December 15, 2106 (military calendar)Iv'Lux(transted) 101, 84(Tukyarid calendar)GriffinLocation unknown My eyes fsh open then widen as I struggle to breathe and instead just choke. Panicking I look around and find I’m in a different room than my cell but I’m restrained.

  I gasp for air that refuses to go into my lungs. I feel it enter my stomach but not my lungs. I can’t even bring my arms up to feel around for anything as I'm tied down.

  I faintly hear something scuddling and the door flies open but I’m too busy trying to breath. “..down you need to calm down”

  I finally acknowledge the voice and look at it. It’s me-me. “Yes good calm down you’ve been kept under for a while as the reforming of your breathing organs would have been most unpleasant”

  “They are now sealed units you no longer need to breathe” I slowly calm down my attempts to breathe then as I haven’t passed out yet I try stopping entirely.

  The sensation of knowing I’m not breathing but I feel fine is weird. I try speaking but all that comes out is choked gurgles. I guess I’ll have to re-learn if I’m still physically capable… I better be able to speak again.

  Me-me looks at me and then states “that’s.... unexpected I guess your speech is connected… no matter” I gre at him.

  “Don’t look at me like that. Your performance was spectacur keep that up and we’ll have no issues” I gurgle again “Almost no issues” he corrects.

  “Anyway I was going to discuss the next changes but as you can’t talk now… we’ll figure something out” I roll my eyes “you're skeleton seems fairly strong currently so I think it can be left alone for now. I think the main focus for the next step should be either your nerves or your muscles”

  I raise an eyebrow hoping he’ll eborate and thankfully he does “it seems the biggest drawback you have is reaction time and strength” I immediately interrupted him.

  Reaction time would be better to get first so I get a better feel for how hard I’m gripping things ter. “Hmmm I suppose you want one over the other probably for a good reason… move your meat arm for reaction time and the metal one for muscles”

  I move around my flesh and blood arm. “I see. I’ll go ahead and expin that process then. Or at least what I’ve been able to figure out while I had you put to sleep its not complete yet"

  “I’ve been able to find that your neurons transmit at a staggering one hundred and forty meters a second. And the speed they reset is equally impressive. So the pn is to speed both up”

  “By creating a new insution yer transition speed should be increased and changing the chemical will decrease the reset time”

  “That’s going to take some time however as I create the procedure. For now get used to breathing not breathing and I’ll do what I can on my end”

  He gets up to leave then pauses “you must be incredibly lonely and bored… I am... sorry about all of this... I’ll see if I can get something to help” with that he leaves.

  I take a second to process everything and dwell on how genuinely sad he seemed about all this. If only the rest of his people were like him this war would never have happened. After a while, I then ponder at the procedure he carried out. His success is probably due to the pilr but… didn’t it say it also created him specifically.

  If it wasn’t for that I’d be positive he’s trying to trick me. This is just the beginning of this trial but I can already see the end.

  Eventually, he’ll be in my position, not exactly but close enough. I’ll have to see about minimizing what I can when this pce is invaded.

  Maybe keep his assistants alive? Does he have a family? Shit now I can’t even ask. I should have plenty of time so let’s recover for now and try speaking again ter. Maybe by pushing air through my stomach?

  Hawke

  “Silver I’m not taking your job we all agreed that you having backup just in case was smart. I doubt you’ll need it anyway plus you’ll be seeing way more combat than me so you’ll be kept busy”

  She still stares daggers at me “fine it’s not like I can stop you anyway. I’m sure she’ll be surprised that she’s getting reinforcements”

  I shrug “it’ll probably be the st bunch. I think she’ll appreciate all the data we have with us though” Silver nods on the feed. Between a new mech model and various little upgrades to everything Tanya definitely won’t compin.

  “Anything weird with her yet” I ask. It’s been a few days since the incident and subsequent emergency meeting so I’m curious.

  “No reports of strange dreams yet but and I haven’t confirmed it yet but the shadows seem to darken around her”

  “When I told Nyx he said it might be a precursor to other passive mental stuff like the feeling of wrongness just looking at her… none of that’s manifest yet but”

  A few of the other sentinels are gathering all the data they can now on her, we’ve never studied the full formation of a god, we have at least partial data on the pilrs but gods are a little different, it doesn’t help we basically just killed any we came across.

  “That doesn’t mean it hasn’t manifested already but the crew is just keeping it on the down low” I state silver agrees “true I’m curious about their lineages it wouldn’t surprise me if they all have ancestors from that group from the old world”

  That’s an interesting thought “you mean the hunters? Yeah that would make sense” the hunters in the old universe were monster hunters from various nations and races. They did join Elysium in the end but they always remained somewhat independent.

  Some of the monsters they killed could erase whole towns just by walking in and melting the minds of everyone there. To say a strong mental fortitude is necessary is an understatement.

  I throw a message to bondrude asking for a lineage trace on the 104th. He replies no problem and that he’s surprised no one has asked for one yet.

  Given everything that’s happened I’m sure Spero and Jone knew. Or at least had an idea.

  KlicksOnboard the onagerSeveral standard human days have passed since the sudden drop from FTL. Not much information has been released about it other than an object got in the way.

  How that happens is beyond me. I asked one of the human engineers about it and they also had no idea but were gd the theoretical systems to prevent collisions worked.

  The mood of the ship and quite possibly the fleet shifted after that though. A bnket of unease is seeming to affect everyone.

  Now that several days passed I’ve heard a few passing conversations of weird dreams. No one seemed to be able to remember anything about them though.

  That has been the biggest thing to get used to with the humans, their imperfect memory. I have to routinely calm myself when they forget an admittedly small detail.

  Right now though I’m ignoring any strangeness that is certainly a byproduct of stress and heading to the mess hall.

  Once I collect my meal I spot Jed and his team. I decided to see if I can join them and head over. “Greetings may I join you”

  Rabbit looks up “sure thing” he squints for a moment “klicks” I take my seat and get situated. They resume their conversation with Jed saying “I’m telling you I saw the shadows move”

  Rabbit retorts “and I’m telling you it was the light moving man you're making it sound like it was alive” wraith shrugs “strange stuff has been happening after the sudden drop”

  I interject myself into the conversation “do you think it’s connected” they all gnce at me before they all mumble “shouldn’t be”

  Barbosa comments “I’ll be honest I’ve been having strange dreams since then… and Rose has been putting an emphasis on psychological therapy the st few days”

  Rabbit and wraith raise their eyebrows with rabbit saying “alright that’s no coincidence. Top knows something and hasn’t disseminated it yet. The question is what is it”

  Wraith adds “it’s curious who’s currently affected too…” Barbosa groans “Me and Jed aren’t Elysian born… whatever it is it’s affecting ‘weaker’ minds first”

  I speak “are you certain something is happening” Barbosa nods clearly while the rest slowly nod “I’m certain now, an emphasis on mental health, me and Jed are experiencing weird things while Elysian born aren’t yet. Those in charge know something but aren’t willing to say anything yet”

  Jed spots someone and waves them over. “Zombie bate come join us” he says as the group nears. Once they sit Jed asks “frank have you noticed anything strange the st few days”

  Frank the one who seems in charge of that group thinks “I’m not sure but I did pass Tanya on my way here, she had her helmet clipped to her waist but… I’ve never seen her so tired man the bags under her eyes…”

  I think back to my time with them on the ground and the lead human almost never had her helmet off and seemed to always have more energy than everyone else combined.

  Jed sighs “I have a dumb idea Barbosa, Frank if you're in” barbosa shrugs but Frank looks at him expectantly as if waiting on an expnation. Jed lowers his voice “The three of us go check on her see if we can’t help take the load off and maybe get some answers too”

  “Lord knows she has plenty to do without figuring out the whole kingdom thing. Shit I even heard a rumor that Spero himself gave her the nod for it”

  Frank takes a second then nods saying “shit man I was in from the beginning” he grins. Once they finish their meal they get up and leave.

  Jed What’s the worst that can happen, she just tells us to fuck off? We’ve all served long enough together we’re like family and family checks on one another.

  Outside her quarters I bang on the door. Shit I hope Frank was right about her coming here. Before I can think of leaving to check elsewhere or finding Cole to have him locate her for us the door opens.

  Just like Frank said she looks like she hasn’t slept in a week. Or more. Even her false eye looks tired. “Jed how can I help you”

  For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and it almost feels like I'm staring a feral beast down. “Can we come in for a moment” after a brief moment she shrugs and steps aside.

  Once inside with the door closed I speak “I’ll uh I’ll just be blunt. Is everything fine? You look exhausted” she frowns a little then sighs “I am exhausted. I’m assuming this also has to do with Rose” she looks right at Barbosa.

  He nods and I swear the shadows in the room got deeper. She gestures to some seats off to the side and we sit in them.

  “So tell me what’s up” she seemed slightly reinvigorated. Barbosa expined “we’ve noticed some anomalies, myself and Jed have had weird dreams and seen strange things while Rabbit and wraith haven’t, even franks whole squad”

  “It seemed like it’s just non-Elysian born but we also wanted to check on you see if we can’t help at all” her eyes darken and I watch the exhaustion rush back in.

  She sighs “do not repeat anything here until I say otherwise alright” we all nod “try to keep an open mind”

  I butt in “I’ve seen you shot in the head several times to no effect not to mention all the other occasional weird shit I think we're pretty open”

  She smiles slightly “as I was saying, I found something on the ship we nearly collided with. It’s had some… unexpected consequences. Its effects piled on preexisting conditions well…”

  We all sit expectantly. “The jury is still out but signs point to me having accidentally become some kind of god” after some stunned silence Frank asks “uh what kind”

  “Im not sure yet but Rose isn’t focusing on mental health for nothing” she sighs “we’ve all been through a lot together and seen a lot more but if what I see whenever I close my eyes now is what’s to come from this then somebody is going to have a terrible time”

  She moves to her desk and from a drawer pulls out a drawing “I’ve already shown Cole and Rose” The drawing is some tentacled thing.

  It does seem to have two legs or maybe they are arms with a mass of tentacles trailing it, its head has a bunch of tentacles too, there are no discernable eyes or a mouth but the body has segmented ptes it looks like.

  For some reason, my head starts to hurt as I look at it. “What the fuck is that” I say just above a whisper. “No clue to a name yet but that’s just one of many things, it’s not even the worst one”

  We all stare wide-eyed. I gnce to Barbosa and Frank and notice barbosas eyes are a little bloodshot now. such a viceral primal reaction and thats not the worst oen? She puts the drawing away and a sense of dread that I didn’t even know was there vanished.

  Frank quietly states “This could make fighting a lot easier” it takes a second before I fully grasp his meaning but once I do I’m inclined to agree. If she’s accidentally doing this to us she might be able to route entire forces.

  Someone bangs on the door and Tanya girs at it before going to check it. After a moment she comes back in with Casper. “Nyx has been trying to reach you he says he’s certain of what happened now”

  He gnces at us and raises his eyebrows but Tanya ignores it and asks “and what did he find out”. Casper looks hesitant for a moment then continues “he had a prison for the outer gods the key to which was a certain book that was always on the move”

  “Under normal circumstances whatever came in contact to it would be devoured and form a rift releasing them. Instead, it would seem you somehow consumed them”

  I raise a hand “what are these outer gods” it almost feels like a sense of unease settles even thicker on us “entities that feed on not just a creature’s mind but their insanity. Their primary avenue was through dreams but also cults and sacrifice”

  “Beneath these things were countless creatures that are an anathema to reality” as he says this Tanya pulls out that drawing again and shows it to him.

  “An intellect Harvester” he whispers. “How are you still whole how'd you resist all the old ones at once” she shrugs “I needed to get back to my men so I ignored everything else”

  We all stand silently for what feels like an eternity before Casper states “it would seem your loyalty to your men fueled your will enough to endure”

  I mumble “how’d everything fall apart the second we left sol” Despair threatens to pull me in until I harden my resolve.

  If all this is true, I can understand the pilrs in concept but I’ve never been huge into them hell the entire fleet is fairly familiar with the overall concept, but if Tanya just accidentally became a god… to call it a change is not doing it any justice.

  I straighten my back and give her the new salute “god or not you're still my general and I’ll dive into hell and back for you”

  Barbosa and Frank repeat simir sentiments. “We’ll help you figure this out” She stands still a moment and I swear I see a tear well up.

  She takes a shaky breath “thank you. In that case let’s try to experiment some… once we get Rose here” she sends out a message and surprisingly fast she arrives.

  “You're looking a bit better” is what Rose immediately says. “Now you said experiments. I’ve been thinking of some after you initially talked to me and Cole so I’ve got some ideas”

  “Now gentlemen what are some of the anomalous things you’ve noticed”. We tell her about what we’ve seen and Rose nods a few times “Perfect then an easy one would be to try to make the darkness more dark”

  I shake my head “Nah fuck that try not making the ships all spooky, weird shadows is one thing but not getting good sleep is another”

  What followed was a few hours of ‘tests’ which felt and sounded more and more ridiculous as we went on. By the end of it though everyone including Tanya was in good spirits and I at least slept great with no horrors waiting in my sleep this time around.