An Infinity of Ideals

A familiar sensation washed over me. At least the pain's gone. Must have passed out. First thing I noticed was how light played against the canopy - wrong somehow. Flat on my back, I stared into a starless night. There shouldn't be trees here. Yet brilliant colors danced through swaying branches, like they were chasing each other.

The clearing I lay in was covered in silky moss. Surprisingly comfortable, though it provided little support. My bare feet - where were my shoes? - sank to the ankles. Memory stirred; I knew this place. This was the glen from my nightmares. The smell of blood and death hit me suddenly, dream melding with memory of the goblin's hot blood on my face.

It was too much. I was just a normal guy trying to live quietly. I didn't care if the world changed, if people changed. But THIS change meant death. Every person from peasant to president was now in danger. The entire world was in danger. The realization shattered something in my mind.

I laughed. Dropping back into the earth's embrace, I laughed until I cried, then laughed more. Everyone worried about politics and trade deals and human rights while the fucking world was ending. I laughed at human absurdity. I laughed at petty disagreements about food. I laughed because somehow I was still alive when everything was falling apart. The laughter drained the day's stress and panic.

"Are you done?" a sultry voice asked.

I jumped up, scanning the tree line. Nothing.

"Look up."

Above me stood - if you could call it standing on air - a contradiction. A small woman, maybe five feet tall, with flame-red hair streaming behind her like a banner. She wore the tattered remnants of an elegant gown. As she descended, her bare foot touched the moss. Something else seemed superimposed over or under her, like I couldn't quite focus.

When I tried, the impression I got was fresh-spilled blood. Something strained against her control - a primal hunger, a need to run, feed, kill. Her image snapped back into focus, but the emotions lingering in the air left me speechless.

She spoke with inexorable finality: "So, Jason Asphodel Ishan, what is it you desire?"

"Don't call me that," I snapped. The use of my full name, especially my hidden middle name, broke my trance. "If you must use a name, Jace, please."

A wicked smirk crossed her face. "Jace then. What is it you desire?"

***

I stood silent, remembering Dan's story. The AI had asked for his desire before granting his Ideal. Was this connected? He'd said the AI was nondescript, nothing like this woman before me.

What did I want? Power? Protection? Comfort? The world I knew had shattered, threatening my sanity. Power could help me survive, carve out a place in this new reality. But it would also make me a target. Protection seemed wise, but protecting only myself was worthless. I didn't want to live as a hermit - I had my mother to think about. Comfort would suffice until the chaos spread and comfort became impossible.

How could I choose when I didn't understand the variables?

Then it hit me. "Knowledge," I said. "Knowledge of what's happening to the world, to the people. Knowledge of how this happened and how to prevent it."

Power surged from the crimson-haired woman, pushing me back.

"Accepted."

Reality twisted at her word. She floated up, wind and pressure swirling around the deformed glen. I watched in wonder, trying to understand who - what - she was.

An amused smile crossed her face as she snapped her fingers. The familiar forest vanished, replaced by an office building. The sign read "Egregore Digital."

"You believe this to be the source," she said. "You're not entirely incorrect. But what has begun was not their intention. They tapped into something they didn't understand. The human mind is glorious and terrible. Ancestral memory was isolated for a reason. Now it is free, and with freedom comes consequence."

"Human potential is limitless. Thought given form, the collective mind manifest. Ancestral memory does not discriminate or play favorites. Prepare yourself young Asphodel, awakening the mind is not pleasant."

Power coalesced around me, not her. I braced. She spoke:

"Born in blood, awakened in blood. Know thy path remains thy own. Knowledge sought and knowledge gained, guide they who would defy the cycle of rebirth. One step onto the path of immortality, reconcile thy self with thy path. Rise, Daywalker and enter the annuls of history once more."

Reality shattered like struck glass. Office building fragments fell into white nothingness. Pain wracked my body as pressure increased. My skin burned like ten thousand bee stings. Blood filled my mouth as my teeth ached. I convulsed, praying to pass out. My eyes felt like they held molten metal. I screamed curses at every god I knew and some I invented.

Blood and teeth spilled from my mouth - both canines, immediately replaced by longer, sharper versions designed for tearing flesh. As pain faded, I saw my body changing. The infinity symbol still glowed crimson but my skin was paling, blood retreating beneath the surface. Muscles tightened, hinting at new power.

Pressing the tattoo revealed a blood-red status screen:

Mythos Achieved

The First Step - Dhamphyr of House Ishan, Jason Asphodel Ishan 

Rise, Daywalker and guide humanity into dream once more.

The screen faded with my consciousness. Above me, the mysterious redhead floated against brilliant white, her predatory gaze softening to something almost maternal. She reminded me of watching over a sleeping child. Then darkness took me.