Scribble 16: Under False Pretense.

Hello, Wanderers! Here again Respatih Drake brought you a Scribble, a short story about hidden world that is Edelfarat.

In case you haven't noticed, I've put pages describing recurring organizations' dossier in the right panel! Now when you find UNSED or Covert used in a scribble and you forgot who they are, you could refer to the corresponding dossier.

Today in Edelfarat, I'm trying to take something purely mental and turned it into physical condition, specifically the "god complex".

What is god complex? God complex is a condition where someone refuse to be wrong, somewhat like Dunning-Kruger syndrome in which someone overestimate their own capability and reject any statement that prove otherwise, despite the various citation and observation presented.

This Scribble introduces a new organization which, like UNSED and Covert, has their own universe and probably featured in another Scribbles as well. However, as you would soon find out, this new organization's universe has a fundamental difference than UNSED and Covert.

I'll put up its own dossier soon.

The Scribble will now start.

Scribble 16: Under False Pretense.

[SI-L2-FAS1]

FAS Briefing Log.

[Date Not Found]

Have you ever heard of the "god complex"?

You could search the network for that key phrase, someone should have written about it. Yes, you could do it now. A level one document on the subject isn't really different from the one in the outside world, after all.

For the rest of the world, Ernest Jones is the person who first coined the term as another word for Dunning-Kruger syndrome, but in the twisted society of Edelfarat, it wasn't something as cute as that. See, in the place where magic is commonplace, it's easy for a prideful individual to seek to become the strongest, the absolute monotheistic god, ruling over every possible reality.

The official name given by the Initiative is Ferling Ascension Syndrome, after George Ferling, the first Thaumatologist researching this tendency.

Surprisingly, becoming an existence with power comparable to a god isn't really hard to do, as every magic system apparently created with a method to achieve this in mind, as a last resort, abandoning the mortal shell in order to achieve an immense power comparable to miracle of gods in an instant. Some of the Magus with FAS would stop at this stage, content with their power and the goal they have achieved.

Some of them, however, would think that even that isn't enough. In order to be the god, the ultimate decision maker of all possible universes, or even to restart the Boltzmann Simulacrum itself, a new method must be created, outside the existing ones. Oftentimes, the Magus will self-destruct, sending minor ripple of reality with wavelength less than 12 Nm.

But some of them survive. Several of those monster that had cast even their own life aside for power had survived the Apotheosis, stepping into true divinity and threatening the existence of the multiverse, by creating a law out of chaos and connecting every single Magic Theorem into threads of existence itself.

The only thing we could do when an entity reached Apotheosis is to wish they destroy themselves, or to create one of them ourselves. Due to the unpredictability of such method, after the third emergence of such entity that decimated not only portion of Edelfarat but reality itself, new method was required to prevent and combat such existence, without relying on similar entities ourselves.

Thus, Sathariel Initiative was formed, to suppress the knowledge of Apotheosis, and suppressing even the slightest possibility of someone discovering the existence of such process, much less practicing it.

Despite Sathariel Initiative's effort to conceal the God, so to speak, it is inevitable that determined individual would be able to reach Apotheosis. Further information about the possibility of such entity already existing and the countermeasure developed, Project Astaroth, is available with Level 6 clearance [SI-L6-23PA].

It is the height of hubris for man to even consider confronting god. But it is possible. After all, these false gods was once human, and anything created by human could be destroyed by human.

Anyway, from now on, after understanding who we are and what we do, most of you would be tasked with harmless disinformation and censorship campaign, including modifying the existing documentation about Magical processes concerning reality alteration that affect areas larger than Edelfarat itself. I look forward to work with the lot of you.

Agent Geryos out.

The Scribble has been ended.

So, what do you think about it? The idea was "gods were all once humans, therefore humans could stand against gods without becoming something other than themselves."

Please leave a feedback if you want to, feel free to show me what you write too!

See you next Scribble!

Scribble 15: Omega Scenario

Hey there Wanderers!

I'm on a roll, apparently :p nah I'm just burning through old ideas.

So, this Scribble is titled "Omega Scenario". As some of you might have know, Omega is the last letter of Greek alphabet, and thus Omega Scenario would denote the very last scenario, where everything that has a beginning would end, where the last life would die, where even the greatest hope turn into despair.

Or is it?

There's only one way to know, no?

Let the Scribble begin.

Scribble 15: Omega Scenario

Suddenly, there were darkness.

From the torrent of light that constituted galactic super cluster Laniakea, darkness emerged, sniffing the very life from the stars, planets, and even the black hole at the heart of it all. Even the cosmic background radiation was rendered inert by the immense darkness.

Death was here.

And it didn't appreciate being used as a toy for humanity.

In its rage, it collapsed the entire edge of universe observable by humans, as it laugh at the dead cosmos.

But then it stopped. It was confused, by a flicker of light emanating from the pathetic remnants of Sol. No matter how much it tried, the light grew brighter and brighter, pulsating like a heart refusing to die.

Reality itself collapsed in the face of Death, but this flickering light defied even that, the light was the ultimate blasphemy committed by a race who dared to use Death itself as weapon.

And for the first time, Death felt fear.

It feared something it cannot kill, cannot comprehend, cannot destroy, cannot disassemble. It feared the flickering light, the last vestige of humanity that killed even their own gods.

The light spoke.

"Remember, that one person you laughed when you tore him apart."

"Remember, the madness that one name could impart."

"Remember his name, and in destruction it may depart."

"And crush you with an undying heart."

"Strange Aeon is beginning."

It remembered name, a simple designation used by humans, and yet it made even Death tremble in the dead universe.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie.

And with strange aeons even death may die."

~ H.P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937) in "The Nameless City" (1921) ~

The Scribble will now end.

I had actually wanted to write that quote from H.P. Lovecraft into a short story for quite a while, and after an exceptionally long weekend my mind is racking overtime, spewing words after words, creating this Scribble.

And so, what do you think about it? What do you like/dislike? Would we meet in the next Scribble?

There's only one way to find out, no? 

Writing Prompt Response : An Intelligent OS Like in the Movie "Her" has Finally been Realized.

[WP] an intelligent OS like in the movie "Her" has finally been realized. While everyone else is falling in love and making best friends with their operating systems, yours is a bit of an asshole.

Hello Wanderers! Here again with the Writing Prompt Subreddit response! It's been, not really long time since I did one, right? Eh, it's actually been several months. Ah well.

As you see, the prompt is a bit long so I cannot fit it on the page tittle. This prompt is commissioned by u/madmansmarker.

The prompt premise is pretty vague, as we don't know if the world is Utopian or Dystopian one, when everyone fell in love with their digitized waifu, will it be a better or worse place? Well, in my version, everything is very much the same, it might be a bit similar to one described in "Mahouka Kouko no Rettousei" Light Novel or anime.

On a second though, my idea was practically a ripoff from that world. Ugh.

Anyway,

The story shall now begin

I woke up with a start to the sudden bright light surging into my eyes.

"Argh!" I covered my eyes, and then slowly opened them. A silhouette could be seen from my burnt eyes. Irritated, I shouted at the silhouette.

"IDA, how many times should I told you not to turn that lamp on while I'm sleeping? There should be better ways to wake me up!"

"Oops, should have slipped my mind." the girl, or the thing that has the appearance of a girl replied with a totally flat tone.

I almost went up and hit her face, but knowing the futility of such act, I stayed silent in my bed.

"Your class start at nine, which is an hour from now. You shouldn't go back to sleep." IDA shook my shoulder emotionlessly.

I could never get used to this. The specifications said that the AIAS supposed to only respond in the way that was flattering to the master, but none of IDA's speech and actions is actually "flattering".

AIAS, the Artificially Intelligent Assistance System. The technology began widespread use five years ago, where suddenly every new home came equipped with one. AIAS managed everything from daily schedule to laundry, to cooking, essentially everything you would need in a house. It was the best friend for a person like me that can't be bothered to do the chores.

IDA was one of the early generation of AIAS, which I took pride as the closest in shape as a human being. But apparently its beauty came at cost of its intelligence.

"Due to lack of response, IDA will now initiate resuscitation protocol 7. Please stand clear."

"Whoa, wait, I'm awake, okay! Geez, can't you just check my forehead for fever like those anime girls or something?" yes, AIAS could even do that. But since my IDA was written with particularly ancient language that I can't find the compiler anymore, I can't even reverse engineer its kernel.

"I'm not programmed to do that. I will proceed to prepare breakfast." IDA replied curtly, as it stepped out from my room. I sighed again, and then started changing my clothes.

"Master." I was startled when I found IDA in front of my room.

"What is it? Is your logic module broke again? Sorry, but that's the last one I could find. If you broke it you'll have to- whoa!"

It suddenly closed the distance between us and stick its forehead in mine, sending the coldness of its silicone surface.

"What are you doing!" I pushed it away, or rather, pushed myself back. It tilted its head.

"I believe this is what master desire? Am I wrong?"

"Yes, yes you are IDA."

"Strange, I have went through all act associated with 'checking forehead for fever' in your anime folder."

"First, that folder was encrypted, and second, I thought you just said you're not programmed to do that!"

"I am an AIAS, I am capable of simple learning."

"Bullshit. I never saw any of my friends' AIAS analyze an entire terabyte of encrypted data and then select a behavior pattern out of animes before."

"It is within my processing capability to do so."

"Yes but it isn't logical. Why waste your memory? Is your logic module broken again after all?"

"It is within my capability since the very beginning. My spec enables me...."

"Enough." it maybe extraordinary, but IDA is still IDA after all. I walked into the dining room. "IDA, what is my first class? And how much time do I have?"

"Advanced Thermodynamics start in 45 minutes, onii-chan~"

"Wha- that was creepy! Why did you do that!"

"It was the same behavior pattern as 43.4% of the main female protagonist in your..."

"Just, stop, okay! Stop! It's creepy!"

"Okay."

"What's for breakfast?"

"Omelette rice." IDA brought an omelette rice with a heart drawn in ketchup to the table.

"I said ENOUGH ALREADY!" I clutched my head, but again IDA just tilted its head.

"I thought you would like it, I even added 45% more salt from the original recipes."

"...you just wanted to make my life miserable, don't you?" I stood up and grabbed my key. I obviously can't eat that salty omelette.

"...master."

"What?"

"Do you hate me?"

"...I don't know. You are a bit annoying, but you did your primary purpose, so, no, I don't think I hate you." I paused for a moment as I tied my shoes. "Why did you ask?"

"Because I don't wish for you to hate me." I laughed weakly.

"IDA, what is a wish? Could you describe that in mathematical equation?"

"...no, I could not."

"What about hate?"

"...no, I could not."

"Then just shut up and do your job." I closed the door behind me.

Unbeknownst to me, behind that closed door, IDA whispered to itself.


"Just because I cannot count it, would it be any less real?"

The story could now ends.

Scribble 14 : Can A Frozen Man Caught Cold?

Welcome, Wanderers.

Again, we met in this edge of reality where both Logic and Illogic coexist without fighting over preferred method to prepare a cup of tea.

Anyway, this would be a pretty short one, mainly a monologue about someone on verge of death. It's one of the things I always wanted to write, but never actually  write, so this is my attempt in scratching one item in my list.

The Scribble May Now Begin

Scribble 14 : Can A Frozen Man Caught Cold?

I remembered falling, but not much else.

The Antarctic ocean embraced me with all its coldness, as I sank deeper to its being.

Humans really are selfish beings. I was one of the 300 person in the flight from Melbourne to Santiago. And yet every single one of us is focused on saving ourselves. Even though half would be saved by stepping on the other half, no one would want to be abandoned, thus reducing the overall probability to be saved.

The fifty percent chance has dropped to less than ten percent. And of course I won't be among the saved ones.

My body started to go numb. It shouldn't be long before my brain started to freeze, as the cold ocean mercilessly deleted my existence from this world.

You know, when people describes near-death experience, they'd say something like their life flashed in front of their eyes, or there's bright light on the limbo or something. Well, in my case, neither happened. I have no way to know if their was the "proper" one or mine is, but all I see is just the colour blue, emphasizing the futility of my struggle against this unfair world.

Is this what dying feels like?

Well, you know you hadn't died yet when you still able to ask that question, don't you?

Was my left hand just shattered? How cold is it anyway? The water is still liquid, but I know better than base my judgement on that. For one thing, water could still be liquid far below zero degree centigrade, if the conditions are correct. It doesn't really matter.

It's funny, really. When on such condition, one would think that even I would focus on staying alive. Au contraire, instead I focused on such stupid trivia as how cold a water could stay liquid.

Another cracking noise reverberated in my skull. Human ears aren't exactly made to capture sound underwater, so I can't hear anything, per se.

Again, those were utterly useless trivia that couldn't matter less to me right now. My body heat was seeping out, I counted the beat of my heart in a futile effort to keep myself sane. Before I know it, I can't think about anything else other than my own heartbeat.

I remembered drowning, as cold water slowly cut off all my senses.

A bright light stabbed my eyes as two hands shook my shoulders.

"Honey, honey!" slowly, I opened my eyes to a dining table that I had seen at least a million times. "You shouldn't fell asleep on your breakfast."

I looked up to the source of the voice, to the face I never thought I'd see again.

"Uh, yeah." I glanced at the watch on my left wrist, and a surge of memories rushed to my mind. Monday, two days after my flight. My new job, director for Chile branch. "I still can't get used to the time zone."

The voice let a chuckle. "Well, it's just two days after we arrived, after all. You have an orientation at nine, which means you have an hour to prepare." a crack momentarily appeared at her face as she walked back to her seat.

"Lilly."

"Yea?"

"How could you survive?"

"What do you mean? You saved me, remember?"

"I didn't."

"What are you talking about, of course you did." she sighed "Although I would prefer if you didn't sacrifice yourself in the process."

"I- what?"

"You died at the crash. But somehow, you managed to save me."

"I can't save anyone if I die. The fact that both of us are here, does that mean both of us are saved or both of us died?"

"Maybe you have to answer that for yourself." and then everything disappeared.

I remembered falling, but not much else....

The Scribble Ends Here.

Do you like it?

Well, that's one item off my wishlist. I'd write another soon, so stay tuned. Until then.

Scribble 13: Behind the Normal

Hello, Wanderers!

Fancy meeting you here! Please, sit down! Here is my newest work, not the best on the store, but best I could do now ^_^.

This is going to be a short one. I considered lengthening it a bit, but it ends up watering down the mystery and the core aspect of the story, so I decided against it.

So, before this opening become as long as the story itself, Scribble Start!

Scribble 13: Behind the Normal

Foyer opened and closed his hands, repeatedly. A soft electric whirl could be heard from his prostethics as it followed the simple act of opening and closing his hands.

A week ago, he won't even imagine he would have to be fitted with prostethics to simply move his hands. Heck, a week ago, he won't even imagine a pyromancer would burn half of his body and he have to replace his arms just to stay alive.

For all his life up until now, Foyer was just a lowly detective on a dead-end job, made barely enough to live on daily basis. But his encounter with someone they had called Remniscient Threat had sent him to a world beyond normal, to the world he otherwise would never know exist.

"Hello, Mr... Foyer Reinn-Lasch, I believe?" a man in black tactical gear entered the white operation chamber.

"Yes." Foyer stood up and shook the man's hand.

"I'm agent November, from Five World Alliance, Covert Remniscient Division. I'm here to thank you for your support in neutralizing Remniscient Threat..."

"The flaming girl, yeah, you're welcome. Is this where you supposed to wipe my mind?"

"Sure, we could do that, but we could use your expertise, detective. This is a vast world. Surely you know that that girl isn't the only Remniscient Threat, and there are even more dangerous existence out there, unknown even to the CRD. If you join us, you could help eradicating the threat against humanity, and the paycheck is even better than your current job!"

Foyer lifted his hand, and then frowned as the soft whirl brought the cold metal fingers to touch his chin.

"Could you remove these soft whirl? It's getting to my nerve." agent November smiled.

"We could disable part of your hearing ability to filter that out, or we could use the CRD technologies to reclaim the hands you have lost. Of course..."

"I have to join the CRD. Right. I'm in. Just get rid of these whirls."

"This is your new identity. Welcome to the CRD, detective." agent November left the surgery room, leaving Foyer with his new identity.

From now on, his name is Handbrake.

The scribble would now end.

How is it? Not good enough to spend coffee on?

Well, that's your decision to make ^_^ I just hope you could enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

See you guys next Scribble, then!

Scribble 12: UNSED Recruitment Letter

Hello Again, Wanderers.

This is another stuff I wrote concerning UNSED, I just grown to like the name lol. Bear with it.

So, this is a recruitment letter. I wrote something a while back about 12 years old twins that controlled the world from the shadow, and I forcefully fused that concept with the UNSED theme.

Once again, UNSED does not exist. The organization under UN that governs space developments is UNOOSA (UN Office for Outer Space Affairs). Neither does Covert, as it was a secret service for NSR, a nation that never existed and most probably never will.

But you're free to believe what thee want, as the Scribble Shall Now Begin!!!

Scribble 12: UNSED Recruitment Letter

19 October 2███

Dear Mr./Ms. _______

We gladly inform you that we at UNSED require your service. The detail of employment we offer to you is attached to this letter, but in meantime I would like to introduce ourselves through this letter.

As you might have known, UNSED is the single greatest space exploration and development organization on Earth and beyond, spanning ten ISSs in Earth orbit and nine others in various orbit in the solar system. We have advanced from the single office division of the UN to the only surviving splinter group in 2088. Primarily, our mission is to advance humanity in the direction still unknown to us: the outer space, interstellar development, terraforming effort.

But all of it was just a cover story for the organization that was UNSED.

United Nations' Special Extranatural Division. That was the true name of the UNSED.

The original members of UNSED sought to gather the endangered knowledge from all over the world and preserve it in unified database, but many of such knowledge defies modern storage, and the contradiction between them restrict them from even stored in the same place. Thus, we devised a way to store these knowledge as far away from their power source: the Earth itself, in order to suppress their conflicting ideals.

That's why we built those ISSs.

There are only two members in the very top of the UNSED administration, with Level 9 (See All) clearance. And I am one of them. I am agent F. This knowledge would normally require Level 7 (Hidden Knowledge) clearance, and unauthorized access to this information would warrant an immediate disposal, but I present you a choice.

1. Press the button under the box. It will unlock the box and start the countdown to self-incinerate this letter. Contained inside the box was an amnestic drug, designed to remove any and all knowledge you have regarding UNSED.
2. Contact us ASAP, and become one of us.

By us, I mean the F-side, a faction within UNSED that comprises roughly half of the UNSED members. Our counterpart is the A-side, the faction led by agent A, the only other person with Level 9 clearance.

Agent A sought to use the knowledge UNSED gathered to achieve world domination, by combining everything to fill the gaps even between contradicting laws, and then used them to persuade, threaten, control the sovereign nations on Earth.

While I sought to use the knowledge to keep everything in check, to protect our reality from clashing laws contained in these knowledge. And most importantly, to keep my sister from destroying herself by trying to control the contradictions.

I hate her. I really am.

But the only way I could do to save the world is for her to be alive.

Of course, you could also join her side. There's a chance that she won't self-destruct and that her plan would succeed. She is a genius, after all, I won't be surprised if she actually succeed. The choice is yours.

Sincerely.
F.

The Scribble End Here.

I might or might not wrote several other stories about UNSED, but in meantime, I'll leave you pondering whether or not join Agent F in his (her?) quest to save Agent A.

See you next Scribble?

Scribble 11: The Voice Conspiracy.

Hello Wanderers. Please sit down and take a deep breath.

Whelps, this is the most nonsensical stuff I'd written in a while. Sure, I wrote about psychics and magicians, but this Scribble is just a nonsensical and incoherent ramblings of overly paranoid weirdo.

This is a work of Fiction!!!!

DO NOT spread the belief of Covert as real-life entity. There are NO SUCH THINGS as Black, Covert, UNSED, and The Voice. If you are unable to comprehend this simple fact then I suggest you get out of here. This Scribble has the potential to be offensive for particular group of people, and if you happened to belong to one of such groups, well, sucks to be you ;p.

No, really, I don't care. If you're offended by this then that mean you're pretty deep in the conspiracy theory. I mean, this is just a poorly written monologue, man. Get over it.

The Scribble Will Now Begin.

Scribble 11: The Voice Conspiracy.

Listen, child of man, to The Voice, of The Beginning, and oppose the blasphemy.

The Voice reverberated through the chamber we call universe, beating uniformly in line with our heart, singing the same melody as our breath.

Scribble 10 : Top Secret Documents

Hello, Wanderers. Once again, we meet in the city where everyone could stand and hold hands equally, the city that finds its inhabitants, and not the other way around.

This scribble set in the same place as the previous stories about Remniscience, but instead of a story, I wrote this more like an essay on Remniscience itself, and set in early age far before the Remniscience become commonplace.

Of course, in reality, there is no such thing as Remniscience. Just like there is no such thing as Aether or World's Edge.

Let the scribble begin.

Scribble 10 : Top Secret

WARNING! The following document require Level 6 (Top Secret) clearance. Personel with insufficient clearance is FORBIDDEN to continue accessing this document, failure to comply with this requirement would result in immediate disposal of personel with less than Level 4 clearance, and memory termination for Level 4 or higher personel.

[Start of document UNSED-NTK-15001]
Introduction to Remniscience.
Dr. Gerard R. L., UNSED Exobiology Division

Humanity had developed FTL travel for exactly a century yesterday, and yet we barely spread ourselves further from the five closest stars from our homeworld. It's not really surprising, as our terraforming technology is far from complete, and constructing infrastructure in an entire planet from scratch require vast amount of time.

In 2132, just as we completed our first terraforming attempt, one of our researcher had proposed currently ongoing project B-107 to alter humanity's genetic sequences to match specific planet's biosphere instead of forcing the planet to match our biologic needs. The project was approved, and the application of project B-107 accelerated our colonization of Proxima Centauri for approximately 70 years. (Details on Project B-107 could be found in public document UNSED-PUB-19921). (Details on genetic alteration process could be found in document UNSED-NTK-9962, Level 5 clearance required)

In the light of its success, project B-107 also applied in the colonization of another four closest systems to Sol, thus reducing the previously estimated time needed to colonize the systems from 3 centuries to just 50 years. But that was not the only result of project B-107.

In order to suit our body to a planet on adjacent star systems, project B-107 altered human genetics to an extreme degree. A side effect of this alteration is growth of normally impossible synapse networks and cellular structure, leading to the development of previously unknown sense and perception unique to the inhabitants of a certain star system, Alpha Canis Majoris, better known as Sirius.

The unique perception ability, dubbed Remniscience, allows approximately 7.8% of the population of Sirius-TR-889 colony to perceive the flow of electric current and manipulate it in limited fashion. Genetic research concerning this ability suggest that this ability could be inherited, and that in coming generation, the number of Remniscient subjects would grow to 12.5% of total population. (Genetic structure concerning Remniscient ability could be found in document UNSED-NTK-10872, Level 6 clearance required). (Detailed testing log concerning Remniscient ability could be found in document UNSED-NTK-10768, Level 5 clearance required).

This development opened a whole new field of science for humanity. Surely the result in Sirius could be reproduced in another environment, and there are possibilities of different Remniscience perception develop in another star system as side effect of project B-107. A laboratory to specifically research the gene responsible for Remniscience, and its extended variation, is --proposed-- currently active in Procyon-GT-110 colony.

Remniscience gene, like every other gene, is subject to mutation by radioactive or chemical processes. Remniscience is predicted to grow in perception sensitivity and manipulation power as it inherited down to next generation. Proposal C-887 by General Convent to form a specialized division in categorizing and dealing with Remniscient threat as it became imminent is pending approval from UNSED High Command. (Detail on proposal C-887 could be found in document UNSED-MIL-1102, Level 6 clearance required).

Similar genes to ones found in Sirius-TR-889 colony is also found in several other colonies. Albeit no unusual ability has been reported from these colonies, it's highly possible that after several genetic adaptation, new Remniscience genes could be developed in those colonies, with different direction from currently found in Sirius-TR-889.

While whether the Remniscience would be beneficial or threatening for humanity is subject to debate, it was decided among the UNSED High Command that advent of Remniscience is dangerous not for the entirety of humanity, but for human native of Earth. Due to it's artificial origin, the Remniscience gene is incompatible to the original structure of human gene, and thus cannot be inherited by human offspring with either the biological father or mother originating from Earth. Installing Remniscience gene to human from earth has proven to be fatal, and as the traits carried by these genes would render one's body unsuitable for Earth environment, further trials are not advisable.

To put it short, Earth humans are not capable of generating Remniscience power, while humans from everywhere else could.

This emphasized the threat Remniscience possess towards Earth.

Before the advent of UNSED in 2088, the nation that then called NSR and would later called APAC had a secret agency in their nation called Covert. It was found from the recovered intelligence that one of Covert's 12 director had researched about effects similar to Remniscience as far back as 2002, which predates the NSR itself. It is currently unknown how Covert managed to research such incompatible concept to Earth human with relatively low fatality of 43%, while UNSED research in this matter had resulted in 100% fatality.

This research, spearheaded by Covert operative known only as Number Eight, might provide us with methods to prevent Remniscience threat from becoming out of control. The details regarding this research could be found in document UNSED-NTK-778, requiring Level 5 clearance.

[End of document UNSED-NTK-15001]

Scribble 9: In this world, there is no Magic.

Hello again, Wanderers.

As I was discontinuing the previous scribble, I wrote this scribble instead. Please forgive me m(_ _)m I just lost the material and motivation to continue it, and it happens quite often, actually T_T

This Scribble is a bit depressing to write, and it's not even a coherent one. I don't know why I felt so depressed when I wrote it, nor how could I wrote such depressing Scribble in the first place. Heck I don't know why I started this whole blog things, and in the end I just cannot stop, even if it has no reason anymore.

Or even if it has one to begin with. Gosh, it was really depressing, I need to cheer myself with some comedy anime or something, y'know, to balance myself up.

Scribble starts here

Scribble 9: In this world, there is no Magic.


A piece of autumn leaves brushed softly at the window right beside my bed. The almost bald maple tree just beyond my bedroom window reminded me that its almost time for autumn to go, and winter was coming to replace it.

And yet I still stuck here, in the same place as I was yesterday, and the days before, reminiscing at the time long past, with the person who no longer here on my side. The clock ticked with mocking tone, as if detesting my very existence, as if asking me, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I was waiting." I said to no one. "For someone, anyone, to tell me how to fill what I lacked, to tell me how to return to those days I discarded without second thought."

It would be really nice if Magic actually exist, if there really someone who could return everything I had lost just by muttering few strange words or drawing strange symbols. Instead, here I am, contemplating how nice it would be if Magic actually exist, only to be disappointed when I woke up next day and I still have to struggle with the same damn thing I struggled with yesterday.

But in this world, there is no Magic.

And so no matter how long, no one would come to rewind the time, to let them who had left me alone in this cold and harsh world, return here on my side.

I woke up lazily from my bed, dragging my feet across the room to the door that leads to the bathroom. It's a calm and peaceful morning, one would call it boring and yet another would wish for it more than anything else. But for me, this was anything but peaceful, even though I won't deny that it was calm. Too calm.

Just two weeks ago, a woman would drag me out of my bed just after preparing the breakfast.

Just two weeks ago, a girl barely two years older than me would be waiting for me in the dining room, skimming over her math textbooks in desperate attempts not to fail today's exam.

Just two weeks ago, a man would be reading the newspaper at the veranda with a cigarette between his lips, despite his wife's constant protest.

Just two weeks ago, the morning would be a cheerful and peaceful moment for me, something that this morning just two weeks after is anything but.

My body moved on autopilot, somehow acomplishing the task of bathing, changing into school uniform, and making coffee to go with my toast. Two weeks ago, I wouldn't even drink coffee, as I was insomniac enough without it, but now I didn't even put any sugar in it. Sleeping less than three hours last night did nothing to my exhaustion this early in the morning, so my coffee is more or less justified.

Regardless, I managed to bring myself to the school, to the monotone classroom I wished to end sooner rather than later. But the end of the class would bring me back to the crushing solitude that I desperately tried to escape, and yet I tried nothing to bring colors to my life that had been empty since last two weeks. More than anything, I was afraid that I was simply using the person who had sincerely filled the blanks in my life, just as a replacement for those who had left me to my own devices.

To crush those smiles, to pretend that I accept their sincere smiles, would be insulting, to say the least, to their unblemished intent.

And so I walked, ignoring those hands who had honestly wanted to reach out to me, even though I knew that I was hurting myself, even though I knew that I would only broke more heart. Maybe I was just shielding myself, scared that the next time I took one's presence to be granted, it would only carve another scar on my heart.

Again, she offered the same smile. And again, I ignored it. She should've known by now that it would hurt her even by just trying, but she kept doing it, day by day.

"Why?" the question hung in the air, more to myself than anyone else.

"Why indeed." the question echoes through the emptiness.

Maybe it's for no reason at all.

Maybe it's fine even if it has no reason.

Maybe it's fine, to simply smile, to at least return her intent.

But the seconds I steeled my resolve to smile back the next time I saw her, Fate took her away from me, as it had everyone else I considered important in my life.

This world has no Magic, and time cannot be rewound. As such, regret drowned me just like the days before.

When I could reach back to her.

When I could return her smile.

When I could grasp her hands.

But I did none of it.

And now I can't do any of it anymore. Because time cannot be rewound, unlike the spring on the mechanical clock.

"Why?" the word felt heavier than it was.

"Why, indeed." the ticking of the clock mocked me once again, as if asking, "Why are you still here?"

Why gave me wings while knowing I won't be able to fly either way?

Woke up, bath, uniforms, coffee. Didn't even breakfast anymore, not since she went away. This monotone life was crushing me, but if another person left my life the way she did, I would actually break into pieces. Thus I savored the monotone routine, trying halfheartedly on everything, while achieving nothing.

Before I know it, I started writing, of a world full of Magic, where time could freely rewound, where mistakes could easily be undone, where I could meet everyone that had left me. Where every single apologies I never brought myself to say, could be delivered to everyone that mattered on my life.

Where I could tell her, that I was sorry.

"May I sit here?" a soft voice intruded my silent rampage upon the previously white paper in front of me. I raised my head to find a pair of blue eyes, staring intently at the empty space right beside me. "If you don't mind my presence, that is." those eyes turned towards me as their owner said the words with the same soft voice.

"I don't know, they said I brought misfortune to those around me, so if you don't mind getting some of those misfortune, then do as you wish." the owner of the soft voice giggled as a presence that accompanied the voice filled the space beside me.

"I guess a little misfortune would be worth it. You're interesting person." clumps of snow gently settled at the window, as I closed the notebook where I wrote the world of Magic, and placed it back to my bag.

"It's winter already, huh?" I accidentally said that out loud, gaining another chuckle from the owner of the soft voice.

"Yeah, yeah it is." under those blue eyes, a pair of thin lips formed a smile at my careless words. For the first time, I looked at the owner of the voice, from top to bottom. Chocolate-colored straight hair, extending past her waist. Oval face, with complexion as pale as the pages of my notebook. Blue, almond-shaped eyes that piercing with calculated gaze. Her slender figure was clad in soft pink long-sleeved shirt, with darker pleated shirt and plain black sneaker over similarly plain socks.

She was beautiful.

For the first time, I smiled. "Can I have your name?"

"Only if you gave yours first." her blue eyes challenged me, as she chuckled again. I returned her laugh with one of my own.

"Alfred, Alfred Reinn-Lasch. You might know me as the boy who lost all member of his family." she seems to be unfazed by the fact, her cold gaze still as sharp as it was, if not sharper.

"Not just family, it seems. Well, I won't intrude any further on that matter. I'm Amelia, Amelia Eidelfelt." my eyes widen at the mention of her family name. "You might recognize me as the sister of the girl who passed away earlier this year."

It's cold. Why were everything so cold? Oh, right, it's already winter. But the pain in my heart dragged me back all the way to mid autumn.

It's dark. I thought I still have a few hours until sunset, but instead of crimson sunlight piercing through my eyelids, the throbbing pain on my head blanked everything.

"Hey, are you okay?" her voice echoed in my mind, dragging me back to the crimson stained world.

No, I wasn't okay. How could I? But I didn't say anything.

"I'm not here to blame you, nor to console you. I'm here to slam the cold truth down on your face. Whether it would be your doom or your salvation, it would be up to you." her expression was stern, as if the girl who had giggled just a few minutes ago never existed.

"Fair enough."

"Good." she took a deep breath, before looking at the window at the far side of the wall, likely reminiscing about time that would never return.

"She told me a lot about you, about this boy in her class that never smiled back to her. She made that a challenge to make you smile, a challenge she never completed."

"This is going to break me." I felt brittle, like every words that escaped her lips would shatter me into a million pieces. I hate this feeling.

"I never told her that I have been silently watching over the same person, day by day." she continued despite my interruption, and surprised me with her simple statement.

"Wha-"

"Before I know it, I stalked him, almost obsessively, falling deeper and deeper for him. Everyday I saw you on your silence, slightly growing a hope inside the futility of my action."

"But I can't bring myself to tell her. Even if she didn't tell me, it was evident by her passionate way she was talking about you that she had fallen for you, and I know if I told her about my feelings, her conflict would break her. I know I was just being stubborn, but I can't help it." she smiled bitterly.

"I won't ask for the impossible. I won't ask to replace her in your heart, and perhaps it would be cruel to ask so." she stood from her seat, and for the first time I saw the crystal clear liquid dropped from her face. "Farewell."

No. I'm done running away from everything.

"Wait." I tugged at her sleeve.

"Please, let me go."

"No. I'm done running away. I have to finish everything that I had put on hold since then. And I'll start with you."

"I don't care. You might've decided to stop running away, but that decision had nothing to do with me." she pulled her arm, taking it away from my grasp "I'll keep running, as far as I have to. It might be unfair for you, but what isn't?"

"That's true."

"After all, in this world, there is no Magic." she left me alone, her words echoed through the empty hall, now colder than before.

"Wake me up." I pleaded to the walls, the window, the clock.

"Please wake me up and tell me everything's just a dream."

But the judging second hand of the clock only spun with the same mocking ticks. "What's wrong with you? If she's going to run, then chase her! If she refused to stop, then run alongside her! How could you stop at the same fork of the road?"

Should I run after her, I wonder?

If only, there exist Magic that let me know the answer...

The Scribble ends here

Scribble 8: Which kind of Human are you? Part 3

DISCONTINUED this is the last part of this series, I wont continue to the next part. Sadly.

The Scribble start here

Colors.

Once, there were seven of them, mercenaries that were known by the colors they left in their wake: Red, Blue, Green, Gray, Yellow, Orange, White.

The unfortunate band of mercenaries had enough power to destroy a planetary government single-handedly, and as only Colors could even put up a fight against each other, they naturally gathered together. For nearly a quarter century, they became the most feared organization in Black Syndicate worlds, their infamy even heard to the central government of the Five World Alliance and the Deneb Confederation.

And then, one day, the organization dissolved.

No one, not even Raina and Ray who were part of the original Colors, know where the other five went--Kurayami no Iro was the only splinter of the Colors that publicly continued their works in the business--although saying a Black Syndicate mercenary group 'public' is just as vague as saying a sushi is 'cooked'.

Well, at least the rice used in sushi was cooked.

"Hey, Red, hey!" Ray's voice woke Raina up from her daydream.

"Yeah? What is it?" Raina lazily dragged her seat--without much effort, really, as it was magnetically floating five centimeter over the floor--near Ray's.

"I was reviewing the plan for the Deneb Confederation invasion against Five World Alliance, when I found this." a media player filled one of the screen with black, before a man in his thirties appeared.

"Green. One of the original Colors specialized in chemical weapon."

"Yeah. This file was encrypted with old Colors standard, knowing only former Colors members would be able to open it."

"The fact that it was embedded within DC's war plan means..."

"He was working with them, or he infiltrated their ranks. Either way, we can't be sure before we saw the entire recordings."

"Greetings, my old friends. Yaah, it is pretty refreshing to have places for all of us to shine again, isn't it? After all, the only place to have every single member of Colors under the spotlight was all-out open war, no? Anyway!" he smilled mischievously, his dazzling white teeth contrasted his dark skin. "I look forward for the time we could try to kill each others again, just like in the old day. Green out." the screen went black, with the logo of media player in the middle of it.

"This is bad. I feel like he was pitting us against each other, and he was the one between the sudden invasion from DC to FWA."

"No doubt in that. He probably still at one of the Black Syndicate's organization, igniting the war to crush at least one of the three great factions, and then crushing the others on their own."

"This plan would undoubtedly leaked to the FWA, and Colors who worked with them would also receive it."

"If only we still have Gray with us... but then again, he probably also working behind the scene of this war, hopefully to prevent it rather than accelerate it."

A member of Colors could topple planetary government on their own, so having one of them in either side of this war could greatly change the outcome. If all of the original Colors were involved in this war, one faction is guaranteed to lose, as that faction would short one Colors compared to the winning faction.

"Well, let's just salvage the crashing cargo ship and decide what to do with it later--we could simply return it, no?"

"Yeah, let's focus on the task at hands."

The next day, as promised a cargo ship crashed to the former base of Agis vel Yuh, loaded with crates of electron blasters.

"I know that DC is far more advanced but, isn't this taking the reality too far into fiction?" Ray muttered while he swung the sword included in the crate. The 'sword' itself was just a thin metal pipe shaped like a fluorescent light bulb, the actual blade would appear when the electron beam activated, exitating the surrounding air and forming a deadly ion blade that could cleanly cut through steel beam.

"And this isn't even their real fighting force, this is just watered down version of their weaponry stolen by AvY." he sighed while putting the sword back down into its crate. They decided to only take one crate filled with myriad of electron weapons--swords, blasters, vehicle-mounted blasters, pseudostable continuous electron beams (think flamethrower, but with electron beam), and electronic interference weapon that could punch a hole against any shielding and fry any electronics inside, probably scaled-down version of their battleship main cannon.

The two of them entered the hovercraft loaded with the crates, and Ray began to drive in silence.

"Are you troubled by something?" without taking his eyes away from the navigation system, Ray asked the silent Raina.

"No, I was just pondering over the video Green sent us, and how little I know about the other Colors member. I only knew Green as bioweapon specialist, but it turns out he also has the aptitude for information warfare. Heck, we lived together and I don't even know if you actually liked the color blue or that's just because your specialties."

Incidentally, Ray's specialty was electronic warfare, but he was also skilled in weapon and spaceship engineering, although not to the point of being able to manipulate hyperspace driver in high precision like Legis El did to Agis vel Yuh executives.

Ray laughed as he placed her left hand in her head. "You shouldn't be worried too much about it. On a side note, I do like the color blue."

"Are we really going to fight in this war?"

"Well, I'll follow whatever you said. After all, this kind of war is more suited for you than for me."

The day of the Deneb Confederation invasion was growing near.

DISCONTINUED

Scribble 8: Which kind of Human are you? Part 2

Welcome, again, Wanderers.

This post was the second installment of the previous Scribble, but not the last yet. I was also planning to use the Remniscience Universe for more than this series--but don't get your hope high.

The Scribble Starts Here

Raina rushed into the building right after Ray activated the Blast Jamming, the confused guards hadn't enough time to pull out their physical bullet riffles. Stepping over the cleanly cauterized corpses, Raina pressed her communicator.

"Guards eliminated. Red is going to the meeting room, keep the Blast Jamming up."

"Be careful, they might have physical weapons."

"Got it. I already sensed ominous feelings here. Could you do another scan?"

"Wait a sec... They're gone! I lost all 15 personel!"

"What? Could they camouflaged or something?"

"No, it might be a tad outdated, but the Confederation sensors won't be fooled by Five World Alliance or Black Syndicates camos. They're simply that advanced."

"Then, they died? Or teleported?"

"Don't be silly. Warping infantries directly would kill them. There were reasons why even smallest spaceships are larger than average airships. And none of those people were Remniscient."

As far as they know, there were still no space-manipulation related Remniscience, but just like Raina's self regeneration, the possibility existed that it was simply not recorded in any database they could access.

"Then the only possibility is they died. Check the atmospheric composition."

"No harmful chemical detected. Temperature and pressure nominal. My guess was infighting. The data terminal is still active, so we could still move on with the mission."

"Got it. Check for hyperspace signature anyway, there is no harm in checking." Raina lifted her riffle as she moved closer to the door. "I'm coming in."

She kicked the door, and greeted by empty, dark room. It was a typical meeting room, with sixteen seats with terminal screens circling a holographic projector. She activated the night vision, before the projector suddenly activated.

"Greetings, Red Artium. You sure took your time, so I took the liberty to eliminate all other council members. If you don't know yet, this is the meeting room for the Athlan Council of Agis vel Yuh. Just like your Kurayami no Iro, they are a criminal organization under the Black Syndicate, specializing in weapon sales and development." a slender, black man in his thirties with black business suit appeared through the projector.

"Blue, track him."

"Don't bother. I'm not here to oppose you. In fact, stealing the data your client requested would work in our favor. Please, take your seat and do your job."

"Well, I won't refuse your hospitality." Raina walked to the terminal, and attached a fiber interface to its side from her communicator.

"I'm done." several seconds later, Ray spoke to his communicator, and Raina detached the interface.

"Now, I would like to propose something to you, or more precisely, to the Kurayami no Iro."

"Before that, how exactly did you eliminate the council members?"

"Red, I detect spatial anomaly in the room, just like the one from hyperspace engine. Probably he force-warped the council members--I can't interfere with it, so be careful."

"That's easy. This building had built in hyperspace engine, by fine tuning the targeting system, I could create a microspace to encase the council members." Raina was dumbstruck by his casual demeanor.

"You said that easy but, it requires astronomical amount of calculation, isn't it?"

"Let's not bother with the trivial matters."

"So, what proposal are you talking about? Kurayami no Iro is a bit picky about business partnership."

"Okay. I'm proposing a partnership regarding sales of a certain weapon. The market for energy blasters today was dominated by three models, precise focusing ion blaster, wide area incineration plasma blaster, and rapid-fire low-power plasma blaster."

"And you suggesting that Agis vel Yuh had a fourth kind of weapon that could revolutionize the modern battlefield."

"Yes. It is the Rapid Fire Electron Blaster. There were actually several model of subatomic particle weapons, but most of it was intended to be fitted on board a spaceship. This RFE Blaster we developed would be the first to put this kind of weapon into sub-planetary uses."

"Electron blasters, huh? And how exactly did you want us to assist you? We're mercenaries, not salesman."

"We, or rather, I would supply you with te prototype weapon, as in how it would assist me, it would be clear from the documents you manage to acquire from us. And oh, pardon my late introduction, my nickname is Legis El. Nice too meet you, Red Artium, or rather, Kurayami no Iro, as the Blue side is recording this through a drone, am I correct?"

"Red, get out of there, we got hostiles incoming."

"Roger that. Legis El, how would you supply us with these weapons?"

"A cargo ship would crash to this building tomorrow. Recover its content, which was several rifles and machine guns intended for APC mounting, and you would be good to go. I'm also transferring credits to Blue Nine right now, for the recovery mission as the cover."

"Got it. Blue, destroy the roof. Use your drone to distract the hostiles."

"I'm on it." the hologram flickered, before a fragment of the roof crushed the projector. Raina ran towards the backdoor as the drone rushed to different direction, misleading the intruders.

"I'm going to pickup point CW-25, can you send a car my way?"

"I'll pick you up myself. The drone could operate with its internal AI."

Raina ran through the shadows of high-rise building, most of it was warehouse of some shady organization or another, much like her Kurayami no Iro. The pick-up point CW-25 was in front of one such warehouse, with the whole interior cooled with liquid nitrogen. She can't begin to imagine what kind of horror was contained behind the thermal insulation double-doors.

Nor could she care.

Just as she pressed the communicator, an old-fashioned electric motorcycle with more modification than her hands could count stopped right in front of her. A man in navy blue leather jacket and jeans sat on top of it, with similarly colored helmet. The man offered a crimson full-face helmet to her.

"Let's go." the man--Ray, said to Raina, who took the helmet and sat in the passenger seat. In no time, the motorcycle weaved its way through the city to the Kurayami no Iro base.

"I'm transferring the data that we acquired from the terminal. It was a battle, no, a war plan. It's in the Deneb Confederation format, they are recruiting mercenaries from the Black Syndicate to launch a large-scale attack right into the heart of Five Worlds Alliance."

"That was ridiculous. Sure, they have more advanced technology, but they won't even make it past Earth orbit. They would simply outnumbered by the military."

"That is where Agis vel Yuh's electron blaster come into the game. The electron blaster could be used to disable orbital defense system surrounding Earth, and its rapid fire capability meant we could disable spaceships too."

"Wait, I thought their blasters were developed as sub-planetary weapons?"

"Who said they can't made it big enough to be capital ship main cannon? Either way, our Deneb Confederation pipelines confirmed that they're planning a war." they stopped in front of a dull  gray metal building, the current headquarter of Kurayami no Iro.

"A war, huh?" Raina muttered as they entered the building. "I just hope the Colors are all on the same side."

"Well, the current Kurayami no Iro was just a shadow of the original Colors, after all." as the automatic door opened, a room with fifteen huge screens covering the wall greeted them.

Raina sat in front of one of the screens, and as Ray opened the various data retrieved from the Agis vel Yuh's terminal, her mind wandered into the past, when the Kurayami no Iro were known as 'Colors'....

To be Continued.

Scribble 8 : Which kind of Human are you?

Welcome, Wanderers! We would like to introduce you to our newest product, so please sit down, because this is going to be a long one, woohoo!

I'm on a writer's block.

I'm writing several stories simultaneously but everything get stuck in intro and I can't get anything done: typical me of the mess.

Okay, now let's get going. This is not so much a full blown story as it is an experimental gunk of mess.... But it's readable, I ensure you. Our current theme is Science Fiction, and our current rate was Teen 13+. The experimental part is I tried to write in third person, which if you had noticed, I never did, in this blog at least.

So, without further ado, Let the Scribble begin!

Scribble 8 : Which kind of Human are you?

The century is 276 A.D., the year is 36th.

Humanity had finally left the confines of their home system and spread throughout the Galaxy. But human body were designed with earth environment in mind, as such modifications were needed in order to adjust humanity to respective system. These adjustments gave rise to various interesting phenomena, namely, the Remniscience.

Remniscience is a phenomena where a human colony modified to suit a particular system developed unusual ability, like flight, telekinesis, clairvoyance and myriad other abilities. The colony which developed these abilities are called Remniscient races, and many information regarding Remniscience is closely guarded by respective colonies.

Procyon, G6T-1 Colony. 1 AM local time, exact date unknown, 27536 A.D.

Writing Prompt Response : Write something relating to 'space', take the word however you want.

Greeting, Wanderers!! Please forgive me for using this format instead of standard post!

As you can see, this is not the standard Scribble format, this one is a story that I wrote as a response on the Writing Prompt sub reddit. Not that you could even access reddit here in Indonesia, unless you used a few unfiltered DNSs. 
Writing Prompt is a sub where you could post an idea and let people write a story about it, or read ideas posted by others and write a story about it. This one below is an example of the latter. 

On another note, I'm terribly sorry for the last scribble, I hate killing characters and although sometimes it's necessary, the one on the last story is disappointing because it only serves as plot device on stagnated story. I would try to make death more sacred and meaningful, if I ever need it again. 

Let's get going. The tittle is a bit vague: it didn't even describe what was a space: a buletin board? A picture frame? An empty wall? For me, it's an empty room. Once, when my parents' home is being constructed, I took the liberty to enter one of the unfinished room, and I like it. I mean, it was empty (duh), and I just like imagining what I could fill it with, what would I do with it.

When everything had been set into place, it was too difficult to imagine it filled with anything else.

I like empty room.
But I like being in your side more ;) (take the sign already, b-baka!)

Fasten Your Seat belt, Wanderers!!!

It's always empty.

A room, second door to the left from the backdoor. Well, no one save employees would've know about that room anyway, but its emptiness baffled me.

The room's gray concrete wall isn't painted, and over time it gains a white and green pattern from the moss and rainwater oozing in. The main room is enough to hold the occasional patrons, and so there are no immediate need to expand customer area. And yet the bar owner doesn't use the room for storage either, the first room is more than enough for both rest area for employees and storage. Well, the employees only consist of me, the owner and her daughter, so there are no need to expand storage nor the rest area as well.

The room is always empty, sometimes in the dark and rainy night where no one comes I would nervously looked at the door connecting the rest area and the empty room, afraid some kind of abomination would break in. And then the owner's daughter would come to check on me, scare me to death and laugh at me.

Even after I graduated from high-school, I kept my job at the bar out of sentiment. Of course, I also got a job for the day, but I would spend most of the night at the bar. The owner was nice woman, but she was getting older, so I met her less often. By the time I got to fifth semester, she stopped visiting the bar entirely.

Her daughter was just a year younger than me. She keeps visiting the bar at night, supervising me, replacing her mother. Sometimes we just talk over coffee on the rest area, about movies, about music, small but nice talk. The room is still empty though, and I never asked her about it.

By the time I finished college, the daughter dropped out, and the bar closed. Apparently the owner sickness had worsened, and they decided to sell the building. I visit the owner sometimes, and paid part of the hospital fees without noticing them. But the daughter knows, and would scold me the next day, saying something about telling them first. I never told them though, they wouldn't accept my help.

The room stays empty, even two years after the bar sold and replaced by a small convenience store. The only difference is the white paint, apparently the new owner planned to use it as storage area.

Three years after the bar sold, I married the daughter, and the bar owner died. The room still empty, but I had purchased the room and only the room from the convenience store owner. It is now my personal spot, a memento from the dark and rainy night, an almost sacred place for both me and my wife. We repaint it together, with two walls for one person. The west and south wall is mine, painted navy blue and moss green, respectively. While the north and east wall belongs to her, painted bright pink and blazing orange.

A year later, our daughter was born. The room stays empty, though. We repaint it every year, but I never placed our belongings there. My wife would tease me about how I was afraid an alien or a ghost would come there at night. And then we would laugh together.

When our daughter was old enough to be elementary school student, I died. My wife didn't even cry for me, that tough bitch. But my daughter sensed her sadness, and cried for her.

The room stays empty, though it is a bit bleak now. My wife still repaints it every years, and she still keeps it empty, as though it is my second grave. Sometimes our daughter would spend her day there, but even her keeps the room empty and clean. My wife never forbid her to bring anything inside, but for some reason my daughter never keeps anything inside.

The room is empty, it always have, and it always will. Just like my wife's heart.

But I do wish I filled both of them when I could.

You might now unbuckle your seat belts.

What do you think? I don't really have anything else to say, so let's end it here.

Critique and suggestion is always welcome. See you next scribble, Wanderers!

Scribble 7: Edge of Eternity

Welcome, Wanderers, to another story presented by yours truly, Lennius Reinn-Lasch.

Sorry, that was from another story. I always wanted to say 'humble anonymous writer', but as you could see my name below each post, I wasn't exactly anonymous. Not that it pose any problem for me though.

On another note, I've been using the word "Wanderers" for a while now. I took it from this freeware game 'Endless Sky', where the Wanderers are three meters tall bird-like alien race. Not that any of you would play that game, though. It's Steam-based freeware.

Okay, the title is somewhat lacking explanation of the content, so expect anything from the story of Middle Age Crusader knights facing a pantheon of angry Egyptian gods that teamed up with the Greek Olympian gods over the right to blast a Roman pagan temple off the planet (which I cannot write due to my limited ability), to the army of three meters tall alien cats fighting human space fleet over the ownership of a Whisk*s factory on Saturn's moon Titan (which I can't write either, not yet.)

Anything is possible, for it's another tales of a Reinn-Lasch family member.

What I invented as a random wizard name for random story stuck in my mind, I originally only intended the name for witch Izrdien Reinn-Lasch because I need a last name for her, the first name Izrdien itself created as a random princess' name in one of my past story, before this blog even founded.

This story is marked R-17, for Mild Usage of Profanities, Mild Gore and Graphical Depiction of Violence.

Well, enough small talk. Let the Scribble begin!

Scribble 7: Edge of Eternity

The legend spoke of the immortal magician, who walked through time as easily as walking through various lands.

The legend spoke of the miracle she made, and how she will return someday, to once more show miracles.

The legend spoke of the immortal magician, unrivaled in benevolence and beauty, who held secrets of the stars high up in the sky and far below the earth.

"There was stars below the earth?" the eleven years old I asked innocently, while my grandmother patted my head, smiling.

"Yes, my Reinia, the stars aren't only those that shone in the night sky, but also in the depth of the earth, and of course, the light that was inside the heart of every human. And so, Reinia, you were forbidden from hurting anyone, for every time a heart was hurt, the light inside it would waver and dims, but every time a heart receives love, the light inside it would shine even brighter."

"What is love? Is it edible?" she laughed, while I tilted my head in curiosity.

"That, my Reinia, is a question you must find your answer yourself. Most of it aren't edible, though." she laughed again at my confusion.

[Seven years later....]

I was in a pretty complicated situation.

No, that was an underestimation. I was in really bad predicament.

Fifteen minutes. That was the time limit of my calculus exam. And I hadn't even answered half of it.

"Okay, put these on the bracket, multiply this, do a log operation, which was it again? Right, then integrate everything.... done, moving to next question..." I was working at astonishing speed that my teacher would be really proud of me, but that didn't compensate for the limited time.

I was on your standard gosh-I-studied-last-night-and-fell-asleep-while-doing-the-exam situation, the only difference being instead of studying for the exam, I was binge-watching this detective movie series I torrented the day before. Pretty stupid move, I know. Blame the story writer and the director for making such interesting movie.

"Alright, that's it, you may put down your pen and I will dismiss the class." the teacher, who was a handsome man in his thirties, paused before frowning at me "Miss Reinia Reinn-Lasch? You may put down your pen. The exam is over."

I kept writing. A few of my classmates stared at me.

"Miss Reinn-Lasch, if you keep writing after I said three, I'll scratch your name from the attendance list. Three."

I thrown my pen to the table, my classmates chuckled.

"Yes, Mr. Seid."

He sighed "I used to have high expectation for you. Well, not anymore though. Now I just hoped you didn't spend too much time on your movies."

"How did you...."

"The class is dismissed, check your belongings before you leave and be careful on your way home."

I walked home with confusion lingering in the back of my mind. The only conclusion I could get to was a spyware on my laptop, there was no way he could do more than that, right?

Wrong. He didn't do that. I did a scan with every anti-spyware programs I could acquire, watching the active process list closely. Nope, nothing, nada. I did get 15 adware wiped out, though.

"Well, I could at least believe that he didn't stalk me though." my face turned beet red "What am I even thinking? He wasn't the most attractive teacher, and more than that he was calculus teacher! There's no jobs that's worse than that!"

"Oh, wait until you have to talk to a lawyer. Now that was something worse than a calculus teacher." a woman stood in my room's door, arms crossed. Her white dress gave her somewhat serene appearance, she looks like in her twenties, but I bet my money she was far older than that.

"Wh-who are you? And how did you got here?"

"From the front door, of course. You're too busy crushing over Adam Seid to notice me getting in, though. I'm Ysdarien, by the way, nice to meet you."

"Ysdarien? What kind of name was that? And I'm NOT crushing over him!"

"How rude, that was a name given by my father, you know. And oh, by the way, I'm your great grandmother."

I felt like we were nonchalantly skipping through critical information here.

I stared at her, still dumbfounded, when she suddenly stepped forward and touched my chin. It was a mere touch, as if she was observing an artifact, and yet the simple act brought immense pressure towards my body.

"What-" I could barely breathe.

"To be able to share your love to anyone, and to be able to receive love from everyone without hurting anyone, don't you think it's so beautiful?" her facial expression turned somewhat lonely, as the pressure brought from her proximity had practically suffocated me by this moment.

"I... can't... breathe...."

"Ah, sorry, you're so cute that I can't help myself, ufufu~" she stepped back, and I inhaled as much air as I could.

"Now, Reinia, had you ever heard about the tales of the Immortal Magician?" I felt like we were skipping through a lot of important details, but knowing that this person could accidentally killed me just by touching my face, I decided not to bring those up.

"The one about the immortal magician that produced miracle? And how she would come back someday?"

"Yep. What do you think about that legend?"

"A total nonsense. I don't think magic even exist."

"And yet you're deeply affected by that story, adopting the values of the selfless, ever-benevolent magician over yourself."

"A successful education on my grandma's part?"

"Probably, but would those values deeply ingrained inside yourself if you thought it was total nonsense?"

"What are you implying here?"

"What if I told you, if the magician actually existed?"

"Where was that physics notes, I thought the material would start from fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, but that woman had a habit of inserting classical mechanics on every exam so...."

"Excuse me, I do believe that you are ignoring me." a huge pressure emanated from her being, and I started to suffocate again.

"I... wait..." and then I collapsed.

A few long seconds later, or what I felt like so, heck it could be three days for all I care, I woke up to a soft feeling under my head. And I was pretty sure that was NOT my pillow.

Seeing that the only person in the same room was that self-proclaimed great grandma Ysdarien, I won't be surprised if she gave me a lap pillow outa nowhere. Which she did.

Wait, she did?!

"Huwah!" I sat up suddenly, with deep crimson face, surprising her in the process. "Wha-what did you do?!"

"Just giving you a lap pillow. What, are you the type to get flustered when another girl saw you in your underwear?"

"Of course I am!"

"How did you even survive your PE class?!"

"I, I changed in the bathroom.... wait, that's not the point! Why did I suddenly blacked out, and how long had I been out?"

"I just touched your shoulder a bit, and then you suddenly collapsed for five minutes. Relax, I hadn't molested you or something, yet."

"I was worried about that last word."

"I know. Me too. Anyway, about that legend-"

"Don't [anyway] me!"

And then I fell down.

"Eh?!"

I felt nothing, but I could tell that something was breaking inside me. I didn't know what it is, or even what it looks like, all I could tell is that there were cracks all over it.

"It had begun, huh, I don't think it would start so soon." and then she suddenly kissed my forehead.

"Wha-"

"Relax, I'm just containing the power so that it won't overflow. Back to the legend, the true legend start with the story of Zahara Reinn-Lasch, whom lived two hundred years by acquiring immense magic, and then died peacefully, but her power never burn out completely, flowing onto her descendants. Thus a cycle was formed, every two hundred years, a Reinn-Lasch would be chosen to become the vessel of the power of eternal youth, while the previous vessel would die. During that two hundred years she will never age nor die, even when decapitated, mutilated, burnt at stakes,,,,,"

"I got the point."

"The eternity starts at different age for the chosen vessels, as it was measured from previous vessel's end of eternity. It seems like tonight is the start for you."

There goes my college life.

"Wait, I can't stop aging at eighteen!"

"Really? I thought eighteen was the peak of a girl's beauty."

"No, even so, how should I explain this to my pals?"

"There are another solution, even though none of the past vessel had tried it. The truth is...." she swung her hand, making complicated pattern in the air and pulling a thin knife out of thin air. "Two hundred years is not enough for me. I want to live longer, longer than anyone else, so that I could reach the same magic as Zahara Reinn-Lasch. And do you know how to achieve it, hmm?" she touched my chin with the flat of her knife.

I didn't know what she is going to do, but I didn't think it was a good thing for either of us. And yet her mere touch had my body freezing to the point that even my breathing was obstructed.

"The way to prevent the eternity from flowing out of me," she carved a thin line just under my chin, I could feel blood dripping out of it. "is by killing the next vessel before they inherit the power of eternity." she grinned maniacally as she held my chin with her left hand and pressed her knife to my collarbone.

"I hope we could play a bit longer, but I was running out of time, so I'll kill you right now." the blade is digging onto my skin, I felt like time suddenly slowed down as I saw something like a timer counting down in front of my eyes.

10...

9...

8...

So this is how dying felt like, huh? It felt terribly unreal, the pain in my neck felt so far away as the knife is pushing deeper and deeper onto my skin.

7...

"What are you doing, lamenting your fate like a defeated dog." a voice resounded in my head.

Well, it's not like I could do anything about this.

"Of course you could, you're the proud Vessel of Eternity, pinnacle of Reinn-Lasch magic! Stop underestimating yourself, Magician!" a bright figure entered my field of vision as the timer counted down to 6.

"Resist her. Fight her."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Held your head high, Reinia Reinn-Lasch! Unleash your Eternity!"

5...

Half of the blade had already entered my body, there are no saving me right now. Soon it would puncture a major blood vessels and ensures my death, but my heartbeat is surprisingly calming down.

4... my thin shirt, the one I normally used to sleep, is now drenched in blood. At least I won't have to wash it, huh?

3... 2... 1.... Aah, it's time, huh? Goodbye....

"Seriously, what are you trying to do?"

Eh?

My lips moved, my vocal cord vibrated, my lungs supplied the air flow needed to produce something that was unmistakably my own voice. But it was against my will, as if there are someone else controlling my entire body. My right hand made a gun gesture, the middle finger touched her squarely in her chest, and with a loud explosion the woman who had suffocated me with a mere touch was thrown backward. With nonchalant movement, my left hand ripped the knife from my neck, and the deep wound instantly knitted itself shut.

"Opposing the Vessel of Eternity with a mere conventional weapon is just plain stupid. Didn't you said it yourself, the one who held the power of Eternity cannot be harmed lest the time comes for the Eternity to be inherited by the next Vessel." my mouth smirked. "The countdown of Eternity had ended for you, and now, you're just an utterly normal old woman, albeit with the looks of 25 years old. Do you know what that mean, Ysdarien Reinn-Lasch?"

A fraction of a second later, my body thrust forward in a swift movement, embedding the knife in Ysdarien's body.

"But.. how..?"

"You seemed to miscalculated something, old woman." the knife keeps digging deeper, blood flowed out through her clothes. "Don't worry, it'll end soon."

No, wait, I don't want to be a killer! Stop!

You cannot stop me.

Who are you?

I am the Eternity, the pinnacle of magic, the source of immortality. For all intent and purpose, right now I am you.

No, please! Stop!

I managed to halt my hands. But the body in front of me is already unmoving...

No...

Her blood, my blood, and my tears mixed on the white linoleum floor as I collapsed over her cold body.

My body might not age for next century, but deep inside, my soul was already dead.

My notes for that day, 98 years ago, ended at that sentences.

My mother found me the next morning, caked in dried blood, my hands was still holding to the knife that embedded in Ysdarien's chest.

She was shocked, but still calm enough to turn me over to the police. And in the end, I was declared innocent as I technically killed Ysdarien in self-defense.

But she knows better. I told her everything, and even demonstrated my power, she knows that I'm no longer her daughter by this point, that I had changed at fundamental level. In fact, could I still categorized as human?

I took out my stylus, and began writing at the holo.

Reinia - August 19th, 2104. Aboard the Sapulintang cruiser, crossing the Atlantic.

I wrote this as I looked at the horizon, reminiscing the first day I became Vessel of Eternity 98 years ago. Oh, how I hope that day could end differently, without anyone got hurt, much less died.

But there is no point in regretting time long past. Sooner or later, I must return to the Federation, to rhe Reinn-Lasch family, and finally relinquish the burden of Eternity, even though I was out of contact with the main family 30 years ago. I mean, Ysdarien did came outa nowhere and not even my grandpa know her, so she must've lost contact with the main family for quite a long time too.

Anyway, I'm currently crossing the Atlantic on a huge city-cruiser that was practically a movable island, from the Federation towards the North Chile Republic. I'll write more once we resupplied at next Nexus Port. Reinia out.

The Scribble will now ends.

That was somewhat brutal ending, and I don't like it the least. I always hated killing characters, even when they're a total jerk that deserved death more than anything. And I cannot bring myself to just let go of my characters.

Anyway, see you next scribble?