Chapter Text
The black box stared at them ominously. Ryder didn’t understand. It was reflective on the front but besides that it didn’t really look like much.
“Okay, why is there a TV now?” Neoma asked. Ryder stared at her.
“What the heck is a TV?” He asked genuinely. She seemed almost appalled.
“You don’t have TVs in Kleyidialand?” She asked.
“No,” Ryder said. Neoma looked at the Wanderer.
“Do you?” she pointed at them.
“I do not,” they said.
“Okay, well basically it’s a box that lets you watch things, like plays… if you have plays,” She explained. Ryder could hear the judgement in her voice.
“Obviously I have plays in Kleyidia,” Ryder said.
“Okay, just making sure,” Neoma said.
That explained what the black box was, but not how it appeared or why.
“So why would we be given a TV?” Ryder asked.
“I don’t know, maybe we’ll get to watch something so we don’t die of boredom," Neoma suggested. There was another white flash, and this time they were given two navy couches. They were on separate sides of the room, but both facing the TV. They looked kind of uncomfortable. Neoma gladly sat down on one of the couches. Miso sat on the other, Ryder ended up next to Miso; he did not want to sit next to Neoma.
“This is really weird,” Ryder said, “Are we supposed to just sit here and stare at a black box?”
“We could turn it on,” Neoma said. “If we had a remote,”
“Well how do you plan to turn it on if we don’t have a… remote,” Ryder asked.
“I don’t know, Ryder, I said if,” She shot back. Ryder was about to retort with something, but he got interrupted.
“Can you guys stop arguing,” The Wanderer asked. “It’s pissing me off,” Ryder rolled his eyes and he heard Neoma mutter something under her breath. The TV must have turned on, because the front turned pink, and said “React” on it.
“React, to what?” Ryder asked.
“It’ll probably show us, loser,” Neoma pointed out. Apparently she was right, because the TV started playing something. It showed a circus, where a girl that looked like a younger Neoma, was standing with two other people. They seemed excited. They seemed dazzled by the circus performance. It seemed pretty interesting to Ryder. Not like anything he's really seen. The lights dimmed signaling the end of the performance. People started standing up and talking. Both of Neoma's friends looked over at Neoma with a huge grin.
“I bet you’re too chicken to go backstage,” One of them said. Neoma scoffed.
“Come on, I’m not doing that, that’s stupid,” She rolled her eyes.
“Why not? You scared the performers are going to get mad?” The other one teased.
“No, but I don’t want to get in trouble,” Neoma argued.
“You’re definitely too chicken,” One of them said. The other just nodded.
Neoma scoffed again. She paused. It looked like she was considering it, as her friends continued to tease and taunt her. She rolled her eyes.
“Fine, okay, I’ll do it, okay? I’ll do it, I'll sneak backstage.” Neoma said. She walked off towards the stage. She kept looking back at her friends. Who just gave her encouraging nods. Ryder noticed that Neoma suddenly wasn’t looking at the TV anymore. On the TV, young Neoma reached the side of the stage, she walked to the back and froze in her tracks, she looked terrified. Ryder was watching a lot closer than he thought he would be. It showed something almost indescribable. The best way to describe it was multiple people stitched together into one. The thing turned to look at her. All of its eyes looked dead inside. It started speaking, its voice was surprisingly human; but it had layers. It was multiple voices speaking all at the same time.
“You shouldn't be back here,” It said. “People aren’t supposed to see us, not normal people,”
Neoma was frozen, like it was physically holding her in place.
“Would you like to be one of us?” It asked. “You would join the circus, you would have purpose in life,” Ryder didn’t know how to react, he glanced at Neoma, she looked upset, almost angry this happened. Ryder felt bad for her, she seemed so scared in the past. They all continued watching. It smiled somehow. It released something onto the ground. Spiders. It released spiders onto the ground, they started crawling towards Neoma and covered Neoma’s feet, they started crawling up her legs. She screamed before she collapsed onto the ground. The tv turned off, leaving them to figure it out.
“Neoma,” the Wanderer started.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” She said.
“I think we need to talk about this,” Ryder said.
“No we don’t,” Neoma insisted.
“You were attacked by a flesh monster and like a million spiders. You said you were a part of a circus, is that why you joined it? Because that thing made you join?” Ryder asked.
“Yes, that’s why I joined, but I like it, it’s my home and I get to perform for thousands of people,” Neoma said. “It’s fun, I like it there, so it’s not that big of a deal,”
Ryder just stared at her. It seemed like a big deal to him, she practically got kidnapped and forced to join a circus.
“Are you allowed to leave the circus?” Miso asked.
“Yeah, I can go wherever I want,” Neoma said. “I can’t leave as in stop performing, but I am free,”
“Okay, sure,” Ryder said. He still thought it was weird and kind of cultish, but he did not feel like arguing about that. He did think it was strange that the TV and whoever put them here somehow had that information about her, and was able to show it to them.
“How about we talk about the fact they can just… show us things that have happened to us,” Neoma said. “That’s really weird,”
“It is,” the Wanderer agreed. Ryder thought about it for a few seconds. The TV apparently knows what has happened to them, and can show it to people. For Neoma it showed a moment that changed the course of her life. Ryder has made a lot of… bad decisions that changed a lot of stuff. They would probably look at him very differently if they were forced to react to any of that.
“Yeah, that's really weird,” He agreed. He tried to act like this was fine, like nothing was wrong. “So do you think we’re gonna have to watch something about me and Miso?”
“Probably,” Miso said, “And based on what it showed us from Neoma’s world, it isn’t showing us happy memories,” Ryder nodded. This was absolutely not fine. He shifted his position to face the TV again. The screen glowed again. This time it showed The Wanderer. Ryder relaxed slightly. They looked different. Their head looked like a floating teal flame. They seemed to just be sitting, they seemed content. That lasted for a minute, then someone else approached them. They looked very similar. They spoke to Miso.
“The higher immortals want to see you,” They said plainly. Miso looked surprised. Ryder immediately wondered who the higher immortals were, and what they wanted with Miso. Miso followed the other immortal. They followed quickly, refusing to fall behind. They seemed to sink into the clouds after every step. Eventually; they reached a big door. The door opened in front of them, and The Wanderer stepped in. The other person did not follow them in. Miso continued until they were standing in front of three thrones, each throne inhabited with what Ryder assumed was the higher immortals. They kneeled in front of the thrones. The mist curled at their legs. The higher immortals were unnaturally still. The one in the middle spoke up.
“We have started to recognize your potential,” his voice echoed. Just for a second, surprise flickered over Miso’s face.
“Because of this, we have decided to make use of your abilities, you will help us, and the world, become a better place,” He explained. His movement was stiff, unnatural.
“What do I need to do?” Miso asked. Their voice sounded small compared to the higher immortal.
“You will venture to the mortal world and perform a spell,” He explained. “You will go alone and not speak of your destination to anyone, if the spell is successful, you will save the world, both the mortals and immortals. You will be hidden by a human disguise, any mortal who passes you will assume you to be a traveler,"
“Your help will save thousands of people, you will be seen as a savior," One of the other immortals said. Miso was silent. The higher immortals stared at them, their eyes drilling into The Wanderer.
“I can do it,” The Wanderer said.
“The spell, it has a cost, you do understand that don’t you?” The third immortal said.
“What cost?” The Wanderer asked.
“When you perform the spell, it will take the energy of the spellcaster, you will be lost,”
Miso hesitated, they looked less sure of themselves.
“We will acquire you a cloak and send you on your way,” One of them said. Miso nodded. Fear filled their eyes. The TV cut to show The Wanderer in their current form, holding a staff. The TV turned off again. The room was silent for a few seconds.
“Are you being used as a sacrifice?” Neoma asked.
“Yes, the higher immortals have sacrificed me to save themselves,” The Wanderer’s voice was flat. They looked almost mad.
“Are you going to do it?” Ryder asked. “Are you going to finish the… sacrifice?”
“Yes,” Miso said. “If I don’t, everything will be consumed by the Glitch,”
“Well it sounds like they deserve it if their only idea is to sacrifice someone,” Neoma said. Ryder agreed with that, the higher immortals should do something to fix what Ryder assumed was their world. They should have an actual plan, not just sacrificing some innocent lower immortal and hoping they do it right.
“I have to,” The Wanderer said. “If I don’t, the immortal world and the mortal world will collapse, taken by the Glitch,”
“What is the Glitch?” Ryder asked.
“I think it’s some kind of entity,” They explained. “It’s living, it consumes practically anything in its path,”
Ryder didn’t think that made a lot of sense, and it wasn’t really a good explanation, but he could tell that was all they really knew, so he didn't bother them with more questions. He nodded as if he understood.
“Okay,” Neoma started. “I think that makes some sense, it's kind of like Patient Zero”
“Sure, okay, but are you sure there’s not any other way to stop the Glitch? One that doesn’t involve dying?” Ryder questioned. He thought it was pretty stupid they had to die because of this. “You’re immortal, you are by definition not able to die,”
“It is what it is, I’ve accepted the fact that I am going to die, okay?” The Wanderer said. Neoma nodded slowly, Ryder followed that.
“If you need a plan to not die, we might be here for a while, so we can help you out, okay?” Neoma said. The Wanderer nodded. The room fell back into uncomfortable silence. Ryder really didn’t want The Wanderer to die. He kind of liked them, despite only knowing them for a few hours; and the idea of leaving this room knowing they would die did not give him a good feeling. He sighed. He wished he could do something to help both The Wanderer and Neoma, they were both going to die to some random entity. His train of thought was cut off when the TV decided to turn on once more. Ryder knew it was his turn to be exposed. The TV showed him with a blond haired boy. Crap. Whoever was watching them had decided to just embarrass him, instead of revealing his trauma. That was definitely for the better actually. If they showed something like the other two, Ryder knew he would not be looked at the same.
“Kaiden, wait up!” Ryder called out on the TV. They were in a dense forest, Kaiden was several steps ahead of Ryder. He stopped walking. He spun around to face Ryder.
“You walk slow,” Kaiden said. Ryder rolled his eyes in response.
“Whatever,” he mumbled.
“We haven’t made that much distance, if we get caught we’re screwed,” Kaiden pointed out. Ryder stood next to Kaiden. He was breathless, his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. They stayed like that for a few seconds, just catching their breath. They were both sweating. It was like 30 degrees out and they had been running. Kaiden didn’t even look that affected by it, just slightly out of breath. Ryder caught himself staring, which he found kind of embarrassing. He averted his gaze as he felt his face heat up more. He cleared his throat.
“We should probably keep moving,” he said. “It’s like you said, we don’t want to get caught, and if we’re late getting back the others will be worried,” Kaiden nodded quickly.
“Yeah, right, let's keep moving,” Kaiden agreed. Ryder nodded and started walking again. They kept a steady pace, until Kaiden stopped randomly.
“What’s wrong?” Ryder asked. Kaiden was looking around.
“Did you hear that?” He asked.
“No,” Ryder said. “But it’s probably just an animal or something,”
“Maybe,” Kaiden hesitated. “Let’s keep walking,” They started walking a bit faster. Both walked in silence, Kaiden seemed on edge. Ryder didn’t notice at the time, but he could see now that he was staring at Kaiden. That was embarrassing. At least Kaiden didn’t seem to notice at the time.
Ryder's foot caught on something. He fell face first into the grass. Kaiden's laugh could be heard from a few feet away. Footsteps approached quickly, along with laughter. Ryder forced himself to sit up and frowned.
“Stop laughing,” He said. Kaiden grabbed his hand and pulled him up.
“It was kinda funny,” Kaiden laughed.
“It was not,” Ryder insisted. “That hurt.”
“Well you seem fine,” Kaiden said as he brushed past Ryder’s shoulder. Ryder watched him walk away. After a few seconds, Ryder’s brain caught up and he followed him.
“How did I even fall?” Ryder questioned. Kaiden laughed.
“You probably hit a rock or something,” He said.
Ryder smiled. “I guess,” he shrugged.
The forest was getting denser, there was less and less room between the trees. Ryder could tell how uneasy they felt at the time. It was getting darker, the sun threatening to disappear under the horizon. There were multiple times where Ryder’s foot caught on something and he almost fell.
“This forest is really big,” Ryder said.
“Yeah, it feels like we’ve been walking forever,” Kaiden agreed. He was about to say something else, but Kaiden shoved Ryder onto the ground hard.
“Ow, what the heck?” Ryder mumbled. He looked at Kaiden, who had drawn his sword. Ryder pushed himself off the ground; he drew his sword and turned to face what Kaiden saw. They had been followed. Four guards from the base they infiltrated had followed them. They were outnumbered. Not severely, but it wasn’t good. Ryder knew they couldn’t take them. Kaiden seemed to be thinking the same thing. He was stepping backwards slowly. They looked at each other, confirming their plan; before running away, into the woods. They were hoping to lose them, since the forest was so dense here they might not be able to keep track of them. Something flew past Ryder's head. It was too fast to tell. Kaiden quickly grabbed Ryder's hand.
“This way!” He pulled Ryder in the same direction as him. Ryder could hear the guards gaining on them. Kaiden stopped. He grabbed a tree branch and pulled himself up. Ryder followed, grabbing a thick branch and climbing up the tree. The branches got thin fast. He climbed up as high as he thought he could without the branches snapping.
“Okay, now what?” Ryder asked.
“How about… I go down and distract them,” Kaiden offered.
Ryder immediately shot down the idea. “No, you’re gonna get yourself killed," Ryder paused. “I’ll do it,” He said.
“No!” Kaiden said. “If I would get killed doing that, you would definitely get killed trying,”
“I would not! I can do it and I’ll prove it!” Ryder protested. He attempted to jump down but Kaiden grabbed his arm and hauled him back up.
Watching it back, Ryder remembered how upsetting the idea of Kaiden risking his life for him was. It made him feel a bit stupid. He crossed his arms.
“What are you doing!” Kaiden yelled. “You are not dying like this,”
“I’m not gonna die! I can fight, and I’m fast,” Ryder insisted. “I’ll be fine!”
“Stop being stupid!” Kaiden said. “Now shut up before we get caught!” Ryder scowled.
“I’m not being stupid! It was your idea in the first place!” He argued.
Kaiden opened his mouth to fight back, but whatever he meant to say was drowned out by a loud explosion. The tree they were perched in shook, causing Ryder to almost fall. Ryder looked at Kaiden in confusion. He seemed equally confused. Ryder looked down, he was preparing himself to actually have to fight, drawing a dagger from his belt. But who appeared surprised him.
“Izzy!” Kaiden called out. Ryder smiled.
“Hey!” Izadora waved. Ryder slowly climbed down the tree. When he landed on the ground he greeted her.
“Why are you here?” He asked after a minute.
“Because you guys took way too long to get back, we thought you died or something,” She said.
“We did not take that long,” Ryder protested.
“You kinda did,” Izzy said. “So I got sent to come find you,”
“Thanks, I think we would have been dead,” Kaiden said.
“No problem, now come on, we gotta get back to base,” she reminded.
“Right,” Ryder said.
The TV turned off, Ryder noticed that the memory they showed of him was a lot less traumatizing than the others. He barely thought that over before he heard a loud scream.