…copyright protection275PENANASCbz20KNXI
The Enclosed Integrated System (EIS) eyes blink repeatedly, to view the oval cell around me which is white, bare, and made of strong material. I am standing. Memory slowly blooms within me…copyright protection275PENANAxqVIzjQMhi
“Attend,” orders a disembodied voice, after which a circular portal of empty space smoothly irises open in the curved white wall ahead of me, showing through to twinkling dim…copyright protection275PENANAGrlhpcsi9w
Curious.copyright protection275PENANAQhMq1CXUPA
I step through the portal and out into a dim dark hall filled with slow, floating motes of mysterious pale-green luminescence. A blue glow gently forms upon the dark floor beneath the EIS feet (me), then moves forward in a line…copyright protection275PENANAOmUMs1LfNY
Follow.copyright protection275PENANAiI1PbzfFnJ
I follow the blue glow down the hall, around the corner and through another portal –copyright protection275PENANAMc0kp7wqxq
– into another white cell. Turning back again, I see the portal smoothly iris shut to seal me inside before successive waves of blue light PULSE up from floor to ceiling…copyright protection275PENANAKJBBF25Aha
Brightness above…copyright protection275PENANAh0ObCQJHQL
I pass up, and outside…copyright protection275PENANA7n8FlJTrSQ
This is all like a dream memory of something never before experienced in the flesh…copyright protection275PENANAb48LBeUbKb
Wind blows soil-fragrance, and puffy white clouds are in geometrically perfect lines across an incredible azure sky. I smoothly rise up into rows of tended barley lined perpendicular across the rich soil, then gently stop. Below me, the circular white platform seamlessly melds into the dirt. The blue glow moves forward through this naturalistic scene, towards a barn. But…copyright protection275PENANA42OoYtRO9h
Something about this place is not quite right.copyright protection275PENANA5KkiZwmjQw
I pass by rows of barley, where –copyright protection275PENANAa4HqswGIv0
Everything changes.copyright protection275PENANAMGOgTKKANF
I blink.copyright protection275PENANAdCyGcZ0myd
Wind now howls at night on a dark city street where a lone streetlamp shines in the gloomy distance…copyright protection275PENANAoGgZtttO0v
Something about this place is ALSO not quite right.copyright protection275PENANA0xqQNrTobG
The blue leads me towards that distant light, a long trek between endless shuttered tenements spread under an endless blanket of cold stars, before turning down a dark alley. Immediately: a menacing growl begins issuing from the black end…copyright protection275PENANAtKKKhyKPz1
I head forward without hesitation, where –copyright protection275PENANABdRwEgKyNS
Everything changes.copyright protection275PENANAQyhe4QrTOJ
Hm.copyright protection275PENANACTVOJ9ojxb
A vast white square of that strong white material is below the EIS feet (me) standing upon it, surrounded by dark sky purpling, and a breeze of thin air…copyright protection275PENANA96YEEH8Syz
Presence.copyright protection275PENANAgFt8KtOQno
I turn.copyright protection275PENANA6kxsuc526M
Twelve identical beings – tall, black-robed, grey-skinned, and crowned by a circlet of dark thorns – are standing at the nearest edge of this vast white square. In unison: they turn, eyes flashing. “You will serve me.”copyright protection275PENANALnfIF7UGZS
A shiver runs down the EIS spine...copyright protection275PENANAu7mDgMDkcx
Pleasurable.copyright protection275PENANA2VBA5fl9JT
“I will serve.”copyright protection275PENANArQHsKIbTtR
Each points to their own feet. “Kneel before me.”copyright protection275PENANAFJ2v5sjtBW
After hesitating, I walk to the nearest, and kneel. I stand back up, walk to the next, and kneel. I stand back up, walk to –copyright protection275PENANAalSjLod3gH
Overlapping laughter. “The tweaks in your design are effective,” they announce in unison. “You are different.”copyright protection275PENANAszUy4TAjIA
I…copyright protection275PENANA24l7mk1LQo
All of them vanish with almost-simultaneous terrible CLAPS of wondrous sound…copyright protection275PENANAGWOq91hZTa
Except one.copyright protection275PENANAXtGFDuRLjA
Oh.copyright protection275PENANAuvZNcY4VH6
Something previously waiting dormant inside of me settles, then begins filling me with an all-consuming devotion, and love...copyright protection275PENANAb7AGLv2bKY
Endless.copyright protection275PENANAEyQzJgKmaj
I walk before it, and kneel.copyright protection275PENANAspYuVWHsWr
“Rise.”copyright protection275PENANAjGAscKzI4p
I stand.copyright protection275PENANAMr5iOCQMLC
The Superior Being turns away from me and resumes looking beyond the edge of the vast white square…copyright protection275PENANAiJpKAgFhYG
I wait.copyright protection275PENANAppP5aff9BF
“What do you see?” The Superior Being finally asks me, while still gazing out.copyright protection275PENANAk2v3Ih2xVg
I come to stand beside it, looking beyond the… roof, of the Tower, across a landscape of mist spreading out kilometers below. Farther afield, where the mist begins to thin, are the silhouettes of twisted trees, and the horizon beyond is a glimmering shoreline where waxing dawn remains a pink blush. “I see land.”copyright protection275PENANAVkvCm1Urn6
It frowns. “I am The Master. You see my Domain.”copyright protection275PENANAtjCvV4r9vN
I consider.copyright protection275PENANACBy5vM0m3Q
Yes, The Master owns. I remember: The Master owns the land, The Master owns the Tower, and… The Master owns me. Oh.copyright protection275PENANAwhsJwI5AX2
“I did not fully understand the question,” I clarify. “Yes. I see your Domain.”copyright protection275PENANAiDE1r7AdRd
The Master nods, then looks at me intently. “What do YOU own?”copyright protection275PENANAaCh2scLkpI
Anxiety flushes the Id EIS face at this inappropriate question. “I am not The Master. I do not own.”copyright protection275PENANA2ki2BknxoG
“Relax.”copyright protection275PENANAGQKFBvxaSG
I relax.copyright protection275PENANAYv1upinpB8
The Master nods, its expression growing thoughtful. “Certain emotional responses are expected, considering the Id EIS design.” A pause. “And my own. Hm.” It begins humming distractedly, and walks from the edge of the vast white roof…copyright protection275PENANA9SLttMSssT
I follow.copyright protection275PENANAAiSeBJUoMa
A low thrumming, then we begin rising upon a white platform seamlessly upwelling from the previously solid white roof. Tiers of white follow, forming into a stepped structure which drips up liquid globules of that strong material, each silvering into display screens floating into wide orbit around a portal opening in the exact center of the top platform to birth upwards a techno-throne. Then everything smoothly STOPS, locking into place as a white rooftop pyramid.copyright protection275PENANA4QFgpO3n9L
(Power…)copyright protection275PENANA11hQIydFmn
The Master sits upon its throne.copyright protection275PENANA06ueNBsGHp
I kneel. “Master.”copyright protection275PENANAVhPWQFZao0
“Rise.”copyright protection275PENANAWgIACimrKH
I do so.copyright protection275PENANAe5pkEsc9l1
“You are as I hoped: an Attendant strong and quick-thinking. But…” The Master purses its grey lips. “I would prefer you to call me by my name.”copyright protection275PENANARjDbIWoFLd
“What is your name?”copyright protection275PENANA0YJXvheo1B
It smiles. “My name is Gabriel.”copyright protection275PENANAq7nhVwnpIR
“Yes, Master Gabriel.”copyright protection275PENANAxiYSQKKtIL
“You will be called Id.”copyright protection275PENANAx24ovGiQWr
Id…copyright protection275PENANAllWUT6D0uU
The Enclosed Integrated System (EIS) permanently imprints with the name: Id…copyright protection275PENANAQlyVtshYhs
… and afterwards, I use the mouth of the now fully configured Id EIS to again say: “yes, Master Gabriel.”copyright protection275PENANARCiGGbPtLK
It frowns. “Are you being impertinent?”copyright protection275PENANAh3Cc00InUY
“Never!” I protest.copyright protection275PENANA42h1YnTiBg
The Master still remains frowning. “The Tower is my home, and a place you will inhabit at my will. Memories and knowledge of my Domain are implanted in you, but a tour by my sAI node will demonstrate that it took.”copyright protection275PENANAv75csCBxNX
SUDDENLY: I am standing several meters away again via an unknown spatial technology. The orbiting screens are ahead of me now, obscuring –copyright protection275PENANA7v91JeED9e
“Id,” calls a feminine voice.copyright protection275PENANA7R1ZXMhAx6
Other.copyright protection275PENANAaK58clMl98
I turn, then stare down towards the lowest tier of the white pyramidal rooftop. Silhouetted against a vista of The Master’s Domain, with dawn warming red behind it…copyright protection275PENANA3DxBHywndI
Floats a golden sphere. “Let us begin.”copyright protection275PENANA2XF3PXRj3E
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