Chapter 393

  Segmented Travels To the Moon

  There are two types of explorers, those that are focused on guiding, directing, and generally ensuring a safe travel through unknown terrain, using barely more than questionable methods and hope. Yes, hope that your calculations at hitting a stationary object caught in geosynchronous orbit around our planet, we are only seeing where it was. Granted it is a relatively large object, and the time difference is 1.3 seconds, meaning that if you aim at center mass and proceed to move at the speed of light, you should in theory hit the object relatively easily. That is of course, assuming you don’t have the second type of explorer with you.

  The second type of explorer is there for the ride and thrill of discovery. The type that raises their arms up high on rollercoasters as beams and scaffolding whips around, assuming that the engineers who created the ride, accounted for maximum clearance rates and assume they are going to be fine throughout. It should be pointed out that these are the same morons that will stick their arms up in a one direction Teleportation tunnel developed to five times the size of the original creator, knowing that more clearance room will be required to help direct the oversized body that they are inhabiting like a magical parasite, safe from being ripped apart as they hurtle through space at incomprehensible speeds. Sadly, it is only known that I have the idea that I might be considered a magical parasite in this seemingly symbiotic relationship with Raygunnr. The worst part is, that our union should be over, as our purpose for being together, that is getting enough synergy to adequately compete at the Planetary Positioning games is over. Yet, I sadly did not want to leave, at least not until I get Raygunnr to confess to continuing his writing career, while here.

  Just as I am realizing I am the symbiotic parasite in this relationship, I realize part of my relationship with Raygunnr means protecting him doing stupid things. Thinks like stretching his large bulky mechanical arms up and trying to touch the walls of my cascading sheets of perfectly formed energy. Sheets that are not fully created throughout, and are being redirected on the fly, to allow for ease of final direction and assuring we land in a relatively safe spot. The reason this was impossible before hand was that I would have died earlier, had I tried inserting myself into an incomplete tunnel.

  That is how my symbiotic relationship with Raygunnr is more fully formed within my mind. As I am using the fact that I don’t need to worry about my body being exposed to the vacuum, and all the horrors to expect when you are expecting asphyxiation, ebullism from the flash boiling of water drops being chilled to below body temperatures, or any of the other amazingly terrible ways to die in space. Yes, all of those fears are gone, and by comparison while ultimately tougher in that I must create a wider tunnel to travel through to get from Biprism to its orbiting satellite, aka the moon, I modified my travel plans to be easier. And ultimately, given the bonuses of not having to deal with the pressures of space, this seems to be the easiest adaptation to travel. Except for again, the second type of explorer that apparently likes the tactile sensation of dragging their fingers along the wall of a magical tunnel cut to the thinnest of layers and folded over each other in a spiraling pattern that gives strength, flexibility, and most importantly, the ability to add and adjust as possible. This is also the part where I realize why amusement parks pay full time employees to sit, monitor feeds and tell ride goers to always keep their hands inside the ride at all times. Something I knew all too well myself.

  “Calm down, and stop shaking me so much, you’re making it hard to direct us,” I cry out.

  Fortunately, that seemed to be enough to force Raygunnr to calm down and focus, though I could still tell he was excited about being here with me. Which was great, otherwise this would be close to kidnapping, kidnapping by parasite? I don’t know, but I just knew that having Raygunnr here with me, made this process a lot easier.

  Actually, Raygunnr’s pure and barely restrained enthusiasm is what is giving me the motivation I need to continue onward. Continuing to drop off older segments of this Teleportation tunnel and replace them with newer Teleportation segments that direct us all in the direction we need to go in at a speed of over thirty something kilometers a second, the maximum distance I can Teleport at any time due to my sight restriction. Everything in moderation, and this spell working is no different, what might have been impossible on its own is now possible due to my realizing that the task didn’t need to be impossible, I was just making it impossible due to my own limited foresight into the process. Once I realized that I was the biggest problem standing in my own way, that even the addition of the ambient energies of space only did but so much for the structural integrity of my spell. Especially after I had to make it even larger in diameter due to riding with Raygunnr. With that minor process broken down by a segmented casting approach, the rest became easier, for the only hard part after that was finding out where the moon was and trying to head in that direction, easy for people with normal vision, but a small challenge for the spectrumly impaired like me.

  Now you might be wondering how I know I am going in the right direction? Well that is simple, as I am just following myself. Well, following my distinct and unquestionable connection to Terra-Ulacrum. The stupid Simulacrum who sacrificed herself for Penelope and me. Trading herself for our safety.

  I promised myself I would come to get her first chance I was free from the Planetary Positioning games, and here I am. For a moment I pause, even hesitate for half a second, not long, but long enough to barely be able to connect my next transition piece. The sensation almost feels like vertigo, one where you suddenly realize just how high up in the sky you are and suddenly desperately want to get back down. Except there is just one problem, mainly that even if you suddenly let go right now, you would not fall down but you’d just float. Also, I realize that I can’t quit, not now. Not when I am so close, as I promised myself that I would achieve this goal, not just for her, but for all of us. This is a time when I count my impact on my own persistence nine times, as this is a success that is only possible from the working of all eight of my Simulacrums, myself, Raygunnr for letting me use his body. Penelope for giving me the suit in case Raygunnr burns himself up in a fiery ball of death from dragging his fingers and toes along the edges of my perfectly good and dissolving space tunnel. This is an achievement by me, but I realize that it couldn’t be accomplished without everyone else’s help and support.

  That’s when I see it, well her. Terra-Ulacrum. We are finally close enough that she feels closer than the others, and it is at this point that I realize we could theoretically just fall toward the moon and be just fine. Well we are finally close enough to have the gravity of the moon impact us more than the gravitational pull of Biprism. Fortunately, that means nothing compared to our constantly flowing Teleportation tunnel. However there is just one problem.

  Getting this close, I suddenly feel that my personal promise, and my goal of getting to and being able to save Terra-Ulacrum is completed, for we are right there. The finish line is in sight, but of course this is where the mind and body split for a second. The moment when your mind realizes that it can take a break once it crosses that finish line. This is also the moment when the body decides it is time to crap out on you and try to resist. Fortunately, I realize I can focus through this process, despite it suddenly feeling hot. Like super hot.

  Finally, I realize I need to comment on the sudden perceived increase in temperature. As part of me almost wonders if something is wrong with Raygunnr. At this heat and pressure, I might have missed something. I might have done something wrong and caused an issue where Raygunnr is doing what I almost cursed him to do, that is burst into flames due to dragging his fingers across the walls of my Teleportation Tunnel. Yet, I don’t want to worry him, as we are now close enough that I should be able to get myself to the planet surface safely. From there I could possibly find Raygunnr’s body, well the parts of his body that didn’t incinerate upon entering the moon’s orbit. Then I could hopefully Resurrect him, assuming I don’t need a special form of Resurrection for machine spirits to inhabit a mechanical body. Gods that is a headache just waiting to happen. But first, let’s just ask the simple question of whether he is okay or not.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Is it getting hot in here?” I ask, casting this modified spell work at incredible speeds. But again, I’ve cast spells of this power and magnitude before. In fact, compared to my first escape tunnel with Zero, this one is a lot easier, due to the segmented processes, and bleed away designs of my spell work. So the “work” of casting a spell should not be impacting why I feel so warm suddenly.

  “Um, the temperature is the same as always,” Raygunnr replies. “Though you are shedding a lot.”

  “Shedding?” I ask, and at that, I realize that he is correct. Parts of my body are being shed off, seemingly melting into and then through my space suit, where they are ultimately being picked up and absorbed by Raygunnr. A Raygunnr who suddenly seems to be glowing brightly at the sheer amount of nearly radioactive energy that is molting off of me in waves. I suddenly feel like a lizard would. A lizard that would shed off its skin and somehow grow wings, maybe like a dragon.

  My mind instantly feels the all too invasive and nagging inclinations of the all too annoying system letting me know I need to take a moment and apply changes.

  Seeing the quest completion I almost wondered how I achieved the truths. It wasn’t until I quickly read the breakdown of these truths that I realized I had always internalized all three from the very beginning of my time here.

  While I hadn’t expressly though of the truths in those exact concise definitions before, I felt that they were spot on for how I need to go about life. How it is only once I take the larger, seemingly impossible tasks and break them down into smaller more manageable tasks that they become possible. Then the third, I feel is tied directly towards saving Terra, how I promised myself I would get to her and rescue her, particularly after she sacrificed herself to rescue me.

  At the revelation of the quest being completed, I feel the individual components of my Quest rewards rolling through.

  The first thing to come out is my experience notification, which comes as an error. Only upon seeing it, do I remember the issue that I had last time when I got back from the moon. Which given how much trouble that initially caused, I should have almost expected it to cause trouble again when purposefully heading back to the moon.

  With the easiest part to block removed, the rest flows out like olestra infused regrets.

  At first, I thought this was a bit much, especially as the result of this new evolution perk is that I apparently shed a lot, at least while my body is reacting to the sudden changes in pressure around me. Effectively making adding a third layer of protection around me from all space related damage. Raygunnr would of course be the first, then Penelope’s suit which can selfheal due to its soulbound nature, but that is little help when I am capable of dying a most painful death in space in a matter of minutes. While this Bloodline evolution seems to imply I might be spending a lot of time exposed in space.

  Not the most warm and fuzzy of perks, but actually it does help me realize that even if things go terribly sideways, I might just be able to survive long enough to do something stupid. Which is better than not being able to do anything stupid.

  That title sounded mean, but the effects, well I really like the effects, even if that title does sound a bit demeaning. With that, I was down to the last part, the badge that I earned.

  With that, I could feel the effects of the changes coming over my body. In this moment I felt both alive and almost carefree.

  Only now, that Terra-Ulacrum was close that I couldn’t miss her if I tried, did I truly take a moment to breathe. There was a calm that settled over me, as if being cast out in the middle of the ocean, only to try to swim for hours, then finally seeing a coastline off in the distance and taking a quick moment to come up, breathe and let the ocean hold you for a moment.

  Of course, that moment was over far faster than I would have liked. Just like swimming and realizing that you might have felt a shark fin brush against your foot, I realized that my Teleportation Tunnel was almost gone. Meaning that the moment we were no longer within its safety, we would be subject to the whims of nature itself. Mentally, I knew that our momentum in space would continue, until acted upon by an outside force, meaning we would continue on this trajectory for a while. But I also knew that such a finish would feel dissatisfying. It would be like coasting to the finish line, when you know you can set a personal best by sprinting out to the end.

  Yes, this my first time, and therefore my personal best time of making it to the moon from Biprism, but I didn’t want to quit. That would feel cheap in some way, lessening the accomplishment and almost giving it a hollow flavor. That is why, even being this close, even being exhausted mentally, I continued to press, knowing that this would only get easier.

  Then as I pressed, I could see the faint outlines of the planet. I don’t know if it is just a matter of time, perspective, or Terra-Ulacrum’s own tenacity, but the moon didn’t seem as dead as it had originally. The world seemed to pulse and glow with a vibrant spark of magic that had been absent when I was last here.

  Getting this close, I made my final push, connecting one Teleportation Tunnel segment to the next, then the next, and finally crashing through the atmosphere and landing with a thud on ground. Ground that was once sand, but now teeming with life and vitality.

  Raygunnr’s large hulking frame cracked and groaned under the pressure of such a violent landing, but despite that he still seemed excited.

  “WAHHHOOOOO!!” Raygunnr exclaimed in excitement, jumping up instantly despite cracks and fissures forming in his crystalline carapace. So used to constant pain and pressures from our training together that this apparently felt like a nice reprieve.

  He was right to celebrate though. Together we had done something impossible. Or what should have been impossible, had we not broken it down into possible albeit improbable steps.

  Standing and feeling his boundless joy radiating off of him in waves, I felt truly happy for a moment. For now, I had done everything I set out to do today. Then as if being rewarded for my own achievement of reaching my own personal and mostly improbable goals, the system felt my presence here on the surface of the moon. The presence here was odd.

  Like an old awkward acquaintance who had left, and came back changed after years away, we met and I felt this system interacting with me. That’s when the system here seemed to reward me for my efforts, for my contributions, and most importantly, for coming back.