewater
"Turquoise, more blue than green."
Alacira nodded
Lana Alacira
"Our white whale is pure blue, so it was a piece...
Or less...
Or something adjacent..."
Gerald surveyed the damage.
Most of the deck was fine save for one door, leading to a dreamer's room
Gerald looked inside, staying at the threshold
The room was a mess, items scattered everywhere.
There was no bed, no one wanted to sleep while dreaming
Gerald Whitewater
'Oh dear, is that blood?'
On the floor was a stain
Lana Alacira
"Let's get our dreamer back."
Gerald leaned out of the room, facing Alacira
Wilbert was outside, and he could hear
Gerald Whitewater
"We'll need a few more; I was in the middle of my rounds..."
Gerald held out his clipboard.
Wilbert walked in the room, grabbed it, nodded, and walked off
Gerald Whitewater
"Right then, shall we?"
%%%%
The dreary hospital Robert and Alice awoke in was understaffed.
Robert was in control, piloting the body of the coma patient: a young child of seven
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'So we know none of their locations?'
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"Besides Ozmind, and he can't be counted on."
A nurse walked in
Nurse
"My, you're awake!"
Robert tried and failed to verbalize a namshub, the brain they were inhabiting was young, stretchy, but small.
That creature put something in Robert's brain, with Alice in there too...
Alice was immediately concerned.
If they needed to use a phone to use namshubs: that meant their brain wasn't supporting...
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"Do you have my cellphone?"
The nurse explored the closet in front of them, then handed them a cellphone
A short look into memories for a password.
Robert downloaded the glyph generator, and quickly spelled out a namshub
Robert piloted the patient to hold up the phone
hooks.wipe{memories}.findAndReplace(x=>x==Self,NULL)
hooks.walk(away from,Self);
The nurse's eye twitched, and they held a blank stare
The nurse walked back out of the room
A short time later, they were on the road.
Driving a classic cadillac down a lonely desert highway near sunset.
They left old man they took it from with nothing
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"We're on an island, in here, this coma patient."
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'As much as an island as you can get, I suppose.
There is still the physical link...'
The were heading to an international airport, with only a few miles to go to the city
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"We stay here, we don't go though the link."
Alice didn't have to hear Robert's explanation to know his thoughts.
Al-tok was in the link;
Stay out of shark infested waters while bleeding
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'We need an older body, fully formed brain.
This mind is already starting to crack.'
Robert, she could tell, was already on it, he had a subject in mind...
Or if not that specific subject...
A place in mind to find a suitable subject
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'I should have set up a landing pad.'
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"Or just don't die..."
A break, where they dove under the desert sun, undisturbed.
After reaching the airport they stood staring at the terminals for a time
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'We will need a lab.'
Robert had the information as well, stored somewhere that creature put it
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
'We have a few options, there is that chemist in New York?'
Alice dismissively rejected that
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
'Dubai it is.'
Robert piloted them towards the terminal
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'We will also need a subject.'
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"So we head back to New York."
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'No, Not anywhere near Al-tok, but...
As long as it is here, that thing is not going to eat us.'
That thing with the billion eyes, and tongues.
An image so vast it took time to process
The argument continued into seating on the plane.
They were in first class, of course
Robert Glass in Hospital Patient
"So what?
We use Al-tok as a bargaining chip?
Make them fight each other?
What?"
Other passengers looked over at the ranting seven year old in a hospital gown
Alice Glass in Robert Glass
'The bargaining chip is a good idea...'
A steward leaned down, and Robert piloted the phone to their face
The steward's sudden placation spread, the other passengers divested interest
Robert and Alice contemplated and fought as the plane took off for Dubai, and well into the night