Play Testers Wanted Pt. 12

They were brutally efficient to safeguard their society. My analysis of them was simple, they were a race of thinkers, and they created a servitor race to do all the heavy lifting quite literally. The multi ton stone slabs used in their buildings was done with an ease that was amazing to watch. The Shoggoth would attack slabs of rocks, digest them, and reconfigure the material inside of themselves to produce whatever was required. They were walking breathing processing plants. They made it possible to create the mana ingots. They took whatever was in those fissures and refined it into the glowing bars.

I thought I might be able to wait but since I was given access to one of their workstations, I took some of the ingots I had earned and rebuilt the guts to my lightsaber. From the power assembly to the blade emitters I fashioned them all. I had an audience while I worked, and I felt their confusion. I requested privacy and that demanded a one hour talk about the necessity for physical isolation. They didn't understand it, but they accepted it. I meditated and cleared my thoughts as I brought out the Darksaber and levitated it. I was trembling on the inside as I disassembled it and replaced the old guts with the new. Once the case was sealed, I was on my feet and igniting the black blade and I felt a new smoothness to the action between activation and the blade's appearance.

"Sweet!" I giggled and gave it a few tentative swings and couldn't wait to see it in action. I had barely switched it off and placed it on my hip when one of the Elder Things approached.

"Friend Ghost," one of them addressed me. "While you have enlightened us with your lectures of human society and culture some of us created a parting gift for you since that appears in line with your race."

"Thank you," I replied touched that these logic driven entities would go so far as to make me something. "How many of you were involved?" I asked knowing that the more that joined a project the greater the gift.

"Merely half a million, we knew you wouldn't be staying long." He replied. "Follow me to the nearest reading room. It is a book." He stated and I figured that was the case. Though half a million to fashion a book seemed like a lot to me. The Elder Things were like living computers and that many working together must have been one hell of a topic. "We shall share the reading, step into the larger circle."

We faced each other and we both held the pyramid close. It was an intimate level of proximity and when the book was opened our minds were joined inside the smoke. He stood next to me and narrated as the scene unfolded.

"It was what your species define as pity that moved us. Your woefully primitive form demanded a solution. I am sure you will agree you seem like an intelligent individual." He said and with a gesture an image of me appeared. Why was I naked? At first, I didn't notice any obvious changes. I walked over to my doppelganger and spied the external alterations. The gill like slits along the side of his neck as well as though that ran just below his collar bone. "Amphibious nature is a must given the amount of water on your world. The other slits are for processing oxygen to replace the ill placed trachea. The teeth have been improved and if damaged replace themselves the same way sharks do. Limited taste buds have been augmented as well."

"He smells different." I commented.

"While your species pheromones were adequate, we have improved them so that males and females of the species when aroused are more attractive. We were also able to isolate your shapeshifting organs and tweaked them a little. Yours are quite advanced and I daresay impressive." He complimented me and that was a first. "Here is a display of internal alterations. I'll let you examine them and ask questions as you see fit."

I fought to show my shock, but my emotional reaction was too strong to hide. It was the same as that I had seen in real life. I had Traci compare the two. They were identical. Once more the game and real life collided. This felt insane. To see if the game had just pulled up my files or not, I peeled the layers away by the time they were applied. Were they the same as what had happened to me? They weren't. There were gaps and leaps creating six notable and separate jumps in the process. If I didn't know better, I'd say that this poor schmuck had been cloned multiple times. That is the only thing that made sense for the gaps and drastic changes between two transition points. As far as an artificial evolutionary process it made perfect sense.

"What is that sensation?" The Elder Thing asked. "What is... fear?"

"When humans encounter a situation and they are unsure it will often trigger what is called the fight, flight, or freeze response."

"A trinary decision-making process, not bad. Why does this gift trigger your fear response?" He asked.

"Humans have an emotional guide that we call empathy. It allows us to put ourselves in another's situation and react. In this fellows case, if he is the same individual from start to finish, it would be terrifying having one's consciousness transferred multiple times into different bodies." I said fighting down the sense of panic. My hearts drummed in my chest and willed my breathing to remain normal. I did drive my fingers into the palms of my hands until I bled.

"Interesting. We did not foresee this. Do all humans have empathy?" He asked and I shook my head. "Equally interesting, so how are these... what do you call them?"

"Either psychopaths or sociopaths," I replied.

"I take it your moral code is determined by a guiding sense of empathy. Yes?" He continued. "So, one of these sociopaths would cross lines to achieve their ends. I wonder at what end of your emotional evolution they lie. A warlike species would benefit from sociopaths. A path of peace not so much. I understand your fear. I would not like to find my mind unceremoniously jostled about without my permission. Perhaps this was a callous gift."

"I appreciate all the time and effort all of you put in." I told him. "I will utilize these improvements at every opportunity." That seemed to make the time they put into it worth the effort.

We closed the book and exited the shared experience. Since the Elder Things weren't an emotionally motivated race I was dismissed with the gift and my time with them came to an end. I was ready to depart and get this haunting encounter behind me. I left the Elder Things and headed back to the portal that got me here. I shifted to eagle form and took wing. I soared upward and given the coordinates I had a two-day flight from the citadel of the Elder Things to the portal. It was a leisurely flight for the first day. I enjoyed flying and just relaxing after playing cultural professor for that strange race and the lingering possibility that game and real life were colliding. I rested in a huge oak tree and meditated near the top of its limbs. The landscape was pristine, and the only sign of civilization was the citadel and the mana fissure. At first light I shifted and took back to the air. I had just found a great altitude with a tail wind to help speed me along when I saw it or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I found a lack of something.

"No fucking way!!" I gasped as I realized the mountain range in the form of the reclined woman was gone. The dark earth that had been beneath the mountains was now revealed as a twenty-mile gash in the ground. I never would have noticed it as anything but a natural formation unless I knew better. "How? Where?" I gasped as I tried to imagine a twenty-mile tall stone woman wandering around the area. It wasn't like she could hide. One moment I was soaring through the sky the next I was encased in a sphere of rock.

"Got you!" A booming female voice declared.

"Hello?" I called out.

"Mine!" She said ignoring me.

"Hello!" I yelled again. I looked around and discovered that the sphere was in fact cupped hands. The segments were clear portions of massive stony digits. I sat down and waited. If this was a goddess my best course of action was patience. I closed my eyes and felt a potent flow of magic as she teleported somewhere. Where were we now? The sphere vanished and I sat in a huge vaulted chamber of gorgeous white and silver marble. Sunlight streamed through large round windows. The floor I was seated upon was a scarlet granite that contrasted the walls. It was an open space without decoration, throne, or furniture of any kind.

"You woke me up." The same voice that had boomed 'got you' and 'mine' was now soft, sensual, and sultry. "I am Gaia and you are Ghost Fire." I looked around but she wasn't manifesting yet. "First things first," she continued as my HUD activated on its own and a dagger, I had fashioned during my time with the Elder Things from their Mana alloy appeared and hovered to the center of the chamber. She was humming as the dagger flared to life surrounded by a cerulean aura. The humming got louder, and runes of varying size appeared on the surface of the dagger's blade, cross guard, and pommel. She was creating a rune weapon, but why? "Almost done... what do you think?" The disembodied voice asked as the dagger flew at me for my inspection.

"Gorgeous," I commented seeing the blend of larger runes along the flat of the blade, tiny runes along the cutting edge, and midsized ones for the rest of the weapon. "Why are you doing this?"

"To save you, your soul is poisoned, and I would rescue you." She said as some unseen force plucked me bodily off the floor and held me aloft. I saw the blazing dagger and thought she meant to plunge the dagger into me. "Hush, I mean you no harm. Watch. See. This may hurt a little." I screamed as every pore in my body felt like it was on fire. "I am extracting the poison from you." The voice declared as first a mist and then a cloud formed around me. The cloud moved on its own and snarled in a bestial fashion. What in the hell is that?! The pain lessened and the cloud thickened into a swirling shadowy shape. The dagger's point reoriented and flew into the cloud. The swirling took on a more determined nature as it fought the power of the runes and failed as it was meant to. The irresistible force won out and the cloud vanished.

"What happened I feel... lighter." I admitted.

"Good, I lifted your curse and placed it in the dagger, forever." She said and only then did she manifest a physical form. "No need to thank me." Gaia said as she gestured, and my feet settled onto the stone floor. She was tall, not exceptionally so but for a human she was at least six feet, thin and willowy with verdant energy spilling from her eyes. If I were to describe her it would be elfin, as in old world Sidhe. Her features were inhumanly sharp and her eyes so narrow as to make one think she was perpetually squinting. Gaia might as well have been nude with the transparent garments she was clad in were so flimsy as to be fashioned of air instead of silk.

"Wait, you mean..." I yanked down my HUD and found my vampirism gone. I felt diminished. I fought down the anger at being cured without so much as being asked. The rune dagger hung in the air and spun along its axis caught up in a shaft of sunlight.

"The corruption ran deep and threatened to overwhelm you." She said. "I am sorry to not have asked your permission. I can feel your shock. Forgive me."

"I... I won't be able to call storms anymore." I stated and she raised a needle thin eyebrow. "I can?"

"I will help you." Gaia urged. "It is the least I can do."

The vaulted dome was simply there one moment and gone the next. Sunlight filled the entire chamber and she raised her hands. I felt her power reach upward and clouds form and darken. The rain fell and we were both soaked to the bone. I shivered for the first time in I don't know when. I was warm to the touch again. I looked at a pool of water and saw my reflection. I was mortal again. I missed seeing my image. Time to see if I could call down the lightning. I raised my arm and strived to tap into the storm she had called.

"Shit, I am trying too hard," I said, and she nodded. I closed my eyes and it was like using old muscles that had atrophied some. I felt it but it was at a distance. I had to be patient. The connection slowly grew but grew it did. I felt her behind me. She placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Your meridians are choked off from being cursed for so long, may I cleanse them for you?" She asked her lips by my ear. I couldn't fight the urge to moan. "MMMM, I'll take that as a yes. Remove your armor, it works better with skin contact." I was naked half a second later. "Eager too." She purred. She moved her hands so that one was on the back of my neck cupping where skull and neck joined. Her other hand was at the base of my spine just above my ass cheeks. "This might tingle a bit." I felt power trickle in from her upper hand. It hit my brain like a cinnamon butterfly that sparkled and tasted like mom's cream pie. I gasped and fought to keep my focus on the storm, I failed. The energy was forced down once it filled my skull completely. It slunk down my neck and hit my nervous system.

"So good," I whimpered as both erections were at full mast.

"It gets better," Gaia promised. "All those nasty blocks need to go. So much psychic sludge." She stated and I felt the resistance inside of me slowly break down and give way to her expert manipulations. I began sweating out some seriously nasty funk which stank upon contact with the air. Soon the energy moved uninhibited and the heavy rain washed the crap from my skin. The circuit between us was complete and running smoothly. The last of the crud was gone and she ratcheted up the amount of power she was pumping into me. My skin glowed and then began to crackle to the point I felt the energy behind my eyes.

"Try again," she whispered. I reached up and the connection was instantaneous. It built up faster than before. The thunder boomed at a deafening level and shook the chamber. I called down a blast and it hit one of the puddles scattering it and sending the lightning all over the chamber. "Good. Now, it is time to push your shifting to its next level. This is a give and take situation. I took much, now I will give back as much. You touched on an advanced level when you took on smoke form."

"I don't understand." I said as she let go and I turned to face her.

"I will show you how to take on an elemental form. Let us begin with smoke and go from there. Try." She urged in a lover's voice.

Like weather manipulation I found it difficult at first to change. I think perhaps since I had the mental block of 'you are no longer a vampire' in my head. Instead I went with my instincts. I imagined a foe firing a massive attack at me and let my body do the work. Instead of an inky darkness I took on the shape of a thick grey fog. I slid across the floor and got the feel of the shape before I returned to Gaia.

"Excellent," she praised me. "Now, take on the aspect of lightning. That is the next element you are familiar with."

Lightning wasn't a static form. It hit and then vanished. The only shape I could wrap my head around was ball lightning. I focused on a sphere shape and pushed. The world seemed to slow down as my perception shifted in nature. Teleportation came easy as Tempest's gift kicked in. Instead of drifting I bamfed around it. Next was fire and that was easier than lightning. Water was easy and sloshing and crashing against solid walls was fun. Air was like mist but 'thinner' at first until I took on a tornadic vortex form. The element of shadow was an old friend and I embraced it without effort. Light and dark were supremely difficult to master but master I did. There were others to try but she was eager for me to move on to other things.

I reverted to my natural shape and faced the goddess. In her hands the Darksaber, my primary weapon. How the hell had she removed it from my inventory? The same way she took the mana dagger, she was a goddess. I watched as the weapon levitated, broke up into its core components, and she examined it. She touched the stones and flinched.

"Such pressures and pain," she whispered and that was when I remembered that it was believed that Kaiburr crystals were alive on some level. "Be at ease." She continued and wrapped a hand around either gem. I saw light well up from the fist holding the Ghost Fire Diamond and darkness leak out from the hand holding the Star of Ebony Flame. "Better." Gaia purred. I leaned close and saw runic characters on the surface of each stone. "This weapon is your life, yes?"

"Yes. It is my heart." I replied without hesitation and Gaia smiled.

"Now for the last," She said as she clutched the Ghost Fire Diamond in her hand and it blazed sun bright in her grasp. Next, she held up her other hand and the Star of Ebony Flame roared to life and something strange happened. The rune dagger she had crafted began to slow down and fade until it vanished completely. "Perfect, if I do say so myself." She giggled like a schoolgirl. "One last little tweak and all done." She passed her hands over the components and casing. She gestured and the weapon reassembled itself. "Show me."

She tossed me the weapon and I looked over the new and improved Darksaber. While the shape of the casing was unchanged the elegant runic pattern was far more detailed and intricate. I ignited the dark blade and it silently came into existence. I began with form one and alternated between light and dark when I shifted from one combat discipline to another. I was surprised when I first changed from form one to form two. When I activated the Ghost Fire side the blade was invisible as well as silent. There was no distortion or hint of its being there. Gaia explained as I continued through all eight forms.

"Your gems were slightly flawed and out of sync. I corrected. I understand perfection as you never will." She said and I knew she was right. No matter how much I practiced I would never be flawless. I accepted that and with the last strike I deactivated the weapon and bowed. "Excellent. Now, one final test before you leave." She stated and then spoke those impossible words. "Mimic me." Mentally I faltered and balked. "Take your time," she continued as her clothes faded and she hovered naked above the floor of the cavern. I walked around her my feet splashing lightly in the cold puddles of water. I looked upon her perfect avatar and knew I'd fail but I had to try.

"Okay, here I go." I said as I levitated up until I was at her height. I shifted and felt my cells strive to achieve a flawless state. The residual energy she had given me when she purged the vampiric taint kindled and aided me.

"Interesting," she said. "Is that how you perceive me?" I knew I had failed her test the moment I heard those words. "Clever Ghost Fire, you realized your limitations so quickly. Now, watch and mirror everything your perceive. Keep up as long as you can."

She changed and became an elderly woman. I copied her easily. Now she was a young boy holding a balloon. I used an illusion to create the balloon. One form blended into the next. Some were heart-breakingly gorgeous while others were hideous, and still others were plain and nondescript. We left the human form behind and she showed me dozens, hundreds, no thousands of races and states of being. The longer it went on the stranger and alien the shapes became. I began to falter, and she slowed to let me have time to analyze the form before attempting it. We finally reached a point where my mind began to shut down just looking at her.

"Stop. You lasted far longer than I expected. Rest. Sleep. Tomorrow you leave." Gaia said her voice a soothing balm. She cradled me in her arms and there I slept. I dreamt. Formlessness wasn't just a word but a state of being I achieved. I was given a vision of the universe before the first true stars ignited. I saw what the first Dark Elves experienced. There was a certain beauty to the swirling dark energy and entire planets formed of dark matter. It was upon these worlds that the Svartalfar were born and forged their ancient empire. They were born into darkness and it was the loss of that beauty that drove beings like Malekith to strive to revert the universe back to a primordial form. It was true that there were still dark energy nebulae and solar systems governed by dark energy stars with dark matter worlds orbiting them. If any dark elves still lived, they would have flocked to these places.