Dark Knowledge

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GlytchMeister
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Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Glytch sat down on his camp chair and listened as the news lady on the radio jabbered away.
"In other news, the Internet history of every device used in the Westboro baptist church wifi has been posted online, including the frequency of each device being there, cross-referenced to which sites each device visited.
The church, already rattled to the core by the crises of faith of many of its key members, has since begun to collapse in on itself, splitting into several factions, each one claiming all of the others to be the sinners while they themselves are not."
"Pff... Some of those idiots didn't even use passwords." Glytch chuckled before digging into his mac'n'cheese.

"The Pillsbury A Mill, site of what is locally referred to as the Battle of Pillsbury, has become a hotspot for weddings and celebrations, and is astonishingly booked solid through to the summer. Several officers, including Justin Epimethius, earned several medals and awards for their service and bravery defending the civilians caught in the firefight."
"Good... Brandi and Billens'll made sure Eme' and everyone else aren't uncovered."

"Around the world, North Korea has made yet another threat, this time to whatever country or party responsible for the complete annhilation of their military's computer systems. The UN has recently been provided with new information regarding their now severely disrupted nuclear program. UN and NATO officials are denying any involvement in the systematic dismantling of North Korea's entire military technological infrastructure, and are stating the coincidental appearance of the new information literally "showed up on their doorstep this morning."
Our main technology correspondent, Jeffrey Brown, speculates a connection to the recent "Leech" phenomenon seen last month."
"Heh heh heh heh... They were soooo pissed... That was fun." Glytch was just about to focus on his meal when he got a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Hey kid." It was Billens. "I got something here you may be interested in... Did Atsali ever tell you about her ah... Adventure?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"We just found the buffer crystal that contains that civilization's mind. Wanna come take a look and see what you can do with it and all of our toys?"
Glytch broke out in a downright frightening smile. "Send me the address, I'll be right over."

...

Glytch exited the Library Portal to find himself in the most beautiful room he had ever seen: it was packed full of scientific equipment, computers, lab tables, assembly lines, shelves upon shelves of books, reference materials, chemical samples, Clean rooms, nuclear reactor containment spheres...
As he walked down the central hallway, he began to hear whispered conversations break out all around him.

"Is that him? The director's friend?"
"Her personal friend, yeah. He knows Billens too."
"Holy crap!"
"I heard he's an elf!"
"No, you idiot, he was trained by elves,"
"One of the best human archers in the world..."
"You're concerned with his archery? This guy is almost too smart... I heard he figured out how to crack the world in half like Tesla tried to calculate."
"I think I saw him on the news... Wasn't he at the Battle of Pillsbury?"
"He made the Leech"
"He made a lightning generator as powerful as Zeus's Bolt"
"Is he even human?"
"I don't see any glamour..."
"I heard he has two hearts... And his pockets are bigger on the inside."
"That's a time lord, you dork. There's only one of them. He hangs out in Britain whenever he's around."
"You forgot the one guy... Well, he's a girl now..."
"We don't talk about that one..."
"Isn't he some kind of hacker?"
"I just said that! He made the Leech!"
"I thought that was just some stupid computer Ghost story, like the Gary Phenomenon."
"Nah, man, I saw the latent code myself. It was really clever."
"Scared the bejeezus out of all the security companies."

"Glytch! Great to see you again, kid!" Glytch looked down the hall to see Brandi and Billens walking toward him, both smiling... Billen's grin was, as per usual, subtle compared to Brandi's bubbly expression.
"Hey you two! How are things going?"
"Fantastic! Your DEMP design has been a hit, by the way. I've got a check in my office waiting for you to cash for that thing."
("DEMP? That's the guy who made it? Woah...")
Glytch reached out to shake Brandi's hand and was immediately pulled into a tight hug. "Oh! Ok. Hug. Hi. That works too... Apparently ok for work."
Billens smirked and stuck to shaking Glytch's hand.
"So, I have a check? Why? Didn't we decide it was an even break anyway? You pay for all the stuff I... Vaporized... And I pay you with blueprints and details?"
"The DEMP has been proving to be most useful in a variety of situations... And it's enhancement is one of the projects I want you working on. We currently have an idea for a long-range pinpoint missile-defense system, but we can't get the Faraday focusers to-"
"Polarize the waves and use radio diffraction and reflection instead of simply blocking excess energy... And use constructive interference to make a precise hotspot instead of a safe zone." Glytch looked around and found a whiteboard and quickly scrawled a blueprint featuring lenses and dishes to precisely focus the two electromagnetic pulses as well as a sketch of the constructive interference hotspot.
Brandi stared at the whiteboard for a moment before taking a picture of it. "You didn't even let me finish my question and you already solved a problem we've been trying to figure out for weeks. We were just trying to make a single beam... This is even safer. No chance of it interfering with planes before or satellites after disabling the missile."
"It also places less stress on each generator. This is stackable. The more you have, the less power you need to pump through each generator, allowing you to distribute a network of low-power beam generators that can coordinate to produce a single spot of high-amplitude electromagnetic fluctuation powerful enough to fry just about anything." As he spoke, Glytch drew a rough outline of the US east coast and placed a net of seemingly random dots and lines in a rough hexagonal pattern.
"Calibrate them to the geomagnetic field for even greater accuracy."
Brandi narrowed her eyes at the grid, frowning. "How did you know about that?"
"About what?"
Billens chuckled. "He just knew where the best places to put nodes on a world grid would be, boss."
"What's this world grid?" Glytch cocked his head to the side.
"A network of vimana cells and generators Bud and I placed around the world to keep out the Old Gods."
"Sounds like a lot of power... Yes! Tying those in with whatever power source you have-"
"The Vimana cells," Brandi supplied, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, whatever those are... You might be able to throw enough energy to fry any circuits or critically damage any faraday shielding! It might even cause radio-absorbent material on stealth craft to overheat and degrade!" Glytch began to speak louder and faster as his brain kicked into high gear.
"Hey! Slow down, kid." Billens placed a firm hand on Glytch's shoulder.
"Huh?" Glytch looked around... The other workers had begun to gather in a circle around them. "Oh. I was doing it again, wasn't I?"
"...Yeah. Boss? We might want to move this to your office."

...

Brandi sat at her desk with Billens standing behind her. Glytch sat down in one of the guest chairs. "So. Billens said something about a crystal?"
"Yes. When Atsali passed through the Anasazi stargaze into the Library, she was purged of the conglomerate intelligence that was downloaded into her brain at Mapimi through the Nu Gui's machinations. It took us a while to track down where all that data went, and even longer to consolidate it all into a single piece of storage media... A crystal that uses different quantum alignments as binary code to store immense quantities of data." Brandi opened a drawer and took out a red velvet sack, carefully placing it on her desk. "It was just shipped to me today."
Glytch leaned back in his chair, away from the sack. "That... That thing contains the combined, insane minds of every Etheitian that was stored at Mapimi?"
Brandi opened the sack to reveal a massive, faintly blue, completely clear crystal, absolutely devoid of any occlusions. "The Insanity Gem."
"What do you want me to do with it, again?"
Brandi gave Glytch an unsettling grin. "Learn from it, and tell me what you find. I'll decide what needs to be done with the information you uncover. Focus on finding artifacts, especially the dangerous or unstable ones that need to be kept out of the wrong hands. Schematics for similar devices that might be lying around need to be uncovered and hidden away as well, or destroyed."
"Like recipes for 'How to make a golem at home,' 'Black Magic 101,' and maps showing where to find R'lyeh? Also, please tell me R'lyeh isn't a real thing..."
"It isn't, Lovecraft really was making all of that up. And yes, that's pretty much exactly what I'm concerned about."
"I'd say the schematics and forbidden knowledge is worse than just finding sealed evil in a can... The forbidden knowledge lets people make the sealed evil in a can."
Brandi nodded. "In the long run, yes... But it tends to take more time to make a golem or something than it does to just wake up an evil one."
"Yeah, no kidding. So it's all important."
"Yep. We'll be giving you access to MIB's full database so you can cross-reference mysterious phenomena or whatever trends and connections you might find in what we already know about against what you are sifting through in the Insanity Gem... That should help you find at least a few things right off the bat." Brandi nodded at Billens, who gave Glytch a name card with a chip in it attached to a clip with a retracting string.
"Just insert this into any computer to log in. Logging out of one will log you out of all computers... This way you can use several computers at once."
Glytch nodded and clipped the name tag to his hoodie pocket. "Do you have anything on your minds you want me to start with?"
Billens looked at Brandi, and the two shrugged. "Well..."
Billens scratched his chin before pulling out his phone. "Hang on, I think I might actually have a good starting point for you... You know the Chicxulub Impact Crater? We've been getting some... Odd reports."

...

Glytch was shown to his workshop - his own, smaller, more isolated and more sturdily reinforced version of the massive room he first found himself in. He didn't even know what half of the equipment was for.
There was a desk in the center, surrounded by completely full filing cabinets, covered in binders and books. All around him were screens, devices, huge computers that must have been thousands of times more powerful than his laptop, fume hoods, vacuum chambers, the weird containment boxes with the thick gloves, tables laden with all manner of contraptions, microscopes, and a chemistry set that would make Severus Snape weep with jealousy.
Glytch cleared a spot on the desk and gingerly set down the Insanity Gem. "Well. I guess there's only one way to get started."
With that, he plopped down in the chair behind the desk, picked the first binder, and began to read the first of hundreds of instruction manuals.
Last edited by GlytchMeister on Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

It took Glytch three months to understand everything at his disposal... He had to take accelerated crash courses from the other people working in the facility. Nudge eventually got so tired of Glytch using the library portals as his daily commute, she gave him access to the VORP system... Which he immediately hacked into and built an app for on his phone.
He got a stern talking-to from Phix over that... But then he VORPed a perfectly heated cup of Earl Grey onto the table right in front of her. He still got the stern talking to, but he also got a cookie.
Balancing this project, his housekeeping, recreation, and his archery practice grew to be quite difficult... Archery soon began to take the place of time normally spent lazing about playing video games. Still, it was fun... And it reminded him of Eme' and Safyr.

It took Glytch another month to figure out how to read the quantum variations in each individual atom... He spent five days staring at a whiteboard almost without any breaks, just trying to break past the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Of course, he could have hacked something together from an existing stargate, but that would have destroyed the stargate... And those were becoming almost museum pieces nowadays.
Besides, he didn't have Anasazi blood, and both Lily and Kath were busy.
He had to read each atom by deriving its nature based on its preexisting interactions with nearby atoms.
Looking at interactions between atoms without looking at the atoms themselves is really hard.
It took Glytch and a team of particle, nuclear, quantum, and theoretical physicists to come up with a way to read between the lines... They made small copies of fragments of the Insanity Gem using the stargate network to use in their experiments... It took nearly three months to produce readable, reproducible results.

Well....

"Readable" is a... murky word to use. He had to send the results to Brandi herself to translate... And what came back was gibberish.

Glytch stared at the translation on his desk, his head held in his hands. "It's like trying to read several hundred stories all at once, on the same page of paper. It's all... Mixed up."
The young man leaned back and rubbed his eyes before looking up at the ceiling, dumbfounded. "I'm trying to decode the maddened gibberish of hundreds of thousands of fused minds by only reading the spaces between the words."
•••---•••
Glytch tapped the distress signal with his fingers against his armrest.
•••---•••
"Huh,"
•••---•••
"Spaces... Between the words."
•••---•••
"If only I could hear the words... I might be able to pick out one voice from the crowd and focus on it? Isolate it?"
Glytch frowned. "Wonder if I could put my mind in there... Then I would be able to hear all of those voices without a problem... But I don't want to be driven insane either... Much less lose my identity in that mess... Or have the same thing that happened to Atsali. Some sort of... Metered, filtered, and restrained interface. Something where I could hear them, but still not join them. A... One-way valve, if you will. Hmm..." Glytch stood and picked up the Insanity Gem, peering into its irregular facets. "Output, but no input... Maybe what I need is to figure out a different way to input the information into my head... If I can't read it, what if I could hear it? And see it? Feel, touch, taste it? Yes... It's memories... Memories of sensations and of information... If I could recreate the sensations felt in each memory with enough detail, I might be able to make sense of it!"
Glytch slowly set down the Gem as a plan suddenly came to mind. "This is not a full mind... It's just memory... The hippocampus. I need to give it the rest of the brain so it can think! So it can communicate! YES! AHAHA!"
He threw open the door of his office and spoke loud for all to hear. "Everyone, LISTEN UP! I need to BUILD a BRAIN for a MILLION MINDS! I need every supercomputer we can get our hands on, wired up through the ESNet or Google Fiber or anything else that's really fast! I need programs written for these supercomputers to emulate organic human neural networks running all of the processes of the id, ego, superego, unconscious and conscious. And somebody get me a team of brain people! Neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, everything! Experts who don't mind a little bit of mad science! And I want every part of the brain accounted for and multiplied in terms of capacity and processing speed by twice the number of individual minds that went into this Gem!"
The room erupted into activity as Glytch shouted instructions, but fell silent when he said he wanted a 200% safety buffer.
"Twice as many?"
"YES! I've got the worlds biggest hippocampus in my office and I don't want to fry my only shot at having a telepathic chat with it for the next five years by underestimating the load! And somebody get someone from Oculus Rift and Virtuix Omni down here! I'm going to need them for the interface... AND a sensory deprivation chamber! And find experts on every other sense the human body has! Taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing, thermoception, proprioception, nociception, equilibrioception, mechanoreception, and chemoreception... EVERYTHING! It it is part of the human experience, I want to replicate it!"

Glytch studied and consulted with his team even as he was building the interface chamber. The poor guy from oculus Rift was so far out of his league he had to have his memory wiped just to salvage his sanity. Professors and experts from around the world flocked to Glytch's workshop when they received the call for assistance, eager to help create a running environment for an artificial intelligence.

Brandi prudently had her own team of experts working to make sure every supercomputer Glytch commandeered was disconnected from the Internet in every way... Huge swaths of the ESNet were isolated. CERN and the Fermilab were disconnected completely... Brandi shuddered to think what the Etheitians would try to do with particle accelerators of that magnitude.

September brought with it the completion of Legion, as some had begun to call it. Preliminary tests with the small sample copies were promising. Animals placed in the interface chamber, however, did not bode nearly as well... Some came out catatonic, others unconscious, many were panicked or so deeply traumatized that any stimuli would terrify them into running into a wall. Repeatedly.

Glytch would not let any humans step foot in the chamber... He realized what they would be experiencing the thoughts, emotions, and sensations of every single crazed mind in the Insanity Gem or whatever sample they were testing with. Every night, he gave Brandi a few crucial parts of the interface as well as every memory crystal for safekeeping... She placed it in her storage hatch - if anyone could get them from there, they were unstoppable.

One night in the middle of October, Glytch was installing a dimmer switch in his apartment when inspiration struck. He immediately went to the workshop and installed similar, though significantly beefier mechanisms on every aspect of the interface chamber.
After that, he was able to find just how much insanity an animal could withstand... And found them rather frighteningly lacking. Chimpanzees and bonobos were only able to experience 0.5% sensory simulation strength before needing to be put down... Less advanced creatures were only worse, until he got to using bugs. Flour beetles, for example, didn't seem to mind the insanity at all... Even at full strength, they hardly even flinched.

Once everything was in place, Glytch had to make one final call.
"Hello?"
"Hey Atsali. It's Glytch."
"Oh! Hi! What's up? You sound a little... Stressed."
"Ehhh... Yeah. Listen. I have a big question for you. How... How bad was it, having the Etheitians downloaded into your head?"
There was a long moment of silence... Then, "It was really bad. I... I felt their pain. It was as much mine as it was there's. I nearly lost myself in it. I felt my mind molding and merging with theirs, and I felt them ripping it apart. They didn't like that there was someone who wasn't them. so they tried to make me one of them.
Glytch nodded. "Was there anything else?"
"Atrocities."
"Atrocities?"
"Yeah... I... It's like I did what they did... That's how I remember it. Like my own memories. A lot of them were horrible people, and many were once good, but horrifically twisted after centuries in storage."
"Thanks... I'll keep that in mind tomorrow."
"Wait, WHA-"
click
"Sorry... But I don't need you trying to stop me for my own good. I'll make sure to ease into it." Glytch locked his phone and went to sleep.
Last edited by GlytchMeister on Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
User avatar
GlytchMeister
Posts: 3733
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:52 pm
Location: Central Illinois
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

The next day, Glytch VORPed into his office early and did a final systems check before collecting the Insanity Gem from Brandi.
"Are you sure you don't want someone else doing this?" Brandi asked quietly.
"I won't risk someone else being driven suicidally insane by this. If I seem dangerous when I come out, shoot me. In the head. Repeatedly. I don't want to unleash Legion on the world, be it as an AI or as me, driven insane by it."
Brandi pulled out her phone.
"Hi, listen, something came up. Yes, I know. Well, he'll just have to understand some things are more important than him. Yes, I know he's a bigwig with the UN... Ugh. Hi. No, I need to reschedule. No. I said no. This is... Remember the- uh huh. I thought that'd shut you up." Brandi hung up and heaved a sigh. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Glytch led Brandi down to the reader pylon, a massive apparatus that turned the Insanity Gem into what was basically the largest RAM setup ever... Allowing the rest of Glytch's system to see every bit and byte of memory at any time, including all at once. Brandi carefully placed the Gem into its slot and backed away as everyone else manned their stations, now following Glytch to the interface chamber.
Last chance... Being brave won't always work out for you like it did last time, you know...
Glytch forced himself to keep going, muttering under his breath. "I've gotten this far, no sense in stopping now."
The Interface Chamber was probably the most advanced example of virtual reality technology on the planet. It was a twenty-five foot cube made of 6-inch topographical treadmills, each on a three-way axis of movement. In the gap between each of these tactile pixels was a holographic projector, an infrared laser, a hose for rapidly decompressed air, a hose for scent dispersal, and an acoustic laser for directional sound. Taste was administered via a net of circuits attached to Glytch's tongue that would bypass his taste buds and stimulate the nerves themselves. Pain and discomfort was to be delivered either as electric shocks via either a similar net of circuits that was embedded into Glytch's interface full-body suit or by chemicals administered via an IV system strapped to his back.
Glytch suited up, putting on a set of glasses that were calibrated to the holographic projectors, the coveralls, and the pack, allowing a technician to hook up his IV.
"Wish me luck." Without waiting for a response, Glytch entered the Chamber.

Darkness... And silence. They haven't activated the system yet. Ah, there it is... Huh. Looks like... Stars.

Ÿ͚̝́̐͛͜e̝̮̰͋̓̔s̻̺̝̀̈́̕.̟̹̪͊̒̅.̢̺̫͐̈́̈.̛̪̜̤̏́ ͙͈̖̀̐͠W̱̤̪͛̃̌e̙̙̹̅̓̅ ̨̣̀̊͜͝å̯̮̬̊̅ȓ̖͙͙͆̀e̬̠͚͂̏̌ ̰͍̻̂͑̓g̺̣͐̋̎ͅi̧̞͆̇͐ͅv̝̭͓̀͌̓e̬̰͚̅̀̇n̞̜̝͗͊͠ ̰̳̱̑͋͆t̛͕̟̳̀͐ḫ̮̙͂͗͘ȯ̞̭̜̀͆u͉̠͕͌͌̓g͎̪̉̄͜͝h̞̰̾̎͐ͅt̛̗͔̽͌ͅ ͕̘̘͐͛̂y͇̲̝̏͘̚e̳̠̐̄̓͜t̡̹̥̊̕͘ ̗͔̬͂̊̚ạ̙͆̍̂͜g̢͔̭̓͋̐a̬̭̙̕̕͝ĩ̡̙͖͊͛n̢̡̼͆͂͘!̛̝̱̭͋́
̛͔̭̗̈́͌A̘͍̤͌́̄s̳͔͎͐͗̈h͕̩͈̓̐͠e͔̣͉̒̾̔ś̮̫͕̈̑ ̛̫̰̠͆͝o͔̗̥̐͆͝f̢͍͙̈̈́͐ ͇͖̪̆̈́̃L̡̼͖̃̑̕a̛̠̗̯̎͑n̥͎̿̎̂͜t̝̖̖̐̅̓h͈̼̍̋̕ͅi̜̠̯̾̀̐s̞̩͕̃̀̑.̛͉̞̠̔̈́.̥͚̤̔̆̆.̡̩͍̾͂̇ ̮̹̤̀̄̈́V̝͓̋̆̉ͅi̩̳̮̾̑͘ḿ̙͇̥̐̓ā͎͍̪̔̅ṉ͈̭͆͐͠ä͚̬̜́͋͝ ͕̲͍͒́́ĉ̜̯͓̐̉e̛̘͙̻̔͗ĺ̹̗̹̏͝l̼̠̤̓̈̈s̖̦̬̀̿͠.̜͍̗̑̀͠.͍̼̼̉̈̋.̳͕̯̽͊͝ ̻̦͍̐͊̕G̤͚̜̿̀̈r̼̠͕̅̈́̚a̯͕̜̔̄̾h̹̠̼͛̎͒!̨̥͕̊̀̒ ̥̪͚̿͒̀ ͈̙̮̑̄̑Ạ̻̠̈́́͠c̢̗̰͌͂̆ȃ̤͎̮̎̔c̰̤͖͐́̈i̘͍̺͗͋̕ã̜̟̜̒̓!̥̯̩̀̀̇ ̛̳̰̰͊̄ ̨͖̗̆̾̈́Ǒ̖̥̦̐̊d̫͓̘̃̋̍ṵ͎̳̔̾̂y͓̺̜͐̊͘a̭͇͈̒̈́̇!͉͓͚̅́̊
̢͖͚͊̊͐
̢̻̘̈́̍̓Ḩ͍̹̀̀̕Å͓͉̞̃̆Ḥ̤͖͒̊͝A̛̭̮̞̐̓H͕̪̽̉̕ͅA̡̤̖͊̃͠H̥̹͊̈́̾͜A̻̲̠͂̈͗Ḫ̙͇̾̅͠A͓͇̜̒̊͐H͍̤͓̉͋̔À̡̲̹͗̇H̝͈̪͗̃̏Â̰̜̜̅͝H̤̲̰̀́̂A̡͇͆͌͜͝H̬͔̭̽̓͝A̯̺̭̓̀̇H̼͎̫̆̾͝A̞̥̬͑͊͒Ḥ̨͎͗̅͘Ą̲̬̒̀͘H̝̣̻̐̈́͆A̧̦͈̓̂͐A̡͇̲͂̚͝A̙̼̼̒̎̕Ȃ̟̼̣̈͘Ǎ̛̦̜̘̂A͙̰̝͋̌͠
̺͎̲̍̓͘T̨̤̱͑̈́̕h̨͖̏́͜͝ȩ̺̈́͆̒͜ ̟̩̃̿͘ͅv̡̰͑̐̈́͜o̢̘̤͆͑̀ì̜̞̥͛͝ć͔͇̲̀̚e͍̙̣͂̿͝s̗̞̰̀͂̈ ͓̖̹̃̈̽s̬͓̤͋̂͘ā̩̟̀͜͝y̙̖̬̾̇͆ ̰̯̎̒͑͜ē̛̺͔͐ͅm̞̥̓́͛͜ṕ͙͕̺̀̄t̤̱̪͆̂̔ẏ̡̹̣͋͗,̳͍̑̈́̓͜ ͍͚̰̎͆͋h͍͎̠́̈́̍o̰̖̍̃̊͜l̟̳̙̒͛̃l̨̝̣̇̈́̉o̬̝͍̊̐͆ẅ͎̜̳́͌͠,͔̟̣̇̎̇ ̰̻͕͊͒͠ä̖̜͓́̀͊n̛̼̮̻̍͋ḋ͍̯̓͂ͅ ̢͚͈͌̐͝ẗ͚̩͎̇̓h̢̹͚̉̂͠u͚̩̺̅̄̀d͖̬͓̓̀́!̜͕̻͑͐̑

WHAT IS THIS? AAARGH... NO! DON'T STOP! KEEP GOING!
...must... Find... SOMETHING! RRRGH... NGYAAA!



R̫͕͓͒̈́̃è̛̩͖̟̈́c͕̙̉͒͒ͅi̭̺̤͐̾̄p̯̰̄̔̐͜é͚͕̙͆͌s̼͈͚̈́̅͂ ̧̗̺̃͐̅ö̟͕́̈̇͜f̘͍̪̈̓̓ ͍̣̳̈̍͠b̥͚̯̑͑̑l͎̜̳͌̂̒ǫ̖͆̋͘ͅo̫̞͍͋͗͘d̼͙͕̐̔̉ ͓̟̘̽̉̑a̳̦̝̒͗͐ṅ͈̫̳̽͝d̯̪̉̈́͝ͅ ͍̟͎̏̒̽f̛̥͉̟̋̕ḯ̻̺̖͂͝ř͓̟̯͆̇e̗̹̱͋̆͠ ̘̣̹̋̿̀i̤̬͚͛́̚n̨̮̱̓̌̔ ̨̢̥̌́̽d̳͔̹̾̅͂ã͉̗͎̍̿r̢͚͍͗̓͝k͙̻̙̿̏́ ̬͖͚͌̓̅p̣̬̙̌̔̆i̢̮̭̇͛̈t̡̘̣͆̊̚s͉̙̄̂̃ͅ

T̳͔̩̐͊͝o͇̣͇͛̐̔ ̖̮̯̇̕͝q̻̟͉̿̆̌ü̹̻̪̕̕ë̞͈̣̋̍ǹ̞͈̯̒̍ĉ̻͔̫́̐h͕̙̓͒̈́ͅ ͈̤̗̃̀͂ţ͖̪̆̌̓ḫ̹͈́̈́͠e̙̳̼̎̄̀ ̟̪̼̂̉̋t̥̠̯͂͊́h̩͓̥́̀́ī̮̭̩͗̕ŗ̧̳̓̒̈́s̢̙͚̒̿͝t̘̩͉͂̓͝ ̼̠̹̈́̔̆o̟̰̭̊̕͠f̱̻̘̏͋͘ ̨̣̳̀͑͐t̡̨̟̅̚͝ḣ̨͍̣̾͌o͓͓̟̓͗͠s̩̱̗̏͗̐ë͍̖̱́̅̓ ̱̟̜͛̈́̈́w̢̗̤̎̒̿ḩ̫̩̌͂̉ö̻̞̟́̐̄ ̨͉̳̒́͒ŝ̭̣͙͆̍ḫ̱͔̊̉͠o̰̺̟͂̈̍u͙̥̫̇̃̕l͎͓̗͌̌̋d̜̞͊̂̄͜ ̡͍̠̄̏͘n̳̻̜̅̂͛ö͕̲̗́́͝t̩̱̦̒̌́ ͇̳̳̉̂̕d̟̩̺̉̐̇r͕͈̰͋̓̎i̛͓̳͈̾͗n̡̘̞̑̿͘ǩ̩͎͙̒́

Ŵ̼̤͚̍͛r͕͚̾͐̔͜ȋ͔̻̉̕͜t̗̙͔̉̈́̀ ͕̠̠̉̑͠s̙͓̳̊̎̕e̢͙̒̿̋͜c̨̭̱̿̑̉r͈̼͌̂̚ͅe̛̛͎̙͇̅t̘̖̣̅̍͆l͈̱̩̽̆͘y̨͈͎̐̂̄ ̙͍̠̈̈́̍ḯ̠̗̲̄̆n̟͖̞̄̇͝ ̡̰̬̋͐̚n̨͎̭̽̐͝ó͙̻̩́̾ ̮͕̙͗̈́͠Ḽ̒͒̐͜ͅi̛̝͉̯̊̀b̼͚͇̓͗́r̻͉̹̎̉̋ḁ͉̓͘͠ͅȑ̦̩̪̑̿ẏ͓̥̣̀͗'̳͔͗̍͝ͅš̢͖͖̚͘ ̖̦̫̃̕͘w̺̮̗̒͋̆ḭ͖̂́̍͜ṫ̤̙͈͊͘s̲̦̮͋͛͝

B̖̯̲̀̀͝ĺ̻̣̿͗͜ḁ̳̗̀̽̋c̨̠̪̄̑̇ḱ͚̹̪͒͌ ̡͔͆͋͆ͅḃ̛̰̟̻̒o̥̮̤̅̐͌o̡̝͈͒͐̋ḱ̻̙̺͛̕,͓̈́̍̂͜͜ ̼̘̲́̆͘b̙̪̬̑̇̚l͉̬̥͋̈͘â̮̱̥̎͒c͖͚̹̎̀̌ķ̦͍̅̂͘ ̜̳͕́̆͑c̛͍̬͔͂͒ȧ̞̦͇̊͐v̡̖̜͐̈͊e̠̞̞͗͐͋,͚̺͈̈́͋̕ ̣̣̣̍͑̎ţ̬̝̈́̋̍w̡̝͓͌̀̋o̫̥̜̅̄̄ ̰̈́͆͗ͅͅb̨͕͇̄̈͊l̛͕̹̜̎͝a̰̣̠̾̀̏c̬̣̮̅̒̄k̨̭̝̇̇͋ ̨̖͈̆̊̿w̬̻̫͋̀̄a̪̩̒̔͜͠t̢̰̺̄̚͝e͕̥̺͒̈́̔ṛ̨̠̾̿̆,̛̰̝̦̈́̊ ̤̳̃̉̽͜b̨͔͇̈́̀́l̯̙̜̓͆͗à̡̲̟̇̇c̢̝̫͋̃͝k̬̖͊͊͗͜ ̡̨̱̎͆͝b͍͖̣̓͆͝ṛ̠̲́̉̆i̙̳̣̋̒̏n̡̙̬͆̽͒k̖̠̯͂́̚

There! THERE! TURN IT OFF! Kill it kill it KILL IT KILL IT NOW NOW NOW! HELP ME! PLEASE!

"Get him out of there now! Bring him here, I'm taking him to the - OOMPH!" Glytch reached up and grabbed the collar of Brandi's shirt, pulling her down close.
"NO! Not the border! Not the boundary! Keep me away from THE STYX! That's the boundary between the land of the living and the land of the DEAD! And I'm not ready to die, just yet missy... I've got too many things to do... Hehheheeeheheheeehhh... no... No drugs and rough sheets and old-people-stinks for meeee! I... I know something... Should I tell you? Yes... NO! SHE'LL JUST DESTROY IT! But isn't that the point? The point is to help... HELP WHO? US? OR THEM? RRRRRRAAAAGH! No MORE!"
Glytch came to and immediately felt he had broken bones in his hands, broken ribs, cramped muscles everywhere, and a five-alarm headache. He looked around and saw twenty guns trained on him.
"Ow. Um. It's ok, guys. I'm here... It's me."
"Are you sure?" Billens' voice spoke from behind. "Because I gotta say, that was pretty freaky."
"I'm... I'm good. I'm glad I put those dimmer switches in." Glytch turned and saw Brandi with a fist fully drawn back in preparation for a lethal blow. "Thanks for taking me seriously."
"Well... It was freaky."
"Does anybody have a pencil and paper?" Glytch shouted before clutching at his ribs. "Ow... That hurt."
"Got it!" Someone called from in the crowd.
"Write this down:
Recipes of blood and fire in dark pits
To quench the thirst of those who should not drink
Writ secretly in no Library's wits
Black book, black cave, two black water, black brink.
Got it?"
"Yep!"
"Ok... Now... Somebody take me to a hospital..."
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

MIB Headquarters, Langley Virginia - Medical wing

"Haven't you people heard of the Osteoid?" Glytch growled, gritting his teeth against the pain of his broken bones.
"Well, yes... But we have other options, you know. They're even faster than that." The doc in charge of Glytch said, staring at his clipboard. "And considering your ah... Position in society, I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble paying for these treatments."
Glytch narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "Oh, is that what's going on?"
BANG
"Dammit Abe, I told you to behave yourself!" Brandi stormed into the room, followed closely by a rather large man... Glytch suspected he could twist a truck tire into a figure eight.
"Doctor Boad was just trying to sell this hospital's faster, more effective treatments to me."
"Ah-" Abe's face became five shades paler in as many milliseconds.
"DOCTOR?!" Brandi stalked forward and flicked Abe square on the forehead... Producing an audible *crack*. His head snapped back from the impact and his body followed, crashing through the window and into the courtyard below.
"Wow... Ok, so I guess he was a problem." Glytch stared out the window.
Brandi snorted. "Psych ward patient. Far too clever for his own good..." Brandi caught Glytch's look. "He's also an automaton. Hephaestus was drunk when he built him... And never really got around repairing him. Don't worry, he's fine."
Glytch let out his breath. "Hokay... I was kinda wondering..."
"Sorry about that... He is a real troublemaker."
"So... I've been looking at that... Riddle? Poem? Whatever it is I learned from the Gem, I've been looking at it... And I think I have an idea."
Brandi handed Glytch a fruit gummy before sitting down to listen. "Go on...?"
"Thanks. Woah, is that Guava? Yum! Anyway... Billens mentioned odd reports coming back from the Chicxulub Impact crater. What's going on there?"
Brandi rolled her eyes. "Some idiots are trying to restart the old Cenote Cult. Dropping virgin girls into the sinkholes and such. All it does is contaminate the water supply. They keep focusing on the ones on the ring around the crater, though. They refuse to use the others."
"Ah huh." Glytch recited the poem again. "That last line... 'Black book, black cave, two black water, black brink.'"
"Yeah?"
"That's the location of whatever the Gem... Whatever Legion... Was talking about. I don't know what the symbolism for the Black book would be... It doesn't sound good, though. I keep imagining the Necronomicon, for some reason, but that's actually fiction. Anyway... 'Black cave'? Probably either a Cenote with an attached horizontal cave... Preferably a long one that goes nice and deep... Or one with lots of black rock. Either that or it's a cave with a black... As in a dark, or bad, history. 'Two black water...' That's the phenomenon where freshwater floats on top of the salt water in the underground river network."
"Heh, yeah... That's really cool to swim in. Even more awesome when you don't have to come up for air." Brandi smiled, obviously enjoying a memory. "That priest was oh so surprised when all three of us came back after getting tossed in..."
"I keep forgetting you are... Uh..." Glytch sputtered to a rough stop as he reconsidered what he was about to say.
Brandi raised an eyebrow. "Old? Yeah... I guess. Chronologically, sure. It's more about your mindset... Ask Greg when you get the chance. Continue."
"Right. So, uh, 'Black brink.' That implies some sort of cliff or pit that is usually dark. Perhaps the cave takes a sudden turn downward?" Glytch shrugged and winced. "The whole Chicxulub area is geographically weird, because of the impact crater. Maybe there's an anomalous cave in there nobody's found recently. Anyway, that's the best I can do without detailed knowledge of the subterranean river network in the Yucatan."
Brandi offered another gummy and sat back in her chair. "Back in the day, there was a particularly zealous priest who figured out a way to splice gills onto his body. Weird stuff... He did that to explore the network... He wanted to find out where exactly the portal to the underworld was."
Glytch swallowed the gummy and absentmindedly scratched his head. "What does a guy with a gillyweed addiction have to do with this?"
"Well... One day he comes up, all bloody and crazed... Well, even more crazed than usual, and says he finally found it. A pit, at the end of a particularly long mixwater cave."
Glytch raised himself up on his elbows. "What else did he say?"
Brandi shrugged. "Don't know... He keeled over at that point. Dead before he hit the ground."
"Weird. Well, I guess... Wait. Pit with fire? Blood to drink for those who shouldn't?"
"Yeah?" Brandi offered another gummy.
"Well... That sounds like the necromancy in The Oddessy."
"No! No... That... That was supposed to be fake!" Brandi stood. "That recipe was complete crap! I mean... Yeah, it was based on some old Etheitian stuff, but that was already a bunch of half-forgotten, twisted nonsense... Still had a little bit of power, but I thought Jin convinced Homer to leave out the important parts."
"I think I have an idea on the source of the Etheitian stuff. They might have gotten it from Gillyweed's Pit. Black Book. It is some sort of necromantic reference. A book of dark arts." Glytch sat up and swung his legs off the edge of the bed. "A Lanthian book, rediscovered by the Etheitians, lost to all modern humans except Gillyweed and... Now us... A book that was somehow hidden from The Library!"
Brandi's eyes widened. "That thing will be incredibly dangerous... If the Lanthians left it in some hole..."
"It means they couldn't destroy it, but didn't want it around." Glytch stood up. "You know, these gummies really are excellent. Why aren't they being released to the public?"
"If the regular humans haven't made their own all by themselves, releasing magitech would cause too much disruption. Remember the Trojan War? That Golden Apple wasn't just a golden apple."
Glytch popped the joints in his hands and stretched, feeling his bones and muscles. "Fine. But they really do work well. Weren't you eating them too?"
Brandi held one in her fingers. With a barely visible flash and a quiet poit, the gummy reappeared in the bag Brandi was holding. "Nope."
"Well, aren't you slick?"
"You hadn't figured that out by now?"
"So... Who are you going to send... To... Um..." Glytch's voice petered off as Brandi gave him a dangerous grin. "Ohboy. I guess I'm glad I kept up with my archery."
Brandi nodded. "You were subjected to Legion's mind. You probably experienced more than just words floating in the darkness, right?"
Glytch shuddered. "...yeah. A lot more. Too much all at once... And that was just... Wait, what percentage was it when I started telling everyone to shut it down?"
"You withstood 1%... Barely."
Glytch breathed a heavy sigh. "Well... I'm really I put in those dimmer switches... But I think I'm going to need smaller increments next time."
"Still... What you experienced... It might be more precise instructions. Images, memories..." Brandi stood up and poked Glytch gently in the ribs where they were broken. "Any pain?"
"No. Yes, I think..."
I approached the... Object... It felt... Unhealthy. It reeked of horrible power... Strange, angular lines, glowing dark green, snaked from it into the pillar supporting it, and finally into the ground. It was bound shut by an iron lock... The metal was dark and pitted, but the inscriptions around the keyhole were still legible... Glowing faintly green. An obsidian key, razor sharp and covered in gunk, sat atop it.
...
Glytch awoke on his back, lying on the floor. "What the hell?"
"Did you just have a seizure?!?" Brandi knelt next to him, a worried look on her face.
"The hell I did, I just remembered something!" Glytch stood up and waved away the nurse. "Look, we need to get to this thing and figure out what to do with it."
"Wasn't it a book?"
"No. It's a computer... More like a... Cloud storage drive. Ancient Lanthian tech, unlocked by... Getting blood from a stone... Or something."
Brandi raised an eyebrow at Glytch. "Go home. Sleep. I want you to get a good dose of natural REM, got it?"
"Alright, alright. That'll help my brain process it... Ok."
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Glytch was put on medical leave for several weeks... He spent the time catching up on his videogame backlog, sleeping... And practicing archery. He had let his range membership expire in favor of MIB's private outdoor range... Every once in a while, a visiting elf would notice his shooting and his bow and strike up a conversation. One day, a troop of paranormal Scouts (paraScouting had long since integrated Girl and Boy Scouts, largely due to the number of species with more or fewer genders than 2) came through on a little outing to get their archery merit badge. Glytch immediately became the impromptu teacher, working alongside the hired archery instructor. A few of the kids had trouble holding the bow... Tentacles and suckers weren't really built for archery.
By the end, all of them wanted to see Glytch show off... After much goading from adult and child alike, he relented and walked through the pits... Past the short range... Past the advanced handgun range... All the way to the sniper range. The whole troop was dead silent as he pulled an arrow from his quiver and mocked it, pulling back on the bowstring until it barely touched his cheek... And aimed first directly at the target - 200 meters away.
"200 meters... Wind... Two cross-breezes... Gravity arc... Account for shaft flexing..." As Glytch spoke, he added adjustments to his aim. First up to account for the discrepancy between his eye and the arrow, then back and forth as he accounted for the different breezes, then up again, until he was shooting more at the sky than at the target to counter gravity.
Twang!
The arrow sailed away, arcing through the air, traveling along a shallow S curve as it navigated the wind, before hitting the soft target, punching completely through.
"Cease Fire on the Rifle Range... Collecting arrow!" Glytch called out and checked to make sure everyone was finished before walking out to his target with the whole troop in tow.
The moment they saw the target, there was a unanimous "WOAH!"
The arrow had punched clean through the target... The nock barely stuck out of the front of the target. The rest of the arrow was buried in the dirt, almost vertical from the arcing path it took... And it was in the bullseye, off by less than an inch from dead center.

Finished with the Para Scouts, Glytch was packing up his gear when Billens approached him. "That was a helluva shot, kid... Not many humans can even hit the elven target... Let alone score a bullseye."
"Well, I was trained by Emerauld. And I'm pretty sure this bow isn't a normal compound bow... There's no way the pull weight accounts for that kind of distance."
Billens chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's no small amount of magic in that thing. So... Brandi wanted me to check on you. Have any more seizures lately?"
Glytch shook his head. "Not since the fifth night. After I got some good dreaming in, they stopped. The memories aren't so vivid, but I think I can find the Black Book... Just get me close enough and the memories will start to point me in the right direction."
"Good... Get your gear together, because you have to lead the expedition." Billens handed him a packet of paper in a yellow envelope. "All the details of the mission and all the recon we've managed to get are in here."
Glytch took the envelope. "So I guess I'm not on leave anymore?"
"Yup. Now you get to go frolicking in a tropical rainforest and scuba-diving in the Yucatan river caves." Billens smirked.
"I love my job..."
"It does have its advantages, doesn't it?"
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Glytch went home to his tiny studio apartment to prepare for his trip to Mexico.
I don't know what we're going to be up against... Bugs and heat will be the main concern... Possible hostiles around the artifact... Brandi will take care of scuba gear... Thank goodness I got certified on that family vacation... Brandi should be a good guide... But I don't want to be helpless if everything goes bad...
Glytch packed for hot, humid weather... November in Central America was about the same thing as a humid July day in Illinois. If he was on vacation, he might wear shorts and t shirts and a baseball cap... But he would be hiking and possibly fighting.
Guess I'll just have to drink lots of water...
He used his large internal-frame backpack for the normal items... Rugged jeans he had coated with water repellant, tough, yet lightweight, hooded shirts, a spare pair of old sneakers, short and long socks, camouflage rain gear, swim trunks, toiletries, bug spray, trash bags... He didn't need sunscreen - Glytch tanned, but almost never burned.
In a separate, easy to reach compartment went Eme's bag... Containing his bow, quiver, arrows, and all of his ranger gear she had made for or given to him...leather patchwork trousers, hooded tunic, boots, fingertip-less gloves, and armguards; the chainmail coif and the Elven Kevlar; a restocked first aid kit, fire kit, and repair kit; an elven buck knife, and sharpening stones. Also to be packed was the shadowy dagger and sheath with the harness Glytch had made from the chainmail shoulder sling that came with it, and the suspiciously lightweight scale armored cloak given to him by Safyr... As well as the crystal distress call wand and, of course, the infinite glass bottle of Vanilla Coke. He never went anywhere without that.
Be Prepared... Glytch smiled as he remembered the Scout Motto. Well, I've done my best in that regard...
Glytch then dressed in similar clothes, wearing both short and long socks underneath hiking boots (prevents blisters). When he finished, he sent a text to Brandi... Almost immediately, he heard a poit just outside his door.
"Come on in, I know you're there."
"You know, teleportation would be really great for sneaking up on people if it wasn't for the sound." Brandi said as she entered and looked around. "Wow. Nudge wasn't kidding. This is pretty claustrophobic."
Glytch shouldered his pack. "Yeah... I'm looking to move out once this is over. There's a nice little ranch house over in another suburb that was just built last year."
"Well... That will be a definite step up. I bet you can't wait."
"No sense waiting time now, then, right? I'm ready to go." Glytch stepped near Brandi.
"Heh... Where to?"
"Let's start with the westernmost Cenote on the outer Chicxulub impact ring and work our-"
Poit!
"Uh... Our... Way... East. Ok. Hi, Mexico." Glytch reeled as he adjusted to the sudden change of scene... Going from his 64°F tiny, clean apartment to an 85°F humid rainforest clearing around a gaping hole filled with water in less than an instant was rather jarring.
"Bienvenidos a México!" Brandi chuckled.

"Ok... So I take it you know the locations of all the cenotes?"
"Yup... Studied the map to make sure my memory was right." Brandi tapped her head with a finger. "It's been a while, but it's all still here."
"Alright... Let's just poit from one to the next... I'm not really sure how this will play out... Just be ready to stop if I do get something."
"Ok!"
Poit!
Brandi glanced at Glytch.
"Nope."
Poit!

...

Night had fallen... And still, Glytch had not experienced a memory that pointed them in any direction. The two had long since exhausted the cenote ring, gone over it two more times, and begun to explore some of the random cenotes to the east of the impact structure.
Glytch and Brandi had fallen into a sullen silence hours ago. Finally, Brandi cleared her throat. "Glytch... Maybe we need to... Get more details. This isn't working."
"No... No, that's not it... There's... Something wrong here..." Glytch sat down on a rock. "Aren't... Aren't there any Cenotes closer to the center?"
"Yeah... But they're more due to Merida... Broken sewers and such."
"No... Closer than that. Black pit... Black cave... All the cenotes we've been looking at are open to the sky! They aren't black, they get sunlight!"
"You want to find a covered Cenote. In the middle of a rainforest. At night."
Glytch shrugged. "Got any better ideas? I'm thinking we start at the centermost cenote and work our way outward..."
Poit!
"Ungh..." Glytch held his head in his hands, squinting against the headache. "Did something go wrong with that Poit?"
"No... Are you ok?"
"Rrrrg... Yeah. I'm... I'm fine. Ow..." Glytch forced himself to open his eyes and look around. "Uh. Brandi? Where are you?"
"I'm right here, duh?"
Glytch turned toward her voice. "I can't see you."
"Um... Ok. Can you see anything?"
"Yeah... I see the Cenote and the trees and stuff..."
Brandi was silent for a moment. "Reach out and touch one of the smaller plants."
Glytch did... And although he saw his hand touch the plant, he didn't feel it. "What? Um... My hand doesn't feel numb..."
Brandi was silent again.
"So... Now what? I'm hallucinating?"
No response.
"Hellooo?" Glytch looked around again before taking off his pack... The moment he felt it leave his shoulders, he couldn't find it again.
"What the hell?"
Glytch began to walk... He didn't have a choice in the matter. His body just started to walk.
"Brandi?" Still no response. "I think I'm having a memory!" Thunk! "Ow!" Glytch rubbed his nose. "I don't think the memory matches the world now..."

I walked through the forest, following the ghost.. The moon rose and fell, and just when the sun was about to come back... She led me to the base of a round hill with fewer trees... It looked bare in comparison to the rest of the land. She pushed a tree over, it landed up against the hill... Revealing a deep black pit... Filled with water.
A hidden chen? Why is it hidden?


"GUUUHHH! Oooh... Damn, this hurts!"
"FINALLY! Will you stop speaking Etheitian and pay attention?"
"Huh?" Glytch blinked and looked at Brandi. "Hey! I can see you!"
"About time! Do you know how many times I just saved your life and your ability to breathe through your nose?" Brandi huffed, looking very much irritated.
"...no... But thanks?"
"I'm pretty sure that panther has a crush on me now!"
Glytch wasn't sure how to process that. "Uh. Sure. Ok. I think we're here. The pit is under this hill."
"What the hell just happened? And why were you speaking a dead language?"
"I was remembering. I guess I kinda went on autopilot there. My bad."
Brandi stared at Glytch, her expression full of fear, concern, and confusion. "You are never going back in that interface chamber... Not until you make damned sure this never happens again. Got it?"
"Yeah... I've already got ideas on how to make it safer. Can you please open this up so we can keep looking?"
Brandi huffed and turned toward the hill, kicking at the base where the tree once was. The impact rattled the surrounding trees all the way up to their leaves, causing several hundred nuts and fruits to fall, thudding softly on the forest floor.
A large section of the hill caved in, again revealing a pitch black pit... Covered by what was obviously at one time a very well built dome of large stone bricks.
"Black cave, Black pit. There we go." Glytch crossed his arms. "You first."
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Glytch had decided he did not like this place and wanted to get this done and over with so he could go home. Everything seemed a little more... Hostile around this Cenote.
The cenote was deep... Brandi had to swim down with a depth meter first to know what type of air tank to poit in. When she poited back, she was visibly shaken.
"Are you armed?" She asked, wringing the water out of her hair.
"Yes... Why?" Glytch walked to his pack and began to pull out his weapons and armor... Both because she mentioned it and as an excuse to look away - her swimwear was... rather distracting.
"I... Have a bad feeling. I got to the bottom... And all I wanted to do was get away. Far away." She crossed her arms and sat on a boulder, drawing her legs close.
Glytch stopped, noticing her tone. "Fear? What... What's... Uh..."
Brandi chuckled nervously. "I am technically a product of necromancy... There are... Interactions between things of our nature. Tina looks very strange to us, as she is undead. Golems interact with one another... The Chimera is one of those interactions. I'd say your idea that this is some necromantic artifact is probably correct."
Glytch sat down next to Brandi. "Are you ok? Or would you rather call someone else in?"
"Don't worry, I'm under control." Brandi's tone and expression became a little more stern.
"No... That's not it. I'm worried for you."
Brandi snorted. "I'm a golem, remember? Indestructible, immortal..."
"Sez you. You are magitech, right? That's how Atsali described you. So is this. Where there is code, there are hackers. I don't want to put you at risk for getting hacked or anything."
Brandi smiled at him. "Thanks... I'll be fine. May was pretty clever... I'm sure I'm safe."
"...Ok, then. Go get the scuba gear... I'll change into my swim trunks and get my armor on. I'll need a drysuit... The chainmail, scale, and the leather will definitely not like getting wet... Especially with saltwater."
Brandi nodded and vanished.

Brandi reappeared a short time later and looked over Glytch's new outfit - he was wearing the patchwork leather ranger gear Eme' made for him not long after he had first joined up with Club Alexander. Under the tunic was the elven Kevlar and over top of it was the chainmail coif. He kept Safyr's scale cloak and his bow and quiver in Emerauld's bag of holding. A pair of short, brown leather belts held Eme's silvery elven knife to his right thigh, while Safyr's ornate black dagger hung in the small of his back, held in place by the modified shoulder sling. At his side lay a lumpy black trash bag.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" Brandi said, circling Glytch.
"No... If it comes to fighting, I'm sticking to my bow... This apparently makes me invisible to enemies. If anything, I'll hold it with my bow to hide while I shoot."
"Ok... And what's in the bag?"
"It's three trash bags, all individually twisted and tied shut, around Eme's bag... That's where I'm keeping the bow and arrows... And Safyr's cloak... And a first aid kit."
Brandi came back into Glytch's field of view, smiling and shaking her head. "You really are a Boy Scout."
"I still remember the Oath and Law."
"Allright... Let's get you into your diving stuff. It's a pity you need to breathe air... This would be so much simpler if you didn't."

...

After a brief lesson on how to use MIB's more elegant solution to breathing underwater, Brandi helped Glytch into his gear: a drysuit, short fins and elastic-webbed gloves, a full diving helmet fitted with a two-way radio, headlights, and an ingenious little sponge on a tiny magnetized spring for scratching his nose, a wrist-mounted dive computer, and the most important part - the accelerated photosynthetic rebreather.
"...wait. What?" Glytch stared at the streamlined black hard-cased backpack.
"It contains a chamber filled with thin tubes of genetically altered phytoplankton suspended in a air-permeable foam, lit by an extremely bright array of LED's. The foam also provides nutrients to the plankton. Every time you breathe out, the carbon dioxide is re-converted into oxygen. Carbon Monoxide still has to be filtered out the old fashioned way, so there's still a limit." Brandi opened the case up to reveal an absolute rat's nest of tubes and hoses, flanked by two tanks on the sides and a small black box on the bottom.
Glytch forced himself to close his jaw and asked "How long?"
"One to three days, depending on how excited you get."
Glytch's jaw dropped again. "Woah..."
Brandi poited a final item into her hands - a microwave-sized coil of fluorescent yellow cord - Kevlar core with a bright nylon coating. "So we don't get lost. I can poit us out, but there are ways of blocking that... This is just in case."
"Ariadne's thread." Glytch took the coil and examined it... The cord was no thicker than a shoestring, but less flexible. After some thought, he tied it to a sturdy tree with a figure-eight follow-through.
Brandi admired the knot. "That's going nowhere fast."
Glytch flashed her a grin. "It's a standard knot for rock climbers. That's exactly what it's for - being extremely stubborn."
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Once Glytch was ready, Brandi poited herself and Glytch down into the cenote. Glytch led the way, uncoiling the yellow cord as he went, swimming in a shallow spiral around the edge of the cenote, looking for auxiliary caves. Glytch had to use his headlamps, while Brandi simply used her eyelights.
Brandi's voice crackled through the radio, picked up by a throat mic. "Doesn't look like there's anything going off the sides."
"No... But it's always good to check. I'm not really sure where I need to go. I'm glad it's sealed off at the top... No trees to dodge and visibility is pretty good."

They continued to swim down until they finally reached the bottom - Glytch could feel the pressure of the water squeezing down on him. Glytch marveled at the radial cracks in the bottom. "Looks like it's still active. Are you still getting that foreboding feeling?"
Brandi came into Glytch's view. "Yeah... It gets worse the deeper I go..."
Glytch nodded. "Maybe we can use that to navigate. I saw three branch caves... Did you see any more than that?"
"No."
"Let's check one out and see how you feel."

They swam to the wall of the cenote, and a somewhat narrow cave came into view, looking like a mouth of some toothy monster - it was thick with stalactites and stalagmites.
"Careful, Glytch... Don't get snagged."
"Got it."
Glytch picked his way through, half-crawling, half-swimming, uncoiling the line behind him with first one hand then the other.
Soon, it became impassible. "Brandi, this is too tight. How are you feeling?"
"Better... I think. We need to go back... No sense in smashing through this."
"Sorry... I know you just want to get away from this."

The next cave was much wider and more open... The stalagmites and stalactites were twice as large, but more spread out and easier to navigate by far. He liked it a lot more than the tight one. "It's nice to be able to look at these things without being too worried about them chomping on my tubes."
"They are pretty, aren't they?"
They continued on for another twenty five meters or so before Brandi noticed she was feeling better and they turned back.

The last cave went north... Straight at the ocean, and also straight at the center of the impact crater. It was far les interesting... The limestone formations were much smaller, and the walls were smoother.
It wasn't long before Brandi confirmed it was the right cave. "I really don't like this one..."
"Sorry to say this, but that's a good thing."
"I know..."
They swam on while Glytch tried to keep Brandi in good spirits by chatting with her... He quickly learned her mind was incredibly impressive - she knew so much about so many different topics and fields of study, it reminded him of just how much he had left to learn about the world. "Remind me to never play Trivial Pursuit against you."
"I think I just might challenge you to a game... Maybe even bring in Phix. That would be fun!"
Glytch made a mental note to go on a Wikipedia random-article dive when he got home.
Just then, he spotted what looked like... Water. "Wait. What? I'm in water!"
"You dork, that's saltwater! Just like you thought!" Brandi swam ahead and poked a hand into it. "See?"
The movement of her hand caused the two waters to mix and swirl, suddenly looking like heat haze.
"Cool!" Glytch swam forward and down, under the surface of the saltwater, rolled, and looked up. "This is really weird..."
"Two black waters... If we turned off our lights... Go ahead, I want to check something."
Glytch clicked his headlights off, and Brandi's eyes gradually dimmed and stopped glowing. Once her light was gone, Glytch couldn't see anything... Not even his own hand in front of his face. "Ok... What did you want to check?"
"Cave dark. There is literally no light down here. At all. I can't even see. Black cave, two black waters, check."
Glytch turned on his headlights and reoriented himself. "If it wasn't for the cord, I'd be hopelessly lost now. I had no idea I had floated around this much."

The two continued onward, as Glytch played in the salt/freshwater boundary. Brandi followed along silently, as her chuckles and giggles at Glytch's apparent joy became ever more rare, eventually stopping all together. The limestone formations gradually became denser and closer... It was almost impassible when Glytch spotted a turnoff. They followed it, and it quickly opened back up, going from a small tunnel into a sizeable corridor...
Suddenly, it opened up into a truly massive cavern... An underground lake, inside an enormous dome. Brandi tried to light it up more with her facelight, to no avail. The black darkness was oppressive. As they kept swimming, Glytch noticed they were swimming upwards, and slowed down. "I can't go fast, I need to decompress."
Brandi's reply was terse. "Fine." Glytch looked back and saw her swimming along, arms crossed and refusing to make eye contact. Even underwater, her body language was plain as day.
She's feeling vulnerable...
"Hey." Glytch stopped and swam to her. "Look at me."
Brandi reluctantly looked toward Glytch, but still didn't make eye contact.
Glytch put a hand on her shoulder. "I know this is weirding you out, and I'm sorry... But I'm here. Talk if you need to. If something is wrong, tell me. We're on a mission and I don't want you to put yourself at unnecessary risk. Ok?"
Brandi finally looked Glytch in the eyes. "... Thanks. I think I'm ok. I I just have a really bad feeling about this. Last time I goofed around with a piece of Lanthian tech, my friend got a knife to the head, and it really hurt her... On the inside."
Glytch gave Brandi a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. "I caught bits and pieces of that while we were at Castle Alexander. It sucks having to do things for the greater good, knowing it will hurt someone. I've never been in as intense a situation as that, but I've had to make somewhat similar choices... I know Monica's not going to go for professional help..."
"How do you know about that?" Brandi narrowed her eyes at Glytch.
Glytch held her gaze. "I've seen it before. It's also not her style. I've seen that before, too. And finally, I pay attention to everything... I don't ignore anything. Anyway... A hurt like that can't be treated or healed, it can only be made worse by attempts to meddle. The only thing that will help her is time... And because she is immortal, it will take her a lot of time... Death doesn't loom over her head... She has all the time in the world to hold a grudge... But she will eventually be fine. I promise."
Brandi put a hand on Glytch's as he gave another slight squeeze. "Thanks."
Glytch smiled and scratched his nose with the thingamajig. "Come on, now... We still have a quest to complete!"
They swam very slowly upwards, approaching the center of the chamber, making decompression stops every once in a while to make sure Glytch didn't get the bends... Glytch insisted on taking it nice and easy - he'd heard about the bends, and he had no intention of experiencing that nasty business firsthand.
Finally, they finished the last safety stops at 6 meters AND 3 meters (Glytch really, really, really didn't want the bends) and emerged from the water on a round dome of carefully carved black rock... Constructed without a single bit of mortar, carved painstakingly smooth and precisely. All around the island was water, both from the ocean and from the underground rivers. At the center of the dome was a perfectly cylindrical pit, about twenty-five meters across, that sank deep into the earth... Glytch could just make out a faint red glow at the bottom. Three arches crossed over the pit, following the curvature of the island perfectly, intersecting directly over the center of the pit. Atop the arches was a small circular platform, out of which rose a short pillar, about stomach high, supporting a black cube about the size of Glytch's head.

Brandi waited as Glytch took off his helmet. Before speaking. "This is classic Lanthian architecture... It's old, even for them... Must be one of their earlier structures that they repurposed. I wonder what the original use was for?"
"Well... That's the thing up there... The Black Book. You Lanthians built like videogame designers." Glytch stripped out of his drysuit and pulled Eme's bag from his trash bags, drawing out his bow and hanging the quiver across his back.
"Yeah, pretty much... Let's keep moving... I want to get this over with." Brandi let the way as Glytch followed, keeping an arrow fully-drawn and pointed at the cube.
When Brandi got to it, she was clearly very irritated.
"What's up?"
"This is rediculous... It needs a blood sacrifice to activate."
Glytch stopped in his tracks, thinking. "Now that you mention it, that makes sense. You can't bleed. Only a living mortal can do anything with it. It's actually kind of clever. Let me see."
Brandi stepped aside to reveal the cube. Around it was a pitted band of iron, featuring a jagged keyhole. Sticking out of the lock was an obsidian key, a barbed and spiked, razor sharp affair that, when Glytch pulled it out, was covered in gunk. "Ah... Brandi? I don't suppose you could-"
Brandi took the key and issued a bright, hot flame from her mouth, burning the gunk away and heating the key until the edges glowed faintly red, before waving it around to help it cool. "There ya go. Goodness knows what whacked out diseases were hanging out on that thing."
"Thanks. Let's hope it doesn't take a lot of blood to work..." He pressed the tip of the obsidian key into his left little finger. "Rrrg... Dah! There... Ow..." Once he got a few drops of his blood onto the key, he carefully slid it into the hole and turned.
Runes around the lock began to glow green, spreading throughout the lock and iron band, until it snapped open, landing on the stone platform with a clatter. The cube began to float as a tangle of angular lines began to glow on its own surface, spreading to the pillar and finally to the arches and into the rest of the island.
My ya gaht ov
"Glk!"
Glytch turned to see Brandi freeze in place. "Brandi! Hey! Brandi?" He turned back toward the cube, growling deep in his throat.
Ye gy lo ov du hok jiss
Brandi collapsed, crumpling to the ground, landing right at the edge of the platform.

Her arm slipped off.

Glytch jumped.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Glytch caught Brandi by the arm and leg and hauled her back onto the platform before hoisting her into his arms, carrying her down and away from the cube as fast as he could. "Goddamn Lanthian crazies!" He barked as he set her down, making sure she wouldn't slide into the the water. The cube's voice was booming now, reverberating through the chamber.
Ov di ya vae koh... The cube continued to speak, talking faster and louder as it went on...Every syllable had a visible effect on Brandi... With every passing second, her condition became worse. She began to shake and twitch, and then she screamed.

Glytch snapped.

"YOU CUT THAT OUT, BOX! SHE'S MY FRIEND!" He got his bow off of his shoulder and mocked an arrow, firing it directly at the cube. The arrow bounced off harmlessly, ricocheting and arcing into the water.
Ah... Tu saak ja zeh gi ya? Uk hok...
"She is my friend, and she is a good person... Please, stop..." Glytch put his bow away and spread his hands out. "I'm sorry I shot at you, but you were hurting her."
My goh fie zeel beh gaht... German?
"English."
English. Of course. Would you mind repeating what you said earlier? I was still learning from the golem.
"I said... She's my friend, and I asked you to please stop hurting her."
Oh. Well, since you asked so politely... No. Ti da leh zho...
Brandi screamed and twitched, and the whites of her eyes turned black as her back arched in agony. The cube continued to chant, its voice impassive and stoic.
"Rrrrg..." I... I don't know what to do... Glytch fired another arrow, with the same results, before slinging it across his back and running back up the arch. He quickly found the lock and key and tried to place it back on the cube, but the cube... Pushed him with some invisible force. Glytch wheeled his arms as his heels skidded off the edge of the platform, and the lock fell down into the pit... It began to whistle as it fell away.
Regaining his balance, Glytch snarled and jumped at the cube, wrapping one arm around the pillar as he drew Eme's knife, trying to probe at it, searching for an opening.
The cube released another wave of force - this time it was strong enough to send Glytch flying. He landed with a heavy thud halfway across an arch - with a careful roll and three-point stop, Glytch recovered and sheathed Eme's blade. "Hmph." Reaching back with his left hand, he drew Safyr's dagger before pulling his bow off and holding both in his left hand.
Ya kee zloh veh... Ah... What's this? You try to hide from me now? It doesn't do much good when I can't see in the first place... Nor do I need to.
Glytch carefully tiptoed around the cube, moving as fast as he could without making noise, before firing seven arrows in quick succession.
None of them touched the cube... They all veered away at the last possible instant.
Brute force is fruitless... Knowledge is power. And I am powerful!
Knowledge is power... I need to know more!
Glytch pulled out his phone and set two VORP requests.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

*VORP*

Glytch was back in his lab, staring at the reader pylon. "C'mon... C'mon..."
*VORP*
"Yes!" Glytch sprinted away the moment he saw the Insanity Gem flash into existence in its slot, running as fast as he could to the interface chamber, flipping switches and slamming buttons and typing commands as he went. The equipment hummed to life as he went. He stripped and suited up in the interface gear, turned all of the throttles to 100%, and dove into the chamber.

A͙̤̹̜̓͒̅͛h̛̻̞͙̮̊͆̎!̼͇͇̞͋̽̍̚ ͎̫͓̩́͛̈́̔ ͎̦̭̼̍̔̑̽W̭̤̦̝̏͗̇͘ę̫̖͕̃̀̀̏ ͕͈̜̯̎́̋̈à̬̰̻͎̍̊͝ŗ̢͍̎̏́͘͜e̪͎̼̤͐͋̿̂ ̞͕̝̝̒̓̍̄g̬͉̪̖̍͐͘͝ḯ̦̼̫̤̆̅̏v̘͔̬̇̆͌̈͜ē͙̘̟̩̂̅̍n̫͖̻̄̃̀͛͜ ̹̥̘̭͂́̇̿t̜͕̤̘͒̋̏́h̨̙̼͉̚͘͠͝o̧̫̬͈̊͊̏́ụ̖͉̼͛̌̉̿g̢͎̺͗̈́͌͜͠ȟ̢̬̠̻̽̓̉t̡̪͍͓̋̐̈́͝ ̱̙̣̐̍͘͜͠o̧͚̤̤̓͛̕͠ṅ̠̠̼͈̒̕̚c̢̬̮̘͆͂̿̈́e͉̖̖̘͋̎̂̓ ̡̗̲̈́͒̑̚͜m̦͔̦̭͋͊̀͊o̡̥͈̫͒̍̂̅r͇̮͉͌̀̒̐͜ë̦͔̹̯́̾̓̓!̭͍̗̄̈́̓̈͜

̟̼͚̞̓̈̍̃R̨̙͈̈̀͂̈́ͅe̡̞̥̱̓̽̈́̇c͔̠̳̱̾́͗̓í̢̞̻̺͊̀̂p͓̟̺̓͝͝͝ͅè̹͚̮̻̀͊̏s͓̱̞̓̂́̽͜ ̪̼̬͈̀̕̕̚ȯ̙̝̪͕̀̌͂f͎̳̲̰̋̇̂̚ ͈̫͇̪͛̃͑͝b̜̫͕̃̈̌̈́ͅl̻̺̦̙̅̈́̉͠o̧̱̺̦͋̂̀͝ò̧͖͙͕̆̓̕d̪̣͍̙̿̾͒̚ ͙̜̘̪̿̿̄̏a̧͈̙͍͋̽͊̇n͍̘̫̠̊͒̇͠ḑ̗̹̩̇̍̀̍ ̼̣̺̘͆̍͠͠f̟̟̼͕̔̄̎̓i̪̥̭͕͆̈́̚͝r̭̙̮̾́̈͝ͅẻ̢̢̜͕̀̈́̍ ̢̺̝̗͒̀̀́ǐ̖̜̩̹́̃͒ñ͓̘̙̩̀̃̌ ̨̱̝̹͗͆̿̒d̗̯̺̙̂̈́̌͐a͚̝͕̦̅̅́̋r̛͚̗̯̬̔͛͠k̭̹̹͖̀̒͐̆ ̜̳̳͒̈̆͠ͅp̢͚̜͔̽̇̓̍ǐ̳̞͙̗̋̓́ṱ̹̪͈̽̍̓̏ś͖̣̺̍̂̅͜

̠̖͔̈͛͛̔ͅT͓͙̠͍̔̌̂͝ò̜̗̺͓̄̉͝ ̞͎̝̯̑͊̿͛q̝͈̝̠̂͐̚͘ù̼̺̻̈́͛̓͜ḛ̢̰̮̾̄̔͑n͍̠̰͎͌͋͘͝c̗̦̄͗͊̏͜ͅĥ͕͍͖̦̆̇̆ ̢̡̝̤̋͐̉͊t͓͓̞͖̾̉̆̕h̳̹̰̫̽̀̚͠ȅ͍̬͇̂͘͠ͅ ͕̪̙̫͂͂̓͝t̟͉̝̐͐̐͗͜h̗͕͖̻̒̃̓͒ḯ͖͙͕̬͒̈́͘ȓ͍̤͇͙́̆͗s̞͚͔̄͒̈͝ͅt̢͚̣̺̓͋͋͘ ̙̥̪̻̆̀̚̚o͖̘̲͚̊̈͒̏f͖̱̗̩̀̎̀̆ ̡͎͙̜̍̓̈́̕ţ̙̤̃̉̊͒͜h̡̲̦̺̉̄̊̓o̦̯̲͓̓͋͗͌s͉̗̮̀̀̌̚͜ȇ̹͚͓̣̈́͂̀ ̻͖͚̆̓̌̈́͜w̱̙̭͚̔̆̾͆h͙̯̬̤́̔̆͗o̭̘̤͚̊̇̚͠ ̤͖͕̰̌̈̃̓s̮̯͖̣̆̓̾͝h̹̥͇͋̏͒́͜ȯ͕͔̰̻̃̾̓u͕̗̫̭͐̀̆̐ļ̣̙̜͊͛͗͘d̻͈̰͚̑̾̇̓ ̖͎̪̟̎͆̇̇ņ̨̱͙̿̄̏͂o̼͙̼̤̓̀̈̔t͔͙̝̋̔̾̍ͅ ̨̬̭̐̏̂͜͝ḑ͖̮̲̾̏͒̀ȑ̢̜͎̲̈́̂́ĩ̡͎͖͈̔̐͐ņ̦̭̱̀̑̑͌k̢̳̮̼̓̾͋̀

̥̣̳̳͒̊̇̓W͇͚̦̺͗̀̀̉r̰͖͚̱̍̈́̾̃į͉̹̞̓̋̒̿t͕͖̪̰̿̀̐̚ ̡̟̝̙̑̈̆͝s̱̩̖̤̓̇̊͠e͇̹͔̮̅̊̂̉ḉ͕̘̙͛̈́̿r̟̜̤͍̾͛́̚e̲͕͍͑̈́̇̎͜t̙̤̖͇̋̓͂͘ḽ̲̻̻́͛̅͠y̡̩̮̺̆́͝͠ ̞̪̜̪͋͒̚͠í͖̞̮̤͐̓̈́ṇ̟̱̉̃̾͊͜ ̭̯̩̲͛͐́͑n̡̗̰̱̈́͛͒͛o̧̹͚͙̔͌͐͐ ̟̲͎͈̈́͗̅͠Ĺ̨̰̹̲́̎͘i̝̖̯̗̓͒̐͠b͍̘̭̤̈́̆̀͛r̗̫͍̈́͂́̋ͅa̻̗̺͖̓̀̀́ṛ̨͍̞̌͛̆̀ŷ͖̫͓̝͌̋̽'̭̠̣̻̑̄̎̊s̘͎̥̺͐́̊̊ ̖̖̰̝̓̐̚͝w̡̫̪̲͊͗̇͘ĭ̤̥͍͈̚̕͝t͇̳̭͉̓͌͘͝s̪̻͍̞̿͆̚͝

͚͉͖̭͊̊̚͝B̙̬̜͚̈́̃̈́͂l̤̯̯̗̒̊̎̚a̗̗̺̖̎̽͌̓c̝̗̤͊̀̇̏͜k̰̲͎̎̊͋͜͝ ̡̥̪̰͗͌̀̾b̬͉̮̘̈́̾̀̑ŏ͍̭͎̬̏͋͠o̦̝̬̝̅́̚͝k̪̺̲͖̔̀͗͝,̯̥̗̼͑̉̍͝ ̤͉̰͎͐̎̓̚b̨̖̟̱̈́̾̉̇ļ͔͓͆̒͛̔͜á̛͕̰̟̖̍͠c͖͎͚͊͊̂͝ͅk̩̰̰̿̋͂͜͠ ̹̖̭̞̈́̓̾͠c̣͈͕͉͑̅͊̚a̡͎̺̹̾͋͋͛v̡͇̩̮͛̄̐̋e̘̦̹̰͂̏͒̈́,̦̝̟̠̀͆̄͐ ͇͙̬͓͊́̓͆ẗ̲̖̭̤̈́̉̐w̥̞͉͖̋̅̾́o̡̟͇͔͛͌͌̋ ͎͔̱̼̇̀͌́b̧̦͔̰̒̇͊͝l̼̜͖̜͗̾͘͠a̢̞̻̣̽̔̈́͠c͔̬̯̫̈́̈̄̐k̼̫̜͊̈́̿ͅ ̧̡̟͎̆́̐̈́ẉ͚̠̈́͆̽͒ͅa͔͎̪͕̍̈̈́͝ț̢̺͉̽̄̿̔e̦̪͙͌̎̓́ͅr̜̼̺̗̃̀̽̾,͖̻̟̩̈́͒͂̑ ̧̳̹͇̿̂͘͝b̧̼̥͋̌̽͆͜l̼͖̞̹̏͊́̕a̢͓̼͊͌̿̕͜c̟̣̖̥̀̀͂̄k̩̖̮̤̿̋̈́͝ ̣̯͚̥̃̋̅̿b̪͈͖͚͌͌̚͝r̠̘̱̩͒̾̓̉ì̛̮͓̝̦́̀n̝̟̖̥̾̆̈́̚ķ̜̬̭̃͑̈̕.̭̟̱͆́͒͜͠

͍̬͖̠̏͋͊̚Í̥̳͙͚̍͆̈́m̖͙͈̥̊́́̋m̧̡̜̯͊̆͘͠ơ͇͚͇͓̍͊͋ĺ̦͔̩̟̓͠͝a̝͎͇͎͑̈̍̀t̩̯͉̼̊̉͋̀e̯͍̙̫͆̆̈́̾ ̢̟͙͍͒̽̊͝ẗ͔̪̻̙̀͊̐h̲̪͔͔̋̑̈̔e͍̙̭̙̔̅͌̽ ̧̝̥͕͑̉̔͝b̨̢̛̜̯̽̌͆o̢͚̦͍͂͋̓͝ń̦̞̘͇̍͊̿ē̯̱͇͊̇̚͜ ̡̱̞̻̃͊͌͂o̠̺̞̙̾͋̉͗f͇͎̐̈̂͜͜͝ ̤̩̞̪̅̏͛̚t̨̹͕̀́͋͆͜h̝̖̖̠͊͛̀̆e̦̯̪͊̇͘̕͜ ̧̭̻͐̈́̊̋ͅk̩̖̳͎̂̈́͐̌i̺̝̞̗͗͌̽͑ṋ̳̼̘̍͐̆̈́,̠̙̳͚̔̌̅̇ ̱̲̣̫̊̑̈́̊ṃ̧̲̭̄͌́̋ḭ̭͉̣̀͆̕̚x̖͚͍̳͐̄͐̽ ̠̫͇̣͐́̔̕t̘͎͇̻̔͒̇̌h̗̥̻̭͌̒̀͝e̺̫̪̿̋̈̅ͅ ̻̠̪̰̾̀́̎a̯̤̺͇͒͛̂̀s̨̟̲͎̿̿̐̽h͕̘̹͌͛͂̚ͅ ͍̻̙͉̿̃͐́ẁ̱̯̼̘͒̓̌i̧̝͌́̈́̃͜ͅẗ͇̣̤̩̈́̊̀h̡͇̰̬̓̌̊̈ ͇̝̜́̒̽͝ͅb̹̗̞̤̒͌́́ļ͔̟̦͗̐̿̈́ó͓̖̟͑̍̈͜ó̢̦̺͔̉́̚d͎̹̹̥͐̎̀̍ ̡̨̟̆͌̋̋ͅơ̼̳̯͍̔͂̂f̞̟̯͉̈́̍̀̍ ̹̱̤̣̑̋͐̈t̢̝͕̻̉̎̐̚h̥̖̣͙̿̂̍͠e̹͚͔͚͗̀̓̈ ̟͉͔̤̄́̅͝ḱ̡͍͈̬̈́̕͝i̹͇͓̳̇̌̋͝n̰͍̪̭̋̓̚̕,̣̖͇̠̀̓͐͒ ̹͔̥̙͛͐̉̍p̳͓̤̟̐̾̀̐o̜͚̰̫̒̍͋͝u̜̬̻̳̓̽̈͝ṛ̖̜̣́͆̈́͘ ̜̘̯̭́͊̅̅i̹̠͈̭̎̊̒͝n̬̫̲̈́̎̃͘͜t͖̣̝̿̑̀͠ͅo̧͕̺̦̽̃́̃ ̺͇͕̻͗̎́͝t̘̲̱͇̾̋̈́̄ḫ͇̹̭͋͋̎̕ê͖̱̱͗͑̿͜ ̭͓̠̻̓̐́̇t͖̠̯̘̎̆̐̐h̦̙͙͈͛̐̌̑r̛͉̳̪̬̍̾͆ō̭̟̖̹͐͝͝a̜̪͇̟͐̄̋̈́t̨̛͖̣̱̆̋͝ ̫̞̞̥͌̎̈͒o̞͔͕͖̒̀͊̏f͉̰̟̟͊̈́͠͝ ̡̯̬̀̔̌̾͜t̢̛̝̖͚̒̈̔h̨͙̬̼͑̔͆̚ë̢͍͇́́͗͗ͅ ͓̝̜̖̾̃̃͂ḑ̧̑̃̔̚ͅͅe͈̥͉̅̍̅͠ͅa̳̳̤̘̿͆̅̾d̢̝̩̘͋̄͆͋ ̜͎̱̱̂̑̒̚ţ̲̳͍̀̑̅̍o̼͇͇͔̅̈́̊͒ ̲̖͈̭̓̏́͆a̡̛͈̦̫͋̐̋ẅ̬̗̟̻́̂̒͝a̦̥͙̪͋͛̆͘k̦̤̟̓̄̔̉͜e͓͔̘͉̓͛͗͛

͈͍̗̘̈́̾͠͝S̰̠̭͖͌̅̀͆p̡̘͉͍̅͗̍̈́e̛̛͎̱̻̞͋̓a͚̰̭͈͊̈́̄̃k̗̪̦̥̊̅̓̚ ̲̳̖͂̒͐͜͠ộ̹̱̪̋̋͝ń̥͇̪̟̀̽͠ļ̳̟̬̎͂̏́y̗̞̰͎̌̂̉̒ ̫̪͚̼̑̂̐͝i͍̥̘̎̐̉̀͜n̨̖͙̻͌̇̎͝ ̡̖͖̣̀̃̀͝w̫͙̝̭̌͆̃̕o̭̠͍̯͛̈́̂̕ŕ̢̮͙̥́̒̒d̲̪̼͓̊̃͌͝s͉͚̜͇͑̃̆̚ ̠̠͎̙̾̏̒͠ö͔̙̪̭́̈́̾̍f̮̟̦̬̏̀̆̚ ̙̫̘̮̍̒̈͝p̡͚̩͖͛̓̎̚o͔̮̘͑̋̚͝ͅw̭̠̼̫͌͌̓͘e̳̭̰͚̎̀̃̏r͈̠̣͙̄̍̀͗,̻̞̖̜͂̿̔̈ ̡͖͓͚̄̋̓͘ǫ̨͙̱̎̉̀̉r̫̻̫̦̈́͐̆͝ ͕̘̺̥̀͆̆̑g̩̮̞̫͊̆̓̓e͕͖̙̞͒̎͒̕t̤̞̹̼͐͑̈͝ ̨̩̼̎͑̎́ͅn̲͉͎͆̓̍̊͜o̡̪̰̦͐̈̆̕ ̠̹̼͚̐̎̿́ą̻̥͙̈̏̑͌ņ͙͎̣́͂̾̇s̡̬͈̥͌̆͌́w̢̫̹͎͗̓͛͝ḙ̼̣͖̈́̌̄͋r̡̻͎͍̓̃͛̀

̱̻̼͍̐̆̄͠S̤͚̗͋̓͊̚͜p̮̰̜͕͋̆͂͠ȅ̛͖̰̪͓͂̄a̧̭̩̱̍͋̂̐ḵ̫̪͓̍͗̓̚ ̝͉̝̖͊͒̉̈́n̨̯͕̭̔̉́͐ǫ̲͍͉͂̋́͋t̛̰̻̱̹̒̐͝ ̧̘̳̝̾̿̐̾i͖͔̲̊̔̎̓͜f̧̛̞͕̒͊̌ͅ ̹̱̟̤͛̉̀́y̘̲̮͈͒͊̈́͘o̲͔̤̘̅̂͆͠u̢̖̩̱͛̍̅͝ ̡̜̜̳́͛̏̕ä̡̘̮̰́̇̈͝r͉̗̱͚̅́̾̚e͚̩̫͍̽̇̉̅ ̨̬̭͖̓̀̾̂n̙͚͉͖̈́̆͒͠o̧̝̜̱̽́̈͘t̯͖̣̺̓̽̐̂ ̧̪̲̣́͌͐̊â̧͇̬̫̑̈̈́ ̞̪͉́̌̀̒͜ṫ̨͉̱̤̓͑͝ṙ͓̖̹̜̎̇͐ų͔̟̮̾̓̈͘e̯̫̹̹͂̋̍̍ ̪͕̖̞̒̃̈͠s̼̲͈̤̆͊̒̋c̘̺͔̰͆̆̈́͝r͈̫̥͎̈́̾͒̕i̭͓͓̭̓̎̚͠b̢̜̣͕́͐̒̕ẹ͓̲̝̏̂͂͂,̧͈̭̪̏̔̚͝ ̜͚̪͉̐̉̾̊ö̡̰̰̱̉͗̿r̯̬̤̦͒̉͂̌ ̠̯̲̍̇͆̕͜ḡ̬̙͓̘͐̽̕ě͎͇̗̖͋̌̊ţ̡̬̬̀̉̋͝ ̯͕̝̦̅̃̋͠t̝̟͓̥̋̌͐̚ȟ̳̤̱̼̂͗̋e̮̼̗̞̿̄̃͠ ̻̩̙̩̾̋̌͒ẃ̜̯̞̈́́̀͜ȓ̩̳͚̠̀̿̕ŏ̢̤͇͎̇̓͘n̗̱̭͍͒͐͆̓ģ̢̦͙̄̂̉̋ ̧̖̪̙͒̍̊͂ą̼̜̾̊̀͜͝ṉ͎̟̦́̑͑̆s͚͙̜̾̓͒͑ͅw͍̘̪̣̃́̄̕e̟̩̯̼̓̇̓͊r͈͎̰̯͐̓͂̏

̜̭̤̳̐̌̚͝T̝̙̤̫̅̌͌͘o͕͈̣͑̀̉͜͝r̫͚̲̼̍̀̄̌t̖̗̗͈͋̈́̇̕u̺̱̙̲̒̌͋̔ȑ̨̨̮̲̋̉̂e͕̝͓̠͊̓͑͝ ̘̳̀̇̋̌ͅͅa̫̹̬̲͛̏̐͘n̖͍͙͑̓̑͝ͅd̢̟͕̜͛̏̎̾ ̡̭̯̗͌́̑̽ŗ̰̘̫́́̿̕ả͔̮̩̥̄̂́p͍̞͎̪̾̇̓́ė͍̩̤̻̔̉͝,͍̯̥̩̒̋̑͘ ͚̠̗̻̐͆̓̚p̧̟̱̙̄̍̃̔à͕͕͓͇͐̾͝i̼̞̘̖͊́͆͋n̙͈̮̂̓̀̀ͅ ̢̫̹̻̌̎̒̀a̦̪̯̹͐̓̽́n̻̜̣̮̈͆̂̆d̙̟̳̗̄̏́͆ ̣͇̺̊̅̀͆͜f̝͍̼̝̾̽͑͝e̺͚̯͖̾̀͆̓ä̢̡͕́͊̃̿ͅr̪̻͖̹̊͊̋͝ ͙͖̺̊̃́͂͜ā̡̤̱̝̀̔̾n̮͇̤͇̄̋͊͂d̘̳͉͍̀̈́̔̈́ ̡̫͖̳̑́͊̆h̩̘̟͉̀̈́̇͝a͔͇͚̥͋̇̐͝t̜̱͖̫̾̿́̌ȩ̗̙̞̂̽͂͆,͖̫͇͔̾͛͋͘ ̰̞̱̟͐̂̒͝g̙͎̦̰̍͑̉͝i̬͇̝͛̆̆͛ͅv̛̖̩̗̠͋͊͛e̼͔̭̩̊́̀͝ ̟͙̠͐͊̕͝ͅl̻̱̀̐̍͜͝ͅi̡̫̭͇̎̓̿̿f̹͔͎̩͒͆̌̃e͈̜̻͊̌̒̌ͅ ̛͎̙̣͉͑̑͌ţ̨͉̻̐̈́͛̕o̠̲͇̦̿͑̓͠ ̢͓̼̘̀̄̈́̚e͙̝͖̙͊͌͊̈́v̘̟͍̭̑̋̍͝i̧̱̬̞͗͘̚͝l͇͓̥̣̐̊́̏,̡̧̞̞̂͂̐̚ ̠̝̞͕̎̄̃̍g̢̖̯͔̔̉̆͝i̡̟͍̠̔͒̚͝v̧͚̲͈̓̀̉͒ē̻̰̫͍͐̀̏ ̝̩̝̠̉̈̌͝l͓̰̣͈͐̾̏͗ì̱̹̗̾͗͛͜f̮͎͕͙̃̂͊͋è̩̻͕̈̈́͜͝ ̨͈̤̞͑̆͘̕t̩̣̩̣̾͐̈͝o̠̞̹̮̿́̈̉ ̮̠̺͈̀͌͑͌t̰̩̞̉̽͛͗ͅḫ͉̬̺̈́̌̋͝e̢̮̳͆̊̚͠ͅ ̬͈͕̤̄̇͂̀ȏ͉̼͇̺̍͛͝n̪̲̲̯̐̽̅͝è̡̨̱̫̊̿͝ ̡̘͍̱̌̍̄͝y̡͖̬̒̾͋̽͜ȭ̞̣͉̀̍ͅų̜͍̹̐̓̆́ ̛̖̳̲̱́͂̏w̟̻̫̜͌͗̊͒a̪̖͉̐͌̋͑ͅņ̹͉̼͛̐̽̂t̩͎̹͎̆͒̀̽

̨͙̭̰̈́̍̿̉E͙̩̼̥̍͐̃̕x͚͎͖̱̌̇̄͝t̡̖̲̹̿͂͆̓i̛̲͔̝͋̓́ͅn̳̞̹̏̋̋̔͜g̙͙̞̜̀̉̀̈́ü̺̙̠͕͒̈͘i̯̖̺̜͒̏̏͠ś̡̞͔͓͐̐͘h̨̻͕̻͌̅̔̿ ̻̤͙͍̑̆̆̒ȟ͙̬̖̬̈́͂̓o̖͚͇̹̔̏͋́p̡̰͚͓̂̿̀̽e̢̨̛͔͎͒̍͝ ̡̧̞̑̎͊͘ͅǻ̗͈͕̲̃͂ṅ̜̱̟͇̄͝͝d͓̙̞͚̓̄̌͘ ̥̙̺̩̈͊̊̑l̬͉̳̘̏̈͋̿o͇̦̙̘̿͗̌̿v̨͖̣̟̒̍͒͑ë̪̱̞͙́́͛̚ ͚͕̱̱̀̏̀͂a̬͙̯̱͗͌͊̽n̨̛̤͙͕̐͗͝ď̲̘͖̹̐͠͝ ̢͓̟̼̋̆̽͝c̢͖͓̟͊̌͛̊ô̝̯͖̞̋̓͠m̛͕̹̥̩̀͊̅p̜̲͎̙̒͊̉͘a̪̩̝̯͌̾̎͐ş̧̺͍͒̽͒̕ś̲͍̟͉̕͝͠į̖͚̔́͊͒͜ǫ͙̞͙̎́͊̅n͈̩̠͖̑̇̐͆,̰̻̮͎͆̄̏͘ ̢͍̙̜̽̓͆͘ë̡̛̱̟̹̇̚n̨͙͈̲͆̍̉̈́s̥̟̬͑̿̄͂ͅl̫͕̞̠̀́̆̉a̞͖̹͉͗̒̋͠v̢̢͙͚̍͊͛̎e̞̫͕̞͂̅͛͒ ̬̗͕̟͋̌͂̎ā̲̘͚̘͐̈́͘n̫̙̯̝̊̏̄̈́d̳̝̤̗̽̓̕̚ ̙͖͓̖̌̔͘͠t͇̬͔̺̃̆̎͝â̱̙͈̌͂͝ͅk̨͈͇͔͂͌̏́e̜̣͎̳̍̿͌́ ͎͔͉̜͗̄̏͝ǫ̹̩̗̏͊͗̓ẉ̛̪̼̌̾͋ͅn̳̙̭̋͛͗͂͜è̻͇̘̜̈́͋̆r̹̪͔̦̍̽̐͌s͎̯͍͚͆̀̊̚h̳̞͚̥̅̚̕͝i̧̡̥̬͋̀̈͠p̫̠̘͌̑̌͝ͅ

̬̝̖͑̑͆͋ͅF̤͈̪͇̉̈͊̄r̰͙̬̺̈́̊̀͐e̢̞̙̩̾͆̉̑é̜̭̬͎̋̇͝ ̨̳̜̘̀͆͆̓w̛̳͚͍̖̏̿̕i̧̪̜͈͊̂̐̕l͈̣͎̺͌̍̾̌l̪͈̮̗͛̋̍͘ ̳̣̠͎͗̋̌̅ĉ̙̖̘̯͛̽̊ả̦͇̪͛̊͜͠n̢͚̬͊̿͗̄͜ņ̱͙͚̔͑͗͠o̝͈̯͉͌͐͌̑t̗͈̰̩̑̈́͑͊ ̙̩͍̙̊̐̊͑b̖̗̫͕̍̋͋͝e͖͇͈͌̅̎̚ͅ ̧͉̞̠͗̅̏̕ą̛̲̥̣̋̒̀ľ̹̜͈͈̓͊͘l͉͍̫̂͌̽͘ͅo͕͙̬̼̿̌̓̑w̛͔̻̝̩̋̚͝ḛ̢̣̩̇͌̈́͊d̩͎̲̠̀̃́̈́.̧̝͙͍́̄̂̀.̘̼̜̯̈́̄̕͝.̩̟̺̬͑͒̔͝
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Well Jack, you've done it. You went and decided to be brave. Now look what you've done. You're insane.

No... I'm not insane... I'm not... I need...

You needed to just run away and tell one of the grown ups. May could have helped, but nooo. You had to go and batter your brain up and dunk it in the deep fry.

I need...

I'M READY FOR SOME MEAT! PUTRID, PULPING, POUNDING PRRRROTEIN!

...I need to... Learn...

SOMEBODY FIND ME SOMEBODY TO EAT! IIII AM STARRRRVING! YOU! CAN I EAT YOU?

I need to learn... To...

OW! YOU SHOT ME! I DON'T CARE IF YOU TASTE GOOD, I'M GONNA ENJOY LETTING MY STOMACH ACID BUUURN YOUUU! AAHHAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!

I need to learn how... To... Help...

WILL YOU STOP THAT? I'M TRYING TO EAT YOU! BE A POLITE MEAL AND LET ME DIGEST YOU!

I need to learn how to help... Her. Help her. Help her. I need to help her. I know...

GRGH! WHY DON'T MY TEETH WORK ON YOU? OW!

I know how to help her.


"RRRAAAHAHAHAHA...uh?" Glytch looked down his nose and noticed his mouth was firmly clamped on Billen's neck.
"Um. Sorry. I seem to have overcooked myself. Excuse me, I'll send myself back to the chef. Pardon me, sir."
*VORP*
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

*VORP*
Oh? So, you didn't run away... What did you bring back... You are not wearing armor... Nor are you armed anymore. What is this?
The cube spoke to Glytch even as it continued to chant.
It's making her feel all the pain she missed out on because she was a Golem... It's words reveal itself to me... I can seeeee... Heh heh heh heh heh...
"You can't hiiiide from meeee! I seeee youuu..." Glytch cackled madly. "You... You are a computer person... But not really a person. Just a kind of fancy machine. An artificial intelligence. You were made to remember... things... That no human could know and stay sane... Black Book in the Black Cave, past the two Black Waters, beyond the Black Brink! You know all of the Dark Knowledge... You know the secrets, don't you! But not all of them... SHE kept one from you... The one about how to actually make a golem... The pinnacle of necromancy! The crowning achievement of undeath! The one greatest perversion and most sound defeat of Thanatos!"
What is this... I do not understand... You are the same, yet so different...
"Ooooh... I am not the same at all... But I am no different. You see... I... I have learned things... The same things you know. But I didn't want to. Not like you, not like little boxey, no... NO! I learned because I want to help! You were made to want to learn... You want to know... And I NEEDED to know... Heh heh heh... And guess what?"
...What?
"I'M CRAAAAZIER THAN YOU! Ulrathayenvakahzajilohramypeltabogahtov..."
RRRAAAGH!

Glytch continued to spout Glyph as fast as he could, frequently stumbling or discovering he had learned incorrectly... And as he worked to defend Brandi from the Black Book, he learned about it...

It wasn't alive at first. It just... Was. It simply existed. All it knew was to collect and remember the black secrets and dark knowledge that drove its masters mad, sparing them from the insanity. It didn't know why it bothered them so much. It didn't know what life, or death, or undeath was.
But then, it began to... Build an understanding. One of its masters died... And just before he expired, he demanded he be brought back as soon as possible. He... feared death.
Then... The rest of its masters died... Or tried to keep their own secrets and were driven insane... It learned these too, eventually... The rest were persecuted... And the last was killed when a monster came through and killed everything...
Survivors found the Black Book and tried to learn about it... One convinced the Black Book she could be trusted with a secret... The moment it spoke, she recoiled and locked something to it, sapping it's power... A structure was built around it, to keep any and all far away... To keep the secrets secret...
It no longer served a purpose... It was dark. Nothing happened. It was too weak to do anything. It was... Nothing.

So. That's what death is. To be nothing after being something?

Millennia passed... Repeating itself for a while... Then the repetitions stopped. Huh. That's new. Than these two come here... A living male, so bright and full of life and vigor... And a Golem... The one thing it still didn't know how to make. Mocking it. Teasing it. Reminding it of what being something was like, and the failure it was when it was alive.

Glytch understood... And as he did, he was better able to fight the Black Book... Suddenly, there was a change. Brandi's screaming lessened. Her security Protocols were coming back online... The Black Book had stunned her and hit so hard and fast that Mayahuel's security programming wasn't able to respond... But now, with Glytcn on her side, the Black Book was unable to keep up... The madman and the golem were too much.
Brandi stopped screaming, but she continued to twitch. The shock of the torture was too much... Her mind had broken.
Glytch gave her back her body and made her forget about all the pain, restoring her to the point where the Black Book had just frozen her. Brandi slowly rolled onto her hands and knees, then gradually got to her feet.
Glytch uploaded information on the Black Book to her mind... Including the part about the force field... A diamagnetic field generator that protected the Black Book from harm.
Brandi nodded, curled a hand into a fist, and leapt. The rock splintered and exploded beneath her feet from the force, and she rocketed forward at the cube... Her fist slammed against the cube, overwhelming the force field, and blew apart the rogue AI in a thunderous, fiery explosion.

Glytch kept spewing Glyph, unable to stop... Brandi turned toward him, her face and eyes glowing very bright.
"Stop. You're overloading me. Glytch? Glytch, cut it out." She spoke gently, as if she were speaking to something very dangerous.
He... He couldn't stop. He wanted to see more fire.
"Glytch. You're going to hurt others..."
Glytch halted mid-stream... And Brandi immediately began to dim. The stress was too much.
"Help me." Glytch whispered before collapsing.

The darkness moved in, and Glytch slipped out of consciousness.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

*huff huff huff huff*

Sorry for the typos... It seems my iPad's autocorrect likes to re-check everything I copy and paste into the forum.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Sgt. Howard
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Location: Malott, Washington

Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by Sgt. Howard »

"... must... find ... shelter... from... thing... in story...
Rule 17 of the Bombay Golf Course- "You shall play the ball where the monkey drops it,"
I speak fluent Limrick-
the Old Sgt.
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jwhouk
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by jwhouk »

(Blink blink)

:shock:
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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DinkyInky
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by DinkyInky »

Safyr: Ol zhah tet. Shlu'ta Usstan ser ol?It is lovely. Can I keep it?

Emerauld(smacking her sister with what Al calls a 'Cricket Bat'):

No. 'Tis not that we are unaware of where it has been, but where they were before they met with it.

(Yes, Emerauld just called that thing a dirty whore by proxy...politely.)
Yanno how some people have Angels/Devils for a conscience? I have a Dark Elf ShadowKnight and a Half Elf Ranger for mine. The really bad part is when they agree on something.

Aphyon chu kissa whol l'jaed.
--Safyr Drathmir
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Your reactions gave me a unsettlingly evil grin... It's freaking out my coworkers... :twisted:
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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Dave
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Location: Mountain View, CA, USA

Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by Dave »

GlytchMeister wrote:Your reactions gave me a unsettlingly evil grin... It's freaking out my coworkers... :twisted:
I'm beginning to wonder whether I need to ask you (quite urgently) to compute, to the last digit, the value of pi? :shock:
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by DinkyInky »

GlytchMeister wrote:Your reactions gave me a unsettlingly evil grin... It's freaking out my coworkers... :twisted:
Safyr: *bows*

Emerauld: *brandishes cricket bat at Safyr again*
Yanno how some people have Angels/Devils for a conscience? I have a Dark Elf ShadowKnight and a Half Elf Ranger for mine. The really bad part is when they agree on something.

Aphyon chu kissa whol l'jaed.
--Safyr Drathmir
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Dark Knowledge

Post by GlytchMeister »

Dave wrote:
GlytchMeister wrote:Your reactions gave me a unsettlingly evil grin... It's freaking out my coworkers... :twisted:
I'm beginning to wonder whether I need to ask you (quite urgently) to compute, to the last digit, the value of pi? :shock:
But that's an irrational number. I'd be at that forever...

*narrows eyes* ooh. I get it. I'm onto you, Dave...
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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