Golden Vial
- A vial, roughly the size of a finger, filled with slow moving golden liquid. The vial will always be in an unmarked pouch of any color or fabric and can be found discarded or hidden on Homeworlds or Wonders, within the depths of Mirrorspace, or within the Dark Kingdom. To use this item, you must uncork the top and drink the full dose at once. Splitting the dose will yield no effects. The golden liquid tastes sweet, but has no identifiable flavor. Once emptied, the vial will heat up and the glass will appear covered with a dozen cosmetic golden hairline fracture; the vial is not damaged in this process. Drinking this liquid guarantees that you will have some memory from your most recent past life, regardless of your affiliation or faction. Even civilian characters will have a short memory of their past life. Only one memory may be recovered clearly, but that night you may also have vague dreams of up to three other partial memories. Mauvians can also use this but should not have memories on Mau; youma can use this item but the memories they receive should be them as a human in their most recent life. The vial can be kept as a memento.
Generally speaking, Mel wouldn’t have considered drinking anything she found at an antique store. Logic dictated that antique liquids were exactly that–antique, and therefore either expired, which…ew, or not at all meant to be consumed, which was far more likely. Still, after coming across this pouch by chance while antique shopping with a coworker (lost bet, long story), she couldn’t help it. She was curious. She was drawn to it the same way she was drawn to a lot of the important things in her life. Her career, her dog, even her family (another, even longer, story).
There had to be a reason why.
There was a reason for everything. At this point in her life she was a firm believer in that, at least.
“Smelling it can’t hurt, right?” She asked the question as though she didn’t know the answer was, “It depends on what it is, but it definitely could.” In her line of work she really did know better, but she still uncorked it, her curiosity ultimately winning out.
It didn’t smell suspicious, so how bad could it be?
She knew there was an obvious failure in that logic, but she held it closer anyway and sniffed a few times to be sure. Nope, nothing suspicious. At least not that she was aware of, so without another thought she put it to her lips, tilted her head back, and drank the whole thing like a shot of her favorite Ciroc.
It was a little sweet, exactly like her favorite Ciroc, though as far as what it tasted like…she couldn’t put her finger on it. She didn’t even have time to try.
She was out within seconds.
– [ ] –
She could hear the rumbling above her. Crashing, screaming. Chaos. Despite it being within the walls of her wonder, the Ekstrom knight couldn’t help but distance herself from it all. She had no choice, at this point. There was something far more important that she had to make sure was done before any more time passed.
Before she passed. The warmth that was spreading from her side told her that she didn’t have too much longer, so she had to keep moving.
For her, the clearest sound was her heavy breathing, and her boots clacking on the polished floor as she hurried down the now dimly lit corridor. The lighting had turned off all at once in the initial attack. It was just reserve power now, most of it having gone toward the shields that ultimately failed.
The panel opened and she stumbled outside, to a familiar room. Her room. As she staggered her way to the only computer inside, she thought of better times, of sweeter memories, of the laughter and joy that once filled the space. Now it was just her, desperately trying to fulfill her duties as a Knight one last time.
She quickly accessed the computer and, once through, she plugged a small device into the only access point and pulled up a blank window next. She typed as fast as she could, her vision fading fast.
Three words in a specific order using specific punctuation, that was all she needed to type as quickly as she possibly could. It was a security measure set in place long, long ago, a combination of technology and magic indicative of Mercurian involvement. Perhaps unique to the Ekstrom Wonder, given its origin, though there was no way of really knowing. Despite herself, the Knight recalled those lessons with a bittersweet smile. What she would give to go back to such peaceful times…
Her task here done, she stumbled about the room, slipping something into the top drawer of the nightstand, then ejecting something through some kind of chute. She took one last look about the room, as though steeling her resolve, before finally moving on.
She went as fast as she dared given the amount of pain that shot through her with each motion. Past one access door, then the next until she was at the fifth and final one. Given the emergency bypass she had to utilize she was draining her energy quickly, but she couldn’t afford to slow down. She headed straight for the only computer inside.
Another bypass, twice using two different methods. Once through she quickly swallowed the key before opening up another blank program and typing in a sequence of codes.
The rumbling seemed to get closer. She paused to quickly lock and seal the door. No one was getting through here if she could help it.
And then she got to work. Manually, with the last of her strength, she walked through the room and undid the various lines in the Grid, and each time she finished one panel she went the extra step of bashing her shield into it a couple of times for good measure.
One by one she heard security doors falling. Sealing. Securing. Trapping.
The screams followed next. It was anger now, and frustration. Loud banging and attempts to get past the reinforced doors. Together they might have had enough strength to get through the shields, but picked apart as she imagined they now were? She knew they wouldn’t easily make it all the way down to her.
There were no anguished screams, she noticed, and she instinctively knew she was now completely alone. The last one standing. It only made things easier, really, and she found her body got lighter and lighter as she made her way through the room.
It wasn’t too much longer before she settled down in a corner, and with the very last of her strength she undid the final line.
The Ekstrom Wonder went dark.
She could finally breathe again. Smiling, she leaned against the nearest wall, physically relaxed and her spirit at ease knowing she’d finished her task. She fulfilled her duty. She protected her Wonder.
The Ekstrom Knight saw her life’s mission through to the very end.
– [ ] –
Mel’s eyes shot open and she took a sharp breath, eyes wide as she came to from some kind of waking dream. Her eyes stung as tears threatened to spill over, and she felt suddenly warm and freezing cold all at once.
‘Just a little too real,’ she thought, feeling like she’d been strapped and wired in for some kind of simulated life experience. And her own death, at that.
Or someone’s death, at least.
After taking a moment to calm down, she took another deep breath and glanced down at her hand. She was clutching the vial from earlier, only now it was empty and completely cracked through. Curiously it stayed whole, so she corked it and put it back in the pouch.
“No more drinking weird things,” she said as she lay back down. Freaked out as she was, she was also exhausted, so she opted to put it out of her mind for now. There’d be plenty of time to think after she gave herself some time to process it all, so.
For now, sleep.
Thinking could come later.
1167 (gdocs)
