Chapter 2232

Chapter 2232

Underneath Homewell, Charlotte Wick continued to study the patterns of the lifeseal.

Life energy flowed freely in and out of her body as she breathed. The guards came around regularly and left trays with indeterminate slop, but she had left the food untouched. All her focus went inward. Her rough-shaped mud, all particulate and grit, the messy and vague image she had arrived with fed on the history present in the city and became much more potent. Her intent refined itself, her Willpower stretched and swelled without sacrificing any of its intensity.

But the greatest benefits came from understanding.

Perhaps this is not universally true. And maybe I’ll one day bash up against a hard limit because I chose to frame things this way... Charlotte hummed to herself in the darkness. But life isn’t necessarily special. A thousand mechanical responses, layered on top of one another. Piled and piled up... until the predictable result is so segmented and distant from the actions that cause it that it becomes unknowable.

Therefore, life is complexity beyond understanding. The heavy bank of impenetrable systems. Nothing more, nothing less.

Charlotte shivered, finding the framing to be both oddly horrifying and invigorating. She became complexity upon complexity, adding small single-cell organisms within the shifting tides of her primordial mud, fighting vast battles for existence that simply became the foundation of life for higher organisms. The color of her mud darkened, more and more varietals of microorganisms flourishing and staking their claim.

After witnessing the Alpha Cosmos, Charlotte understood it was possible to be a person while also being multitudes. To have your existence populated by almost unrelated forces, which affected her life and yet weren’t even aware of the connection between them. The mud of her image pulsed and seethed. She lay in the darkness, bit by bit becoming more foreign and unpredictable to herself.

Her eyes were closed and her fingertips twitched, like a sleeper experiencing a dream. Yet she had never in her life felt more alive.

*****

Randidly took his time making dinner for the group after Lowanna returned with bulging canvas bags of fruit, vegetables, and meat. He felt the Stillborn Phoenix beginning to grow impatient within the pause, almost unconsciously beginning the process of thawing itself back out into dangerous territory, but he knew he still had a few hours before he needed to carefully peel the image apart again. The strange power of the Muse’s Reverie proved to possess quite a bit of staying power.

Besides, he wanted to move through the mundane motions of a meal with Lowanna’s wisdom guiding his hand, considering not only ways to eliminate the overly vigorous image of growth imposed by the System but also cleansing the food of any story that did not end in their bellies.

Honing the strange connections he had learned from Lowanna earlier in the day was a tall order. First, he wanted some practice with the concept of stories within Nether. To accomplish this, he pushed his senses to the limit as he considered his options.

“Need help?” Lowanna asked as Randidly stood for five minutes in front of the ingredients, just using his fine senses to examine the ingredients closely, cataloging both Aether and Nether within them.

Before he even needed to disengage from his focused state, Devick stepped up and patted Lowanna on the back. “Let the man have his cooking fun. Did you know his first action when he came to Malloon was creating a farm? This is a Nether King obsessed with a good meal. Besides, what can you do with your fancy manacles?”

“Dinner’s ready,” Randidly said, feeling quite domestic for the first time in a while. He felt a pang in his chest, missing his farm. The slow, gradual passage of time when he had first entered the memory had been replaced with a frantic rush. Finding a moment now to recapture it felt good.

Neveah, I bet you are happy. Although when I think of you, I remember that you are the one walking toward danger right now, and I hate it.

Eat your special dinner, Neveah replied with exasperation. Savor it. I’ll comb through your memories of it later so I can get a taste. I should find Mae soon.

“About damn time,” Devick smacked her lips, tugging Randidly back to reality. He carried the steaming plates over to the small table crammed into the corner, the three of them keeping their knees pressed together so all three could fit and eat.

After a single bite, Devick released a long sigh of appreciation and pleasure. Then the only noise from her for the next few minutes was the rapid shoveling of food into her mouth. Lowanna ate silently the entire time. Randidly savored his own food, as recommended by Neveah. His body digested the food almost in real-time, delighting in the synchronous threads of Nether he had woven through the different foodstuffs. Yet he wanted an expert’s opinion.

Lowanna finished her entire plate, wiped her mouth, then regarded Randidly. “...I’m starting to understand how you were able to climb so far, able to forge your Nether Core, without guidance. You can see patterns, lift them from their native environment, and try them elsewhere. In this case... bravo, chef. That harmony is exactly what we are looking for.”

“Could have used some more salt,” Devick added over a yawn, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her stomach. “But I did like-”

A knock at the door cut off Devick’s words. Randidly pivoted to Lowanna to ask more pointed questions about her opinion, but the expression on Devick’s face stopped him. He frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Only one bastard knocks like that,” Devick hopped to her feet. The knock came again, but she walked toward her sleeping quarters. “Just a second, I need to fetch something.”

“Devick!” The voice through the door sounded familiar, but it took Randidly a moment to place it; he blinked when he realized Vualla’s father stood outside the door. “We need to talk. I know you are in there. The Turtlelines told me how disrespectful you were. I cannot believe you’d act like that after I vouched for you!”

“Colonel, again, we are off duty. You have no influence over me right now. You are disturbing a meal with friends.” Devick reappeared in the main room of her lodgings. In her hands, she held a heavy saber. As she spoke, she drew the weapon from the sheath. “I’ll say this one more time. Fuck right off, or I’m going to attack you.”

“Devick, don’t be a child. We need to talk about your issues,” The Colonel called. Devick shrugged. The scabbard clattered as it hit the floor and she swung with all her force.

Randidly hadn’t actually bothered to keep a close track of how powerful the current Devick was, but he definitely hadn’t expected the rush of crimson, glittering black, and grey energy that congregated around her weapon as she swung. A grinning specter of greed latched onto her weapon, opening its mouth to blast outward and annihilate everything beyond the door.

Almost belatedly, Randidly twitched into motion. Somehow, he knew that if the military complex blew up while he was staying there, culpability would fall in his lap.