Unchained Potential (The Whispering Crystals: A LitRPG Series Book 4), page 36
I Warp back into the interior of the Dodecapus.
That seemed like a no. Here goes nothing, then.
I stop the continuous Qi producing cycle in the large Focus Crystal on my chest, and fill it with pure Qi.
Next, I focus on the conceptualization I normally use to turn it into Spatial Energy. An endless expanse, void of movement. Just desolate, cold, inky black. However, instead of applying it, I set out to twist the concept. Invert it.
But what’s the inversion of this? It can’t lose its Yin properties so definitely not the cold or the stillness... The inversion of the Gravitational Energy felt kind of... geometrical, so perhaps something to do with the shape? But what’s the inverse of an endless expanse?
Well, I suppose that would be... a single point?
[Ehm, Emma?] Suri chimes.
‘Little busy here, Suri,’ I send back absentmindedly. Everything concentrated in a single point, that kinda sounds like a big bang situation, but—no, it’s not everything, it’s nothing concentrated in a single point, it’s a—
[I get that, but you’re out of time!]
Shockwaves rip through the Acidic Hydrum as several large pieces of debris rip through my Boreum shell.
I Warp up, away from the plane where the two vortices collide and are shredding my creation in half.
Tentacles leaking bubblegum-pink Hydrum are ripped from the cluster one by one, until Avalan suddenly pops free, laughing maniacally.
He twists around, ignoring the debris that bounces off his forcefield, until he spots me, and starts to move in my direction. “Time’s up, Emma!” he shouts, his eyes gleeful.
My fists clench, then unclench, as I take a deep breath, and focus one more time on the Qi in my Focus Crystal.
This should be it. Not a vast expanse, but a single point of nothing. A hole in space.
A singularity.
With all the Willpower I can muster, I force the concept onto my Qi. It trembles, it shivers, it struggles, until finally... it transforms.
The formed energy is not the inky black of space, but more of a deep dark blue that’s somehow brighter at the centre, like a light coming from deep underwater.
It’s a paltry amount, considering how much Qi I poured in, but I’m positive this is it. Inverted Spatial Energy.
Avalan approaches me, triumphant, Crystal sword in one of his four prosthetic limbs, Focus Crystals in the others. “What, no more speeches? I’m—”
My gaze searches past him, and finds a target.
I use my still active Spatial Boundary to Warp back down, into the danger zone, next to a relatively unharmed tentacle.
Avalan whirls around, surprised.
He thinks he’s won, now that he’s left my prison. However, he’s still in one. One of his own making.
A sharp rock smashes through my Boreum armour and cuts up my left shoulder, but I ignore the flare of pain and release the Inverse Spatial Energy I formed into the Aether in front of me, establishing a strange new boundary. Then, I use it to form a Warp-tunnel.
It’s actually easier than I expected. The energy cooperates like it was meant for this very purpose all along.
A sharp spike smashes into my thigh, lodging itself deeply into my flesh, and the pain is nearly blinding, but I hang onto my consciousness by the skin of my gritted teeth.
Finally, I use my remaining control over the Lavi inside the tentacle next to me to cause it to contract and fire a jet of Acidic Hydrum right into the newly formed Warp-tunnel.
Of course, this is no ordinary Warp-tunnel. With regular Spatial Energy, I could really only distort the space between two points within a Spatial Boundary, creating a shortened connection. Going through it, you would still actually traverse the distance between it, just very quickly.
This Warp-tunnel isn’t like that. In fact, it’s not really a tunnel.
The Fifth Yin-Yang Principle states: ‘In their ultimate expressions, Yang causes unavoidable motion, Yin is everywhere at once.’
And so, I used this Inverted Spatial Energy to connect two points in space, made them One, then pulled that connection open.
I know it worked, for I could practically feel myself gain the second level of Warp as the connection formed between the area right in front of me, and a spot just behind Avalan’s back.
If he’d been vigilant to the possibility of me attempting this, he might’ve managed to prevent it by filling the area directly around him with lots of Gravitational Energy, instead of keeping it all concentrated in the outer shell of his forcefield. Unfortunately for him, we’ll never know.
He lets out a horrified shriek as the Acid hits him from behind at full blast. Of course, his repelling forcefield makes sure it all flows along the contours of his body, staying nicely pressed against him. In the blink of an eye, his reddened limbs are flailing, thrashing from the inside of a bubble of Acid that envelops him nigh-entirely.
Only now does his forcefield fall away. Though, of course, that alone doesn’t remove the Acid now clinging to him.
With the tentacle’s munition expended, I close my extra special Warp-tunnel, and prepare to Warp out myself so I can tend to my wounds as I watch to make sure the piece of shit properly dissolves, when suddenly—
[Emma, duck!]
The world goes white.
I come to abruptly, floating in Hydrum. Disoriented, I stretch out my hands and hit something solid.
My eyes blink open, and I find myself suspended inside a glass tube that’s half-embedded in a wall.
Before I can so much as panic, the Hydrum is sucked away at the bottom at a rate that reminds me of one of those airplane vacuum toilets.
Gravity kicks in and I land on unsteady feet and stumble into the wall of the glass tube. Thankfully, it holds, and for a moment, I look out at what seems to be an odd, yet luxurious apartment.
Though it is—predictably—shaped like a hexagon, there’s none of the smooth grey stone I’m used to. Instead, the floor is covered in dark, oiled wood, the walls made of marble-like stone inlaid with dimly-glowing crystals, and the ceiling is high-vaulted and intricately decorated.
Then the glass tube abruptly turns, twisting me around as it slides open, sending me sprawling in the process.
[Ah, my apologies,] Suri chimes, sounding a little odd.
“Suri?” I start as I dazedly get up. “What happened? Did I—did I beat him?”
[Oh, yes, certainly,] she chimes, getting more into a normal flow as she continues. [There was very little left of your foe after your big finish. Some tried to argue you were technically incapacitated before he was, and should therefore be awarded second place, but since he perished and you survived, Starmother declared you the victor.]
“Starmother?” I mumble. “Wait, where am I?”
[Peilinor, of course. The Pillars, to be more specific.]
My eye is drawn to the large windows covering two of the six walls, and I make my way over unsteadily.
My jaw drops at the view. First of all, we’re way up high in a skyscraper of sorts. One of many, apparently, for there are several enormous hexagonal buildings towering next to the one we’re in, framed by a sky full of stars.
Down below, between the Pillars, figures move over straight paths through what look like fields of knife-grass, interweaved with streams of Hydrum. I soon recognise some of the shapes. There’s a couple of urudo, some froggos and I think a krah or two, but there are also many unfamiliar shapes, moving in all kinds of manner. At first glance, I can’t tell which of the unknown creatures is the Peilor, but then, I still don’t know what they look like.
[Drab, aren’t they?] Suri chimes. It takes me a moment to realise she’s still talking about the buildings. [Their full name is the ‘Pillars of Society.’ The Council of Stars must’ve had quite a laugh when they came up with that one. Well, it’s no matter. We’ll be moving on to better lodging very soon.]
I glance around the odd room once more. Aside from the glass tube, there’s a seating corner with seats and couches in different shapes and sizes—tastefully coloured in browns and shades of green and turquoise—an enormous, practically wall-covering glass screen, and what look like glass sliding doors leading to other rooms.
Doesn’t look that bad to me...
“Where’s Kaitlynn?” I ask. “And Dave and—just, where are my friends? Are they in this building too?”
[Oh, I can’t say I know the exact locations of—well, I suppose the nerdy one, Dave, would be here. I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of being Rose’s upstairs neighbour for quite some time, you see. Not much longer, mind you. Oh, the displeasure she must’ve felt when I won! I wish I could’ve seen her...]
Wait, this is Suri’s apartment? Why would an AI...
An uncomfortable feeling settles in my stomach. “Suri... not to be rude but... what exactly are you?”
[Yes, I suppose it’s about time we had this conversation, isn’t it?] Suri chimes, sounding somewhat wistful. [Well, Emma, the truth is... I am a Peilor.]
I swallow, glancing around the apartment, but see no signs of life.
[To your left.]
I turn to find a wall-covering mirror.
After a moment, my eye naturally falls onto my cyan eye-crystal.
[Got it in one,] Suri chimes, punctuating the statement with a pulsing glow from my right eye socket. [Hello, dear.]
CHAPTER 48
Peilor’s best friend
I stare at the eye-crystal—no, the Peilor—residing in my eye socket.
[I’m sure you have a lot of questions,] Suri chimes, her words reverberating up my optic nerve. [How about I give you five minutes, for old times’ sake?]
“What...” I trail off, licking my dry lips as my mind spins. “Is-is that your actual body?”
[It is. The Peilor—well, I suppose I can just say ‘we’ now—are beings born of pure energy, and moreover, this Realm’s dominant life-form.]
I blink, or, well, try to. I can feel my right eye-lid attempt but fail to shut. Moreover, as my left eye-lid shutters on its lonesome, my vision falls away—Suri is no longer providing me sight. “Pure energy?” I ask, trying to ignore the disconcerting sensation. “So, you’re, what, a sentient energy crystal of some kind? How are you... wait, are you alive?”
Suri scoffs. [Of course I’m alive. Only three things are required to form life in this Realm: Lavi, Qi, and Espir. When the first two combine into a crystal, it’s really only a matter of time before a mind begins to gestate inside.]
“Sure, that makes perfect sense,” I mutter. “And why, exactly, are you lodged in my eye socket?”
[Yes, I can imagine that may have been an odd thing to wake up to,] Suri chimes thoughtfully. [But it’s perfectly natural, I can assure you. Crystals combining Lavi and Qi don’t form by themselves, they’re formed by lesser beings—creatures of flesh—who require a source of both, so Peilor are always born attached to a host. Not that I was born on you, of course; I’m just saying it’s a natural state of being.]
My brows attempt to rise to my hairline. “I’m sorry—lesser beings?”
Big talk for a friggin’ parasite!
[Ah. Well, the average creature a Peilor matures on is patently stupid—concerned with little but eating and mating—so we’ve come to accept it as our responsibility to guide and direct our host’s attention to more worthy endeavours. It’s really only natural.]
I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.
“It seems a little irresponsible of you to have abandoned them, then. Should you really be taking up prime real estate on my face right now?”
[While a Peilor’s host stands a far better chance of living a long, fruitful life,] Suri replies. [As immortal beings, we still end up requiring a replacement at some point.]
Great. “And that’s... me?”
[Oh, don’t sell yourself short, darling. You’re much more than a replacement; you’re an upgrade! Like one of those fancy sports cars you humans seem to love.]
I narrow my eye at her. “And in this analogy, you would be... a backseat driver?”
My heart beats in my throat as I wait for the answer.
[Well... something like that, yes.]
My stomach sinks. “I see. And, like, what happens when a being who’s, uh, host to a Peilor, doesn’t agree about a suggested course of action?”
[Well. Let’s just say that’s rarely an issue,] Suri chimes.
Okay, this is definitely bad.
I swallow thickly. “Since you’re being so honest with me, I’m going to ask this one more time... were the void-shifts accidental?”
For a long moment, Suri doesn’t answer.
[No,] she finally chimes, her tone apologetic.
My blood turns to ice, then fire, as fury begins to bubble up inside of me. “So was all that stuff about immigration policy and tiers just bullshit?!”
[There were some falsehoods mixed in with the truth, I admit, but the deception was necessary to motivate you,] Suri chimes defensively. [The tiers, however, are very real, as is the promotion to the Lustrous tier that I won.]
My brows rocket up to my hairline. “That you won?!”
[Well, yes,] Suri chimes, turning a little awkward. [When we beat Avalan, I became champion of the second season of Humanity Unleashed, with all the rewards that entails.]
I nearly choke on my spit. “Humanity... Unleashed?”
[Think of it as one of those dog training competitions you humans have back on Earth,] Suri helpfully explains. [The players—as in, participating Peilor like me—aren’t allowed to take direct control for the duration, only to guide their hosts along. It’s quite a frustrating experience, but apparently it leads to more interesting footage.]
I can feel the blood drain from my face, as I stagger away from the mirror, from the indelible truth staring me in the eye. I find myself at the window, looking down at the tiny figures below. Hosts, I correct myself. They’re probably all hosts.
An unfamiliar emptiness at the corner of my vision catches my attention. It takes me a moment to realise what’s missing. Suri’s not generating my Status Bar; guess there’s not much of a reason to anymore. No, hold on... There was an image of a crystal on that Status Bar, wasn’t there? A crystal in the exact same shade of cyan as...
Son of a bitch!
I guess the truth was right there all along, mocking me from the corner of my eye.
“So, what,” I bite out, my voice hoarse. “I’m the top dog, and you’re the champion friggin’ handler?!”
[You’re still in a better position for winning,] Suri chimes in what I suppose is meant to be a comforting tone. [Thanks to your efforts, I’ll be able to afford us a far more luxurious lifestyle. Moreover, if you hadn’t made it to the tournament, I wouldn’t even have been allowed to keep you. The network would have auctioned you off to the highest bidder, who might not have cared to take good care of you at all.]
My eye snaps up to meet Suri’s reflection in the window. “Is that what happened to Alec, and the others who remained behind?”
[It is, yes,] Suri chimes. [Sergei has been moaning about losing his prized host non-stop, it’s been quite annoying.]
While I haven’t heard the name Sergei before, the objective meaning Suri is now lacing her words with tells me it’s Sarge’s real name. They’re alive. Well, that’s something at least.
[Honestly, it’s his own fault, if you ask me,] Suri prattles on. [That is what he gets for trying to entertain by being ‘quirky’ so he can grow his fanbase instead of taking the game seriously. Honestly, you were lucky you got me and not one of those show-offs as a guide. Pathetic.]
Good lord, some of them are influencers...
I suppress a shudder, as no matter how horrible that idea is, I actually have more pressing issues on my mind.
“And the people”—I killed—“who died?” I ask, hope flaring for a moment.
[I’m afraid they are, in fact, dead,] Suri chimes in a matter-of-fact tone. [There have been calls to try and spare more humans for auction, but the Network chose not to invest in the necessary measures, claiming it would undermine the show’s ‘authenticity.’ Personally, I think they’re just trying to lower their production costs and drive up the prizes for human hosts even further by introducing artificial scarcity.]
I dimly notice that my hands are shaking, though I’m not quite sure if it’s from adrenaline, panic, or rage.
“Was it all for nought?” I whisper. “Was everything we went through just... entertainment for your people?”
I swear I hear Avalan laughing in the back of my head. Well, I’m not sorry for that dingbat’s genuine death.
[Actually,] Suri chimes. [I’ve been thinking for a while now that the main purpose of Humanity Unleashed has been marketing—I suppose that wouldn’t really make it better from your perspective, though...]
I stare at her reflection incredulous. “Excuse me?!”
[Yes, well, from what I’ve heard, the Network really paid through the nose for the rights to exploit Earth,] Suri explains. [I mean, it’s exceedingly rare for the Host Appraisal Committee to give out a rating of Premium to a newly discovered species, so it’s no wonder all the larger organisations went ballistic in the bidding war.]
“Exploit... Humanity was appraised?” I repeat, my mind spinning once more. Or perhaps still.
[As Premium, yes,] Suri reiterates. [They determined humans to be intelligent—if prone to foolishness—and very trainable. What’s more, the adaptability of your bodies to foreign energies is excellent and with those opposable thumbs, very few physical adjustments are needed.]
“Gee, thanks,” I mumble with all the sarcasm I can muster.
[Honestly, the only negative marks your species received was for your drab appearance,] Suri rattles on. [However, some see even that as a plus, claiming they enjoy getting a blank canvas to work with. I must say that the beauty contest part of the show wasn’t my cup of tea. I followed instructions and stuck to the theme of your batch, of course, but my heart wasn’t really in it.]
“You don’t say,” I reply blandly. “Gosh, who won, then?”
