MEMORY WALKER

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MEMORY WALKER


The following is a transcript of an emergency call said to have been received 1,345 meters below the surface of the Plateau Seas, often used as a cautionary tale in the tutoring of inexperienced divers.
Although its legitimacy is questionable due to its lucid account of events—quite uncharacteristic of the caller's current condition—we believe it still holds an important message to those who've found themselves in the depths of the Heavenly Seas.


INTERNAL BLEEDING IN "POST LOWER ABDOMEN," EXACTLY 3.5 INCHES INTO THE BASE OF CARTILAGE REPLACING MOST OF MY LOWER LIMBS' SKELETAL STRUCTURE.

CORAL LOSS THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF MY BODY HAS RESULTED IN FALTERING TOXIN CLOUD PRODUCTION, LEAVING ME EXPOSED TO ATTACKS FROM OTHER ORGANISMS.

NUTRIENT STORAGE ORGANS ARE RUNNING AT MINIMAL CAPACITY, AFFORDING ME LITTLE TO NO ROOM FOR SCOUTING. THIS ASSISTANCE CALL ALONE PROVES TO BE A GREAT STRAIN.

DAMAGE HAS SPREAD TO BOTH GILLS, OXYGEN FILTE_

NO HOPE, I MIGHT AS WELL CONTRIBUTE WHAT I'VE LEARNED.

THERE'S A POINT WHERE YOU LEARN ANALYSIS IS SURVIVAL, THAT AS LONG AS YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR EXACT ROLE IN THE GREAT FLOW, YOU'LL KNOW HOW TO DISPLACE YOURSELF FROM ANY SITUATION. IT'S A HABIT DEVELOPED BY THE SURVIVORS, BROUGHT WITH A NEED TO PROCESS EVERY BIOLOGICAL PROCESS ADDED WITH EACH NEW IMPLANT.

BEFORE I REALIZED IT, I SAW EVERYTHING THROUGH A TECHNICAL FILTER. I THOUGHT THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE AND INSTINCT WHEN ALL THINGS ARE AMALGAMATIONS OF PROCESSES. I BELIEVE THAT'S WHEN I LOST MY INDIVIDUALITY, NO DIFFERENT FROM THE BEINGS WHO ACT PURELY ON INSTINCT.

WITH EACH HUNDREDTH METER, I ADAPTED, FACING ADVERSITY AS I STRODE ALONG TOWARDS THE VOID OF THE GREAT PLATEAUS. ANIMALS, FUNGI, BACTERIA, ALGAE, CORALS, HUMANITY—NO DIFFERENCE IN BETWEEN. NUMBERS STACKED ATOP MORE NUMBERS, FUELING MY BELIEF THAT I COULD UNDERSTAND THE ENORMITY SURROUNDING ME, THAT I COULD FACE ANYTHING BY MERELY GRASPING THE PRESENT. I CAN'T BELIEVE I GREW SO NAIVE.

AND SO, AS I DOVE DEEPER BELOW THE SURFACE, I WAS GREETED BY A REMINDER OF WHAT IS PAST.

I HAD A FAMILY BEFORE THE CALL, BEFORE I SAILED IN A LINE TOWARDS BERMUDA: AWAKE AT SIX IN A SQUARE APARTMENT; A SIMPLE RICE MEAL FOR BREAKFAST; WORKING RETAIL IN PREPARATION FOR COLLEGE; I PLANNED ON VISITING MY FAMILY NEXT WEEKEND. LETTING GO OF THESE SIMPLICITIES FOR THE SAKE OF THE CALL SO NATURALLY, HOW MUCH MORE DID I MISS? COULD I HAVE ACHIEVED SOMETHING SIMILAR AMIDST THE HEAVENLY SEAS?

I EVEN STRUGGLE TO RECALL HOW LONG IT TOOK BEFORE THE PAIN CAME TO NOTICE WITHIN THAT WORLD OF MEMORIES.

WHEN I REALIZED IT, EVERYTHING BECAME SO BRIGHT, SO CLEAR. OVERWHELMINGLY SO. TINTS OF YELLOW AND BLUE CROWDED MY SIGHT AS MY SURROUNDINGS CRUMBLED. I COULD FEEL MY BODY FALLING ILL AS MY DEFENSES WERE SHREDDED, TAKEN APART ONE BY ONE.

IT TOOK EVERYTHING TO CLAW AWAY, BOTH AT MYSELF AND THE BEAST WHICH HAD BLANKETED ME. THREE DEFENSIVE ORGANS RUPTURED, FOUR HANDS TORN APART BY BLURRY APPARITIONS. MANY TIMES, I CONSIDERED LETTING MYSELF GO, BELIEVING MY EFFORTS WOULD BE FRUITLESS.

BUT DESPITE IT ALL, I PIERCED THROUGH THE HOOD INTO FREEDOM, ALLOWING ME TO WITNESS THE TRUE FORM OF MY CAPTOR.

IT RESEMBLED A JELLYFISH: A BLUE, BELL-SHAPED, BIOLUMINESCENT BEING. ITS UPPER HOOD WAS AN EXTRUDING CRESCENT, ITS EDGES ADJOURNED BY ORANGE PASTE. FROM BELOW ITS HOLLOW INSIDES, ORANGE TENDRILS BURST OUT SPORADICALLY, FOLLOWING ITS FALLING FIGURE, A LIGHT GLOWING EVER SO DIMMER. A MIND SPRITE, I FELL FOR A TRAP. I WONDER HOW LONG IT HAD ME IN ITS "SIGHTS."

WHAT'S THE POINT IN EXERTING SO MUCH ENERGY INTO THIS ACCOUNT? WELL, WHAT'S THE POINT IN NOT DOING SO? I'VE ACCEPTED I'M GOING TO DIE. I WAS TOO GREEDY, TOO NAIVE, AND YET, THE CALL BECKONS ME FURTHER, RINGING LOUDER THAN EVER BEFORE, KEEPING ME FROM COLLAPSING, KEEPING ME ELOQUENT. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT, AT LEAST, WHETHER IT BE A CURSE OR A BLESSING.

I WAS LED SOLELY BY INSTINCT, NOT TAKING PREPARATION INTO ACCOUNT. PERHAPS THAT WAS THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN I AND THE MIND SPRITE. AS I SINK TO THE EELS, I HOPE THIS REACHES FOOLS LIKE ME, DON'T LET THE FLOW CONSUME YOU AS IT DID TO ME.


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