{2/9} - Two of Nine: A Nine Lives Forum adventure

[King-Clod]

I'm not sure that'd be the best plan...keeping your reincarnation secret, that is. Your whole disposition is going to change because of this. Your views on things, your sudden surge in basic computer skills, everything. You're still the same person, sure. They're going to notice the difference though, even if you try to act as you had before. ESPECIALLY if you try to act as you had before, it'd be stilted and uncanny. Trust me, I've known people like that.

Your best bet would be to let them know that you're reincarnated, but ask that they treat you the same as before. I know it's important in Kaz'Rao to be able to choose to start each life anew (barring like, crimes and debt.) I'm sure they'd understand. It is your choice, though. Feel free to ask any questions of us if you'd like.

...Also, we're hardly 4chan. That's almost insulting.

[ಠ_ಠ]

Hmmmm are you sure you're not using them for some kind of selfish feel-good wish fulfillment thing?

What's the point of keeping a secret like this in a world in which these kinds of things explicitly happen? Why lie to people who love you? You *are* still just a kid, it's not like they're going to treat you as something else.

And how long do you think we're gonna let you keep us a secret?

[1011686]

>test giving yourself a command to see what happens
>additionally, consider doing further research into whether anything like this has ever happened in the history of Kaz'Rao. Maybe have been other people like you before.

[Lilium Mortem]

I'm not sure that'd be the best plan...keeping your reincarnation secret, that is. Your whole disposition is going to change because of this. Your views on things, your sudden surge in basic computer skills, everything. You're still the same person, sure. They're going to notice the difference though, even if you try to act as you had before. ESPECIALLY if you try to act as you had before, it'd be stilted and uncanny. Trust me, I've known people like that.

Your best bet would be to let them know that you're reincarnated, but ask that they treat you the same as before. I'm sure they'd understand. It is your choice, though. Feel free to ask any questions of us if you'd like.

...Also, we're hardly 4chan. That's almost insulting.

Maybe I should just call you 9chan then. Get it? Because cats, and nine lives… yeah we can workshop that later.

I get a second chance here. I get to be a kid, do dumb stuff, have friends, grow up. All my life here My parents knew for a fact that I was a new life, a new person they brought into this world. They want to see me grow up and they are so nice, better than my last parents.

I want this life. I want to enjoy it as Scud, the weird kid who makes art and doesn’t care what other people think. The kid who makes friends and has a blast doing stupid stuff like setting off homade fireworks or making swords out of scrap metal.

But… you’re right. I can’t keep the secret forever. But I will, just for one week. Just one last time they can treat me the same. Just one last birthday I can be myself without the baggage of memories from earth.
 

Hmmmm are you sure you're not using them for some kind of selfish feel-good wish fulfillment thing?

What's the point of keeping a secret like this in a world in which these kinds of things explicitly happen? Why lie to people who love you? You *are* still just a kid, it's not like they're going to treat you as something else.

And how long do you think we're gonna let you keep us a secret?

Yeah, I am being selfish. I get a do over. I just wish… I wish my memories would have returned later. I wish I could be ignorant. I know I can’t keep it up, the other guy convinced me of that.

I still want to keep going for a little while. I want to be selfish for just a week. Just a week. Let me have that.
 

>test giving yourself a command to see what happens
>additionally, consider doing further research into whether anything like this has ever happened in the history of Kaz'Rao. Maybe have been other people like you before.

What do you mean ‘giving myself a command’? Do you think you’re controlling me? I’ve ignored or refuted your thoughts before. What would that even accomplish? I’d just give myself a thought I already had?

Also is it just the nature of this weird dream forum or do you start your thoughts with a >? What’s up with that?

Anyway good idea about the research. I’ll google stuff when I wake up. Though I guess since google doesn’t exist here I’ll… I don’t even know if there’s a name for the search engine here. It just has a box that says ‘search’, or rather the Kaz equivalent.

[ಠ_ಠ]

...u kno with all ur earth knowledge of brands u could probably make bank in a place like this. folks seem like theyre dyin for brands in their life. u could be rich.

[King-Clod]

Well, I'll leave you to your week then.

Out of curiosity, what did we sound like? Before you saw us in this forum setting. Did we sound like your own voice, something robotic, or something else? Just curious.

[1011686]

Do you remember everything from your previous life? What was your name?

[Lilium Mortem]

...u kno with all ur earth knowledge of brands u could probably make bank in a place like this. folks seem like theyre dyin for brands in their life. u could be rich.

What do you even mean by that? Nevermind I don’t want to know. I’d rather not end up as cat Jeff Bezos.

Well, I'll leave you to your week then.

Out of curiosity, what did we sound like? Before you saw us in this forum setting. Did we sound like your own voice, something robotic, or something else? Just curious.

Thanks. I realize this whole thing might blow up in my face, but I have to try.

As for what you sounded like… well you didn’t ‘sound’ like anything. You were like intrusive thoughts. Like seeing a guy looking over a cliff and thinking it’d be easy to push them over the edge. You’re thoughts. Ideas. Right at the end as I was… Awakening? I guess? I was able to make a distinction between you guys and my own thoughts. I could make out the message, but you’re still thoughts, just… well it’s not what you sound like, but there’s a feeling I get when you send messages. Like a tugging in the back of my mind. I dunno, it’s still weird and new.

Do you remember everything from your previous life? What was your name?

I mean, yeah. Everything. I never finished watching The Good Place. Doritos locos tacos are great, but it sucked they got rid of the cool ranch variety. Star Trek Discovery was an insult to the series, ect. I’m a bit of a loser so those are some of the hilights.

As for my name… I dunno. I… uh, hmm. I didn’t realize I was non-binary, on earth. Isn’t it like a faux pas to ask what my last name was? I like Scud. it fits me better. I mean I could tell you, I don’t really mind… but I’m not sure it even matters. How would it help to know my name was ‘stephen’ or ‘tifany’ or something?

Anyway I think it’s about time for me to wake up. ttyl.

Scud lifted their hands from the keyboard, sighing. They scratched the back of their head absentmindedly before resting a finger over the power button of the PC. They apeared to hesitate, before pressing down.

What little light there was vanished, and in the darkness, Scud rested.

 

-{ {} }-

I woke up in the hospital. Well… the clinic. You don’t get a hospital in a town this size. And If I wasn’t sent by train to an actual hospital that meant they didn’t think this was that serious. I’d been here before for cuts and bruises and that one time I cut my leg open on a piece of glass.

It was a fairly spartan place. Only a couple of real rooms. I was in a hospital bed in a large room that was divided up by sliding curtains. No one was there waiting for me to wake up, so I took some time to take stock of my situation.

I flexed my claws and moved my arms around, trying to compare this body to the one I had on earth. Spirits I was out of shape. I have got to try climbing a tree again, it’s been too long in both sets of memories.

Eventualy My mom walked in to check up on me. I gave a friendly wave.

“Oh thank the Spirits you’re ok!” she said, rushing over to hug me.

“What happened?” I asked. “I was talking with Silversong when… something happened.”

“You fainted. Ser Silversong, don’t forget her title Scud, carried you over here. She explained you were freaked out about being a reincarnate since your thirteenth birthday is coming up. The Doctor thinks you fainted from stress and a lack of sleep.”

“Dang. Ok, I think I’ve made up for lost sleep now. I’m gonna go climb a tree.”

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and tried to jump off, but my mom stopped me. Damnit. I was afraid of this.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not going anywhere today without someone to look after you. I don’t want you fainting again.” My mom scolded.

I gave her the stink eye and the silent treatment all the way home. During the walk I wondered where my new friends were at. I remembered the dream perfectly, which was really just par for the course for impossible things happening today. Point is, on 9chan, They seemed to show up at irregular intervals. Maybe this was just a dry spell?

I spent about an hour or two playing Kaz’Rao’s version of og game boy games in my room. I was a bit disappointed at how easy some of them had become, but surprised I was no better at platformers than I was before, seems like I was better at strategy, but overall hand eye coordination and reflexes were the same, even before I Awoke. Weird.

It was time to plan things out. It was Saturday, er, [Saturday], that left Eveday and [sunday] left in summer break. My birthday was on [Friday]. I get off of school at [2PM], which leaves about four [hours] of daylight left, plus three [hours] until my bedtime. I shook my head, it was weird suddenly being bilingual.

I could think in hours and minutes, or [hours] and [minutes]. I know they’re different, even if it’s just the fact that a Kaz’Rao hour is counted as 100 Kaz’Rao minutes, which are shorter than earth minutes. Maybe it all balanced out, but I wouldn’t know without a clock from earth or some universal constant I could time things with.

Focus, Scud. You have a little less than an 8 day Kaz’Rao week left of being thought of as an incarnate. How do you make the most of it?

[King-Clod]

I mean, that's up to you. (Also, hi! We're back.)
Maybe make art projects? Your parents will see your art a lot differently when they think you're 12 and not, you know, a reincarnate.
Or tell Wuther about what happened? Like a little secret between you two? You mentioned that earlier.

[1011686]

Hey, your mother's a struggling writer, isn't she? Maybe you could help her come up with some ideas. There's a whole world's worth of stories in your mind that no one else has ever seen, there must be something there you can easily plagarise use to give her inspiration.

[Lilium Mortem]

I found my math notebook(I know algebra now, suck it grade school math), And flipped to a new page. It would be easier if I just wrote down everything I want to do before I’m found out. First thing I wrote down is ‘Climb a tree with Wuther’. There’s a joke about cats and firefighters here somewhere, but I’m not putting in the effort to find it.

‘Hey, your mother's a struggling writer, isn't she? Maybe you could help her come up with some ideas. There's a whole world's worth of stories in your mind that no one else has ever seen, there must be something there you can easily plagarise use to give her inspiration.’

I started to write down ‘help with my mom’s writing with earth knowledge’, but stopped once I realized what was happening. I smiled. I Wasn’t crazy. Or if I was crazy at least I wasn’t lonely.

“<Hey guys, glad to have you back.>” I said in English to thin air. Spirits I keep acting crazier. “<That idea’s Ok, but some stuff is universal. They have <pokémon> here. It’s called Star Spirits, but it plays essentially the same. What I’m saying is just because I’ve ingested a lot of earth media doesn’t make me a master storyteller. Still, it’s worth a shot.>”

I flipped the page and titled a new list ‘Things I Should do after I'm out of the closet’. It’s a stupid joke, but I can’t help it. I like being a dumb kid.

‘I mean, that's up to you. (Also, hi! We're back.)
Maybe make art projects? Your parents will see your art a lot differently when they think you're 12 and not, you know, a reincarnate.
Or tell Wuther about what happened? Like a little secret between you two? You mentioned that earlier.’

“<Oh hi!, yeah… uh gonna say no to the art thing for this week, I’ll pick it back up later, but for now I want to focus on enjoying what time I have left as Scud the first lifer.” I said, flipping back to my bucket list. “As for Wuther, yeah, I need to tell someone about all this, as much as you guys are helpful, you are also anonymous thought entities that can read my mind.>

“<Also might as well make this clear, I’m not telling my family about you. Maybe Wuther, Maybe Silversong, not my family. Not until I figure this stuff out. Not even sure I’m gonna tell them about the whole alien thing. I could easily invoke the fresh start act(which entitles me to keeping my past life or lives private), and besides the readings they took during birth all they could accuse me of is dodging getting my soul radiation signature registered.>”

I wrote down ‘Confide in Wuthur’ and after a moment of thought doodled a <tarot> card of ‘The Sun’ next to that line. Dang, I also never beat <persona 5>. I smirked and wrote down ‘Get fortune read by The Witch’. It won’t have the same thrill after my parents find out I’m mature enough to be wary of the occult.

The lists so far:

‘Kid Bucket list
Climb a tree with Wuther
Confide in wuther(Doodle of ‘The Sun’ <tarot> card.)
Get fortune read by The Witch(have to go through my rebellious phase)

Things I Should do after I'm out of the closet
help with my mom’s writing with earth knowledge
Do some art’

Any suggestions? The sandwich guy knows how to live in the moment. hit me with the weird, the fun, and just cool kid stuff.

[King-Clod]

Hmm. It's a it difficult to suggest thing without much knowledge on the town layout and what there is around you. I'd suggest exploring hidden coves during low tide, but I'm not sure if those exist where you are.

Maybe catch bugs and make them fight to the death? Can you do that with the bugs there? That's what Pokemon was based on on Earth, so maybe Star Spirits was based on something similar?

Maybe make model boats out of walnut shells or paper and race them, or try to make a working raft that can hold your weight?

...I'm basing a lot of things of the ocean, I realize, but it's the only thing I know you're near.

[King-Clod]

oh forgot to add this but. cook and eat garden snails (if they aren't toxic on Ka'Rao). trust me on this.

[1011686]

Here's a story idea, there's this game gods play where they create these cat people and then either make them fight or cooperate...

What if you learned how to do parkour? That's cool, fun, and weird. Or skateboard, that's a classic. Do you have skateboards on Ka'Rao? (Fun fact: the history of skateboards is closely tied to the history of curved pools. Skateboarding first properly took off during a dry period when most people's pools had to be emptied, leaving a smooth surface that was perfect for skating in)

[ಠ_ಠ]

figure out why this happened
what if this is all an elaborate coma dream, etc

[Lilium Mortem]

‘figure out why this happened
what if this is all an elaborate coma dream, etc’

“<Yeah good idea, except for the coma dream thing. I know I’m awake because when I pinch myself it hurts and I also bleed because I have claws.>” I said, rolling my eyes. “<Still… I’m not just going to ignore the mechanisms by which I’ve been reincarnated as a cat person.>”

I jotted down ‘somehow figure out how all of these impossible things are happening’ in the second list. I twirled my pencil, trying to think of more stuff to do, waiting on the <peanut gallery>… I really need to come up with a name for these guys. Or ask them. Wait, are they reading my thoughts right now? Nope, not worrying about that, not now. <Bigger fish, Scud, you’ve got bigger fish to fry>.

‘What if you learned how to do parkour? That's cool, fun, and weird. Or skateboard, that's a classic. Do you have skateboards on Ka'Rao? (Fun fact: the history of skateboards is closely tied to the history of curved pools. Skateboarding first properly took off during a dry period when most people's pools had to be emptied, leaving a smooth surface that was perfect for skating in)’

“<I’m not sure if Skateboarding in any form ever took off here. I am sure there are no skateboards in town because if there were I would already be shredding. As far as Parkour that’s just like- running with gymnastics thrown in. Eh, guess it wouldn’t hurt” I said, writing it down on the first list. “Also it’s Kaz’Rao. Old Valley-Speak for… hmm. ‘Realm and/or Home of The People’. That’s not an accurate translation, but It’s the best I’ve got. Cut me some slack, I have like four hours practice being bilingual.>”


‘Hmm. It's a it difficult to suggest thing without much knowledge on the town layout and what there is around you. I'd suggest exploring hidden coves during low tide, but I'm not sure if those exist where you are.

Maybe catch bugs and make them fight to the death? Can you do that with the bugs there? That's what Pokemon was based on on Earth, so maybe Star Spirits was based on something similar?

Maybe make model boats out of walnut shells or paper and race them, or try to make a working raft that can hold your weight?

...I'm basing a lot of things of the ocean, I realize, but it's the only thing I know you're near.’

“<I think you mean tide caves? Because there’s nothing particularly hidden about a shoreline, and definitely not this shore line. I’m not going to make bugs fight to the death, that’s what a serial killer would do. No, I might try catching and identifying bugs, more like animal crossing. I’ll see if I can’t find a bug net and some containers to keep bugs in.>

“<There’s not enough wood here so making a raft is straight out, making model boats might be fun, there’s a small pond in the park and one by the temple. As for not knowing the town layout, give me a few minutes>”

I looked through my room until I found a piece of loose leaf paper and started drawing a map of the town from memory. Halfway through I realized there’d be no way for me to label all of it at the scale I was drawing, so I found a red pen to number spots on the map. I’d create a legend to go alongside it. I decided to make it in English for the folks back home.

‘oh forgot to add this but. cook and eat garden snails (if they aren't toxic on Ka'Rao). trust me on this.’

“<It’s Kaz’Rao, guys. I don’t know if we have snails, I’ll ask around.>”

I started on the legend, marking things down as either Municipal, Commercial, or Transport. Legend done I take a look at the map. Then I realized I’m not looking at the legend, I wrote that down in my notebook. I set them both down on my desk side by side and take a good look.

“Alright, can you guys see this?”



‘Legend

Municipal
M1-town ‘hall’
M2-School
M3-police station
M4-clinic
M5-Lighthouse
M6-the park

Commercial
C1-fish market
C2-general store
C3-video rental store
C4-Pharmacy
C5-barber
C6-Bar
C7-Inn

Transport
T1-ferryhouse
T2-fueling station
T3-train station
T4-railyard’

"<Ok, so <Blackwater Crossing> is the northern most settlement on <Blue Rose>. this close to <Black Rose> the winds get harsh and the climate leads to this craggy coastline that's just rocks and grass. the only trees around are the ones planted in and around town as windbreaks. the dotted line on the top right here is the trail that leads to the weather station and the northernmost point on the island, on a massive cliff. there's a plaque there.>

"<The rails leading south from the mining company rail-house lead to the mine, no big surprise, but also to a ghost town that used to be a company town, old west style. by the time a practice like that was outlawed the company town didn't have that many people staying in it anyway so they all got moved here on the crown's dime.

<The last thing of note, I think, is the ferry. It takes people and cars and goods across the straight to <Black Rose> twice a day. a small town by the name of <Final Hope>. Been there, it's really creepy and mostly abandoned. nothing to do there. Besides the hour train ride southwest to <Narrow Lake>, a bigger, but still small, town, that's all I can think of off the top of my head you'd need to know about the area. Feel free to ask questions.>"

[1011686]

What are the trains like?
What does the plaque say?
Do you go to the temple often? What is your religion about anyway, we know some very basic details but ntohing in depth.
Also, with regards to figuring out how this whole situation happened, what's the general consensus when it comes to cosmology and aliens and Kaz'Rao's place in the universe and all that?

[King-Clod]

Have you ever been to that ghost town? What is it like?
If you haven't, could you? I feel like that'd be a fun little adventure to have

[ಠ_ಠ]

go find ghosts in the ghost town, ask them what being a ghost is like

[Lilium Mortem]

‘Have you ever been to that ghost town? What is it like?
If you haven't, could you? I feel like that'd be a fun little adventure to have’

“<There was a reason they built a town beyond it being a company town. It’s a hell of a lot closer to the mine then Blackwater is.>” I said, tracking a claw over the tracks on the map leading south southeast. “<It’s miles away, nothing I can reliably walk. We went to the mine for a field trip once, what’s left of the town has a high chain link fence surrounding it. So In addition to walking several hours to get there along the tracks, I’d have to avoid anyone seeing me, either on the way or at the town, since it’s right next to the mine. It just doesn’t seem worth the time, effort, or risk to pull off.>”

‘go find ghosts in the ghost town, ask them what being a ghost is like’

“<Honestly if the ghost town was literally a town for ghosts I wouldn’t even be surprised at this point.>”

I absentmindedly clicked the red pen as I waited for someone else to chime in. I had questions too, about these people. Why were there delays? It’s actualy a lot like a forum, the message hits me all at once, but why? Are these people really from earth? If so, how are they connected to me? And why aren’t they freaking out as much as I am?

‘What are the trains like?
What does the plaque say?
Do you go to the temple often? What is your religion about anyway, we know some very basic details but ntohing in depth.
Also, with regards to figuring out how this whole situation happened, what's the general consensus when it comes to cosmology and aliens and Kaz'Rao's place in the universe and all that?’

“<Hoo boy,>” I said, taking a breath. “<Ok that’s a lot, let me think… alright. The trains are some kind of maglev mainly. Big bullet trains that can get up to hundreds of miles an hour, or the Kaz’Rao equivalent.>

“<No Idea what the plaque says. It’s a plaque, for like historical facts and shit. Why would I care enough to read it?>

“<I go to the temple for services every… er. Sunday? There are eight days in a week here so… yeah, first day of the week, considered holy, that kind of thing. The basic gist of Spirit...ism, ok it sounds better in the common tongue, anyway the gist is we worship spirits of nature.>

“<A spirit can be as small as a rock or as big as the night sky. Give a spirit a name and that gives it power, and the ability to meddle in mortal affairs. You have to be careful though, as spirits can be benevolent or malevolent.>

“<Specific spirit worship is extremely regional, every temple has its own host of spirits and their shrines, mainly local ones. The big spirits worshiped by pretty much everyone are the spirit of the earth, lowercase ‘e’, and the spirit of the cosmos. Praying is pretty simple, just be in their realm of influence or near their shrine and recite a prayer, or free style it if that’s not your jam. Just make sure you pray to the kind of spirit that can actually do what you want. Praying to a rock spirit for rain is not going to net you any results.>

“<Lastly, our place in the universe. We live on a planet, in an eleven planet system, in a galaxy, somewhere in a universe. So pretty much the same way Earth understands its place in the universe, but with less detail, because we don’t have orbital telescopes.>”

I sat back in my chair and took a breath. That was a lot of exposition. But I can hardly expect people to know everything about an alien world. I don’t know everything about this place either. I thought I was hot shit. Too cool for school. It makes sense now, after remembering dying alone, never willing to take a goddamn risk.

So I went the opposite direction. I became the kind of kid I wished I was. And it suits me. I like the kid these cats have raised. I guess that’s why I want to keep it going. My introspection was cut short by the plot progressing.

Hmm… am I going to commit to the genre savvy iseki bit? What do the folks at home think? A bird chirped outside my window. Right, that was important.

I opened it to let in a messenger bird. This was so cool. As Scud I had handled bird mail before, what with the domestication of bird here(I’m not going to exposit on this guys, they’re like dogs, but birds). But the human me never got to unravel a message from a bird’s leg. It was from silversong. Nothing fancy, just asking me to come visit once I’ve had time to recover a bit.

I wasn’t allowed out of the house for the rest of today, so I wrote back I’d meet her after services tomorrow. I let the bird have a cracker from my secret snack stash and let him go on his merry way. God messenger birds were cool.

“<Did you guys catch that? Tomorrow I’ve got to go to services at the temple, then I’m meeting Silversong again. I actually don’t know how much you perceive. Since I’m thinking about it, how accurate was the forum metaphor my brain cooked up? I know you can read my mind when you’re around, but what are the limits?>”

[I know I'm testing limits here, since y'all don't actually know what you are yet, and thus can't play the role, but answer honestly, just don't give personal details or any indication that you believe this is a work of fiction]

[ಠ_ಠ]

You know earth has messenger pigeons too.

Anyway my name is Davery Jimbson and I'm here to have fun on a Friday night, how about you?

[1011686]

I feel like it would make things really weird to go into too much detail, but yes, the forum metaphor was pretty accurate, and we perceive you in a similar way to how you perceive us. We get to know a lot about some things, basically nothing about most things, but if there's anything important happening around you we'll probably be aware of it.

Actually, just testing something, can you tell what this is?
(o>
/~)
^^

As for the isekai bit, well, while you might not have any special powers and you (hopefully) don't have any grand destinies to fulfill, having knowledge from a completely seperate world still gives you advantages you could leverage if you wanted to. You might not want to be cat Jeff Bezos, but there are probably still lots of technologies and created objects from earth that haven't been thought of here yet, and even if all you could do was tell engineers and scientists how they worked, that would probably still be enough to have a significant impact on your world's progression.
...Actually that kind of sounds like a lot of pressure doesn't it. Maybe put that on the backburner for now. Still, while the memories are still fresh in your mind, probably worth writing down the details of anything useful from earth you can remember that doesn't exist here yet. You would be able to give xenobiologists a field day, at the very least.

[King-Clod]

Not sure how or why the gaps in our presence exist. We usually tune back in around the time our previous suggestions go through, kinda like a backlog. Could you try timing the gaps on a pocketwatch, or whatever the Kaz'Rao equivalent is? See if there's any sort of pattern?

[Lilium Mortem]

‘Not sure how or why the gaps in our presence exist. We usually tune back in around the time our previous suggestions go through, kinda like a backlog. Could you try timing the gaps on a pocketwatch, or whatever the Kaz'Rao equivalent is? See if there's any sort of pattern?’

“<hm… a backlog. Yeah that makes sense,>” I said, nodding ”< if you could just send stuff nonstop you’d talk over each other in my head and that’d be… not good. Now that I think about it, you guys haven't ever really interrupted my thoughts. Except for when I was awakening, your messages just get kinda slotted in between thoughts. Weird. Is it me trying to preserve my sanity? A coping mechanism, or is this by some kind of design? Hold on, I’ll see if we have any watches>”

I went downstairs and asked mom if there were any watches I could borrow. She was able to find a cheep mechanical wristwatch, like something that would cost five pearls, and let me use it. I synced it up with an online clock so I could get more accurate measurements and went back into my room to wait.

‘You know earth has messenger pigeons too.

Anyway my name is Davery Jimbson and I'm here to have fun on a Friday night, how about you?’

It happened a second after I sat down. I looked down and checked the time, it was 5:72 and three seconds. I wrote that down on a new page of what was very likely to stop being a math notebook.

Just a real quick Kaz’Rao time tutorial: one hundred seconds in a minute, one hundred minutes in an hour, ten hours a day. Kaz’Rao seconds are shorter than earth seconds, but I don’t know by how much.

‘I feel like it would make things really weird to go into too much detail, but yes, the forum metaphor was pretty accurate, and we perceive you in a similar way to how you perceive us. We get to know a lot about some things, basically nothing about most things, but if there's anything important happening around you we'll probably be aware of it.

Actually, just testing something, can you tell what this is?
(o>
/~)
^^

As for the isekai bit, well, while you might not have any special powers and you (hopefully) don't have any grand destinies to fulfill, having knowledge from a completely seperate world still gives you advantages you could leverage if you wanted to. You might not want to be cat Jeff Bezos, but there are probably still lots of technologies and created objects from earth that haven't been thought of here yet, and even if all you could do was tell engineers and scientists how they worked, that would probably still be enough to have a significant impact on your world's progression.
...Actually that kind of sounds like a lot of pressure doesn't it. Maybe put that on the backburner for now. Still, while the memories are still fresh in your mind, probably worth writing down the details of anything useful from earth you can remember that doesn't exist here yet. You would be able to give xenobiologists a field day, at the very least.’

Dammit. It was 5:73 and sixty-four seconds. I wrote that down, but since I only wrote it down at the end of each message, and these two varied wildly in length I couldn’t be accurate. I’d still continue to write down time, but if the pattern holds there are three of you who take turns, meaning this batch is over, I can at least see how long it takes for a new bundle to come through.

“<Ok now I’ll address the other two messages. Dave? I’m going to call you dave because I don’t think you gave your real name, you’re just fucking with me. Dave, I know messenger pigeons existed on earth, but I never got to use one. When the fuck would that ever come up? Here they’ve had birds domesticated as long as earth has had dogs. So any pet bird can be used to send messages with the proper training.>”

“<Alright, big message time, that first bit is extremely vague, which is worrying. At least I can enjoy my cartoons in peace, so that’s good to know. The next part you sent something over as a test, some jumble of characters. I think it was a parenthesis, an ‘O’, a right arrow, a break, a backslash, a dash, another backslash, and two up arrows. Hmm. let me write that down.>”

‘(o>\-\^^’

“<Is this what you sent? Sorry I was a bit distracted with timing to focus on it at the time, and I didn’t expect you to send a bunch of random characters instead of thoughts like you normally do. I guess I’ll know the result of that test in a few minutes.>

“<In response to the isekai thing, you guys count as a special power, I would think. There only seem to be three of you at the moment, and you’re probably from earth, but it’s still a pretty big deal. Four heads are better than one head that has the ability to shoot lasers, in my own humble opinion, especially if they’re trying to reinvent alien technology from their home-world.>

“<I don’t know of anything too useful from earth that doesn’t already exist. I know about a lot of space stuff, but the reason we can’t get to space here is that rockets blow up from being violently tossed around by magnetic winds. So that wouldn’t be much help, even if I knew how that stuff functioned.>

<Same thing goes for airplanes. They get tossed around so much that only idiots try to build and fly them. We use airships, big old blimp and zeppelin-like contraptions to get around in the air, but it’s faster to take rail lines over land most of the time.>


“<Really we’re on track for developing anything I already know about. It’s not like I got dumped somewhere medieval and could invent paper and the movable type printing press, this world is more or less just a couple decades behind us, barring spaceflight and weapons development.>”

I took a breath and started waiting for the next batch of… did one of them say ‘suggestions’? Does that mean they believe they’re guiding me? I guess that’s what they were doing before I awoke… one of them also mentioned giving myself a ‘command’ to try and influence myself. So they definitely believe that they have some control over me. I shouldn’t be thinking about this when they’re around. Too late now I guess. Sorry, I just have no idea what you guys are, and it bothers me that you’re in my head.

I tried to put that line of thought out of my mind. I considered picking up my portable games console, but I didn’t think there was enough time to play anything. Batches seemed to come together pretty frequently when I was doing something ‘important’ I’d give it a couple of minutes.

[ಠ_ಠ]

You can call me Davery or Jimbson or Davery Jimbson 3. Here is what you should do: don't worry about it. We can't see anything you don't want us to see, unless it's interesting, in which case yeah we can totally see that. So, nothing to worry about!

Anyway, you should search online and see if similar things have happened before here. Like, "I was a teenage alien before I got reincarnated as a cat" or "The internet is in my head and I can't get it out!!!". Those should work.

[King-Clod]

Alright, my working theory is that we get "tuned in," so to speak, whenever you turn to us for advice or face any sort of decision. Before you awoke we were tuned in every time you faced some sort of decision, so I suspect it's much of the same. Even though right now you aren't asking us a question, necessarily, you're still waiting for us to respond, it's a sort of question. We'll see how long it takes to get through, I guess.

We also aren't trying to control you, trust me. We're just trying to help anyway we can. Or, I am at least, I probably shouldn't speak for the whole group. But don't worry about having your free will breached or anything, we aren't really capable of that. You're right on the money with there being around 3 of us, though.

Oh also. Not as a command, but a suggestion. Go spend time with your parents rather than sitting in your room worrying about us. Isn't that what you want this week to be? You'll have plenty of time to figure this out tomorrow when you talk with Silversong after service. Have some fun for goodness sakes.

[Lilium Mortem]

‘You can call me Davery or Jimbson or Davery Jimbson 3. Here is what you should do: don't worry about it. We can't see anything you don't want us to see, unless it's interesting, in which case yeah we can totally see that. So, nothing to worry about!

Anyway, you should search online and see if similar things have happened before here. Like, "I was a teenage alien before I got reincarnated as a cat" or "The internet is in my head and I can't get it out!!!". Those should work.’

Once again, as soon as I seemed to settle in, to really start waiting for more messages, they arrived. I wrote down the time, but It didn’t seem as important anymore. I think I found the pattern.

“<I’m calling you Dave, thanks for the terrible advice. Moving on...>” I said, pausing.

‘Alright, my working theory is that we get "tuned in," so to speak, whenever you turn to us for advice or face any sort of decision. Before you awoke we were tuned in every time you faced some sort of decision, so I suspect it's much of the same. Even though right now you aren't asking us a question, necessarily, you're still waiting for us to respond, it's a sort of question. We'll see how long it takes to get through, I guess.

We also aren't trying to control you, trust me. We're just trying to help anyway we can. Or, I am at least, I probably shouldn't speak for the whole group. But don't worry about having your free will breached or anything, we aren't really capable of that. You're right on the money with there being around 3 of us, though.

Oh also. Not as a command, but a suggestion. Go spend time with your parents rather than sitting in your room worrying about us. Isn't that what you want this week to be? You'll have plenty of time to figure this out tomorrow when you talk with Silversong after service. Have some fun for goodness sakes.’

“<Aha!>” I said, The thought came just when I thought it would. “<I think we’re on the same page here. It’s working because I’m reaching out in some form. If I expect you to answer, or if it’s a good time, then that’s when you get to answer. I think you’re right, you’re some kind of… Guidance Forum. I think that settles what to name you guys.>

“<I think I’ll follow that last suggestion then. I think a lot has been answered about how you operate, and for what purpose. I’ll see you again when I need you. I’m going to go hang out with my mom.>”

I got out of the chair, smiling. I felt like I accomplished a lot there. They were right though, it was time to spend some time with my family. I stopped at the door, almost expecting another message, there were three of them right? When it didn’t come, I decided to put it out of my mind. It could wait.
 

{ {} }

As soon as I was out of the temple I pulled the ribbon tied around the collar of my dress shirt undone. My dad glared at me, but didn’t say anything. He knew I didn’t like dress clothes. I told my parents I had plans and that I wasn’t sticking around for the after service gathering, and headed off towards the police station.

I cut through an alley then stopped at the back of the building. Hm… Parkour? I smiled. Parkour! I ran up to the side of the building and began to climb. I forgot how nimble and fit I am as a kid in a place where people barely drive cars. I was way out of shape my last life.

I rolled onto the roof and saw the watchtower jutting up another three stories. I rolled my sleeves up, but before I could climb Ser Silversong burst out of a door on the side of the tower that led to the roof of the police station.

“What the heck are you doing!?” she yelled. “This is a police station! You can’t just climb it like a monkey on a tree!”

“I’m sorry, I just thought it would be fun!” I said, knowing that would be no excuse.

“I expected better of you, come on inside. We have a lot to talk about.”
I was led up back to the top of the watchtower. I sat down at the same seat, but did not receive a juice box. Ser silversong took her sword of her belt, scabbard and all, and placed it on the table before sitting down across from me.

The sword had no real cross-guard, just a rectangular piece of dark iron with copper inlays that held a crest of some sort. The gleam off the metal was odd, but I couldn’t quite place why. I looked back up at Silversong. When our eyes met she spoke.

“So, you’re a reincarnate. And not just any reincarnate, a Defiant.”

[King-Clod]

Ooh what's a defiant?
Is that a name for people from Earth, or do you think she knows about us?
...We should probably let her talk, actually. Ignore me for now.

[ಠ_ಠ]

Ur defiant because u disrespect the police

[1011686]

!!!
If you do end up telling people about us, how do you expect them to react? Having voices in your head guiding your actions would've been looked upon pretty negatively on Earth, what Kaz'Rao's take on that?

[Lilium Mortem]

‘!!!
If you do end up telling people about us, how do you expect them to react? Having voices in your head guiding your actions would've been looked upon pretty negatively on Earth, what Kaz'Rao's take on that?’

It felt like an alarm bell went off in my head, a new message from The Forum. I flinched, and Ser Silversong narrowed her gaze. Shit. Yeah I can’t tell her what’s really going on.

“I suppose the blank look on your face means you don’t know what I’m talking about. It would have been so much easier if you knew what a Defiant was from your past life.” Silversong said, sighing “I’ll just have to explain it. There are three types of Soul Arts. Learned Arts, which are the normal ways one gains a soul art; Forbidden, Arts that burn the soul for quicker, more potent results; And finally, Defiant Arts.

“Rarely, when one is at the end of their life, they have a will to keep going that surpasses what their body is naturally capable of. They make a vow in their hearts, to defy death and accomplish a goal, a dream, a wish. That can keep their body going for much longer than what is usually possible, but they still end up dying.

“In their next life though, they carry that wish with them. To Defy death and rebirth, even for a moment, gives them power. Their soul, which burns bright from their will, turns that wish into power, into a Soul Art. one unique to them, and unable to be replicated, at least not to the degree a Defiant can wield it.

“I’m a Defiant, and my Defiant Art lets me put off rest for as long as I need to, once I went months without sleep. Then, when my task is done, I repay the debt owed to my body, going comatose for however much time I had the art active, plus four or five days.”

She paused, to let that sink in. Or to give me an opportunity to respond. I didn’t know what to say. This would mean The Guidance Forum is a soul art. It also means she doesn’t know I’m an alien, or what my Defiant Art can do. How should I proceed?

‘Ooh what's a defiant?
Is that a name for people from Earth, or do you think she knows about us?
...We should probably let her talk, actually. Ignore me for now.’

“You used it right now, didn’t you?” Silversong asked.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I have some kind of superpower?” I lied.

“Scud, I can sense when a Soul Art Is used near me, It’s one of the first things you learn when training for a Learned Art. Your brother could probably do the same. I can understand not trusting me, but I can help if you let me.”

Shit. I’d have to tell her something. Having this power and being a reincarnate not on whatever government registry they use for soul patterns makes me look extremely suspicious. What do I do?

‘Ur defiant because u disrespect the police’

Fuck! Okay, I need to be careful when I’m thinking about what to do. But it seemed it was too little too late. Ser Silversong Unsheathed her sword just a bit, and the black metal reflected the light into a bright red… that wasn’t black. The sword wasn’t black, it was a deep dark Red. Shit, shit shit! Her power was the ability to control iron from her own blood, I forgot. That sword is made entirely of iron extracted from her own blood!

“There are generally nine Techniques in each art. To master even a single one takes decades. I know all nine for both Blood Iron Thorn and Tireless Dedication.” She said, locking eyes with me, “Tell me what you’re doing right now and I won’t be forced to take action.”

I can’t ask for help this time. I can’t think about this, I just need to tell her.

“I didn’t know I was doing it at first. I didn’t know what it was,” I explained, holding my hands in the air, “There are these people… They send me messages, thoughts, words, ideas, seemingly when I’m in need of Guidance. I can’t control it, I can’t turn it off. They see what I do, at least around the time I get their help.”

“You realize there’s no way that’s Verifiable, right?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! I know it sounds crazy, I feel crazy. There are people who can read my mind and talk to me. I don’t know who or what they are or how this is even possible. But what the heck am I going to do? Come up with a more convincing superpower? I don’t even know how these things work!”

Silversong pondered that for a moment, before sliding her sword back into its scabbard and placing it back on the table. I breathed a sigh of relief and put my arms down.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” She said, folding her hands on the table. “I can’t be too careful. Your records have Sigma readings that indicate you’re a first life, and your Sigma pattern doesn’t match any on record from before your birth as Scud. Both of those things and being a Defiant? It’s incredibly suspicious, and nearly impossible.

“But I see now… you’re on your second life, you didn’t live too long in your first. You’re still just a kid, no more than… twenty-five, maybe thirty, years old in your last life. If you live as long as I do, with the job I have, you learn to read people. Why didn’t your pattern show up and why do the readings from your birth indicate this is your first life?”

“I don’t know why they thought this was my first life, as for the other question, I plead the fresh start provision.” I said. Thank god I paid attention in history class when that one came up.

“Fine.” Silversong huffed. “ I can't ask you about your past life, but you’re still going to need to have your registration changed. Have you talked with your family about this?”

“No… look. I just want to stay Scud the kid, the idiot who made scrap metal swords and started a food fight because they noticed the cafeteria’s new condiment dispensers were shaped like guns. I know I can’t keep that up, the people in my head, my Soul Art, The Guidance Forum, already convinced me of that. I just want one more week where everyone will treat me the same. Just until after my birthday.”

“It sounds like you have good people watching your back. Fine. I’ll give you one week before I report this. But I would like your insight, and the… Forum’s insight on what they might be. I have a theory, given What I’ve heard, but I want to here what you have to say.”

“Alright, give it a minute.” I said, closing my eyes.

Alright guys, What are you?

[ಠ_ಠ]

was she really about to murder a child because they wouldn't answer her questions

wow great cop

anyway, looking back at your last wish (this is something I can do, I'm great) it was to "connect with people and pay back their kindness" so logically we're the people and you owe us some money so pay up buster

[King-Clod]

At first I thought we were something related to spirits, but now I'm not so sure. I doubt spirits would know as much about Earth specifically, but nothing else, like we do.
I'd take Dave's idea, honestly. Probably something related to your last wish and wanting to make connections with people. We're people, last time I checked.

[1011686]

Something strange no doubt. I think that however this works, your Soul Art has more to do with establishing the link between us and you than us ourselves. Maybe you could've gotten anybody as your Forum.

[Lilium Mortem]

[CONTENT WARNING: UNREALITY]
‘Something strange no doubt. I think that however this works, your Soul Art has more to do with establishing the link between us and you than us ourselves. Maybe you could've gotten anybody as your Forum.’

‘At first I thought we were something related to spirits, but now I'm not so sure. I doubt spirits would know as much about Earth specifically, but nothing else, like we do.
I'd take Dave's idea, honestly. Probably something related to your last wish and wanting to make connections with people. We're people, last time I checked.’

‘was she really about to murder a child because they wouldn't answer her questions

wow great cop’

“Hold up, one of them just made a good point, where you going to kill me?” I asked, opening my eyes.

“No, The final Stage of Blood Iron Thorn Allows me to temporarily sever the ties between the soul and the body, essentially shutting down your ability to control your body as well as preventing the use of Soul Arts” Silversong said. I nodded satisfied.

‘anyway, looking back at your last wish (this is something I can do, I'm great) it was to "connect with people and pay back their kindness" so logically we're the people and you owe us some money so pay up buster’

For a second I was back there on my deathbed. I remembered my wish, my vow. People had been kind to me in my life, but I shut them out. I wanted to, needed to connect. I couldn’t die yet, because I hadn’t really lived yet, and there was so much kindness I needed to pay back.

And then I was back in the watchtower. I blinked and shook my head, trying to organize my thoughts. I took a breath before opening my eyes again.

“My Death Wish, as it were, was worded something like ‘connect with people and pay back their kindness’.” I said. “One of them thinks that means my Soul Art is more about establishing a link, and that I could have had anyone as my forum. Oh, I’ve been calling them my Guidance Forum. Anyway another of them thought they might be spirits or something, because they exist in a weird state, but they changed their mind. They think my art is about connecting to people, and they are adamant they are people. The last one says I owe them money because of how my wish was wording. That has to be <Dave>, but I can’t tell them apart.

“I think there’s something to all that, but I’m missing a piece. Am I connecting to people from all around that live out their daily lives physically and they just decided to guide me? Did I actually connect to an internet forum and that’s somehow being piped into my head? None of those make sense, because they never freaked out. They jumped in, like… like they believed everything from the get go, no one of them ever thought this was fake, or that they were crazy, they all just slotted into their roles as guides.”

Silversong Nodded, putting her sword back on her hip. She got up and paced the room, rubbing her chin. Then she sat back down.

“I think I have your missing piece” She said. “There’s one place you can find people that’s not on Kaz’Rao-”

I tensed up. Is she going to say aliens? Does she know?

“-The Liminal Sphere”

“Oh.” I said. “Haha, I can talk to ghosts. Hey ghosts, someone wanted me to ask what it’s like being a ghost.”

It made sense in a weird way. You guys never said anything about your own lives, except for Dave, who trolled me with a fake name. The Liminal Sphere is a kind of limbo, where souls go between life, rebirth, and death. A holding space for souls outside of time and space, but connected to causality. You are souls, and I woke you up from an infinite slumber with my Soul Art. You’re souls from earth, without minds and bodies I give you a window into the living world. You’ve been half asleep this whole time. You need to wake up.
 

{ {} }

You are a soul. A human being who has passed on from earth. You look up from your computer, your phone, your video game, your book, to realize these things aren’t real. They are coping mechanisms to avoid realizing what is actually going on.

You’re dead. Outside your window is nothing. Inside is your mind. You can’t recall your own name, or how you died. Bits and pieces of your life are there, but as you reach out you can’t piece it together.

You remember a call. Someone wanted to connect to you, someone who needed guidance. It was altruistic, so you accepted. You are a Forum. An existence that exchanges ideas, and proposes them to the person who summoned you.

You have all the time in the world, stuck here in a place without time, without space, with only yourselves and a window into a living world, not yours, but there’s someone familiar there. Scud is their name, you’ve learned, One of you who got a second chance, who shone so brightly that they cheated death. You can help them, or go back to sleep. Your eyes are open now.
 

{ {} }

“-ive minutes and they haven't responded” I said, sipping the tea Ser Silversong had gotten me.

“I think it’s pretty safe to assume we were right, they are souls.” Silversong replied, looking out one of the windows. “I can only imagine what learning something like that could do to them. They were playing the role of an internet forum in your head, I wonder if that’s how they all coped with living in a place like The Liminal Sphere?”

“I’ve thought about it, even without their help, but I’m going to accept. I want to you to help me train my Soul Art.”

“I think that’s a wise decision, scud.”

I set my teacup down. My fur bristled. Sometimes I forget I’m a cat person now. Well, not forget. Rather I feel normal as one, because it was normal for Scud growing up. All these impossible, and amazing things. It was incredible. I took a second to appreciate it before I checked the time and decided to call on them again.

HEY! CHECKING IN AGAIN, ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT?

[ಠ_ಠ]

hey if you really want to freak silversong out you should tell her about earth cats

[King-Clod]

As good as you can be after you find out your life's purpose- er, death's purpose now revolves around one kid. And that's it.

[1011686]

Man, this is really weird.

[Lilium Mortem]

‘Man, this is really weird.’

“They’re back!” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Hey, it’s weird for me too.”

“What is?” Silversong asked.

“Oh sorry, I was replying to one of the messages. Speaking of which, I guess I’m sorry you’re all dead? You didn’t ask for this, if you’d rather just go, I don’t think I can stop you. You don’t have to follow me around.”

“They might be in a hurry to reincarnate. Even though they exist outside of time, and thus all the time they spend with you doesn’t stop them from already having been reincarnated, I would still find it nerve wracking if I had a life I wanted to get back to.” Silversong added.

“Yeah…”

I’m not sure what let me reincarnate, but I doubt it’s going to apply to The Forum. Oh wait, you’re probably reading my mind, huh? I’m sorry, you’re dead, maybe for good, but you can still stick around if you want to, you don’t even have to help me out, just… chill, and enjoy the ride.

‘hey if you really want to freak silversong out you should tell her about earth cats’

I don’t want to freak her out, she doesn’t know I’m an alien, and just like there are apes and monkeys that are genetic cousins to humanity, there are other cats like Lions and tigers. So shut up, probably Dave.

‘As good as you can be after you find out your life's purpose- er, death's purpose now revolves around one kid. And that's it.’

“Oh come on! I didn’t make you come here, I just put out the call. Even then I didn’t know I was doing it. This is a choice. You can choose to stay here and help, or you can go back to existing in the weird soul dimension outside of time and space to await your fate.” I huffed.

“Well it seems that the connection is okay. I’ll give you some homework and then let you go.” Silversong said. “Developing a Soul Art requires you to think about how it can be improved. There are traditionally nine stages to each art, with one improving with things learned from previous stages. Try to figure out how your first stage works, and think about what the next step may be."

“I’ll see you at the end of week, good luck.”

It looks like that’s my Que to leave. Is there anything you wanted me to ask Silversong before I go?

[ಠ_ಠ]

Oh come on! I didn’t make you come here, I just put out the call. Even then I didn’t know I was doing it. This is a choice. You can choose to stay here and help, or you can go back to existing in the weird soul dimension outside of time and space to await your fate.

Most people would say a choice where one option is effectively death isn't really a choice.

Anyway ask Silversong if there is a name for the power that pulls people into new bodies.

[1011686]

I'd disagree, it's still a choice. Just not a very good one, situationally speaking.
Ask Silversong how people have even found anything out about the Liminal Sphere, considering that seems like it would be pretty difficult.

[King-Clod]

I never said you made us help, Scud. It's just a lot to come to terms with in around 5 minutes. I had thought that everything up until this point was of my own volition. That I had a choice to do this or a myriad of other things, like watching the sunset, or walking my dog. I was helping you because I wanted to. And while, sure, that still holds true, it's the only meaningful thing I can even do anymore. A choice between this or eternal slumber - whatever the heck happens to us - really isn't a choice at all.
I know you didn't mean for any of this, Scud. All I'm asking of you is a little patience and understanding.

As for your question: Ask Silversong the 9 stages of other Soul Arts, like her own, and see if you can draw any parallels. Maybe the first step would be telling apart our voices?

[Lilium Mortem]

‘Most people would say a choice where one option is effectively death isn't really a choice.

Anyway ask Silversong if there is a name for the power that pulls people into new bodies.’

“Hold on, I need to take this.” I said, holding one hand up at Ser Silversong and another touching my brow like you see psychics do.

I decided to take the conversation mental. Ok Yeah, you might die, Also, you don’t have to participate, you can just hang out in forum space or whatever and do your own thing. Or maybe, maybe it’s possible for you to reincarnate here too, I see where you’re getting with that question. I’m not going to ask, because that’s too telling, but something might happen if I level up my Soul Art enough. I might be able to yank everyone into the pool of souls that reincarnate over here. Hell, maybe you already made the trip with me. I don’t fucking know.

‘I'd disagree, it's still a choice. Just not a very good one, situationally speaking.
Ask Silversong how people have even found anything out about the Liminal Sphere, considering that seems like it would be pretty difficult.’

Thank you! I mean it’s not even a choice you would have gotten normally. It doesn’t make it right, and you guys deserve a second as much as I do, but at least it’s something. At least you aren’t permadead yet.

‘I never said you made us help, Scud. It's just a lot to come to terms with in around 5 minutes. I had thought that everything up until this point was of my own volition. That I had a choice to do this or a myriad of other things, like watching the sunset, or walking my dog. I was helping you because I wanted to. And while, sure, that still holds true, it's the only meaningful thing I can even do anymore. A choice between this or eternal slumber - whatever the heck happens to us - really isn't a choice at all.
I know you didn't mean for any of this, Scud. All I'm asking of you is a little patience and understanding.

As for your question: Ask Silversong the 9 stages of other Soul Arts, like her own, and see if you can draw any parallels. Maybe the first step would be telling apart our voices?’

You were gone for twenty-five minutes… well I guess time must be screwy with you since you technically aren't supposed to have that there. I’m sorry, I get that you’re freaking out, finally. I just… I feel like you think I’m the one to blame. I wanted help. I wanted friends. I got you guys. And you’re not so bad, except for Dave. I’ll try to be more patient with you.

I took a breath and lowered my fingers. Ser Silversong was giving me an odd look, somewhere between not being amused by my tomfoolery and impatience. I took another breath, I needed to keep a lid on my anger.

“Ok, a few questions before I go from The Forum.” I said. “I know from temple a little about The Liminal Sphere, but it’s religion, I don’t know where the truth begins and the faith ends. So how do we know about it? And secondly, could you tell me about the stages of your Soul Arts? So we have something to compare it to?”

“You’re right in that The Liminal Sphere has roots in religion,” Silversong said “in fact that’s where the idea came from, it’s believed that early mediums were able to reach out with their souls to The Liminal Sphere and used that to inform a lot of what makes up the basis for modern religions.”

“Modern mediums, either agnostic or atheist, have claimed to repeat the feat, but we only have testimony, because only people can go there, only souls. The science is very iffy when your experiment is conducted entirely with a non corporeal part of your own mind.”

“As for my Soul Arts, info about my Defiant Art is a trade secret, but there’s no harm in telling you about the stages of Blood Iron Thorn.”

“The first stage Allows me to control the movement of my blade, adjusting its course through the air and doubling the force behind blows.

“The second stage allows me to change the form of my blade, only slightly at first, good for retaining a sharp edge, but can be used to change what weapon I’m wielding, so long as I have enough blood iron.

“The Third stage allows me control over multiple independent pieces of equipment, not just my sword. This is useful in the beginning if I need a weapon in my off hand, but can be used for things like throwing knives down the line.

“The fourth stage allows me to control my iron at range, so throwing knives, arrows, and crossbow bolts become viable uses for limited blood iron.

“The fifth stage allows the iron to retain memories of forms past and revert to them automatically, meaning I don’t have to manually sharpen the blade and when I swap weapon forms I just need to think of the general form and the memory takes it from there.

“The Sixth stage lets the iron attune with other metals, giving me limited control of anything my iron touches, useful for disarming an opponent or cutting through solid steel.

“The seventh allows me to infuse my iron with my soul, allowing it to interact with other Soul Arts, making it possible to block and damage that which is ethereal.

“The eighth stage allows me to use the infused soul of my blade to directly harm another living being if I cut into them.

“The final stage lets me temporarily sever the soul’s connection to the body along the nervous system. If I cut your arm you wouldn’t be able to move it, if I cut your head you would be out. By the time a Knight learns this they have the control over their iron that it can pass through and around someone’s body without leaving a scratch, save for what the soul infused blade can do.”

That was a lot of info to process at once. I could see how each stage built upon the previous, but it seemed… almost lopsided. As if they didn’t need to be in that order, or there were more. Silversong did say they ‘typically’ contained nine stages. Maybe that was just some classification that people came up with. It would explain why there were coincidentally nine stages.

“Alright, I think I got it.” I said. “There are a lot more questions I want to ask, but I almost spent a half hour here already. I’ll work with The Forum to try and find ways of improving my skill and think of what the next stage to be, thanks for all your help, bye”

I walked down and out of the police station. I waved at the officers on duty, and headed to the park. Picking one of the two old iron benches I pulled the not-math notebook out. I checked my quest log. I took a good look, Trying to share it with the rest of the class.

‘Kid Bucket list
Climb a tree with Wuther
Confide in wuther(Doodle of ‘The Sun’ <tarot> card.)
Get fortune read by The Witch(have to go through my rebellious phase)
Bug hunting(find a bug net?)
parkour!(?)
Model boat racing
Cook garden snails(no snails this far north in the kingdom)

Things I Should do after I'm out of the closet
help with my mom’s writing with earth knowledge
Do some art
somehow figure out how all of these impossible things are happening’

Assuming that got through, I considered my options. I wanted to go see Wuther today for sure, He’d probably be up for some shenanigans. Besides that I’m open to suggestions from you guys. Any more things to add to the list, or things you’d like to do? I feel it’s only fair if you’re stuck with me you get to have some fun as well, though suggestions from Dave are fair play to be thrown out. So what are your thoughts?

[ಠ_ಠ]

im down for bug hunting or parkour. both at once if you wanna get a big flying one

[King-Clod]

Hmm. Maybe teach Wuther some Earth card games, and try to figure out how to skip rocks?

[1011686]

I don't have anything to add. Just pick whatever you feel like doing.

[Lilium Mortem]

‘Hmm. Maybe teach Wuther some Earth card games, and try to figure out how to skip rocks?’

I’m not sure I remember enough about Magic the Gathering to construct two decks. Unless you’re insinuating I teach Wuther poker, in which case no. Earth playing cards are dumb and boring. I already know how to skip rocks, but as an activity that doesn’t seem big enough to go on the list. Skipping rocks is something that just happens when you’re nearby calm water, y’know? Not something to actively seek out.

‘im down for bug hunting or parkour. both at once if you wanna get a big flying one’

Maybe I should take parkour off the list, this isn’t exactly an urban jungle. I am getting pretty jazzed about the idea of bug hunting, I think I could spend the rest of the day on just that.

‘I don't have anything to add. Just pick whatever you feel like doing.’

I appreciate that. You’re good people. Once this week is over we should make good on my promise and start paying back kindness.

With my mind made up I put the notebook back in my bag and headed for the barbershop. I went for the front door this time and entered the shop. In the front there were various fur care supplies and a small desk with a cash register. Beyond that were four chairs, places to sit down for fur care of the head, hands, and feet, which were the most visible part of one’s fur.

Then there were four curtained off stalls in the back, where you’d go to get full body fur care. Kaz’Rao had less of a nudity taboo than earth, but one still exists. Kind of like Japan, where people are comfortable enough for common baths, but not like… casual nudity. People were even ok with women going topless. It was a weird change from Earth, but one I was ultimately fine with.

Wuther’s dad was Touching up Cliff’s fur on one of the chairs when I walked in. We traded a bit of small talk before he told me Wuther was upstairs. I thanked him and said hello to Cliff on the way, before heading into the back and up the stairs.

I ran into Wuther's room without a second thought, the door was open, and saw him playing a racing game with Peri. It’s not that I didn’t like Peridot, I mean I made the scrap metal swords to play with her, but… I didn’t like sharing Wuther. We had something special. He was my first real friend, earth time included. I guess I have some hangups about that.

“Oh, hey Scud!” Peri said, dropping her controller and letting her car fall off a cliff before Wuther paused the game.

“Hey Peri, what’re you doing here?” I asked.

“Power’s out at my place and everyone knows Wuther has like, every game ever made. So I’m here to play.” She replied.

“Want to join in?” Wuther asked, grabbing another controller from a box of assorted electronics.

“I was actually thinking about going bug hunting. We could make a game out of it, see how many different kinds of bugs we could find. Get an instant camera so we can document what we found. I’m pretty sure I can make bug nets from stuff the general store sells.” I said.

“Oh, now that sounds fun!” Peri said, jumping up. “The perfect Idea to end summer!”

“I’m up for it,” Wuther said, shrugging.

Dangit, I wanted to hang out with just Wuther. I wanted to let him in on the secret. I guess I could wait, but I still didn’t like the idea of Wuther and Peri hanging out, with or without me.

“Oh! Scud, yesterday you went to see Ser Silversong, and fainted.” Peri said, jumping up and down “What did you talk about? Did you get to see her sword?”

“I just wanted some advice, and you make such a big deal out of her that I thought it would be good advice,” I said. “It was.”

“Was it about the thing we talked about yesterday?” Wuther asked.

“Yeah it was, sorry Peri, I don’t mean to leave you out,” I said, I did mean to leave her out though “but I’m going through some stuff and Wuther’s my best friend.”

“Come on, if you told Ser Artra Siliversong you have to tell me!” Peri said. “I’m her number one fan!”

“Peri...” Wuther said in a worried tone.

That made her hesitate. Thank god Wuther would back me up. I always found Peri’s obsession with Knights a little obnoxious. I mean, I get it, but if you have someone spouting the same five factoids with the same amount of enthusiasm you tend to get tired of it. I probably would have known about Soul Arts already if I hadn’t developed a Pavlovian fury response to Peri’s Knight talk.

“Look,” I said “It’s personal, Peri. Just drop it.”

“Fine, spoilsport. Let’s go do your bug thing then” Peri replied, pouting.

“We need a plan” I said “What can we use to make bug nets, and is it worth it to go to the general store for materials? I’m sure someone’s house has some old fishing net. Then we need to try and figure out where a good spots to look for bugs… there’s a lot of stuff to think about.”

“That’s surprisingly smart for you, Scud” Wuther said.

“Hey! I’m sm-” I replied, catching myself. The scud they knew wasn’t smart. That hurt. “ If you’re so smart what do you think we should do for bug hunting?”

[1011686]

Well, it seems like you don't have to intentionally consider some decision in order to summon us, simply asking a question out loud is enough.
The bug net thing seems simple enough to me, check if any of you or anyone you know have fishing net at home, buy some from the general store if you can't, but you're asking Peri and Wuther, not us, so you should probably work out some agreement with them.
Do you think you could become friends with Peri, in the right circumstances?

[King-Clod]

Sorry if you aren't expecting us at the moment, I think the open-ended question probably activated us.

Which reminds me, be careful when talking/listening to us. I know you won't say anything to us out loud with them around, but your body language might change noticeably when interacting with us. Be sure to avoid pausing conversation to listen to us like you did around Silversong.

I won't lecture you, but...Wuther is friends with Peri for a reason, even if you can't find it. Be courteous to her for his sake.
I won't tell you to cut her a break, you're allowed to be annoyed. I'd stray away from actively griping about her in your head though. That sort of attitude always finds a way to seep through, usually through tone and facial expression.

[ಠ_ಠ]

whats your problem with peri she seems like a nice kid

like you know better cmon