TEMNEM (Part 4) – Ylamona

-Story in installments-

1. The Cabin

The sky above Temnem was taking on that pinkish-red color with hints of yellow, marking the gentle end of another day.

The alarm clock rang with a sharp, somewhat unpleasant sound that always insistently pounded against my ganglia. But that’s what alarm clocks are for, to throw you into a conscious state with their unpleasantness. I slammed my hand against it, forcing it to be quiet.

I had once again accidentally left the window open overnight. My skin, bristling from the cold, longed for some source of warmth. I put on my house robe and closed the window.

The drink made from ktelin flowers, a plant that grows only in places riddled with radiation and intense meteor storms, was slowly heating while, under the light of the lamp, I looked at the tasks for tonight. Essentially like every evening, maintaining the parameters at the level required for the illusion to continue. Still, I received information that a new member would arrive tomorrow. The bad news is that it is number one hundred. I knew that moment would come. It is inevitable, and somewhat exciting that everything will soon come to an end. This has lasted far too long. I can even say that I am glad I will be freed from this curse. But, on the other hand, my obligation is to give hell to the wretches who are underground.

I turned on the video receiver that was recording the complex below. The screen was divided into three parts horizontally. The upper part was reserved for Will Be, the middle for Is and the lower of course for Was. Since they were all sleeping down there now, I rewound the recording back to the part when the last Reset ended. I put my legs on the table, leaned back in the armchair and watched them struggle while I self-satisfiedly drank the ktelin beverage.

Some time later, I decided to go to the crater where I had left the instructions for the final resolution. It had to be well hidden and absolutely inaccessible to mortals who might somehow reach the surface and survive long enough to find it. All my attempts to memorize the contents of the instructions ended in failure. Maybe that’s for the best, there is not even the slightest possibility that someone could extract them from my head. Everything is going according to plan and in the direction that must be.

A strong wind and the smell of the night hit me as I stepped out of my cabin. Weather conditions had absolutely no effect on me, in a physical sense. Only mentally. The wind drove me crazy because it had a habit of knocking things out of my hands. It ruined my hair. But I felt cold and heat. Those physical stimuli were only expressed through goosebumps or sweat depending on the temperature.

It didn’t take me long to reach the crater. The shortcut was accessible again since the winds in the past few days had scattered the stones that, with their number, blocked the passage. I was capable of removing them myself easily, but I was lazy. I won’t lift a finger if I don’t have to. I have suffered too much, now I just want easy existence until the very end.

2. Instructions

…the moment will come when everything will stop. You will have a choice – to restart the cycle or to close it definitively. Whatever you choose is fine. We will not stand in your way. But once you choose, there is no going back, no reconsideration…

…you will go down and enter the room at level -455. The elevator is on the side where the machine that counts down is. Just press the handle and hold it until it shows minus 455 and wait…

…there is a small possibility that number one hundred does not mark the end, but that means that someone must die within a very short period of forty to fifty days from his arrival. You cannot influence that nor force someone into a suicidal mission. Do not even think about doing that, reality will be disrupted to an unpredictable extent. We do not want the end of everything that exists, only the concentration on Temnem. That is our territory…

These were the parts of the instructions that I could not memorize. At one point I decided to forget everything completely. It was easier that way. Why would I unnecessarily memorize hundreds of pages knowing that the end would not come so soon. And it lasted for hundreds of Virteleon rotations – this assignment of mine. Maybe even longer, I lost track of time. I got a bit bored with everything. Although I am not a being like the Virteleonians, my mind is partially similar to theirs. And the concept of boredom is certainly something we share. For someone, this job of mine would be pure suffering. The night comes down to watching recordings of the complex and the attempts of the inhabitants to solve the mystery of the anomaly. Along with that, just one more thing, maintaining the parameters of the illusion.

In the cabin I had many books, I even wrote some myself. Still, music interested me the most. There were so many songs that so far I had listened to each one only three times. For all this time. The fourth cycle of listening starts tomorrow.

***

Fifteen days passed.

Mbar, as the hundredth member was called, showed signs of lucidity and sharpness that were expected but also slightly worrying. I liked his rebelliousness and sharp mind. He wrote things down in his journal, which was quite a logical and normal thing. But not so much considering that he was the only one doing it. Everyone was focused on reading as much as possible, without grounding and giving time to individual notes.

The energy he radiated, looking from the screen, drew me to him. Somewhere in the back of my mind, he reminded me of someone I knew. A long time ago, in a previous life. But I didn’t remember who. A funny thought crossed my mind. What if I actually knew him in some previous life?

I was preparing for rest which essentially consisted of me going to bed, setting the alarm which had to be coordinated with the exact time of the setting of the Blazing Sphere and falling into dreamless sleep. I never dreamed.

I had no idea that this would be my last boring night here. That what would follow would shake the foundations of my existence and knowledge of Temnem. And I thought that nothing could touch and shake me anymore. Except the “end of everything” of course.

3. The Call

I was awakened by a melody I had never heard before. Instinctively, I slammed my hand onto the alarm clock. The ringing did not stop. Opening my eyes, I realized the sound was coming from another source. I got out of bed somewhat dazed and glanced at the clock. 3:00 by day time. What is this now? Someone or something is waking me in daylight. Am I dreaming?

In the room next to the bedroom the sound became louder. It must be somewhere here. But it was coming from below. I moved the table that was above the source of the sound. I will have to break the floorboards. I took a tool and started breaking the floor. Mold and dust hit me when I finally managed to separate one of the boards. I pushed my hand into the darkness with disgust on my face and pulled out a strange object over which, on the paper that wrapped it, was written – Leafon. I tore the paper and saw a screen that said – Unknown number. I pressed the button – Answer.

Static broken by eerie silence. More static and then a deep voice.

“Ylamona. Do you hear me? This damned thing keeps glitching.“

“Is that You, Your Highness?” – I asked timidly.

“No, this is Rogehpleb, one of the Seven.” – said the voice.

Somewhat disappointed, now with a steadier voice, I continued the conversation.

“Is everything alright? No one has ever called me here.”

“Be quiet and listen, I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense and whether someone did something or didn’t. It’s already bad enough that those idiots left me to deal with you. I should have called you a month ago. But I was lazy.”

A disgusting laugh, mixed with occasional coughing. I moved the device away from me as much as the disgust made me. After a few moments, realizing I wouldn’t join in the laughter, he continued.

“So, to shorten this torment as much as possible. You know the end is coming soon. That means your task is to go down among those mortal wretches and join them. That means there will be one hundred plus one of you in total. But of course, you must not appear in their form, so they wouldn’t know you are the hundred and first member. Since this is the last time we speak, remember well what I am about to tell you. I could wait for you to take paper and write it down but I won’t. Because you are trash that I won’t invest even that much time in.“

He waited a few seconds for a reaction and, not getting one, continued in an irritated, raised voice, on the verge of shouting.

“Take the form of some animal. I don’t care which, just don’t be anything that flies, you must have four limbs and you must walk on the ground. The instructions tell you how to enter the complex. And at the end of this irritating conversation one more thing. I cannot command you this because I must obey His will. But if you can kill as many mortal wretches as possible. Let the end be bloody and painful. Don’t make me regret calling you. And die yourself if you can, that would be quite interesting, I would probably even laugh if I saw that. See you soon.”

Another disgusting laugh marked the end of the conversation.

I returned to bed and stared at a point on the ceiling, knowing that today there would be no more sleep for me.

4. The Encounter

I prepared everything for my descent to the lower levels. All that remained was to decide in which form I would appear. Rogehpleb said I should be an animal. And maybe he was right. Although upon entering the complex I was more inclined to the idea of simply activating my invisible side. I did not want to give even the slightest chance for someone to stop me from entering, for any reason.

Only once I enter inside will I take the form of some animal. I will probably be an aknus. It is fast, agile, small enough to pass through all passages and holes very easily. And Virteleonians have a tendency to like aknuses. Many keep them as pets. It is decided. I left the cabin for the last time in this cycle. Whether of life or just one of its loops I did not know. But regardless, I was somewhat sad and tense. After so much time, I had grown attached to this cabin. True, boredom prevailed, but I somehow grew to love it. A feeling I didn’t even know I possessed.

Under the cover of night I slipped through the entrance door, a huge room with an open vault, and reached the part where three doors stood: Was, Is and Will Be. I passed through Is and, according to the instructions, reached the room with the machine and the elevator. It was necessary to go to level minus 455 and there decide the fate, mine and the inhabitants of Temnem. Something didn’t let me be at peace. Indecisive, I started wandering around the room. After some time, tired of floating around the room, I decided to take the form of an aknus. Now I can do it, no one sees me.

An undefined period of time passed during which I, still indecisive, dozed next to the machine and the elevator.

***

I was awakened by an unpleasant sound. Reset. How much time has passed?

I got up on all four legs and looked for some sign that would tell me how long I had been lying there. Nothing.

An alarm went off. Something was happening that was not supposed to happen. On the screen of the machine, a map of the complex began to form. A room that triggered the alarm was marked in red. Curious, I headed there.
I arrived just in time to see how Mbar, exhausted, collapses and falls to the floor while green glowing spheres, dangerously close to him, lurk to deliver the final, deadly blow.

“Stop. Disappear. You are no longer needed.” – I said in a commanding voice.

The green spheres froze in place. After a few uncertain moments, they gathered as if discussing something among themselves, then obediently moved toward the exit, leaving me alone with Mbar.

His unconscious body lay on the floor. Yes, he is definitely familiar to me from somewhere. I climbed onto his chest and looked at his face. I saved his life. He owes me. Suddenly, a long-forgotten thought passed through my mind. An echo. A resonance. An image.

I am running with someone across an endless green meadow. I am happy, free, without any chains of expectations, obligations, pain, anything. I am holding someone, but I cannot see their face. I look forward while running, skipping. I feel alive. In the sense of being a living being. A mortal. I love. The person beside me, whose face I still cannot see. As if I am afraid to turn and look at them.

We stop, tired from the long run. I bend over and place my hands on my knees, out of breath. A gentle wind and the grass caress my feet. I straighten up and finally direct my gaze to the person beside me.

It was him. Mbar.

-End of Part 4-