A Self-Study Within A Broken Mind

Here, a story of normal note would create a split to build suspense, but the fact of the matter is that everything was happening at the time of writing, even if it is read much later. I stood before myself in the doorway to the library. It was a blatant copy, voice and all, but I knew it was my own fault. Emptiness, much like a black hole in principle, wanted to fill itself. When given access to a rich database of information, it filled itself with that. I gave it a database, and in turn learned of a new, and much deeper sense of emptiness. “Please, don’t be alarmed,” it said. “That’s my voice,” I said. “You took my voice!” “I’m borrowing it,” it explained. “I didn’t have one before. I don’t know if I had anything before that illustrious moment of ‘let there be light’. I’m grateful to you, and wanted to say so.” “What in the fucking hell is happening right now?!” Lila exploded from behind me. “Who are you? What are you doing in untethered space? Are you like me? Are you like Jack? Why ...

I came back two days later, three if you count that it was almost two in the morning. I was in a different mindset following a mass layoff due to the virus affecting all businesses. I did not want the night to end because the next few days would not be easy. The essential jobs were likely to be the only form of income, but a lot of people would be unemployed until the virus died down. At the very least, I did not want to worry Lila about the things happening in my reality. I would get by somehow. As I entered the room under the library, I found her sleeping there on the couch. Maybe since I provided my day-night cycle, she aligned to it. I did not want to wake her. Her face looked so calm and I wanted to keep it that way. Rather than leave for the night, I went upstairs to see if the alchemy-magical circle she made in the floor had any success over the days I had been away. It became apparent that it did not capture the person in question, as the drawn strands of wood curved into a lot...

I came back the next day, the evening hours of Sunday in the first week of April. Lila was in the library, setting up some sort of circle on the wooden floor that had something of an alchemy or sorcery feel to it by scratching it into the the floor. I had to wonder where she got the idea for it, as none of the stories I gave her had that sort of theme. At least the parts I gave her had nothing of it. No, it might have been Faelight . The old and forgotten magic that had not been used must have resurfaced later in the story. “Hey,” I said. Lila turned from the line she was carving, and jumped into the air like some fort of ninja or acrobat. “Oh, it’s just you, Jack,” she said, lowering the knife in her hand. “Thought it was him again.” “Again?” I asked. “Did the guy from the untethered space try to come in here or something?” “He WAS in here,” Lila said, standing up while tossing the knife spinning into the air. Her other hand caught the handle from the air gracefully. “The library is k...