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

“He didn’t mean the main door at the entrance. We found another door inside, giving off this mad ass golden glow. It was seriously overwhelming.”

She surprised me by speaking directly into my mind with urgency. “Jezai was concerned something like this might happen with you. Do you think you can speak in the formal manner you previously spoke in? That or try speaking as little as possible to any of the council.” Then, aloud she continued, “We will see how the council responds to this development.”

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

She again communicated directly into my mind. “Shh… no more. If it is discovered I am assisting you to hide this change from the council, then I will find myself in conflict with them and all may be lost.”

I spoke out loud again in answer, “I have no idea wh…”

“Shaun, stop talking! It’s essential you… oh no!”

“What? Who is Shaun? What the hell’s happening, Ialos?” I was about to say more, but my body had begun to shake involuntarily, followed by blackness.

I heard Ialos’s voice before I saw her. She was trying to rouse me. “Are you okay, Vakuna?” Her voice was panicked.

I wiped at my mouth; a foamy spittle covered my sleeve. “What the bloody hell happened?” I groaned.

“What is your name?” she asked, kneeling over me as I lay on the floor for some reason.

“Well, it’s bloody Vakuna, isn’t it!” I exclaimed. Then, I had a moment of definite doubt. “I think there are other memories. Who is Ember?”

She looked deeply worried. “Wait here. I must contact Jezai, quickly. This is not good. See if you can practice speaking formally, as you did before your training with Kirel.”

“Sure, I'll give it a blast,” I said, horrified by the lack of control I had over my mouth.

She shook her head sadly, then scooted off to her office at the back of the facility. I sat and watched her as she went, admiring the view.

I sat there mulling over what I knew, but my mind was all over the shop. There was definitely something fishy going on; this voice and those snippets of memory, along with some Fiekela’s and others from the council’s occasionally odd behaviors. I had some little hints that Ialos was trying to tell me something too and out of all of them, she was the one I trusted the most. I resolved to try deceiving Fiekela when he arrived, by any means necessary. Even if I still couldn’t piece jack-shit together.

My thoughts were interrupted by Ialos’s return. “Jezai has been informed of what has happened. We are to remain calm for now and to convince Fiekela that there has been no change to your personality.”

I didn’t even get a chance to answer. As if by magic Fiekela appeared, descending through the opening and walking over to us.

“Greetings, Vakuna, Ialos. I hear there has there been a somewhat interesting development?”

“Yes,” Ialos said quickly, preventing me from having to answer. “It seems Vakuna’s Subconscious is different, somehow.”

“I have heard. An anomalous door, no less. How interesting! Shall we take a look, Vakuna?”

I nodded, trying not to speak where possible. It was a tough feat for me.

We appeared in the corridor outside the Subconscious Room. Fiekela gestured for me to lead the way.

“Of course,” I forced out and headed into the room. I continued straight forward into the darkness. For some unknown reason, as I was walking in front of Fiekela, my back started itching like mad.

“So, why do you think this door is here, Vakuna?” he asked as we walked.

I took a deep breath and mulled the words over before I answered slowly. “I do not know.” Fighting against the impulse to say, ‘I haven’t got a scooby doo, mate.’ I applauded myself for succeeding with the cunning deception.

“I admit to being very intrigued,” he replied.

When we made it to the door, Fiekela reached out. I thought he was going to try to bloody open it. My heart jumped into my mouth, I was just about to stop him, but he pulled up short and closed his eyes. “I see, it is more alive than I would expect. It appears to be independent from you, Vakuna.” He stood staring at it for a short while longer. “I am content to have seen it for now. We will develop your Wisdom in another way, at least until we’ve uncovered the truth of this door.”

I didn’t reply. I just nodded nonchalantly.

Once we left the Subconscious Room, I was preparing to leave my Mindscape, when Fiekela stopped me. “I will assess your growth while we are here,” he declared before he phased away.

I took his cue, phasing alongside him to look over my Cerebral Interface.

“Yes, they are still developing at a strong rate. The different machines seem to be successful in supplying suitable alternative stimuli for your physical abilities.”

I scanned over my stats for the first time in a few days. They were still improving dramatically as far as I could tell:

Name: Vakuna

Age: 31 GY

Transcendence Level: 247

Strength: 364/1000

Agility: 208/1000

Speed: 206/1000

Intelligence: 190/1000

Constitution: 480/1000

Wisdom: 19/1000

Mental Resilience: 272/1000

Mental Clarity: 97%

Potential: 99%

“I am concerned that your Mental Clarity has dropped. Has Ialos not ensured you inventory your mind regularly? With the amount of new information that you are absorbing, it is imperative you keep Clarity as high as possible.”

I was about to attempt an answer, but in truth, Ialos had been making me order my inventory every day. I should have remained at 100 percent. I ended up stuttering over what to say.

Thankfully, Fiekela spoke again, saving me from myself. “I will speak to her about this. It will not do.” Then he vanished.

I followed quickly after him to see if I could help the situation at all. No sooner had I left than I found him already berating Ialos for the oversight. There wasn’t much I could do except to defend her, but that would highlight that there were other problems, and neither of us wanted that attention. Judging from