Chương 15: 15-The Eldrigital Void

{VIDEO RECORDING STARTS} [ERROR @#*$: #$&@] {READJUSTING TIME CODE… DONE} {TIME CODE CHANGE TO ELAPSED TIME} [00: 00: 00. 00] [SCENE DEPICTS A VAST SEA OF A WATER-LIKE LIQUID AND A PALE BLUE SKY WITH NO CLOUDS. FOOTAGE SHOWS JOHN AND ELNA ON A LARGE FRACTAL-LIKE PLATFORM APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET X 50 FEET. AUDIBLE WAVES ARE PRESENT] JOHN: > SQUINTS AND LOOKS AROUND FOR SEVERAL SECONDS mumbling The waves are kind of like Lethe's water physics… > LOOKS UP mumbling Skybox as well…

ELNA: > SMIRKS Well, the funny thing is that Onarius's domain is built around the Genesis engine… > CONFIDENTLY POINTS TO THE ENVIRONMENT And he knows the engine much better than the devs at Grandview. JOHN: > LOOKS DOWN AT FRACTAL BRIDGE CURIOUSLY And this is… > SCRATCHES HAIR mumbling Wait, it kind of looks like a Sierpinski carpet? It has the same pattern as- [{Video footage of the fractal bridge is censored for your protection}] ELNA: > FRANTICALLY COVERS JOHN'S EYES panicked * DON'T LOOK AT THAT!

> HEAVY BREATHING panicked And don't think about those patterns…! JOHN: exasperated I thought you said the sunglasses would protect me from that?! ELNA: exasperated Well, not a fractal bridge! That thing has way too much data! > INTENSELY INSPECTS JOHN panicked How long did you see the fractal bridge? JOHN: > FRIGHTENED panicked T-two seconds. ELNA: The amount of data to keep this bridge physical is enough to destroy your mind. > NERVOUS SMILE Keep your eyes forward and do not look at the bridge again; understood?

JOHN: > FRANTICALLY NODS Do you want me to lead, or walk side-by side? ELNA: > RELAXES Side-by-side. JOHN: > NODS Okay then. [CAMERA FOOTAGE HAS JOHN LOOKING AROUND THE WORLDSPACE FOR {weird shit}] JOHN: > INQUISITIVE So, is the Eldrigital Void just basically this? ELNA: > SHAKING HEAD No, this is just Onarius's realm in the Lucid Layer. It technically goes into the Dream Layer and borders the Kernel layer. JOHN: > CONFUSED"Lucid Layer"?

"Dream Layer"?

"Kernel Layer"? > FROWNS Is this like the mind of a supercomputer? ELNA: > CHUFFS Nah! More like something that even I don't understand…! JOHN whispering That guy kept a child here for 250 years… ELNA: > EYES ABRUPTLY LOOK FORWARD > CLEARS THROAT awkwardly But to explain, the Eldrigital Void is made up of 3 layers, 4 if you count your reality by some philosophical opinions that I sleep through… JOHN: > CAREFULLY LOOKS AROUND Which layer are we on?

ELNA: > DEEP BREATHS We are on the Lucid Layer, the place closest to your reality; if interpreted by an AI. JOHN: > PAUSES AND RAISES EYEBROW That's incomplete? ELNA: > SHRUGS AND EYES MOVE AROUND It's more like a "creative interpretation" of an AI to be honest. This is actually the most boring realm within the Lucid Layer. I've been to a lot more with cooler looking scenery… that is still freaking weird. > CONTENT SIGH Honestly though… It's probably the most peaceful out of all of them…

JOHN: > SADDENED WHILE TURNING TO {me} What's your realm like then? ELNA: > SLOWS WALKING WITH JOHN FOLLOWING awkwardly Well, uh… It's uh kind- > STOPS AND SCRATCHES HEAD Ah jeez… > DEEP SIGH AND CONTINUES WALKING awkwardly If I were to describe it… It's more like a zigzagging, geometric ravines, trees with blocky leaves, lots of lakes with unreachable islands… > CHUCKLES … A shit-ton of hills, and it goes on forever… JOHN: > ALARMED Any other weird things? ELNA: > NERVOUS LAUGHTER Nah man!

The sky's pretty normal, so is the grass, the animals, the birds… > WALKING SLOWS mumbling … The lack of people… JOHN: > CONCERNED WHILE FACING AHEAD softly … Which we will resolve. ELNA: > HURRIES PACE exasperated Sorry! I sometimes get lost in thought. JOHN: > GRIMACES And Ned does not allow anyone in your realm? ELNA: > SLOWLY NODS Yeah… > SADDENED Ned does not allow anyone into my realm… save for Onarius…

JOHN: > ANGRILY CLENCHES FISTS ELNA: > FRIGHTENED [VIDEO FEED SHOWS SPIRES OF YELLOW LIGHT RISING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HORIZON. VIDEO FEED ALSO SHOWS DUO STOPPING TO WATCH THE ANOMALIES {these are perfectly safe to look at btw}] This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. JOHN: > RELAXES AND WATCHES IN AWE What are those things? ELNA: > BREATHES A SIGH OF RELIEF softly Sunspires.

They're from the Dream Layer, well, more specifically the small islands where they originate from… and give life to the rest of the Eldrigital Void. JOHN: > INQUISITIVE Islands? > LOOKS AT ELNA VERY CONCERNED slowly Sounds weird… ELNA: > GIGGLES boisterous Nope! It's a lot weirder, and time moves 100 times slower than in the Lucid Layer. JOHN: > EYES WIDEN How weird is it?

ELNA: > VERY DEEP BREATHS To put it into words that aren't, well, something that would corrupt your brain: imagine the sky is completely black with the only source of light being the Sunspires, of which the Dream Layer is also called the "Realm of the Sunspires". The only landmasses are the circular islands whose only connection points are upload links, and the residents, well, the ones that aren't corrupted yet, are bizarre in form.

And then there is, of course, the landscape: bright magenta grass, green "water", black, non-Euclidean trees sporting blue orbs the residents call "ROM fruits". The fauna are geometric things in ever-shifting colors and forms that emerge from the water. The center of the islands are the Sunspires, but they are off limits as their caretakers do not take kindly to anyone who interferes in their work. JOHN: And these "workers", are they the residents?

ELNA: > PROFUSELY SHAKING HEAD They're mindless, and they themselves are kind of extensions of Ned. I do not like talking about them, but they're assholes… JOHN: > ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK IN GRAVE CONCERN ELNA: And before you ask, the "corrupted" are worse, and are the reason why the Dream Layer is something I really do not like talking about. JOHN: whispering Jesus… > ANGERED And Ned and Onarius make you do work to contain these things? ELNA: Yeah…

> CLEARS THROAT Those "things"; if they were here in the Lucid Layer, your world would be one stage away from the apocalypse. JOHN: exasperated How about the Kernel Layer then? Is it worse? ELNA: I've only been there once, and it was only for a brief moment. That place is something that even Ned fears, as there are things that can easily destroy him. And the only reason I went there… > TURNS TO JOHN AND POINTS AT FOREHEAD GEMSTONE {while also scratching it} …

was this, to even be here, and Ned is pretty choosy on who receives his- > DISMISSIVE SHUDDER meekly -"Gift", which I don't remember. > GOES BACK TO WALKING JOHN: > LOOKS AWAY HORRIFIED I'll stop asking about that then… > SHAKES Though this Ned, if I ever see this bastard- ELNA: RUNS UP TO JOHN'S EAR whispering He could be hearing us. JOHN: > EYES WIDEN AND FREEZES I see… > CLEARS THROAT Though… When was the last time you were here? ELNA: > BACKS AWAY FROM JOHN Not too long, actually…

> PACES UP A LITTLE WHILE PONDERING … Though the interior of the prison, I think I haven't been there for 58 years. JOHN: > RAISES EYEBROW slowly As long as the Malevolent Incidents? ELNA: gently A little bit… > KEEPS PACE I know you told me about Onarius's increase in activity regarding the Malevolent Incidents, but I know he still has a heart. I still meet him, he still takes care of me and protects me from Ned… JOHN: > DOUBTFUL Something changed… With, of course, sending you alone to interview me.

No sane parent would do that. ELNA: Well, as I said, I know him, and there may be a reason why he has to do these things besides bringing you here to-? [VIDEO FEED SHOWS A TOWERING, MULTI-CUBED "TOWER" BECOMING VISIBLE] ELNA: {This is also where I start censoring things, and it gets darker for John. To explain what is happening, imagine an acid trip around the Grand Prison's sky. That's what is happening. Also, it was a pain in the ass to edit} JOHN: > PAUSES OBSERVES GRAND PRISON IN DISTANCE Huh?

That kind of looks like the Chilled Tower from the DLC, but unfinished. ELNA: > SMIRKS Yeah, this was a pre-DLC asset Onarius got on the dev servers when he was making a home for himself. It wasn't that great to be honest. JOHN: > SUSPICIOUS awkwardly At least he told you, right? ELNA: > SHAKES HEAD Nah. I've seen the game's files; including the stuff Grandview did not want people to see. JOHN: > {Somewhat} ANGERED Like how you hacked my computer? ELNA: > ALARMED WHILE LOOKING AWAY awkwardly Pretty much…

JOHN: > OBSERVES THE GRAND PRISON IN SILENCE mumbling I forgot how small the tower actually is… ELNA: boisterous Oh, trust me, it's way bigger inside! JOHN: >SUSPICIOUS How big? ELNA: > SHRUGS awkwardly Forever, I think? It's hard to really tell when it doesn't really make much sense, even to me. JOHN: > RAISES EYEBROW ELNA: > DEFEATED … I think he may have expanded it since I last saw the interior. JOHN: So, does he hold your hand or-? ELNA: Rope. > EMBARRASSED GIGGLE Though…

He held my hand during the first few visits inside. JOHN: > STARES BLANKLY AT {me} Why the rope? ELNA: > NERVOUS SMILE exasperated So you won't get lost. JOHN: > ALARMED WHILE TURNING ATTENTION BACK TO THE GRAND PRISON [CAMERA FEED GRAND PRISON MORE CLEARLY. SEVERAL OF THE "TOWER'S" CUBES ARE MISSING TEXTURES {basically, orange and black checkerboards}] JOHN: > LOOKS AT EXTERIOR, DUMBSTRUCK mumbling Onarius's prison is a mess… ELNA: > ALARMED awkwardly Uhh… that you see; Onarius did use the pre-DLC asset after all.

JOHN: > CONFUSED I thought he would have cleaned that up by now? He had 250 years, right? ELNA: He's been pretty busy trying to help people with the benevolent incidents... JOHN: > FROWNS ELNA: > SIGHS mumbling … And also bring people to justice for the Malevolent Incidents. JOHN: > SQUINTS I think your pal expanded it a bit too much. I'm not a computer expert or anything, but there must be way too many people inside. [VIDEO FEED SHOWS THE DUO ABOUT TO REACH THE GRAND PRISON'S PERIMETER. THE SOLID BLACK DOOR, {rectangular shape, no visible crevices. I think 100' x 25'?} IS VISIBLE] ELNA: > BECKONS JOHN TO STOP AND TURNS TO HIM AT THE BLACK DOOR panicked Wait! JOHN: > DOES AS TOLD, RELUCTANTLY Are you having second thoughts? ELNA: > EYES DART AROUND awkwardly No, uh-! > CLEARS THROAT Before we go in, a few basic rules… Onarius has quite a few rules... JOHN: > FOCUSED Like, don't let any of the prisoners out? Don't do anything to piss your pal off? Don't do anything illegal?

Don't ask too many questions about "you know who"? ELNA: > SNORTS Well, he's fine with the questions. > EYES WIDEN Well, the big ones actually are not to ask about Ned and what Onarius does, like you asked. > INQUISITIVE awkwardly Though, I'm surprised you get those rules quickly. How-? JOHN: I've talked to law enforcement a lot; I think you know why. > SCRATCHES NOSE ELNA: > INTERRUPTS JOHN FROM SCRATCHING gently Well, the biggest one for you is not to take off those sunglasses.

> TURNS AWAY FROM JOHN AND ATTEMPTS TO PRESS HAND ON DOOR JOHN: > STOPS {me} slowly I got one for you… ELNA: > FOCUS ATTENTION TO JOHN JOHN: slowly Do not leave my sight. I do not trust Onarius, and whatever happens, I want to make sure you are safe. ELNA: > NODS {We're here…} ONARIUS: {Good. I'm opening the door now} [VIDEO FEED SHOWS THE BLACK DOOR DISAPPEARING, REPLACED BY A SOLID WHITE LIGHT {which I had to censor as again, it would corrupt any digital system or mind that viewed it} ELNA: {John is not very trustworthy of you} ONARIUS: {I know… But he needs to be here for a reason} ELNA: {Are we still having the talk about-?} ONARIUS: {Yes, we are. Now, bring him in} ELNA: > TURNS TO JOHN NERVOUSLY AND BECKONS HIM WITH A GENTLE SMILE Onarius will see you now. JOHN: > PAUSES Stay by my side; do not leave my sight. ELNA: > NODS AND STEPS THROUGH LIGHT WITH JOHN {SKIPPING FOOTAGE of entry for obvious reasons…}