Chapter 21: A Special Kind of Existential Crisis

  ‘Over here, big guy... I think you should pick this up.’

  The wisp appeared, blinking over Utred’s sword sticking out of the stone.

  Tobias stalked over and paused, looking down at it while Riley watched the wisp.

  “Are you alive?” She asked.

  ‘Kind of... I’m alive like your paws are alive. I’m a part of you... hence symbiote... Say it with me now... Sym-bi-ote,’ Sparky replied sarcastically.

  “I don’t talk to my paws, and my paws aren’t symbiotic,” Riley glowered, an intensive introspection settling over her like a soaking fog.

  ‘Celestial physiology is weird. I could not exist apart from you and do not exist in the traditional sense. All celestials get a symbiote at the moment of their creation. I do two things: I know stuff, and I adapt. At the moment of your creation, my databases were compromised, and I was reset to an effectively null state. My directive to adapt led me to manifest as your prompt system...’ Sparky explained.

  Tobias grabbed the sword and pulled it from the stone.

  A prompt flashed.

  Deific Shard recognized, unlocking inventory.

  The interface shifted to their storage screen and then enlarged by twenty slots, much of it full.

  “It’s a storage sword?” Tobias boggled, stepping back respectfully from the bones.

  All the bells and whistles... and it seems Utred was kind of a pack rat.

  An ominous rumble shook the space as the timer continued to tick down.

  19:37 remaining

  The sword glowed as a table appeared; on it was a large slate grey cuirass made of a strange kind of flexible woven metal. Next to it was a bracelet that looked much like Riley’s. Books appeared to its left, as well as four comprehension crystals. Finally, a chair popped in as Tobias scrutinized it.

  “Wait, how’d you do that without hurting us? And how do you know things that I don’t if you’re just a part of me?” Setting her front paws behind her ears, she pulled down as worry danced across the bond.

  Tobias turned from the table and regarded her with concern.

  ‘What is the Matrix, Neo? It is the wool that has been pulled over your eyes. You know a lot more than you did yesterday, you just still have all that ashen garbage riding over the top of it all. I don’t have that problem. My job is to know things. I don’t think about them, I don’t worry, I’m not a person. I know stuff, and I adapt to it. It’s my whole thing, which is the whole reason I’m talking now, well, talking in your head.’

  “By the dead Gods, is it that annoying when I do it? You’re not making any sense!” Riley took a deep breath, her paws folded as if in prayer before falling into a face groom.

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  Tobias looked over, now holding up the cuirass left behind by Utred, examining it closely, “Sometimes.”

  Riley cast a look that shot daggers.

  “Sparky, can you tell us more?” Tobias prompted.

  ‘According to my database, I may be the first construct to have a name. That said, I was heavily damaged at the moment of Riley’s genesis, so use a grain of salt there. Anyhow... The secret is all around you. Tobias, what is the elemental circle pattern for fire?’

  The answer leapt forward in Tobias’ mind; a complex magical diagram appeared floating next to the wisp in their shared vision.

  “Amazing. There's one for each of the elements and another for healing and basic warding. I reach for it, and it’s just... there... The Tears of Feos was a type of comprehension crystal, after all. There’s a whole new understanding of magic for me to contemplate.”

  ‘Exactly, which is how I know this stuff... Deific... shard, major upgrade, and it let me push my boundaries a little bit. Anyhow, I’m pulling mana from the environment instead of directly from you because your souls should technically be in a burn ward right now, hence the blue fire around your health bar. Would you prefer purple?’

  In a flash, it shifted color as Riley’s eyes flicked to the upper right-hand corner of her vision.

  “So you channeled the inventory through the sword and accessed it via an exterior channel instead of pulling through the spirit pathways within,” Tobias blinked in surprise.

  “Those circles are like circuit boards, and mana is the electricity, but the mana can come from anywhere. The wild ether, or within. We don’t have to channel through ourselves, ” Riley surmised.

  ‘Exactly!’ Sparky pulsed with a cheerful yellow light.

  “It’s been an age since I’ve absorbed a crystal. It was my third year at the Academy,” he smiled wistfully as his mind raced, searching for new bits of information that he’d never known before.

  A soft whimper drifted up from Riley as she stared down at the stone, “I thought I was starting to figure out who I am.”

  Tobias moved quickly, letting the gear sit on the table, and knelt down, petting her ears back.

  “You do know. Don’t lose that. Remember what I said about the lanthorn? If Sparky isn’t a reflection of your personality, nothing is.”

  Wordlessly, she pressed up into his arms and shuddered, only to turn her head, eyeing Sparky critically.

  “No sarcastic comments?”

  ‘Uh... No? Would you like one? I’m an informational system; I contribute when there’s something to add. Things seem well in hand. Tobias is right. Worrying would be nonsensical. I’m literally just reflecting your subconscious and referencing an inbuilt database, while adding a dash of sass.’

  The walls creaked, and a familiar roar ripped through the space as stones in the walls seemed to tear, revealing an inky abyss lurking just beyond as if reality had ended at their foundations.

  ‘Or maybe not so well in hand...’ Sparky added.

  14:00

  Tobias looked back toward the gear, then turned his attention to Riley, “I know you’re concerned, but we don’t have time to stop and process all this. We’ve got to get on task and find a way to survive. For now, trust me.”

  Riley pressed up against him once more and shuddered, “Fair. I don’t like this. We aren’t ready for this.”

  “We have more than our magic. That’s always been our ace; we’re together, and that’s how we’ve always survived.” Tobias reassured before rising striding back toward the table.

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