Damon woke up in an unknown bed that most definitely was not the one he’d rented. His breath stank of alcohol, and his mind was fuzzy. Details were hard to draw out as he slowly stirred. The soft warm flesh within his grasp wriggled and, slowly but surely, Damon began to remember the previous night. He’d had exactly one drink, and it had still hit him harder than he’d expected it to. Han and Sybil had enjoyed their own beverages and downed them without much pause, the duo becoming more boisterous by the round.
By the time Damon had finished his drink, Sybil had removed her hood and was loudly narrating her battle with the monster lord to any who’d stopped to listen. Meanwhile, Han had run commentary in the background, calling out her bullshit whenever she exaggerated a particular part of the fight.
Damon had felt satisfied to stay away from the spotlight and nurse his drink one gulp at a time. His eyes had roamed across the crowd and fallen upon a splotch of color. A woman, short as all the others, but different. She’d not been a sasin. Instead, her skin had been a near fluorescent blue, streaked with lines of yellow and orange in a way that reminded him of the glowing forests on the blue mountains.
The dash of color had brought his attention, but the more he looked, the more he found the one wearing such colors to be alluring in her own right. She wore little more than a simple tunic, one that only reached down to her knees, exposing strong shapely legs and a modest cleavage. Her arms were equally muscular and exposed, her hands webbed and sporting some wicked looking black claws.
“Well, aren’t you quite brave-?”
She’d tried to goad him, or perhaps admonish him, and her words had ended when she’d turned to look his way. Eyes with neon-yellow sclera and black irises widened in a look that was either shock or fear. Probably both. Damon had looked at the dark orange fins on either side of her head and smiled.
“What’s a pretty lady like you doing this far from the sea?”
He might have slurred a little. The alcohol had made him feel hot and daring. Part of him expected to get told off. He hadn’t quite expected the conversation to lead to the room she was staying in.
Laying on the bed next to that very same naked woman whose name he couldn’t quite remember, Damon felt like somewhere in the process, certain steps had been skipped. Maybe she’d been just as eager to move things along as he’d been? Whatever the case, he groaned and shifted, moving to stand up and rub the sleep out of his eyes.
“… was fun…”
She’d mumbled, groaning and laying on her bed.
In the relative darkness of the room, Damon saw the yellow stripes adorning her arms had pulsed with light, and half-remembered something about wanting to make her glow like a star… or something. Certainly he’d pushed things into the very late hours. He shrugged, putting on his clothes and checking there wasn’t anything missing.
“So, uh, yeah, see you around, maybe.”
All he got in response was an affirmative, tired sound, and he hurried on outside.
“So, ready to hit the road?”
“That’s another of your ways of speech, isn’t it?”
“Figure of speech.” Damon sighed, stretching and limbering up as Idina and Sybil checked the cart one last time.
“Say, where’s Han?”
“He went to confirm the latest updates of monster attacks and criminal activity.” Sybil shrugged, looking entirely exhausted. “Always a good idea to check before heading out.”
“I guess you guys can wait, then.”
“Where are you going?” Sybil asked, frowning from under her hood. Damon could spot the twitch of her ears.
“Training.” He shrugged simply. “You guys can catch up once Han comes back. I shouldn’t be too far ahead.”
The glare leveled his way was ignored, and he just started walking. The guards at the gates didn’t even try to stop him, just jolting into a frozen state and watching him go. Damon would keep the quick march up until he was out of the town’s line of sight. Only then did he pull out the sling and start practicing.
His thoughts very quickly moved back towards Idina’s words regarding the sling.
She’d been unable to use it, rage overcoming her until she’d destroyed the piece of cord.
And as Damon spun the cord and let loose another stone, something came to mind. The edicts.
“System, is Idina unable to attack someone?”
[…]
Query Answer:
Idina EM Tag is corrupted, unable to determine identification and potential compliance status.
[…]
Damon’s eyes bulged.
“What is compliance status?”
[…]
Query Answer:
Compliance status measures the entity’s proximity to the desired behavior for its given role.
[…]
That sent a chill down Damon’s spine, the spinning sling slowing to a complete halt. His throat felt dry as he swallowed loudly.
“Are… what is the desired behavior for someone with a gatherer role?”
[…]
Error
Query answer not found.
[…]
“Can an administrator alter the compliance parameters?”
[…]
Query Answer:
Network Array: Offline
Thalaring port required for administrator tools.
[…]
A quick look around, trying to confirm if he could spot anyone or anything else right now. He was alone, well and truly alone on the road.
“Is violence part of an entity’s compliance status?”
[…]
Error
Query answer not found
[…]
“Fuck.” More holes on the information available. Like someone had tried printing a dictionary on Swiss cheese. Damon grimaced. “What about… weaponry? Guns? Is that part of the compliance?”
[…]
Query Answer:
Most forms of projectile based weaponry are highly restricted.
All restricted weaponry is to be destroyed on sight.
[…]
Idina and her claim she’d cut-up the sling, the described anger she’d felt, as well as Sybil.
“Is an entity destroying a restricted weapon a desired behavior?”
[…]
Query Answer:
Yes.
[…]
“Fuck.”
Damon had been pacing back and forth across the cobblestone road while feeling an anxious dread lingering over his head. He’d thrown a hundred more questions at the system, with not much success finding anything else of use.
The question was eating at him, however. This whole thing meant… what? That Idina and Sybil and Han were being controlled?
Was he?
And… had the axion anything to do with this? His fingers brushed against the piece of metal on the back of his head and he shuddered. Idina didn’t have an axion, she wasn’t a user. But the system had pointed towards ‘desired behavior’ in terms of weapons. Both Idina and Sybil had felt angry over a sling.
A sling.
A projectile based weaponry.
But not him.
Was he immune? Did he have to be born with it? Had… something messed with their heads? What other behaviors were “desired”? Why hadn’t they noticed any aside from the edicts that, apparently, filled them with terror? Was he under the control of these things as well? What if he made an actual firearm? Was it more restricted? Would he get attacked? Were there other rules that stirred other emotions?
The back of his head itched. He held his hand tightly to keep from scratching at the piece of metal.
He caught sight of the cart, Han, Sybil, and Idina. They’d been watching him as their cart was being pulled ever closer.
“You alright, sir?” Idina’s question felt light-hearted, but her eyes spoke of concern.
“Yeah, yeah, just… um, thinking stuff.” Damon chuckled nervously.
They didn’t seem sure that his words were earnest, but they nodded along. Damon didn’t really need to pay too close attention to know that the three of them had shrugged almost at the same time. The hymn, the point that lets them communicate wordlessly with everyone around them.
Was that part of a desirable behavior?
No, he had to solve this.
“Actually.” He pulled out the sling, showing it to the three of them. Sybil and Idina had complicated expressions, while Han frowned in confusion. “I’d like to test something.”
“What… is it?”
“Pay very close attention to your emotions.” Damon said. “I have a weapon in mind. It’s a weapon that grabs rocks, ones the size of my finger, and shoots them at incredible speed. Such speeds that it’s impossible to dodge.”
Brows furrowed immediately. Sybil’s most of all.
“Damon, if this is about the sling, I’d rather we not…”
“It made you instantly angry, right?”
Again, the reaction was uniform, a jolt of surprise, Idina being the only one that nodded.
“I talked about it a bit before, been chewing on it, but… I think this is an edict. A different kind.”
Sybil’s back straightened abruptly, eyes wide, vulpine ears perking entirely. “Are you… is this… as an administrator?”
“It’s what I’ve found out.” He said. “The, erm, the system-.”
“The Goddess of knowledge.”
Damon made a face, keeping quiet and sighing. “It said that the anger towards the sling was normal. That people are supposed to be made angry about it.”
“Oh.”
Sybil sighed, actually smiling, her shoulders slumping as she nodded. “That would be a relief.”
“Wait what?”
“Is there anything against flaming swords?” Han asked, sounding slightly amused but hopeful.
“No, I-. It talked about certain kinds of projectiles.” Damon slowly glanced at them. “This doesn’t bother you?”
“If the Gods have decreed certain weapons are forbidden, then… What is there to argue?” Sybil inquired. “Shouldn’t you avoid using the sling if this is the case?”
Idina almost jumped at that. “Of course not! He is chosen for a special task. If the Gods didn’t give him an edict to follow others have, it is for a reason.”
Damon could only stare, feeling at a total loss for words as Sybil and Idina quickly devolved into arguing over some nuanced interpretation of what was or wasn’t allowed or implied. His eyes shifted from them to Han. The man with the golden beard met his gaze and just shrugged.
“Is it something you can change?”
“I… don’t think so. Maybe?”
“Then you are worrying about the sleeping dragon in the mountains.” There was a slight shake of his head. “Focus on the monsters that are on their way to the gates.”
“Are you trying to tell me to not sweat it over what I can’t do anything about?”
“Yes.”
Damon’s shoulders slumped. He nodded. “That’s fair, I guess.” He shook his head. “What about the sling?”
“If you think it will be of use?”
“Honestly? I feel like this whole business has made me want to train more with it, not less.”
Han laughed, even as Sybil looked on, horrified.
The descent down the mountain continued, the path meandered through various villages and smaller trade-hubs. Damon found himself being the main fighter against the monster attacks that assaulted them along the way. Nothing like the teether horde, but annoying nonetheless. Han and Sybil seemed to thoroughly enjoy just sitting back and giving him pointers as he fought.
Sometimes they’d stop to spend the night in a village, most times they didn’t. The lack of crowds made Damon stand out far more than anyone liked them to.
The mountains, once blue, shifted and changed the further south and east they went. Their coloration took a more brownish tint, the sort Damon was used to. The glowing forests also died out and were replaced by greener ones that more closely resembled palm trees, a rather odd thing considering there were no beaches, sands, and barely any rivers or lakes.
That was until they reached “Rainbow Lake.”
It was a vast reflective surface, sitting between an arrangement of multicolored mountains. To the east were ochre red peaks, to the south a mix of browns and yellows. The lake itself seemed to shimmer with the wind, twisting and mixing the colors of the mountains into wavering shapes.
But it wasn’t really what drew Damon’s attention.
It was the tall column of steel that stood on the opposite side of the lake. A tower, perhaps ten stories tall, and two dozen meters thick at the least. It was black like midnight, a needle stuck into the very scenery, slightly bent.
With two gigantic cables leading off and vanishing into the mountains, barely swaying in the wind.
“What the hell?”
Han tapped his shoulder and smirked, pointing southwards to one of the peaks. There, barely visible, was a second black needle, the cable leading from it to the one next to the lake.
“That is the construction that gives Sky Bridge city its name. It is something built by the Gods themselves during the Era of Heroes. They have stood there for thousands of years.” Sybil spoke with pride, smiling widely.
“I hope you’re not afraid of heights.” Han laughed.
“It’s not the height that I mind.” Damon muttered, swallowing. “It’s the drop.”
