NEWS: Multiple Story Lines

Well, as I have now started it, I guess I better make sure everyone understands. I now have two story lines going, one where I am once again without my memories and another where I have my memories, but only as far as when I had left Calypso in the first story line. I do plan to make this all work together, but to make it easy on you there are different tags on the posts. Posts with the story tag pertain to the fictional story and ones with a planet name pertain to what I have going on in my game life. I am sure I will do my best to keep you all thoroughly confused in this, but it will be great fun for me. Anyway, happy reading as this expands into much more than a simple linear story. :)

Arrival on Arkadia

The days following the robot and human forces that had tried to capture me felt intense. I was surprised I had made it somewhere safe when I made my jump, the chip was destroyed and so I had no more quick escapes if they found me. I made my way quickly and with all communications devices turned off to the nearest outpost where I could buy myself the tool needed to get this implant out of my head. I was sure it would somehow let them find me again if I didn't get it out. Once I had removed it I quickly destroyed it, not even daring to sell it in case they were looking for the IDs of anything I had owned. I then made my way back to civilization, not having a teleporter nearby to make it an easy process. I had to work my way through different creatures, trying to figure out where I was. I didn't dare turn on the map, lest my technology give me away. Once I had stumbled on to a teleporter I used the generic interface to get myself to town and quickly sold everything I had to street vendors, only once it was all gone and I had replaced my clothes with the basic orange jumper did I feel more comfortable. If I was going to stay under the radar I had much work to do and so my next step was to make some quick cash. Luckily my knowledge had some value, and though I hated to give it up I extracted some of it to sell on the market. Once I had enough PED I then got to work changing my looks. Though I had grown accustomed to how I had looked since my arrival here on Calypso, I was no longer able to keep the appearance, I could be recognized. And so after a few procedures I was very much different than what I had been for the last year. My next task was to start modifying my standard issue items that I would never be able to replace if I had given them up. I didn't dare turn any of them on yet and instead just hoped that once I made my modifications I would be able to use them once more.

It had taken a good couple of weeks, lying low and eating fruits that I found, before I had finished modifying my handheld device. It wouldn't connect normally to the main network, but instead would only connect to what I needed, which meant they wouldn't be able to track me as they did before. I still didn't completely understand why they had all come for me, I was very glad however to be free of that situation for now. With the PDA back on I quickly checked to see if the systems could find me, which, to my relief, they couldn't. I knew I had more modifications to make but at least I was no longer vulnerable as this device would be what I needed to stay alive in case something decided to try to eat me. With this done I dared make use of the auctions again and got some basic equipment, just the things I would need to try to make a living while I searched out my options. As I familiarized myself with my tools again I noticed how awkward they felt. Had I really used these before? I wish I hadn't had to sell so much of my knowledge, but it was necessary for survival. After I had a good idea how to work the device well enough again I set out trying to find the resources that I would sell to make some more money. As I did this, during the time between drops, I checked the latest news, it seemed that lots of things had changed. Apparently there were vehicles that had made it, finally, to the planet and there were also other planets that had been discovered. Had it really only been a few weeks? It seemed odd to me that so much could happen so quickly. I decided to do something a bit more risky and started searching for news about me, I saw a few of the bounties that had been created, but they were over a year old! I was very confused about the date change, it had only been two weeks for me and yet here was the date, telling me I had lost months of my life with no memory of what I did during that time. I determined to try to figure it out, but not here, there would be too much at stake doing it on this planet and it would be impossible for me to know if it was someone here who had erased my memory of the past year and so I felt safer getting somewhere new. I checked the headlines about the different planets and eventually decided my best bet might be Arkadia. Though it had its own problems it looked like a place I would enjoy and it was far enough away that I might be able to examine what had happened in relative peace. At least there weren't robots on that planet to fight against, though the Oratan could be a problem, but I'd have to risk it.

It didn't take long to find the money to buy a vehicle that could handle space, I had quite a bit still left from when I sold everything and the prices had dropped quickly as supplies increased. Though once it was all done and I had what I believed I needed I was once again poor, but I had high hopes when I arrived at my new home. It took a while to get there, being a small craft flying in deep parts of space in order to avoid detection, but once I arrived I was greeted by lovely landscapes that just begged me to begin looking for their treasures and secrets. It would be hard, but at least here I was unknown.

A Very Light Breakfast

I had not taken much notice of what I ate, it wasn't terrible and I think I may have enjoyed it, but the prospect of sleep had made me overlook the details of it all. I didn't take in any of the room that I was led to or the path we took to it, which probably wasn't the wisest thing, but I was too tired to care. Shortly after they left me in the room I was to stay in I had lied down on what I assumed was the bed and fell right to sleep. It wasn't until the morning when I awoke that I realized I had slept on a woven mat that served as a place to sit and meditate instead of the bed, which was through another doorway. I took my time getting up and examining the room, it was fairly large and had a few useful chambers in it, among which I was glad to see a place to clean myself up. Once I had bathed myself using the fragrant oils and warm water that came from a pipe leading down into the chamber from above I once again began my inspection of the room. It wasn't overly elegant, not that I was surprised. It was simple and cozy and I felt like it would make a suitable home for the time being. To start off my morning I sat on the mat and studied the devices I had constructed just yesterday, it seemed like so long ago that it happened and yet it was only a day ago. The devices were crude in look and I could follow the various paths in the technology, though I wasn't sure what it all did yet. As I sat there examining the objects one of the beings gently tapped on the door to my room and when no answer came they ventured in cautiously and saw me sitting there with the strange things on the floor before me. I took no notice of him as he peeked over my shoulder until he asked, in a very quiet voice that still surprised me greatly in such a silent room, what the objects were.

After my little jump that had also caused him to jump back a bit I explained how he had surprised me and that these objects were tools I had created yesterday. He then asked me what I was doing with them and I replied that I was trying to figure out what specifically they did and how they worked. The look on his face told me what I already knew, I hadn't said something logical. I explained what I did know to him, how the devices were used to take memories out of my head so that my brain would stop hurting due to the knowledge that had been placed there, as far as how that knowledge got there I couldn't elaborate for him on that. Among the knowledge removed was the information about these devices. He then asked why I didn't just use them to put the information back, to which I explained that I had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea, that I could cause some serious damage to myself in the process. At this he nodded his head in what I took as understanding and then informed me that breakfast was ready and that there were quite a few visitors that had come to partake of the meal with me. When I emerged into the dining area I was surprised to see exactly what he told me was there, many of the villagers had come to join me, and by the looks of it there were many more outside as well trying to peek in and see the strange creature that had appeared in the night. By my best guess I would say about a quarter of the entire village fit into the large room they had prepared for the meal, only about a third of them had a place to sit and the rest were close to the walls, the luckier ones being in front and having a view. Occasionally I saw a head pop up and down really quick as a few of them jumped to get a better view, though this made the others around them a little irritated and so it didn't happen too often. In the morning light their forms didn't look too different than what I remembered from last night, I could verify that their digits were much more segmented than mine and in fact were very slender. I imagined they would be able to use such delicate instruments as they had in their hands and feet to do many wondrous things that I would have had to have tools to do. The thought made me think again about the tools I had, but the thought wasn't allowed to linger for any length as one of the elders welcomed me to the table and several of the beings started serving the food.

From what I could eat of the cuisine it was delicious, but I wasn't given much time for each part as all of the elders had many questions for me, some of which I had answered before but not all of them had been present at the time. I started to take note of the subtle differences in the beings, trying my best to figure out who was who among them. At times it was difficult to hear what was being asked, some of them were on the far side of the very large table we sat at and the murmur of the others in the large room at times picked up, especially when the answer I gave didn't sound feasible. Mostly they were trying to figure out who I was and where I came from, which I was unable to give an answer to. The other questions were about the technology I had and how I knew what materials to use to do what, to which I could only give vague answers, though through the course of the conversation they introduced me to a few of their brightest minds, those who I would consider their engineers. They even brought in a few of their mystics for introduction as well in hopes that they would be able to assist me in figuring things out. Towards the end of the meal they began giving me some advice and instructions on how to interact among the people and how I would be a contributing member during my stay, the biggest hope was that I would be able to teach them about the technology I was able to make. They also gave warnings about some of the creatures outside the village and about the other villages that it would be possibly to travel to eventually. I was also informed that they had sent messengers to the nearest villages' elders to inform them of the strange being that was taking up residence for a time. This told me that for the next few days at least there would be many such meals as this with many creatures present and so I made a mental note to try to save some of the food from each meal so that at least I might be able to eat it in peace when I was back in my apartment. I was then introduced to a few of the beings who I assumed were in a lesser class than those I had been conversing with, to which I soon found out was true, they would be my guides to show me around the village so that I might be made familiar with where I needed to go for various things as I found need. With everything in order they departed back to their usual habits of the day and I found myself moving, slowly, around the village. The process was long and difficult, especially with so many of them gathered about trying to get a good look at me. When the tour was done and I found myself comfortable with where I was and where to find things I returned to my room, skipping the meal they offered for now, despite being hungry, and opted for a quick nap and, hopefully, some time to ponder my own fleeting thoughts.

The Elders

I wouldn't say these beings were much to look at, their skin color ranged from gray to brown to green, mostly earthy colors that helped them blend in with their surroundings and usually of a darker shade which told me they would normally hide in the shadows to escape detection. What I found most odd about them was their heads, they had tiny little hairs scattered all about but none of them close enough together to do anything with like mine. These hairs, though not many, were scattered so haphazardly about that they didn't seem to serve much purpose and the fact that their heads were so wrinkled made it so that they didn't even face any particular direction. If this wasn't enough to fight against giving them odd looks being in front of their elders made it worse, their heads were wrinkled so much more than the rest that I had seen that it almost looked like the skin on top of their skulls could be pulled in any which way you wanted to hide any particular part of their head or face, I imagined if there were any older ones that they could seriously pull the skin of their heads about their bodies as a covering or blanket. Their eyes were dark and mostly hidden deep within their wrinkled faces, they seemed to be a very dark brown in pigment or possibly just black altogether, but it was hard to prove in the poor light and the need to get so close to them to figure it out. Their bodies were almost completely smooth, at least the parts I could see, lacking any wrinkles at all so that you could not tell their age unless you gazed upon their brow. Upon their bodies they wore simple clothing, very similar to the ones that I had, though seemingly not as finely woven. It was clear that they weren't hunters because all of their things seemed to be made from plant fibers and other common, earthy materials. The colors were all as drab as their skin, it was clear they had no dyes that they used to make themselves stand out among each other, which would probably be problematic for me as I had to figure out how to tell them apart at some point. Their feet, as I had known of from my knowledge infusion earlier in the day, were not covered with any protective article, and so I was not out of place being bare footed among them. The digits on their hands and feet were longer than mine, and without looking closer I couldn't be sure but I believe they had more segments to them. But when glanced at without further inspection their feet didn't look too different from mine, both were covered with the dust of the earth which made them blend in well with the floor. As I gazed upon their forms they gazed upon mine, neither of us spoke but I imagined the thoughts in their heads were much the same as mine, trying to figure out why such a strange looking creature existed in the form that it did.

After the inspections were done they started once again quietly talking to one another. They tried to stay as hushed as possible, knowing that by some strange miracle I knew their language. Some of the bits and pieces I picked up made me understand that they were trying to figure out if they should treat this as a religious experience, a scientific discovery, or perhaps something else in meeting me. Once they seemed to reach a consensus they turned back to me, and speaking slowly as if to a child began to introduce themselves. My expression must have been one of amusement because they stopped half way through and looked at one another. Realizing that their confusion was with the slight smirk I had I quickly gained my composure and explained to them that I found it a little entertaining that they felt the need to speak to me as if I didn't know their language, which brought about the next part of the conversation in which they wanted to know how it was that I spoke their language. Specifically, how it was I spoke their dialect when it wasn't a normal one that any other village spoke and in fact they took a lot of precautions in keeping it a secret. To this I replied that I wasn't aware there were any differences and that theirs was the only one I knew and as far as how I learned it, it was a strange process of knowledge being put in my head by some strange device, but that the details of the whole process was not something I currently knew anything about. This then made them wonder if someone sent me forth to them, to which I replied that it seemed like I sent myself, that I should know how all this happened but currently because of certain physical limitations I could not know these things at the same time as I knew what I currently knew. Of course, this was hard to comprehend and even speaking about it to them made me unsure of what was going on, but I did my best to hold fast to what I was trying to hold as truth and put forth the most confidence in my own words as I could. After some brief discussion they seemed to accept what I was saying, though they did mention to me that I needed to work on figuring out my own past before I went forth to any other village and talked with them. After saying this they offered me some food and a place to rest, promising to talk with me more tomorrow when the sun rose and to begin helping me find a way to learn what I once knew.

Arriving at the Village

The unfortunate thing about unexperienced knowledge is just how much you don't comprehend it. It was clear that the information in my head had been mostly composed of the necessary information to save myself and a general outline of some things I needed to accomplish, however it didn't give every detailed step after the initial set that had allowed me to create these devices, and even that knowledge was very limited. It also seemed that some of the things I had been given were made to go into the recesses of my mind as I could no longer tell how exactly the devices I had functioned, just that they did exactly what I needed them to do. I planned to spend some time figuring them out again, I was sure I could, but I first had to make it somewhere safer. I was aware that there were lots of different creatures in this world and most of them were harmless, however if I didn't make it to town before nightfall there were no longer any guarantees to my safety. The information I wished had been experienced knowledge instead of just figures was the distance to the nearest town from where I had been. Though I knew it would be a long journey I hadn't imagined it being quite this long. I had spent most of my time walking contemplating the tasks I had before me, at least until that knowledge started to fade as well. I knew the general idea of what I needed to do, mostly to learn about the technology I had and to ensure I could put the steps together much like I had experienced, though I wasn't sure why I had to make sure those things were done. It was strange having all this information and then for it to leave again like it was all only a dream. The thought I toyed with as the vast amount of the steps for my future faded was how exactly this would be of benefit to a person to tell them what they needed to do and then force them to forget it, perhaps it would surface again as I accomplished the tasks at hand. Luckily one memory wasn't leaving me, and that was of the little device that contained all the knowledge I had previously, I was glad to know that it was there and it brought me comfort that I would some day be able to know who I was and where I came from.

The sun was just about gone by the time I saw the town, the joy of finally seeing my destination gave me energy and I ran the rest of the way. Upon reaching the edge of town I saw the shadows of creatures moving about, these I imagined must be the inhabitants of this village. I took a moment to collect myself, making sure I didn't surprise them and cause myself more problems than I already faced. As I mentally prepared several greetings I heard some of them nearby discussing various goings-on, most notably the changes they'd noticed in the natural things around them. Things seemed out of place, like something unusual were happening in the delicate balance of the planet. I thought for a moment I had done something wrong already when they mentioned how long things had been slowly changing, which brought me some relief. I listened for a while longer to what they discussed, it brought me some peace to know what kinds of things these beings discussed, I imagined many creatures that looked like myself doing the same, though I had no immediate memories of participating in such discussions. I waited a little while longer, wanting to find a good opportunity to confront these things, whatever they were, and when I felt I had a good chance to not completely take them by surprise I stepped around the corner of one of their simple buildings.

The silence that surrounded us as we gazed at each other was disturbing to me. I knew they had never seen a creature such as me and I didn't feel I had ever seen any such as they were and so we just stared. It dawned on me that all my waiting and preparing was for nothing, gazing upon them had stripped from me any elegant thought of introduction and so, finally breaking the silence, I greeted them in their tongue to which a look of surprise appeared on all of their faces. After another moment one of them stammered a greeting in reply, it was clear that they were shocked that anything else on this world would have been able to speak to them as I had just done. I then began trying my best to explain to them what I knew of myself, which wasn't much, but at least I could tell them that I was not like them and I believed I was from another world altogether, to which they seemed even more perplexed, though not completely surprised. Their response to all of this when I finished relating it all to them was to know how I had arrived, to which I could give no definite reply except that I believe I had been sent here for a purpose. After this brief conversation they whispered among themselves and finally decided to take me to the leaders of their village to determine what should be done with me. I followed them without another word and waited with a few of them as the rest went inside a large building. From the few noises I heard there was much shock and disbelief until finally one of them popped its head out to look at me and then just as quickly as it appeared it went back in. A few more exchanged words and then one of the first that I had met ushered me in.

Self Induced Amnesia

The infusion of knowledge made my head spin, it took quite a bit of effort to keep myself alert as my surroundings changed. I vaguely remembered bits and pieces but it was all so hazy from the amount of knowledge that was put there. My head throbbed and one of the new thoughts came to the forefront of my mind, it was information telling me that basically my brain wasn't evolved enough for the amount of information it held and I needed to quickly use this new knowledge to pull some old knowledge out for safe keeping. I was hesitant to pull it out, knowing that there was a loss every time it was done, but as if anticipating my thoughts some schematics came to mind that showed me a lossless system that could be constructed using some natural materials, most of which seemed to be close at hand. Indeed, almost everything I needed was here in this sheltered area I found myself in. It was a small crevice hidden between some rocks that were rich in resources, more than enough to construct what I would need, the only problem was I found that I had nothing to work with. My own nakedness shocked me, I had never known a jump to remove all possessions and yet here I found myself with nothing. Once the shock passed I was once again aware of the increasing pain I was going through, my head felt like it was going to explode and I needed to act quickly. Once again the necessary knowledge came to mind and I got to work gathering the things around me that I would need.

It was strange as the first device came together, it was like watching my body on autopilot yet I knew exactly what it was doing. It was like I had done this before and it was so familiar to me that I could do it even in my sleep. As the progress continued moving forward, first making the tools then the technology I became less and less aware of what was going on around me. The pain was so great that nothing mattered but following the directions I had in my mind. I hadn't realized how quickly technology could be created with the right knowledge of the materials you were working with, though I knew some of them I had never touched before now. It seemed like hours working through the pain, but when the final device was activated and most of my life previous to these events left my head I was aware that only perhaps 40 minutes had passed. How had I done all this so quickly? I wasn't sure, perhaps there was something I knew at one point about making myself move faster but it was gone. I knew that I had previous knowledge and that it was in this ingenious little chip that I was now holding and that I could not have this knowledge back until I could find a way to contain it again, perhaps the secrets of my quick work were contained in it and perhaps not, someday I hoped to find out. Until that day I needed to keep this little device safe, and so I quickly used the tools I had to create a container to hold this precious thing and keep it safe from harm.

With my head clear I quickly took note of my surroundings. Outside of the safety of the rocks was a small forest and a field beyond it. The rocks made up part of a huge mountain that I found myself standing at the foot of. I inspected my surroundings as best I could to make sure my secret spot was safe and carefully put my tools away before venturing out into the woods. I would need many more materials to make the things I would need before venturing forth into this world and I knew they were likely to grow among the trees. My mission was clear, I had much work to do but would need to make contact with the natives to get their help in completing all that I had to in time for the events that were to come. It was strange knowing what the future would hold and having instructions from myself in order to prepare for them, but they didn't detail every step, which was good as I had to learn all the knowledge I was to put into my own head in the future.

Being in the past was strange, I knew I could do so much damage here and yet I had to be here in order for the future to be what it would be, at least that's what I was assuring myself of in the knowledge infusion. I wished I could once again have the knowledge of the future but it would probably kill me to take it all back now. As I contemplated the situation I had put myself in to ensure my own survival I finished gathering up the various plants I needed and returned to my work area. The plants would create fibres and cloth for me to then create clothes from, then my appearance should be less of a shock to the natives when I found them. It didn't take long, the tools I had made before worked easily with these raw resources to create some simple pants and a shirt, I wouldn't need shoes as the beings of this planet embraced nature and all that it provided. I had also constructed a backpack to hold my belongings, they seemed a bit heavy, which surprised me, I would have imagined that I carried such tools often and yet my body, though strong, seemed to have never carried the burden in such a way as to have it slung on its back. As I made my way through the forest I gathered up some fruits to take with me, I also made sure to stop by a small stream and fill my water bag from it, it would be a long journey to reach the closest town, I just hoped the knowledge I had of this world was accurate enough to lead me there safely.

NEWS: Moving Forward

I have written the next post in the story, it will show up tomorrow at midnight, I am assuming that would be my time which is Mountain Time. I will not be continuing the daily posts, that is just going to be too much work to keep up with and so I will continue the story at my leisure. I actually do have some idea of where I'm going with the story this time, so I hope it is still enjoyable to read and hopefully I can fill the path to my planned destination with lots of little twists and turns for our hero. As always, I enjoy seeing your comments and thoughts about my writing, so please feel free to discuss.

I am also hoping to eventually include other tidbits of the goings on of Sorven in the future as well, perhaps a bit of in-game blogging such as the numerous mining logs I see except encompassing a bit more. I will tag such posts as In-Game and the posts pertaining to the story as Story to make it easier to follow the different things I write about. I have also created a Sorven Twitter account so you can see his accomplishments, I don't know if I will use that any further than just in-game activities, but we'll see, there are always many possibilities. Anyway, I hope you all stop by tomorrow to read the latest part of the story and also continue reading the future posts that will come as well.