Condition Evolution 4 by Kevin Sinclair (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

darkness. We seemed to have been walking in near darkness for a while, and I was growing frustrated.

“How long do we have to walk for?” I asked. It took a little while for Kirel to answer, but when he did, I detected some frustration in his voice too.

“We should have been in total darkness some time ago. I do not understand why we are not. Keep moving forward, we should reach it soon. I… What is that up ahead?” he asked. “What are you thinking about, Vakuna?”

“Getting the hell outta here,” I replied without thinking. “And the what the fuck is what?”

“Clear your mind,” he snapped without answering my question.

“Funny that I have to clear my mind, while actually being in my mind. What am I actually clearing?”

“Don’t be so foolish! You are your consciousness. You still control everything inside the Mindscape. Now do as you’re instructed and clear your mind.”

“Okay, Kirel. I’ll do my best.” You fucking prick, I thought, and giggled internally at the words my mind came up with to describe him. Nonetheless, I decided I also needed to be careful of what I said. For some reason, my mouth was dancing to a different tune than normal. I focused on emptying my thoughts, and it was suddenly much more difficult for me. Ialos had advised me that with 100 percent clarity it should be simple, but it appeared I had a somewhat disobedient mind at the best of times.

“Okay, Kirel, it’s as clear as it can be. I’m not thinking of anything… well, other than these words,” I said, which threatened to derail my efforts.

“If your mind is clear, then we should be in total darkness. Yet, that strange glow still persists. Let us investigate and discover the truth of this anomaly.”

I hadn’t even noticed a glow, we seemed to be in total darkness to me, but now I was looking for it, I slowly became aware of a soft golden glow emanating from the direction we were headed. “What do you think it is?” I asked the barely tangible form in front of me.

“I… do not know. There really should be nothing here. It is most unusual.”

The glow began to grow in intensity. I could see Kirel more clearly again and he had a deep frown etched into his face which grew to a look of total bewilderment as a golden outlined doorway came into view. As we closed the distance, I could see it was like no other doorway I’d seen in my Mindscape. It was far more ornate, with decorative carvings in the door itself that meant nothing to me, framed by a twisting columnar architrave. There was a clear glow coming from the cracks around the door. Where I felt fear from the door into my Subconscious, from this door I felt something entirely different. It certainly wasn’t joy. I wouldn’t even say it was a positive feeling. It was something beyond that, like a torrent of every emotion possible, blended into one overwhelming entity. What I could identify without doubt was that it was insanely powerful. I did not want to face the full force of whatever lay on the other side.”

“Kirel, we are not opening that door!”

“No, I agree for now. It is an unexpected anomaly. We should return, I must speak with the council. You must not ever come back in here without guidance. You are not prepared for whatever this irregularity is. Come, let us head back,” Kirel commanded, and we began walking back into the darkness.

“Why can’t we just return to our Normal-State?” I asked.

“This part of your mind is not freely accessed. Now, follow and remain clear of thought,” he said.

I followed obediently, walking back from darkness into gloom until finally the light of the room opened up around us. Kirel didn’t say another word to me. He just vanished, leaving my mind instantly. I’d learnt my lesson the hard way about just leaving and contacted Ialos. “Hi, can you switch me off, we're coming out early.”

“Yes, Vakuna. That was quick,” she replied.

“Yup, didn’t exactly go as planned,” I said, mulling over the fact I was speaking differently. It felt natural, though, to the point that I struggled to speak in my normal way.

“It’s fine to make your way out now, though you will feel some pain still.”

“That’s cool. Just so long as I’m not being actively tortured,” I replied before leaving the Mindscape to find Ialos undoing the restraints.

“…I will let you know what we agree on, Ialos,” I caught Kirel saying from the opposite side of the training facility, just before he levitated through the ceiling. Ignorant bastard didn’t even hang around to talk to me. Yup, I really didn’t like him.

“I must admit to being very confused,” Ialos said, shaking me from my thoughts of creepy Kirel.

“Yeah, it was weird. What did Lurch tell you about it?”

She looked at me in shock. “The way you are speaking, it has… it has altered.”

“Yeah, weird, right?”

“Did Kirel say anything about what might be going on?”

“He didn’t say a goddamn thing. That fucker was too far up his own ass to talk to me properly, or listen to anything I had to say. So what's happened to me? I sometimes have this really quiet little voice inside my head, but it talks like the way I’m talking now. To be honest, I thought I was just going a little mad. But inside my subconscious, it grew much louder and clearer. I feel like it’s taken me over.” I laughed. “But I don’t actually mind for some reason, it feels more, uhm, comfortable?”

“Really?” She looked concerned. “What do you mean by more comfortable and what has it been saying?”

“Nothing much, just using a different language to articulate my feelings. But it always makes more sense.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! That is something. We will have to investigate it further, see what we can do later. What else happened in your subconscious? Kirel mentioned that something was wrong with