[Static...]
"Curse this wretched device. If I had chosen telecommunications as my primary subject of study, I could surely do better than this."
[Thumping noises]
An enormous Asura head fills the screen, its bulbous black eyes glaring - but only for a moment. The face backs away and its ears perk up in satisfaction.
"Aha! Even this shoddy craftsmanship cannot stand up to my genius. Now - *ahem* - this is Rynn, year 1306 AE. If for some reason my name is not familiar to you, I am the greatest Necromancer our age has yet to see. With me is, uh, what's your name again?"
From off screen an oddly accented voice replies, "My name is Cairn."
"Ah yes, Cairn, one of those strange plant folk that began sprouting up not long ago. We bring to you the first experiment for a radical new take on Necromancy: immortality. Previously thought impossible due to the nature of souls, I - along with Cairn's assistance - have created a device to make the impossible possible. Here, here, look!"
Rynn reaches up to the camera and moves it jerkily toward an immense machine hanging from the ceiling. The view is crooked. Rynn scampers over to it, gesturing with pure unbridled excitement. A charr strapped to a table underneath the machine is somewhat less enthused.
"This magnificent piece of technology I call the Soul Catcher. You see, when life departs from a creature, its soul is expelled in all directions. We Necromancers can harness this as energy, but only a fragment of it as the majority of the soul will dissipate within a fraction of a second. This is why immortality has been thought to be impossible. In order for true life to be re-obtained, the entirety of the soul must be captured and transferred back to the body - and that is what this machine is designed to do. Once this creature dies," Rynn gestures to the Charr, who growls, "its soul will be captured here," Rynn points to a probe hanging directly above the Charr, "which will then be sent back into the corpse for reanimation. So without further ado, let us make the future! Cairn, if you would please."
As the Asura walked over to a console and began pressing buttons, causing the machinery to whirr and move into position, a dark-skinned Sylvari wielding a long, razor-sharp blade seemed to appear from the shadows of the room, stopping behind the Charr's head. Waiting for Rynn's order, Cairn turned his head to look at the camera with piercing amber eyes. He had an intense gaze, one that could penetrate to the deepest, darkest parts of the soul.
"The Soul Catcher is ready! Cairn, extract the soul."
The Charr struggled with utter ferocity, roaring its anger, but stopped abruptly as Cairn's blade slid across its throat.
Sickish green light seeped from the body and into the probe, which glowed with energy.
"It's working!" Rynn practically danced as he watched his work.
The machine hummed louder and louder, glowing brighter as it took on more of the soul, the camera shaking as the built up energy struggled for release. Eventually the crescendo stopped and it seemed as if the machine was on the verge of exploding. Rynn slammed his hand on the console and everything stopped for a moment - then a green beam exploded from the machine and into the Charr.
"Hahaha! Rise! RISE!"
The Charr did not rise. Its flesh melted beneath the intense power, the fur catching fire.
"No!"
"Turn it off!"
"I can't! The pent up energy will destroy us!"
The soul energy pierced through the Charr and into the ground, burning a hole almost ten feet deep before it began to dissipate.
Once the torrent stopped, Cairn extinguished the charred Charr. Rynn slammed his machine in frustration, stalking up to the camera and turning it off.
***********************************************************************************
[Rynn's text log, the day after the failed experiment]
Necromancers have never been known for their moral aptitude. Toying with life like marionettes on strings, sluicing the very essence of being for power, the general disregard for what it means to live. There is more to the soul than a source of power - much more. It is a source of ingenuity, creation and destrution. A source of feeling, love and hate. Each life lost is also a loss of these things... such a waste of potential.
When I became a Necromancer, studying the so-called "dark arts," it was my hope to preserve this potential. I refuse to be associated with those sadistic fools who use the living as mere playthings. Those who stain our profession with such atrocity, who disrespect the living with their reckless use of magic, they do not deserve to be called Necromancers. But am I really different from them?
I wished... I had wished so very much, to be able to bring the dead back to life. Not like those filthy Risen, but true life. Instead, I only brought another life to death.
I wonder what my parents would think of me right now, were they still alive.
***********************************************************************************
"This is Rynn, with Cairn, seven days after our last, failed experiment. Cairn has convinced me that with only a few alterations, it may yet be possible to correctly harness the entirety of a being's soul energy in order to grant immortality, and so this will be our second attempt."
The somber Asura turned from the camera to look at their latest test subject - a human female - who did not struggle, but only returned his stare. Rynn visibly shuddered before moving to the console. He stood there, appearing lost in thought.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Nothing."
The machine whirred into position, and the Sylvari took his place behind the human, his blade drawn.
The human craned her head to look at the Asura. "If your crazy machine works and I come back to life, I'm going to kill you both," she spat.
Rynn refused to look at her. "No you won't. Cairn."
Slice.
Once more the machine drew the freed soul essence into itself, but this time it appeared to handle the energy better. Green luminescence spread throughout the machine, revealing the true size of the thing as the entire room lit up with the human's soul, casting a sickly light on the Necromancers. Once the flow of energy stopped, the Asura pressed a button to reverse the flow, back into the body.
Rather than exploding out in a forceful beam as before, the soul seeped slowly back into the corpse. The flesh did not melt, the hair did not burn. Rynn began to look hopeful, taking a step closer to the human as it pulsed with dark energy. Cairn remained motionless, watching intently.
The flow went on for some minutes, the Asura clearly growing agitated with impatience, checking various parts of the machine to make sure everything was in working order. Still Cairn did not move, only stared with his intense gaze.
Eventually the room darkened, the soul having been imparted to the human completely.
"Did it work? Does she live?" Rynn approached her and checked for a pulse.
Before he could lay a finger on her, though, her hand shot out and grasped him by the throat. Her eyes opened, glowing brightly with green energy. Rynn screamed, grabbing at his assailant's arm but unable to hold on, his hands coming away smoking. Her flesh burned with pure energy, destroying the straps that held her and searing Rynn's skin. Smoke rose up from where she held his throat.
Cairn brought his blade down, but too slow. She knocked it away and flung him back against the wall where he slumped down, smoldering.
Rynn struggled in her deathly grasp, and some of the green luminescence that empowered the corpse flowed into him. The Asura shrouded himself in dark energies and blasted the human away from him. His eyes glowing with power from her soul, he fired a writing mass of life essence into her, disintegrating her completely. Rynn's shroud dissipated and he fell to his hands and knees, drained.
"Congratulations, Rynn," the Sylvari struggled to his feet. "It was a success."
"How was that a success?"
Cairn blinked. "She came back to life."
"That... that was not life."
"I do not take your meaning. I released her soul. Your machine gathered and returned it. She moved of her own will, and even seemed to retain her memory."
"She was a monstrosity!"
"A living monstrosity. Perhaps the reanimated being was not precisely the same as the original, but with only a couple more alterations -"
"No. We are done."
"What? We've only begun -"
"We. Are. DONE."
Cairn's amber stare pierced the Asura's own. "You may be done. I am not."
"Then you are a fool. And no better than a murderer. The prison will not release any more criminals to you, where will you get your next subject?"
"I will test it on myself."
Rynn barked a laugh. "You? You really are a fool then."
"No. I know it will work, if I have your genius to enhance this machine."
The two stared at each other for some time. Rynn rose to his feet and approached the camera. "Fine."
Click.
***********************************************************************************
[Rynn's text log, after the second experiment.]
That damned Sylvari. He thinks he can manipulate me into helping him? Any Asura could outsmart that twig. I will kill him. Burn his body so he has no corpse to return to. He clearly does not understand life. He himself has only been alive two years, his entire race only a few more than that - how could he understand? I don't know why I chose to believe him when he approached me those months ago with his ridiculous ideas. Immortality is impossible. False hope, I suppose.
Now if I let him live, he will only kill more in further experiments of his and never know any better. No, I must kill him to prevent more deaths.
That makes sense, right?
Of course it does. I am a genius, after all. Cairn will die. And with it, this futile quest for immortality.
Mother... father...
I'm sorry.
***********************************************************************************
"Are you ready, Cairn?"
"Yes."
Rynn smiled as he approached the console, pressing the familiar sequence of buttons that would soon extract the Sylvari's soul. Three probes overhead now whirred into place rather than one, as well as Cairn's own blade over his throat. Rynn couldn't control the machine and kill Cairn at the same time, so he devised an additional mechanism to do the dirty work for him.
Speaking to the camera, Rynn summarized, "Since the last design, I added two additional probes to further control the flow of the subject's soul. Cairn has volunteered to be the subject for this experiment. Even so, he is still strapped down with heat-resistant bindings in the event he turns violent like the last subject. If this experiment fails, it will be my final attempt."
"It will not fail."
"For your sake, I would hope not."
Rynn activated the machine.
Cairn's blade slid across his own throat, taking his life and releasing his soul into the machinery above. Rynn watched silently as Cairn's soul slowly departed his body, filling the room with an eerie green glow. Once the flow stopped, Rynn turned off the machine. It retained the sickly green glow of Cairn's soul, but did not return it to the Sylvari's body.
The Asura picked up a jug from behind the console and splashed its liquid contents over the Sylvari's corpse. The jug emptied, he set it down and lit a match.
"No more atrocities."
SCREEEAEEEEEAECH
The room filled with an ear-piercing squeal as the machine kicked back on, the blade mechanism flying toward Rynn who barely got out of the way with his head intact.
"How?! Cairn?!!"
The machine began releasing the Sylvari's soul back into his body, keeping Rynn away with Cairn's blade. It did not take as long as last time. Cairn's body did not glow with energy, nor did his flesh burn. His eyelids opened revealing not the greenish power of souls but amber, which turned to stare at Rynn. Cairn's blade sliced the straps holding him down. The Sylvari stood up, taking his blade from the machine and approaching Rynn, his body dripping.
Quickly Rynn threw his match, setting Cairn on fire. He howled, dropping the blade, and fell to his knees erupting in green fire. The explosion knocked Rynn back, tore pieces from the machine and flung them across the room. One piece of debris hit the camera, cracking the lens and aiming it toward the ground.
[More explosions are heard, pieces of metal crashing into each other in a raucous cacophony along with a sucking sound. The Asura screams. There's more smashing and clattering as pieces are flung about and Rynn's scream becomes something unearthly, sounding like nothing from Tyria.
BOOM.
Silence...]
***********************************************************************************
[The shuffling sound of slow, dragging footsteps]
A small figure walks beneath the camera: an Asura. Rynn. Blood is oozing from his flesh like sap. He slowly tilts his face up toward the lens, revealing a strange glint in his eyes; a flash of amber, and a piercing gaze capable of penetrating to the deepest, darkest parts of the soul.
Click.
"Curse this wretched device. If I had chosen telecommunications as my primary subject of study, I could surely do better than this."
[Thumping noises]
An enormous Asura head fills the screen, its bulbous black eyes glaring - but only for a moment. The face backs away and its ears perk up in satisfaction.
"Aha! Even this shoddy craftsmanship cannot stand up to my genius. Now - *ahem* - this is Rynn, year 1306 AE. If for some reason my name is not familiar to you, I am the greatest Necromancer our age has yet to see. With me is, uh, what's your name again?"
From off screen an oddly accented voice replies, "My name is Cairn."
"Ah yes, Cairn, one of those strange plant folk that began sprouting up not long ago. We bring to you the first experiment for a radical new take on Necromancy: immortality. Previously thought impossible due to the nature of souls, I - along with Cairn's assistance - have created a device to make the impossible possible. Here, here, look!"
Rynn reaches up to the camera and moves it jerkily toward an immense machine hanging from the ceiling. The view is crooked. Rynn scampers over to it, gesturing with pure unbridled excitement. A charr strapped to a table underneath the machine is somewhat less enthused.
"This magnificent piece of technology I call the Soul Catcher. You see, when life departs from a creature, its soul is expelled in all directions. We Necromancers can harness this as energy, but only a fragment of it as the majority of the soul will dissipate within a fraction of a second. This is why immortality has been thought to be impossible. In order for true life to be re-obtained, the entirety of the soul must be captured and transferred back to the body - and that is what this machine is designed to do. Once this creature dies," Rynn gestures to the Charr, who growls, "its soul will be captured here," Rynn points to a probe hanging directly above the Charr, "which will then be sent back into the corpse for reanimation. So without further ado, let us make the future! Cairn, if you would please."
As the Asura walked over to a console and began pressing buttons, causing the machinery to whirr and move into position, a dark-skinned Sylvari wielding a long, razor-sharp blade seemed to appear from the shadows of the room, stopping behind the Charr's head. Waiting for Rynn's order, Cairn turned his head to look at the camera with piercing amber eyes. He had an intense gaze, one that could penetrate to the deepest, darkest parts of the soul.
"The Soul Catcher is ready! Cairn, extract the soul."
The Charr struggled with utter ferocity, roaring its anger, but stopped abruptly as Cairn's blade slid across its throat.
Sickish green light seeped from the body and into the probe, which glowed with energy.
"It's working!" Rynn practically danced as he watched his work.
The machine hummed louder and louder, glowing brighter as it took on more of the soul, the camera shaking as the built up energy struggled for release. Eventually the crescendo stopped and it seemed as if the machine was on the verge of exploding. Rynn slammed his hand on the console and everything stopped for a moment - then a green beam exploded from the machine and into the Charr.
"Hahaha! Rise! RISE!"
The Charr did not rise. Its flesh melted beneath the intense power, the fur catching fire.
"No!"
"Turn it off!"
"I can't! The pent up energy will destroy us!"
The soul energy pierced through the Charr and into the ground, burning a hole almost ten feet deep before it began to dissipate.
Once the torrent stopped, Cairn extinguished the charred Charr. Rynn slammed his machine in frustration, stalking up to the camera and turning it off.
***********************************************************************************
[Rynn's text log, the day after the failed experiment]
Necromancers have never been known for their moral aptitude. Toying with life like marionettes on strings, sluicing the very essence of being for power, the general disregard for what it means to live. There is more to the soul than a source of power - much more. It is a source of ingenuity, creation and destrution. A source of feeling, love and hate. Each life lost is also a loss of these things... such a waste of potential.
When I became a Necromancer, studying the so-called "dark arts," it was my hope to preserve this potential. I refuse to be associated with those sadistic fools who use the living as mere playthings. Those who stain our profession with such atrocity, who disrespect the living with their reckless use of magic, they do not deserve to be called Necromancers. But am I really different from them?
I wished... I had wished so very much, to be able to bring the dead back to life. Not like those filthy Risen, but true life. Instead, I only brought another life to death.
I wonder what my parents would think of me right now, were they still alive.
***********************************************************************************
"This is Rynn, with Cairn, seven days after our last, failed experiment. Cairn has convinced me that with only a few alterations, it may yet be possible to correctly harness the entirety of a being's soul energy in order to grant immortality, and so this will be our second attempt."
The somber Asura turned from the camera to look at their latest test subject - a human female - who did not struggle, but only returned his stare. Rynn visibly shuddered before moving to the console. He stood there, appearing lost in thought.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Nothing."
The machine whirred into position, and the Sylvari took his place behind the human, his blade drawn.
The human craned her head to look at the Asura. "If your crazy machine works and I come back to life, I'm going to kill you both," she spat.
Rynn refused to look at her. "No you won't. Cairn."
Slice.
Once more the machine drew the freed soul essence into itself, but this time it appeared to handle the energy better. Green luminescence spread throughout the machine, revealing the true size of the thing as the entire room lit up with the human's soul, casting a sickly light on the Necromancers. Once the flow of energy stopped, the Asura pressed a button to reverse the flow, back into the body.
Rather than exploding out in a forceful beam as before, the soul seeped slowly back into the corpse. The flesh did not melt, the hair did not burn. Rynn began to look hopeful, taking a step closer to the human as it pulsed with dark energy. Cairn remained motionless, watching intently.
The flow went on for some minutes, the Asura clearly growing agitated with impatience, checking various parts of the machine to make sure everything was in working order. Still Cairn did not move, only stared with his intense gaze.
Eventually the room darkened, the soul having been imparted to the human completely.
"Did it work? Does she live?" Rynn approached her and checked for a pulse.
Before he could lay a finger on her, though, her hand shot out and grasped him by the throat. Her eyes opened, glowing brightly with green energy. Rynn screamed, grabbing at his assailant's arm but unable to hold on, his hands coming away smoking. Her flesh burned with pure energy, destroying the straps that held her and searing Rynn's skin. Smoke rose up from where she held his throat.
Cairn brought his blade down, but too slow. She knocked it away and flung him back against the wall where he slumped down, smoldering.
Rynn struggled in her deathly grasp, and some of the green luminescence that empowered the corpse flowed into him. The Asura shrouded himself in dark energies and blasted the human away from him. His eyes glowing with power from her soul, he fired a writing mass of life essence into her, disintegrating her completely. Rynn's shroud dissipated and he fell to his hands and knees, drained.
"Congratulations, Rynn," the Sylvari struggled to his feet. "It was a success."
"How was that a success?"
Cairn blinked. "She came back to life."
"That... that was not life."
"I do not take your meaning. I released her soul. Your machine gathered and returned it. She moved of her own will, and even seemed to retain her memory."
"She was a monstrosity!"
"A living monstrosity. Perhaps the reanimated being was not precisely the same as the original, but with only a couple more alterations -"
"No. We are done."
"What? We've only begun -"
"We. Are. DONE."
Cairn's amber stare pierced the Asura's own. "You may be done. I am not."
"Then you are a fool. And no better than a murderer. The prison will not release any more criminals to you, where will you get your next subject?"
"I will test it on myself."
Rynn barked a laugh. "You? You really are a fool then."
"No. I know it will work, if I have your genius to enhance this machine."
The two stared at each other for some time. Rynn rose to his feet and approached the camera. "Fine."
Click.
***********************************************************************************
[Rynn's text log, after the second experiment.]
That damned Sylvari. He thinks he can manipulate me into helping him? Any Asura could outsmart that twig. I will kill him. Burn his body so he has no corpse to return to. He clearly does not understand life. He himself has only been alive two years, his entire race only a few more than that - how could he understand? I don't know why I chose to believe him when he approached me those months ago with his ridiculous ideas. Immortality is impossible. False hope, I suppose.
Now if I let him live, he will only kill more in further experiments of his and never know any better. No, I must kill him to prevent more deaths.
That makes sense, right?
Of course it does. I am a genius, after all. Cairn will die. And with it, this futile quest for immortality.
Mother... father...
I'm sorry.
***********************************************************************************
"Are you ready, Cairn?"
"Yes."
Rynn smiled as he approached the console, pressing the familiar sequence of buttons that would soon extract the Sylvari's soul. Three probes overhead now whirred into place rather than one, as well as Cairn's own blade over his throat. Rynn couldn't control the machine and kill Cairn at the same time, so he devised an additional mechanism to do the dirty work for him.
Speaking to the camera, Rynn summarized, "Since the last design, I added two additional probes to further control the flow of the subject's soul. Cairn has volunteered to be the subject for this experiment. Even so, he is still strapped down with heat-resistant bindings in the event he turns violent like the last subject. If this experiment fails, it will be my final attempt."
"It will not fail."
"For your sake, I would hope not."
Rynn activated the machine.
Cairn's blade slid across his own throat, taking his life and releasing his soul into the machinery above. Rynn watched silently as Cairn's soul slowly departed his body, filling the room with an eerie green glow. Once the flow stopped, Rynn turned off the machine. It retained the sickly green glow of Cairn's soul, but did not return it to the Sylvari's body.
The Asura picked up a jug from behind the console and splashed its liquid contents over the Sylvari's corpse. The jug emptied, he set it down and lit a match.
"No more atrocities."
SCREEEAEEEEEAECH
The room filled with an ear-piercing squeal as the machine kicked back on, the blade mechanism flying toward Rynn who barely got out of the way with his head intact.
"How?! Cairn?!!"
The machine began releasing the Sylvari's soul back into his body, keeping Rynn away with Cairn's blade. It did not take as long as last time. Cairn's body did not glow with energy, nor did his flesh burn. His eyelids opened revealing not the greenish power of souls but amber, which turned to stare at Rynn. Cairn's blade sliced the straps holding him down. The Sylvari stood up, taking his blade from the machine and approaching Rynn, his body dripping.
Quickly Rynn threw his match, setting Cairn on fire. He howled, dropping the blade, and fell to his knees erupting in green fire. The explosion knocked Rynn back, tore pieces from the machine and flung them across the room. One piece of debris hit the camera, cracking the lens and aiming it toward the ground.
[More explosions are heard, pieces of metal crashing into each other in a raucous cacophony along with a sucking sound. The Asura screams. There's more smashing and clattering as pieces are flung about and Rynn's scream becomes something unearthly, sounding like nothing from Tyria.
BOOM.
Silence...]
***********************************************************************************
[The shuffling sound of slow, dragging footsteps]
A small figure walks beneath the camera: an Asura. Rynn. Blood is oozing from his flesh like sap. He slowly tilts his face up toward the lens, revealing a strange glint in his eyes; a flash of amber, and a piercing gaze capable of penetrating to the deepest, darkest parts of the soul.
Click.
I wish I had more time to write... I really do love to create stories... but looking forward to more of yours here and in the Zombie thread. Thanks for sharing it!