Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

I'm glad, Underseen. 

New chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
He's Not Really Stable, is He?

"There," he said, "it's done. No harm done, then?"

Cloak had to bite back a nasty retort in response of the sheer recklessness of this man. It could have been a lot worse. Fortunately they got here in enough time that the outer planets.of this star system didn't decide to wander off due to the reduced gravitational pull of the diminishing star beginning to ebb at its center.

"I think my point was proven, in any case," Barlowe said, as the snow melt as the sun had returned to its former glory. Barlowe clearly still thought he did something good, as if he deaged the sun a few billion years or something of that nature. His statement was betraying a sense of lunacy, albeit a subdued one.

"That aside," Aquilai said, as diplomatically as he was able, "we're gonna need you to dismantle your solar siphon, Mr. Barlowe."

"What?" Barlowe said, the veneer of politeness shaking now.

"Dismantle your solar siphon," Aquilai proceed, apparently oblivious to the change in mannerism. "And destroy the blueprints. It's much too dangerous to exist."

"That's exactly what they said . . ." he growled, before doubling over and holding his head, in a remarkably disturbing and unsettling way, even to Cloak and Estelore, whose anger evaporated.

It was then when he snapped. This is when he lost the pretense of politeness, and revealed himself to be the deranged person he was, perhaps with a touch of hebephrenia.

"No no no no no no no no no!" Barlowe said, sounding like a spoilt, petulant child than the sophisticated scientist he tried to portray himself as. "You're not the boss of me! You can't tell me what to do! It is mine! It is mine! No no no no no no no no no no!"

He looked up, looking rather demented, but rather pathetically so.

"The sun siphon is mine! Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!"

"Oh, heavens!" Aquilai said. "What happened?"

"You pissed him off! That's what's happening!!" Saffa scolded.*

"What can he possibly do that's so threatening?" Estelore asked rhetorically. Her arms were folded, and her body language was condescending. Barlowe whipped behind his machine, with an utterly insane glint in his eyes, and he swiftly pivoted it as one would swivel an office chair.

He pointed it directly at Esty's heart.

"That answer your question?" Saffa asked, hands up in half-hearted, mock surrender.


* https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QagDAnaEkYc

[theyoungphoenix]

I'm caught up of course. This chapter was a nice change of pace. All dressed up with no where to go 

Underseen!! good to see you again!!!

[Cloak]

This is true.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Don't Do It, Barlowe!

"Are you gonna make me dismantle it now?" he said, sounding like he had truly lost his grip on sanity. "Huh, huh?"

"He didn't lose his sanity, he shattered it," Saffa observed.

Barlowe apparently couldn't hear her over his crazy cackles and demented chortles. He didn't assume his polite demeanor any more, which lead Cloak to believe that it was nothing but a cover for the sheer madness he was submerged in.

"You're not gonna make me break my little precious," he said, thickly, "are ya?"

"And now he's Gollum," Saffa muttered, "because reasons, I guess."

"I thought that I made my point," he said, giving an insane little chortle, "I really did. But, obviously, I didn't . . ."

No one spoke. They all came to the same conclusion. It was probably best not to provoke this dangerously unbalanced man, lest he do something reckless and foolhardy. Something that they all would come to regret.

"No, I didn't, did I? Did I?" he blabbered, just barely coherent. Then his tone went from generally crazy to menacing. "Just like them. You're just like them."

"This can't be good," Cloak said. He wasn't intimidated all that much, but knew that this was a situation that called for some finesse.

"Simpleminded plebeians! The lot of them!" he raged, in a disjointed, haphazard manner. "Stupid philistines!! I had them . . . them an answer on a . . . on a silver platter. The perfect answer!! The perfect answer to the . . . to the energy crisis!! And they . . . they refused."

"I'm sorry for your suffering, Barlowe, I truly am," Cloak said, clearly and succinctly, "but this -- doing what you did to the sun -- it's not right."

He face turned hard, but his mind seemed as fractured as ever.

"That's exactly what they said," he said, in a menacing whisper. "That's exactly what you said!!"

"What?" Saffa asked.

"Great. Just great. His mind has deteriorated more," Aquilai said, providing a quick analysis of the situation. He made a quick summation. "He, or at least the shattered remains of his mind, is evidently projecting images and personalities of those who rejected his idea unto us. He believes we were the ones who turned him down."

"That would complicate things," Saffa replied.

Estelore didn't speak. She was feeling something that she hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Fear for her own survival. She knew the sun-siphon would work on her as it worked on Sol. She knew that it could weaken her to the point of death. Which might prove to be catastrophic if her death burrowed into space-time and created a black hold or something similar. She had no intention on dying -- she never understood why Cloak always seemed so willing to do so, but she knew of his travails and assumed that that had played a part.

Barlowe looked even more like a nutcase with his swaying stance, hovering behind his machine, ready to activated it with but a button push. If he did, Estelore was doomed to a slow death -- something she had never had to consider, given the extremely long lifespan of stars. Her RAFians were as helpless as she was in this scenario, as any sudden moves might elicit an adverse response in Barlowe. They couldn't risk it.

"It is you, isn't it? The Cadmus board!!" he cried, sounding somewhat drunk with his slurring words. But still managed to growl, "Don't lie to me!!"

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Barlowe, Don't -- !

"You can't expect me to believe you after you four lied about everything?!" Barlowe ranted and raged. Cloak knew not of this Cadmus board, but he had a bad feeling about it. While he hoped that it was just the rantings of a deranged madman, something told him that it had a nugget of truth in it. "You're lying about needing me to dismantle my precioussss just like you lied to ruin my life!!"

"I'm sensing some major displacement issues here," Saffa commented quietly, offhand.

"But I just didn't disappear, now did I?!" Barlowe screamed, still sounding somewhat drunk, due to the slurring words. "YOU KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME?! You were the ones who blacklisted me from . . . from every possible job I could have!! Gave them to inferior minds with half of the . . . of the . . . of the credentials I have!"

Cloak noticed that he seemed to be getting out of breath. He never seen someone who looked so pathetic and so dangerous at the same time.

"Jonas," Saffa said, placatingly, as if she was speaking to a toddler, "we're not the people you're --"

"LIAR!!" Barlowe said, breathily. It was almost as if he was trying to scream, but couldn't muster up the energy for it. It was almost as if standing upright and even breathing was becoming a trial for him. "Don't . . . don't play games with me. It happened right . . . right here."

"His mind isn't the only thing that's deteriorating," Cloak realized.

"You're just coming to that conclusion, Cloak?" Saffa asked, genuinely surprised.

"I offered you the secret to . . . to victory over this . . . this energy crisis," he said, apparently unaware of the deterioration of both his mind and body. "And you REFUSED."

"I'm not sure whether to feel fear or pity anymore," Estelore said. "I can't even feel angry at him anymore."

"The solar-siphon would have changed EVERYTHING," he said.

"He can't even keep the name of his machine straight," Aquilai noted, sadly.

"I didn't want to . . . to drain the sun," he gasped, collapsing at the side of his beloved machine. The machine he basically sacrifice his health and well-being for in his obsessive determination. Estelore was taken aback at this pronouncement, but Cloak believed it wasn't true -- though, at this point, Barlowe might not even know the difference anymore. "But you . . . you left me no choice!"

Cloak wanted to help him, but his scope of help was very limited. Limited to the point of helplessness. It was an awful thing, to watch someone languish like this, to listen to their incoherent stories, knowing that they don't hold up to verifiable evidence.

"What type of LEADER doesn't give their people the best chance to SURVIVE?!" he raged, his voice sounding weaker and weaker with each one. "How could you value the interests of big oil and fossil fuels more than our own?!"

"Barlowe, you -- you should s-save your --" Estelore choked out.

"And look what you've done without . . . without me," he gasped. "Without my sun-sucker . . ."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Jonas . . .

"You've . . . you've LOST!!" Barlowe rasped, apparently losing lucidity with every statement, with every word. And yet, his hand still hovered over the button to activate the machine he built so painstakingly. "It's too . . . too late! I don't believe in you anymore!!"

"Shouldn't we, uh, do something?" Aquilai asked, unsure.

"All that . . . all that talk about how . . . how I can take control over my . . . my own identity," he breathed, clearly struggling to stay upright. "How . . . how I've been convinced to . . . to ignore my own . . . own potential?"

"Exactly what can we do for him? His mind and body are deteriorating so fast," Saffa answered, somberly. "Too fast."

"That's all it was, wasn't it?!" he breathed, angrily. "Just TALK!!"

"There is nothing we can do," Cloak said, bluntly. He was feeling all sorts of conflicting emotions. They came here expecting a megalomaniacal genius, twirling his moustache evilly as he proclaimed his desire to destroy to the earth or some other cliched villain monologue.

"You . . . you should have LISTENED to me, Cadmus," he breathed raspily, "I would have . . . have taken down this . . . this energy crisis."

They were not expecting this miserable man with delusions of grandeur, this poor wretch whose mental and physical health he so ever willingly sacrificed for the construction of a dangerous machine that could have easily been weaponized and hold planets for ransom.

"And I would . . . I would have shattered all . . . all expectations," Barlowe continued on, babbling as if the RAFians were no longer there anymore. "I would have . . . have LIBERATED EVERYONE!!"

The RAFians just watched on, as Barlowe's mental instability seemed to increase. They dare not leave, which might make him fire the beam at Estelore -- and it would do her harm, they knew that.

But then Estelore spoke, "Barlowe, this has to stop."

Apparently, Estelore said it in a way that caused Barlowe to return to some semblance of sanity, though not much.

"So what are you going to do, huh?" he said, aggressively, though they all could hear the meekness and weakness in his voice. "Kill me?"

Silence.

"Go on, then!! Just do it!!"

A brief silence met these words, only broken by Cloak.

"You have done that yourself," Cloak said, sadly.

Through the vibrations in the wooden floor, Cloak sense Jonas Barlowe's weakening heartbeat. He could sense the slowing rhythm. He knew that Barlowe was dying, as did the other three, but none had mentioned it to Barlowe himself before now. Perhaps that was cruel, perhaps it was to spare an insane man the knowledge of imminent death. It wasn't anything that Cloak was particularly fond of.

But Cloak's words seemed to pass right over Barlowe as he lapsed back into his nonsensical mutterings, the mutterings of a madman. None of the RAFians, even Esty, could even muster an iota of animosity towards the mentally shattered man. They all felt great pity towards the man. Towards the dying man.

No one should die like this.

[NickDaGriff]

Awww man... 

[guitarhero01234]

Damn . . . this book's hitting me right in the feels. Defs one of the best ones in quite a while, in my opinion

[Cloak]

Just wait, there will be more books like this down the line.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Oh, No, He Didn't!!

Barlowe began to slump against his machine in awful finality. Cloak had to wonder when was the last time Barlowe ate anything, because he was sure that that was a contributing factor of his dementia and health decline. And yet, Barlowe could still reach the "on" button to his solar siphon.

He was continuing to babble, but now it was completely incoherent to anyone but himself. And it kept getting quieter and quieter, until not even Cloak could hear it. Soon, very soon, all was silent. They were in a room with a dead guy, Cloak was sure. Cloak "saw" Barlowe's heart slow, "saw" his breathing slow. Slowing to the point of motionlessness.

There was a click and Cloak found himself acting without thinking. He threw up and energy shield before Estelore -- embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that sooner. Barlowe, in his death throes, must have clicked the "on" button for the machine he sacrificed his mind, his health, and his life for.

Cloak could easily see the light blue energy beam lance from the tip of the emitter. He thought he saw it start to cause his energy shield to flake away. He decided not to call attention to it. But it did alarm him greatly, as he was unaccustomed anything being able to flake away his energy shields layer by layer. Sure, they've been broken before, but never slowly skinned away like this.

Cloak could tell that, while the machine did have some metal parts in it, a lot of it was plastic and other nonmetal substances. That didn't matter. Cloak had seen the power source. The four diamonds. Diamonds were technically Earth.

Cloak focused his mind, fired up every ounce of determination he possess, every iota of willpower. He tried to terrakinetically force the diamonds from the machine . . . why wasn't Estelore moving? She could have easily reduced the threat by doing so. He had bought her enough time. But it was just a matter of time before the beam flaked away enough layers to make a hole in the shield.

Saffa seemed to realize what Cloak was doing, and remember she had some diamond manipulation powers. Cloak supposed it was easy to forget, as she depended on her morphing ability far more frequently. Although, he wondered if she could manipulate diamonds still whilst in morph? Questions for later.

This was starting to take a toll on Cloak. He was beginning to tire, even with Saffa's assistance. He did not expect the diamonds to be this thoroughly secured in the machine. Neither did Saffa, apparently, considering the sweat on her brow. But it would have to give eventually.

And give it did. But it seemed like forever. And the pink diamond shattered as it was terrakinetically removed, although Cloak only saw the blur and yellow diamond, he knew the white diamond was around somewhere.

But this wasn't over, Cloak noted as he dropped his shield. There was still the matter of offering Barlowe a proper burial with funeral rites (the fact that he actually left something behind to bury still seemed foreign and alien to Cloak), destroy the machine once and for all, and destroy whatever blueprints remained behind.

[theyoungphoenix]

dang... this book was really intense.

[Cloak]

Yep. And I think we're far enough into this book, that I can divulge this, without fear of spoilers.

This book was based, albeit loosely, on this.

[theyoungphoenix]

oh cool!!

[Cloak]

Yeah, sorry about the chapter being late, I'm still working on it. I'm still wiped out from work today. I'll try to write it up and post it soon.

[theyoungphoenix]

you're alright Cloak! No worries ^^ don't push yourself too hard.

[Cloak]

don't push yourself too hard.

Advice that never seems to work on me.

Joking aside, new chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Finishing Up

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.

"Well, it's done." Saffa said, tonelessly, "it's over. All that's left is the clean-up."

"Do you think we could send some forum house-elves down here and --"

"Aquilai!" Saffa scolded, offering the irresistible imagery of Saffa as a Hermione Granger. She wouldn't appreciate the comparison, Cloak thought, allowing himself to be amused at the idea.

"Okay, okay!" Aquilai said, quailing at Saffa's intense glare, even crouching and putting his hands up in mock defense. "Put the look away."

Cloak was looking at Barlowe's prone body. It seemed so . . . odd to him, to have tangible remains other than a cloak, which is more manageable to deal with, when it comes to last rites.

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.

Yes, even Realm Walkers have last rites for their fallen. Cloaked believed every sentient species does, though customs and traditions, of course, differ and vary from culture to culture, and species to species.

Cloak had to confess, though, he had no idea what the particulars of human last rites were. He just knew that they buried their dead. He had heard that they do sometimes burn them to ashes, but wasn't too aware of the veracity of that factoid. He never took the time to look into it -- but, after all why would he?

Cloak shook his head. This wasn't the time for musing about things like cultural variants in last rites or Dweller peculiarities of leaving behind bodies when their sparks of life are extinguished. They still had work ahead of them.

Plenty of work left to do, at that. They needed to find the blueprints, if they were any and he didn't just cobble this machine to gether with a machinist's skill and perfectionist zeal. Then they could destroy the machine, and then finally attend to the body.

Tick-tick-tick-tick.

A sudden knot of fear clutched Cloak's stomach. It raced around him like a burning venom, elevating his alertness. Those ticking noises . . . the pinpricks of sound, like a superheated hood cooling down rapidly . . .

He did not know why it alarmed him so much. The sounds themselves were harmless. They were nothing like the sound of a ticking time bomb. No. No, this was something else entirely.

But what, Cloak could not say.

Tick-tick-tick.

It was the machine. It was where all these annoying ticking sounds were coming from. But it couldn't be that bad could it? . . . Yes, it could.

They had to get out of here. Pure and simple.

Tick-tick.

Cloak was rather rude in ensnaring the others in a golden-scarlet energy orb, without asking their permission or waiting for acquiescence. There just wasn't the time.

Tick.

The machine was beginning to be misshapen. It was going to blow. It was going to blow and take this entire tower with it. He powered the energy orb to the wall of windows, hoping to smash through before . . . before . . .

Ti-- BOOM.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Here Comes a Thought

They had survived the explosion, naturally, but Cloak noticed that Estelore seemed to distance herself from everyone. He seemed to be the only one who took an overt notice in it, or perhaps he only recognized it because he recognized in himself a few months ago -- years, Dweller time.

"Estelore, can I have a word?"

Estelore fumbled her words --  a very un-Estelore thing to do, as she was always so eloquent with her feelings. But Cloak wouldn't take no for an answer. He could practically see her energy tied up in knots. She needed this, as he needed it. He would provide what Aniyu provided him.

"Come with me, Estelore," Cloak said. "I am going to help you."

"Do I have a choice in this?" Esty said, mulishly petulant.

"Mmmm, not really, no," Cloak said.

***

"I know this thing with Barlowe has got you twisted up inside, still," Cloak said, as they sat opposite each other in his favorite meditation spot. "I understand it must have been a frightening experience to come across a weapon that could prove so deadly when you aren't accustomed to such things."

"Estelore tried halfheartedly to argue, but eventually gave up and acknowledged what Cloak said.

"This has thrown you and you energies off-balance," Cloak said. "As an Elements Master, and an energy being myself, I understand how detrimental this could be towards you."

Estelore did not bother to argue the point.

"An imbalance such as this could cause you to lose touch with reality, in some regards," Cloak said. "See connections that don't exist, assume the worst of everything. This could eventually lead you to falling apart."

"How do you know?" Estelore said, more surly than she intended.

"You know how." Cloak said, very seriously. But did not elaborate any further. Then it clicked with Estelore.

"Oh. Your mother. Sorry," she said.

"To find balance, first must come understanding," Cloak said. "Understanding your emotions, your feelings. Recognize your psychological distortions, and not flee from them -- a problem I, myself, have had a problem about for a long time."

"Recognize psychological distortions?" Esty asked.

"Allow me to be clearer," Cloak said, "shut your eyes, and focus you mind."

She complied,. That's when the music started.

"Take a moment to think of just
Compassion, love, and trust.
Take a moment to think of just
Unity, love, and trust.
Here comes a thought
that might disarm you.
What someone did,
and how it harmed you.
Something you did
that failed to be arming.
Things that you said is
suddenly harming,
and, oh.
You're losing sight. You're losing touch.
All these things that seem to matter so much
that they confuse you.
That we might lose you.
Take a moment. Remind yourself to
take a moment and find yourself.
Take a moment to ask yourself if
this is how we fall apart.
But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't.
It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. It's alright.
You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear.
We're here. We're here. We're here."

Estelore felt her Mark flare to life. Felt the unity, the unity from which Unity Energy gains its power and strength, connecting her, not only to Cloak, but the other RAFians. She sang:

"Here comes a thought
that might disarm me.
What someone did
and how it harmed me.
Something I did
that failed to be charming.
Things that I said is
suddenly harming
and, oh.
I'm losing sight. I'm losing touch.
All these things seem to matter so much
that they confuse me."

Then they both sang:

"That I might lose me.
Take a moment. Remind yourself to
take a moment and find yourself.
Take a moment and ask yourself if
this is how we fall apart.
But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't. But it isn't.
It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. It's alright.
You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear.
We're here. We're here. We're here.
And it was just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought.
It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine.
We can watch. We can watch. We can watch. We can watch them go by.
From here. From here. From here."

Then Esty sang, a bit brighter now, feeling better, as if a weight had been lifted:

"Take a moment to think of just
Compassion, love, and trust.
Take a moment to think of just
Unity, love, and trust."

Then the two kept meditating and Cloak managed to help Estelore untangle her knotted energies.


SOURCE SONG: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHg50mdODFM