Chapter 123: Chapter 123

I’m not sure if this is accurate, but I really do think that exploring has emotional stages, kind of like those stages people always talk about when talking about grief and all that.

Right then, I’d passed through the hesitant phase and the curious phase and was firmly in the completely frustrated phase.

I’d done everything I could think of it break the damn box open but nothing I threw at it did anything. I’d even briefly walked away, almost like I was testing its patience, when really, it was just testing mine.

So far, all I’d accomplish was give myself a sore toe from kicking the thing, except even pain was out of bounds in this space, making my whole lack of progress even more frustrating.

I couldn’t even feel the consequences for my own bad decisions.

And it was when I’d just sat down in a huff that I realised that there was one thing I hadn’t tried - I hadn’t tried being a loong.

I rose slowly and quietly ran through all the things I’d already tried in my head, double checking to see if there was any I’d missed. I found none.

I was hesitant to transform and it wasn’t laziness.

After the first successful experiment, I’d tried turning back into a loong again, to see if I could do it. I could, so I naturally tried to see if I could go back to my human form without the help of the equipment and the result was ’no, I could not’.

After transforming me back into human again, I’d stayed this way all the time up until this moment with the box for reasons I hoped were obvious: if I took leap, who knew if I’d be coming back?

I took a deep breath and found the center of my power.

Who was I kidding? I didn’t have a choice. I had to open that box and it wasn’t just out of curiosity. I was pretty certain that even if I took the next year to walk in different directions in this Coil, I’d still find nothing and have to come back to the box again.

The box was the one and only way forward.

Shifting forms was easy, like diving into water, and I immediately felt in touch with every part of my body and every sense it possessed, far more than a human body. I stretched, feeling good, though I had to wonder if I’d be able to turn back and if it turned out I couldn’t, what would I do then? As the usual, my first thought was to, if it came down to it, run off to you and let you solve the issue, but for now I still had this annoying box to deal with.

As a loong, the box looked radically different.

It was still the same size and shape (about the size of a small, square cake) but where there had been a smooth, blank surface, I now saw that the colour of the surface was in fact an accumulation of many, many, absolutely tiny creatures. They looked like aphids, but way smaller, and when they moved, they looked like liquid rust.

I crouched on all fours beside the box and made a low growl. Not exactly an intimidating one, but one that meant business.

A ripple beamed out over the box, cascading and bouncing along as the small creatures tried to make sense of the situation. I waited and after a moment, a circle appeared a round the flower at the top of the box, a circle formed by the lack of creatures as they pulled back to reveal a cold white under surface.

In about a second, the entire lid of the box had turned white while the creatures undulated nervously closer to the base of the box. I actually felt a bit guilty for scaring them that much, but I had things to do so I got up and reached out a paw.

But when my talons were about an inch away from the surface of the box a puff of smoke suddenly emitted out from the flower, making me jump back. Lines formed at each petal and spread out from the center as the box’s surface broke and split apart sending the small creatures all the way to the ground.

I tensed, ready for anything, as the smoke plume grew larger and larger, dissipating the entire area until everywhere I looked was fog.

Had I just screwed up?

My eyes darted from side to side, searching for something, anything.

There came a soft whine from the mist. At first, it sounded mechanical or even digital in nature, but as it grew in volume, it began to sound much more... human.

A shiver went down my spine and my fur stood on end as the whine became a wail, until finally the mist warped like a person running their hand through water.

I readied to dodge in any direction, but no attack came.

Instead, an image began to form in the mist, a hologram-like projection from the very box that had caused this whole mess.

The first image that appeared was, to my great surprise, one I recognised. It was of a man and a woman, the former in a black suit, the latter in a white wedding dress, both smiling and fidgeting as they looked forward. They held still then there was a brief flash of light, then they laughed and changed position.

I could almost hear the photographer telling them to get it together.

There hadn’t been a film shot of my parents getting wedding photos, but I’d spent hours staring at their grainy faces in the old photo album and I’d have known the scene anywhere.

A lump rose to my throat so I was glad when the scene suddenly changed, abrupt much like the replay a Memory Imprint Spell.

The next scene was on a beach, a crowded one with tourists and cameras and parents and children. At the water’s edge were two familiar faces, bright with excitement as they played with a third, smaller one. A child, barely two years old.

Mikhail, my namesake and more.

"Sorry," I replied instinctively as I stepped out of the way of a person from the memory. They gave a nod and went around while I stared blankly back at them.

Then I looked around, then down, and discovered that at some point, not only had I entered the memory, but I’d also transformed back into a human. Had I done it subconsciously, or was there someone in conscious control of the Coil?

Like the dry, red dirt place earlier, my feet didn’t feel like they were walking on sand and the wind that was clearly blowing across the beach, tugging at towels and umbrellas alike, didn’t affect me one bit. There was nothing for it.

I walked down the beach and towards the couple and their child, towards the adults that had raised me and the young human boy I had been a replacement for.

I wondered if I should try to speak to them. Recentish encounters with both Artemis and Ling had soured me to the point of never wanting to speak to them again but I didn’t hold anything against little Mikhail.

It didn’t look like a long distance from where I’d entered the memory to where the three were standing and sitting and playing in the sand, yet the distance seemed to stretch as I tried to approach, making it impossible for me to get any closer. It reminded me of Coral’s Coil way back when. Internal turmoil.

"Mikhail!" I called out, wondering if calling them to me would yield the same result, and the little boy looked up, looked right at me, our eyes locking.

The scene shifted, the beach vanishing to be replaced with stark, metal walls and floors and cold, fluorescent light panels, a place I recognised immediately: the underground portion of The Unity’s base.

Things weren’t as worn down and there were dabs of paint and other things still on the walls to mark out where the electrical wiring would go, but I was certain that this was that place. And given these should be Artemis’ memories, that would make sense.

I heard an echo of voices down the hall and I followed them to a partly open door.

"This day should be commemorated," came one voice and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I steeled myself and peeked through the gap in the door.

The room was an office, or would soon be an office - it, like the hallway outside, was clearly still a work-in-progress. The furniture was mostly still wrapped in cardboard and plastic film, but the table in the centre, the one that everyone was standing by, was clean, its completely glass surface both contrasting and melding eerily well with the harsh metallic surroundings. This update is available on noᴠelfire.net

Behind this glass table stood Arthur Penn, one hand holding a glass to make a toast and the other slid in his pocket, a pose that oozed both casual ease and all encompassing power. Beside him stood Ling, also with a glass and a wide smile on her face, her cheeks a little pink perhaps from the alcohol. On Arthur’s other side was Colin. He had no drink.

And opposite them all and across the table from them with his back to me, was Artemis.