Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

I was getting sick and tired of waking up not knowing what was going on. I know that my whole identity, my human one at least, is surrounded around sleeping, but I’m pretty sure that passing out and waking up in unknown situations wasn’t what I had in mind when I started this human project. Or maybe it was; it wasn’t like I knew what this whole grand plan of mine was now that I’m half asleep again. Either way, I stifled a sigh and checked to see how many Luck Charges I had left, that was a good way to check for the passage of time I found.

Luck Charges: 1003/1557

Hm, I think I had close to 700 charges before I passed out from blood loss, so some quick math tells me that I’ve been out for 300ish minutes - or five hours. That was a lot longer than I thought, given my superior healing after the Ascension process. Still, I should look at it on the bright side, at least I had over a thousand charges to work with again, and something told me that I’d be needing it all given the unstable situation here.

Which is why I decided that the safest option was to wait for more charges to recover, at least another hundred or so. I was in relative safety at the moment, judging by the quiet and honestly quite comfortable room I was in, but I couldn’t hedge my bets that this will be the case going forward.

Luck Charges: 1004/1557

Was it just me or was a minute an awfully long time to wait when you’re just… doing nothing?

Luck Charges: 1005/1557

… Six one thousands, seven one thousands, eight one thousands…

Luck Charges: 1006/1557

Man, I should just sleep for now, but I’ve been doing nothing but that since I started impersonating this Ashwin guy that I couldn’t seem to do so no matter how hard I tried. In fact, it was taking all of my will power to just remain still with my eyes closed… although this itch I was starting to develop was seriously annoying.

Luck Charges: 1007/1557

Never in my life had I wanted to move and do anything other than wait than this moment. You can do this, Walter, you’ve faced down Eldritch monstrosities, horrible Hospitals and made friends with literal gods, compared to that, staying still and waiting is nothing!

Luck Charges: 1008/1557

Your will is strong, Walter! You are zen!

Luck Charges: 1009/1557

Luck Charges: 1010/1557

Luck Charges: 1011/1557

Fuck it, 1011 charges are enough for me. I am weak, I’ll admit it! Seven minutes was the longest I could manage, damned it all, and there’s a horrible itch on my stomach that I just can’t ignore anymore. Gingerly, I got up from my prone position and surveyed my situation, but not before scratching myself silly!

Or I wanted to until I saw that my entire lower abdomen was bandaged up. Judging by the discoloration of the bandage, I must have been seriously wounded as well, but I didn’t feel any pain. I poked at the wound, and aside from feeling a bit sore, it wasn’t too bad.

Noe, you still blocking off the pain here?

“Negative, my Host,” she replied, “Your body, ever since the Xollon incorporations, has a much higher tolerance for pain than before, and so has your ability to heal minor injuries. I have superficially opened the wound on your side so as to not arouse suspicions while you were asleep; I apologize for doing so without your consent.”

Oh, thanks, and no need to apologize. Good to know you’re a lot more autonomous than when we first met; I don’t know what I’d do without your help, Noe.

“You are most welcome,” she answered, and I could hear the warmth in her voice. I really did mean it as well, I’d be almost certainly dead without everything Noe’s done for me so far.

I smiled to myself and refocused my attention to the current situation. I was stationed in a small room, the walls were white and bland, and there wasn’t a window in sight. In fact, there was only one metal door that led out, which I would assume was all there to ensure that I was kept safe while I was unconscious. After that impromptu terrorist attempt, I would imagine that the people in charge are on high alert.

The only other thing of note in the room was the small table on the side of my single bed. My armor was placed on there and it seemed like someone had taken the time to clean and do some basic repairs on it while I was asleep. Some basic medical equipment was set aside as well, and I saw a cup of water waiting for me to drink next to a washing basin. I got up tentatively, surprised to see that I was dressed in a simple white robe now, and took some time to clean myself as best I could.

I was half way through washing the sleep from my eyes when I heard the door open behind me. I almost dove for cover at the sudden noise until I saw that it was an elderly gentleman who came in. He was dressed in a physicians uniform - thanks to Noe’s tinkering with my brain’s perceptions no doubt - so I could only assume this was the man who was taking care of me so far.

“I apologize for startling you, Master Ashwin,” the gray haired man whispered, “But I was instructed to see you the second you awoke. How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” Uh… Noe, you know who this guy is?

“There is a 99.86% chance that this individual is the chief physician and the god of healing’s envoy, Marcus.”

Marcus? Damn, why’d he have to share the same name as the creepy priest? Ugh, makes my skin crawl just thinking about that guy. Then again, it’s not like I’d expect everyone to have unique names, but why’d the nice old man have to share that name of all things?

“I apologize, my Host, but Marcus is the best approximation of the physician’s name in the human English language.”

And speaking of physicians… I shuddered, thinking about some of the stuff the patients in Hope’s Memorial had to endure, Never mind that, Noe, it’s best to just ignore the small details. Thanks for the help.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Marcus - er, I’ll just call him Mark - said again, “You lost a lot of blood, so please take it easy. We’re not expecting you to be back on your feet so fast, but I think everyone knows that it’s a losing battle to try to keep you in bed where you should be.”

I gave the old man a forced smile, changing the subject. “So what did everyone need me for? I’m guessing it’s to do with that attack from earlier?”

Mark sighed and shook his head. “You’ll wear yourself out acting like that all the time, Ashwin, but that’s a conversation we can have at another time. Things are getting worse by the day out there, so I suppose no one has the time to rest now. But yes, it’s to discuss the recent events, and… about your experiences in the days you were captured. Your two companions filled us on the key events.”

I nodded. “What did they tell you? Nova and Erdic have been… we’ll, you’ve seen them.”

Another frown creased the old man’s face, clearly unhappy about what he saw from the other two. “Yes… They’re still in intensive care at the moment, but their lives are not in any danger; it’s the strange curse that’s been placed on all of you that’s the issue. You’re fighting it off well enough, but the same can’t be said about the others, you’ll have to tell us more about that later as well. But Nova was able to fill us in on your capture, and the state of the other Champions; it’s good to know that they’re still alive, but I’m not sure if we have the resources to launch another rescue mission…”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly, mainly to change the grim topic to something that I had more control over, “They’re not in immediate danger, that much I can guarantee.”

Mark nodded but didn’t ask for any more details. It was clear from my tone and expression that I didn’t want to go into detail about what had happened back in the cultist’s base. He thought it was due to the trauma, but in reality, it was because I had no idea what Q’s brainwashed aliens had told the man, and I really didn’t want to expend a ton of luck points just to ensure that I didn’t contradict anything the others said.

“So let’s focus our attentions on things that we can do,” I continued, “What’s the situation like since I’ve been gone?”

“The High Council can explain things in more detail, but suffice to say, our situation’s not ideal.” He shook his head after a minute’s thought. “Nevermind, there’s no point sugar coating it with you, it’s dire. Our barrier can’t hold off the encroaching darkness for much longer; our best estimates are worse than initially thought, and the populace has started to notice.”

“I see,” I muttered, looking contemplative. It was time to use a few luck points to not stick out, but just a small amount for now. “So we don’t have two years?”

Luck Charges: 1009/1557

Good, just guessing a random date didn’t cost too much; that meant that I could rely on Noe for small things like that going forward. The luck charges I spent would regenerate before I need it again if it’s just two or three points every time.

“No, it’s worse, much worse.”

“What’s the timeline now?”

“Honestly, the estimates are getting shorter and shorter by the day,” the old man stated with a frown, “The erosion is getting worse, and the faith of the people have waned significantly since news of your absence spread. That last crusade was supposed to stop or at least slow down the darkness, but…”

“But we failed,” I finished for him, “And people have noticed.”

“That is the unfortunate reality of things, I’m afraid,” Mark sighed, “With their faith faltering, the barrier’s only gotten weaker.”

“So how long, best estimates?”

A long pause, as if Marcus didn’t want to even consider the idea that he had to say, but eventually, with a heavy sigh, he answered. “Three weeks. Our best estimates are three weeks, and that’s with the direct intervention of the High Council and their immediate followers.”

I winced. Things were really looking bad for this dimension, and it was directly due to me and my friend’s actions. That wasn’t something I wanted on my conscience, even if it wasn’t something that I would have even considered when I was fully awake.

“Come on then,” the doctor continued, “Get dressed quickly, the Council urgently needs to see you. This…” A heavy silence filled the air. “This might be the last mission for you, for all of us. We don’t have the luxury of time anymore.”

“Then let’s get on with it,” I agreed, “Can you give me a few minutes to get dressed?”

He nodded and headed out the door. “Of course, I’ll wait outside. A fresh set of clothes are in the drawers below the bed.”

Once I was alone once more, I checked over my luck charges one last time and prepared to meet this High Council or whatever it was. The situation in the Order god’s domain was a lot worse than I thought, but if Origin really did have a hand in this dimension, then I can’t imagine that it’d just allow the whole place to just cease to exist without doing something. I wasn’t completely sure, but something told me that it’d be hard to find direct signs of the Trash Matrix’s involvement.

If I’ve learned anything in my stay as an Aspirant, it’s that the stupid system was meticulous, which means that I’d have to put it in a situation where it was forced to make errors. It was a risk, and failure could result in drastic consequences for this dimension, but my main goal here was to see what exactly the Trash Matrix was up to, and the best way to ensure that I caught a whiff of it’s machinations was to wait until it had no choice but to act.

With three weeks of time left, finding a way to stall things out shouldn’t be too difficult a task, but the first thing I’d have to do was meet with this Council and learn more about my situation. At least now, I had a tentative working plan. I steadied my nerves one last time and joined Marcus outside the hospital room, ready to face what’s ahead.

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