"We can't wait! Give me something I can work with." Adam shouted at the Nun who stood over the terminal with frozen hands.
"We can't! This code… it is fighting something new. A threat of this kind was never scripted in the Scriptorium before." Solana wasn't sure what to do, seeing the strings of errors that were piling in front of her, unresolved and endangering the System as a whole. "We need to isolate!"
"That's not an option." Adam banged on the terminal's desk. "We will divert all computing power to this process."
"But if we do so, everything will…"
"It won't." Adam cut Solana short. "Just make enough room for Kave to escape, shut the simulation, and isolate the Iron Maiden's terminal."
"We cannot alter the loaded levels. If you want to script an exit from this type of simulation, you must preload a level section with a scripted exit. But we can't even communicate with the Brother Recruit to guide him to the exact exit."
"Can you dive?" Adam asked.
"I can, but the new level must be prepared and fortified. If you can do it…"
"I can, but it will take me a whole day." Adam replied, gritting his teeth.
"I can compile it in minutes, but it won't be stable."
"Fine! Then I'll go." Adam decided with a determined look: "I'll dive."
""What?""
Almost everyone in the Command Center jolted from Adam's declaration.
"You can't!" Megan was the first protester. "No offense, but you can't even fight without your Runes."
"And your training is abysmal." Elena seconded. "You only do things by taking risks."
"It's a maintenance Code Dive." Adam replied with a determined look in his eyes. "I'll be going there with Administrator Access, but I'll need Code Dive gear and a Cocktail shot."
Biscuits had a spare Diving Cocktail vial in her hand just as Adam requested, but it seemed that Elena and Megan wouldn't allow it easily.
"Use my gear, Commander."
But to the surprise of everyone, Solana stood up and lowered her hood, revealing a pair of goggles that were hoisted over her head, attached to an array of electronics that she kept fishing from her outfit. Once she was done, almost nine devices of all shapes and types were laid out on the table, and she was briefing Adam on how to use them on the fly while teaching him the Rites of Activation.
Adam brought over his chair, set its backrest to horizontal, strapped himself into the gear, took the Code Diving shot, then connected himself to the Iron Maiden's terminal, finally stepping personally into Cyberspace.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
He opened his eyes in a realm of fleeting shadows and whispered thoughts, a feeling he wasn't even ready for, but as he grasped his surroundings, he felt the machinations of the Cyberspace restructuring the fabric of reality around him. His movements were locked as the world was reforming itself from where he stood, building straight lanes towards Kave's location.
Adam felt a certain confidence rising from within. He was stepping into a simulation run by his Sacred Code, not just a program he was familiar with, but one that listened to his will and obeyed his commands. In other words, another summon of his.
This gave him the nerve he needed to take this risk, and so he surrendered his senses to become more immersed in the process. His senses finally started to play tricks on him, and he was seeing shapes, hearing noises, with taste and smell coming last in the simulation.
He closed his eyes and opened them, the air around him smelling stale and cold. Dust and rot were the first to assault his senses.
> SYNCRONIZATION — UNSTABLE SENSORY FEEDBACK
With a pale overlay appearing before his eyes, Adam saw a message coming to him like those from the Magical System that came with the Rifts, and could barely resist the urge to look around for a keyboard and type a command.
Instead, he spoke audibly.
"Override process." He said, then thought of the next line: "Spare me some computing power. Raise computing priority value to high."
> SENSORY UPLINK — OVERRIDE FEEDBACK LIMITER
> DATA CORE PRIORITY — MEDIUM TO HIGH
Adam wanted to dismiss the messages with a wave of his hand, a habit he developed when dealing with the system of the outside world, but he failed to achieve the same result. He frowned and commanded it verbally with Sacred Code phrases, then stood there for a second, giving the whole matter a deeper thought.
He was now in what could be called the Cyberspace, supposedly a fictional realm where the Data of the Sacred Code is spread into living wild thoughts.
It is also one of the Three Parallels of Wartopia, officially known by Code Magi and Script Monks as Realspace, Cyberspace, and Hyperspace: Realspace being the cosmic sphere, Cyberspace being the data sphere, and Hyperspace being the null sphere.
The three spheres intermingle into Paradoxical Parallels, influencing, mirroring, and sometimes conflicting with each other. This parallelization created much wider concepts of existence to fit any future narrative Wartopia's creators wanted to introduce; however, now that it existed outside the fictional setting of Wartopia and Adam was experiencing it, he felt rather unsettled with these thoughts crowding in his head.
Cyberspace is dangerous; the Sacred Code tames it as a medium between what is Real and what is Data. Through its sacred machinations, Data evolves into Thoughts and feeds the Code. That's why a 3D Simulation was critical to interact with the Sacred Code, since human thoughts wouldn't process the greater depth of Cyberspace without it.
The level was finally loaded around him, and Adam could move at last. Feelings and sight became clearer; vision, smell, and taste grew sharper, and he was now looking around in a trench bunker room.
"Send a message to the Terminal. Machine Code: Iron Maiden, ECO-001 Command Center. Write: 'Sister Solana! I am in.' Send!" Adam called and waited for a couple of seconds.
> MESSAGE — "Brother-Commander. Your soul link approaches stability. The Handshake rites are holding. Level Design has surpassed the halfway threshold and the architecture of the simulation is cohering under his holy gaze."
"Good. Will I face resistance along the way to Kave?"
> MESSAGE — "Yes. But as you remain unlinked from the Main Level, the window for amendments remains open. Calibrations may yet be inscribed or re-sanctified. State your required inputs, Brother-Commander."
Adam grinned before replying:
"Guns, lots of Guns!"
> MESSAGE — "You just need a single gun, Brother Commander. To invoke a multitude of Guns would introduce inefficiency, burdening the simulation with redundant violence."
"Oh, right!" Adam snapped out of his fantasy and cleared his throat to correct himself, but as he did so, bringing his left hand close to his face, his eyes spotted something.
Over his left wrist, there was a red glow. Something he felt familiar with, yet it was still visible under the thick layer of clothing he materialized into the simulation with. He immediately rolled up his sleeve, and the moment he laid eyes on the red glowing symbol on his forearm, he froze for a second.
This thing… it can't be! He thought to himself before immediately checking his body.
He removed his jacket, his sweater, and two layers of shirts before standing topless in the trench, a golden glow visible at the center of his chest.
A red glow on his arm and a golden glow on his chest. Adam's eyes narrowed as he looked deeper into these strange things and immediately realized what was going on.
"My Runes!" He said as realization struck.
Not only was he in Cyberspace, but he came with the weapons he was most familiar with: the Puppeteer Rune and the Bending Rune, his tools as a Sorcerer.
If that's the case, then maybe…
Adam reached for his belt buckle and pulled it out, then turned it and looked at the smooth surface beneath it. He saw his own reflection, and with his will surging to see more, something appeared before his vision.
——————————
Name — Adam Clay
Role — Survivor
Class — Sorcerer
——————————
Statistics (EXP: 2)
Might — 4
Trick — 3
Spirit — 7
——————————
Skills
— Artifice (IX)
— Chef (VI)
— Charisma (VI)
— Firearms (III)
— Psyche (V)
— Sage (I)
— Sanity (IV)
— Senses (III)
— Toughness (II)
——————————
Powers
— Font of Magic (Class)
— Puppeteer Rune
— Bending Rune (Item: Shaman's Club)
——————————
"Oh boy!"
Seeing his status manifesting even in Cyberspace, Adam could at least make an educated guess that somehow, even with this machine manifesting him into a virtual reality, the bond between him and his runes—and consequently the System too—was compatible with the Sacred Code, that being a construct of his Puppeteering Rune.
Just how much of Wartopia is bleeding into the Runes and the System? He thought to himself, but the Sage decided to add a twist to that thought:
Ask how much of the Runes and the System are bleeding into the Wartopia we are building! That's a better question, at the very least. But you know what is crazy? The fact that the answer may be more intense than you can ever think. A realm of thoughts and Mental Energy, like Cyberspace with Runes that feed on Mental Energy for a power-up? Isn't that like putting the fish back in the water?
"Oh!" Adam's thoughts were immediately opened to many new possibilities just for that deduction alone, and they started popping forth in jolts of euphoric inspiration.
Neat, right?
"Damn! That's some big brain!"
≪ Your [Sage] has improved! (I → II) ≫
As Adam was putting two and two together, preparing for his next move, a terminal message popped up to him.
> MESSAGE — "Adam! Why are you stripping?"
Adam blinked twice, seeing that, then looked up to the ceiling of the trench bunker he was in, realizing that he was being watched on the Tactical Holo Table, and the one messaging him was surely Megan. He looked down, and not only were his clothes gone (unloaded to not put more pressure on RAM), but his pants were below his knees as he had taken the belt off his waist.
He laughed to himself and pulled up his pants, then raised his middle finger. In the Command Center, Megan saw Adam flipping the bird, and she flipped it back. The two exchanged it a few times, with Megan poking his hologram image playfully with her middle fingers.
"You two are impossible!" Elena looked between them with furrowed brows. "Can you take this a little less seriously?"
"Sorry!" Megan snorted with laughter as she returned to the terminal beside Solana. "Did he say anything?"
"He is requesting to load a Justiciar set for him and is asking if it is possible to load some Troopers to follow him?" Solana replied without looking at Megan, still sour about Megan just touching a sacred terminal without muttering a single prayer.
"Is it possible?" Megan asked.
"Clothing—yes. But soldiers? The Simulation already consumes the majority of allocated resources, and the loading of this level alone is placing significant strain upon the Data Core. Should we proceed, the machinations of the Code will be forced into repeated instances of contemplative silence, and its spirit will exhibit signs of fatigue."
"Lags, you mean?" Megan frowned as she used her Wartopia translator.
"We do not employ such heretehcal lexicon!" Solana narrowed her eyes as she turned to Megan, restraining herself to the best she could. "Repent for such words, Sister Recruit. Initiate rites of correction. Self-flagellation remains a proven subroutine for purging heretechia from the soul and restoring alignment with the Sacred Code."
"Oh! Kinky!" Megan laughed as she couldn't take the zealous types seriously. "You're in luck, Sister Solana. Believe it or not, I was part of a social caste that hated those laggy instances of contemplative whatever. Adam and Kave did too."
"That's because their faith is pure. They simply need guidance." Solana replied, looking back at the terminal.
"Wha… What about me? Aren't I pure?" Megan asked, totally offended as Solana disregarded her.
Solana side-glanced at Megan, unamused by her shameless act.
"Pure?" On the other side, Sergeant Elena shook her head with a smirk. "You're almost as bad as me."
"Excuse me?!" Megan turned to Elena, wide-eyed with shock.
"Do you really want me to say it?" Elena asked.
"Say what?" Megan asked back.
"You're literally the loudest when you and Adam are doing it. So loud, the whole camp knows when you two are…"
"That's not true!" Megan protested immediately.
"What was it you said yesterday?" Elena scratched her chin, acting forgetful. "Stick it where exactly?"
"Oh, God!" Megan whimpered sheepishly, avoiding eye contact and looking the other direction, only to see Biscuits shrugging.
"So loud, you made the Star Paladin vacate the garage and head to the shelter." Elena added yet another detail, making Megan hide her face in her hands.
"Flagellation uproots corruption!" Solana turned with a disgusted gaze at Megan.
"Amen, sister!" Elena beamed with a smile.
"Can we please focus on Adam and Kave?" Megan immediately spoke in a high-pitched voice and stormed back to the Holo Table.
"Any word from the Commander?" Elena asked Solana.
"He is conducting Experiments upon these Script-Sets. He possesses a rare and noteworthy Aptitude for the Code." Solana exclaimed.
"You said it yourself, the Sacred Code is a summon that answers to him." Megan rationalized Solana's zealousness.
"I believe it is much more." Solana shook her head. "These are not mere variations, but unique Iterations. I observe them, and my protocols demand I declare Malcode or HereTechia—yet instead, they pierce my core with Grace and Reverence. Oh… a Transmission has arrived!"
Back in the simulation, Adam was testing the System applications as well as the Runes and Powers that he possessed. What he discovered, after employing the help of the Sage skill, was that the three powers that he possessed: the Font of Magic, the Puppeteer Rune, and the Bending Rune, all functioned similarly yet differently in Cyberspace, unlike in Realspace.
At first, Adam was happy that Cyberspace was a realm of mental power, which would easily maximize his power there, like putting the fish back in the water. However, that proved to be trickier than he thought, as one can't write on water. No matter how much he tried to apply the Bending Rune to build his own Golem and march forward, the Golem would fade as quickly as it formed, which frustrated him greatly.
But after trial and error, Adam discovered that the secret lies in his most underwhelming power: Font of Magic.
Adam realized that these glowing traces of his attuned runes were, in fact, buried deep within his Cyber form, so he had to dig deeper and look for their shapes within himself, tracing them with his Psyche and Senses.
≪ Your [Senses] has improved! (III → IV) ≫
But when he almost lost hope, he channeled his power and grasped their shapes, then tried to imitate them in empty Cyberspace with his fingertips channeling the Font of Magic.
The result?
Adam was able to imprint his runes in this strange place and was finally looking at something floating midair that resembled a letter from a language that wouldn't be possible to write on paper.
Adam got it all wrong.
The Runes weren't like normal Earth letters. They were three-dimensional. They had shapes, width, depth, and height. If one were to look at them from one side, they would most certainly resemble the runic characters known from mythology. But each side had a look of its own, a face of its own, and an application of its own.
Adam gulped as he realized what he had just stumbled upon, and if it wasn't the first step to the secret art of the Elden, Runesmithing.
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