The endless stillness felt soothing, inviting for eternal companionship. Yet that little part of me still able to reason had a whole lot to say against such a desirable notion.
In my tiredness, I didn't want to wake up just yet. I had no desire to entwine the next load of hopelessly entangled problems.
The mere occurrence of such abhorrence was clear from the very start. Just the exact time it happened had been left to imagination for as long as I kept still.
So came I really fought against reason, trying my hardest to keep myself swamped with the cosiness that was inherent to this stillness.
Nevertheless, there came the time I had to accept my loss and owe up to reality's persistent beckoning.
Slowly opening my eyes, I savoured the positive feelings flooding me for as long as they lasted while my field of perception came to life with the same ease of an old mortal doing sprints.
My body was positively bursting with energy, an erroneous belief my instincts held dear as if my life depended on that very conviction.
Observed from a certain angle, that feeling could be regarded as rightfully true... Anyway, I had other things to do than to pass the time thinking aimlessly.
"Interjection: Readings within parameters. Evaluation: Operation partially concluded with success. Welcome back, Master.
Evaluating patch notes..." Realising I knew that annoying voice from somewhere, I abruptly focused. The room I was in appeared clearer as a consequence.
"What," I couldn't exactly trust my eyes just yet, "is going on here?" I felt the compressed mana within the elder fairies.
How it was forced to intermingle with the spell models they kept ready. The sheer amount made my tail lash out uncontrollably.
"Thine name?" Opal Woodpuff asked coldly, the mighty spell still kept on the ready. "...Thoth." I didn't quite follow.
Did the concept of my name slip, well, their conceptual consciousness? The result of me fainting? I shook my head fiercely to rid myself of these silly thoughts.
"Wast thine sunb'd comfy at mine own lodging?" My facial expression mustn't have been great to look at, for the elder fairy amassed even more ambient mana.
"Warning: Danger level detected. Inquiry: Commence security measures?" To which I shook my head in reply. "Cease aggression."
Something was very strange here and it just so happened I had a hunch, albeit far from graspable. Whatever the solution was, it tenaciously eluded me still.
My head remained too groggy for comfort. "Thine answer!?" Before that dangerous bunch of spells came blasting my way, I wisely decided to comply.
"The armchair was, coupled with the stove. But you don't like fire much, keeping your distance." "O-opal! D-does he speak truth?!"
I ignored the perverted other one. "Of a sunbed... I don't know." My most recent memories happened to be messed up, but at least this much was certain. Hopefully.
Opal Woodpuff focused on me for a while longer, carefully scrutinising every inch of me. I could not say I was averse to its attention.
"Good now. That gent art the same blinking doofus hath led astray." "Who, what?" Now it was my turn to ask, startled and getting ignored in return.
"Feareth not. Thee canst disp'rse with thine murd'rous obsession." Nova Twinkleflame did as told, eventually ending up asking questions after questions I didn't quite understand the meaning of.
Opal Woodpuff answered thoughtfully, intent on explaining every little detail of the nature of our interactions thus far.
And clarifying it didn't rub my scales, didn't trace over them and, for some inexplicable reason, assuring the elder fairy that it was... safe?
Whatever that meant. "Logs successfully retrieved. Commence update." The two tensed up hearing the unpleasantly grating synthetic voice.
They didn't go on the offence, for which I was glad. My head happened to burden poor me enough as is, so no need to add another headache on top.
"Fetching... updating... fetching... updating..." "What's this about anyway?" I addressed them. "Nothing's changed since a few hours ago."
Opal Woodpuff turned to me, gesturing to the creepy elder fairy to pipe down for a second and forego asking about the most impossible events coming true. In its imagination, perhaps?
That, I feared, only it could answer. "Thee wouldst doth well to obs'rve thineself m're closely." I took it up on the prompt, ending up so stunned I barely registered its following words.
"Th're art one m're dram thing. Enow hours has't hath passed to maketh up days. Thee just art unconscious f'r so longeth."
"My deadline!" I cursed instinctively yet with no further meaning behind the words. Even the intonation sounded wrong to my ears.
"I've recovered... I've recovered...? I've!! Recovered~!!!" Opal Woodpuff's annoyed glare made me pipe down. So I continued shouting and cheering in my head.
Didn't want to ruin my chances after all. "You see," I eventually told it part of my secret, "I'm no longer leeking essence all over the place.
The restrictions put upon my body have receded so much that I've gained access to my first authority!"
Call it interest, call it goodwill or whatever it was that made me speak. I wasn't going to divulge any more crucial information.
While I was sure I could trust it, the impression was merely based on feelings so easily swayed. These thoughts had yet to stand the test of time.
So, until then... I'd do well keeping the really important stuff close to my chest. "With Noxins dost ingest, nay wond'r." That... explained a lot. "Interjection: Cure is not complete. Missing key supplies."
The Central Node, having completed the update as it seemed, sounded much more pleasant to my ears. "Warning: Error in the system. Cannot access logistics. Cannot access the core.
Barred from entry. Barred from the synchronisation module. Restricted authority. Restricted access to logs."
"As expected," I muttered. There were four Central Nodes outside of Aethernum, and the Eastern Central Node was by far the most recent acquisition...
In other words, it was incomparable in might and tricks to the others. "Do I have access to my personal quarters?" I asked without much hope.
"Reply: Positive. Interjection: Master's movements are severely limited outside the sphere of control." I couldn't help but grin.
"List access," I demanded, expressing my surprise. The Central Node complied. "Reply: Study. Bedroom. Query: Does the Master wish to go there?"
My elation wasn't all that great once I understood just how limited this so-called access was. "No." I refused for the time being.
My vault had been my goal all along. With barred access... there was no need to return home now, not when the clock was ticking.
"P'rfect. Thy offspring proves to beest... sore to dudgeon." "There's a problem with the youth?!" I was standing before Opal Woodpuff before I knew it, staring down at its ever-changing form.
Its confirmation was all that was needed for me to command the Central Node to open up a portal right into their city. Pulling them both along, I left in a hurry.