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  • #6791
    AvatarJib
    Participant

      The trio entered the medical bay, Barney proudly perched on Salomé’s shoulder. Léonard was sitting on the edge of his bed in a blue hospital dress, looking around him, confused. He turned his head toward them and squinted.

      Georges?” he asked. “Salomé? Where…” He winced and slapped his forehead.

      “Are you ok?” asked Salomé, moving toward him.

      Léonard stretched his arm in front of him and Salomé felt her body pushed backward. Barney squeaked and the wave subsided.

      “I’m ok,” Léonard said a few seconds later, breathing with difficulties, “just a headache. Where…”

      Georges exchanged a look and a brief telepathic communication with Salomé. He had felt the wave too, and he was also feeling some kind of shield around his mind. It was different from all they had encountered before. They might have to fall back to the old ways.

      “We’re back on Duane,” he said with a cheerful tone, hoping it would help their friend relax. Léonard had explored this system extensively, and it was there he had introduced Georges and Salomé to the reality of multidimensional travels and Elemental magic. It was a place full of memories and Georges was looking closely at his friend’s face and at the same time prodding his mind. But Léonard’s face didn’t show any reaction and his mind appeared empty.

      “Actually, way back… in time,” Georges continued. “Jorid’s navigation array was gravely disturbed by this little creature… where is Barney?”

      A weak chirp came out of Salomé’s luscious raven black hair.

      “Come on, Barney,” she said, trying to take him out. “Come meet our friend Léonard.”

      The creature was trembling like a leaf and clinging to strands of her hair, clearly not wanting to leave his hiding place.

      “I think he likes your shampoo,” said Georges with a smirk. “Well, we just found this little sand Rin on Jorid’s hull, and the little culprit is generating interferences in the Boodenbaum quantum field. So until we find a way to neutralise whatever he’s doing, we’re stuck.”

      Léonard looked annoyed. He tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn’t support him and he fell back on the bed.

      “Why did the Zathu put you in that sand egg on Bluhm’Oxl?” asked Salomé, trying not to sound too concerned.

      Léonard opened his mouth and froze, looking surprised. He frowned.

      “I don’t recall,” he said.

      “What do you recall?”

      “I recall… receiving a tip from an old friend.”

      “Who?”

      “…”

      “Jorid, can you read us the message from his friend?” asked Georges with a smile, as if he had found a simple solution.

      “I can’t access the data,” said the ship. “Léonard deleted it, and the backups before he left.”

      Georges’ smile faded. He looked at Salomé. She was thinking the same thing he was thinking and nodded.

      “Why don’t we let you have some rest, you’ll join us for lunch when you’re dressed up and ready.”

      #6740
      AvatarJib
      Participant

        When Salomé got closer to examine the creature, it jumped towards her. She caught it by reflex.

        “Wow!” said Georges. “Sand Rin clearly has a death wish.”

        “Thank you,” said Salomé. “Again.”

        “I didn’t mean…”

        She smiled. He was so easy to tease.

        “Why did you call it Sand Rin?” she asked.

        “I think our little friend has telepathic abilities. She showed this scene to me and I heard myself call her that.”

        “You might want to revise your diagnostic concerning its gender. It seems he’s got balls.”

        “Does that necessarily make it a male ?” asked Georges with a grumpf.

        Salomé looked at her friend and raised one eyebrow.

        “Does it indeed,” she said.

        Georges snorted. Salomé’s attention moved back to the creature. The fur was soft, and produced little blue sparks when she stroke it with her hands. It wasn’t static electricity because Salomé didn’t feel anything except a desire to stroke it again.

        “Interesting,” she said. “You clearly want us to like you. What’s your name little guy?”

        “I told you, it’s Sand Rin,” said Georges.

        “You told me you saw a scene in which you called it Sand Rin. That doesn’t make it his name. It might just have shown you your own mistake.”

        Salomé looked into the eyes of the creature. It wiggled its nose.

        “Hello, Barney,” she said.

        “What? I can’t believe I find an alien creature on Jorid’s hull, and it’s called Barney,” said Georges.

        “Rectification,” said Jorid, “The creature found you. He jumped onto your helmet and licked it. It’s most probable if you had tried to catch him, you’d still be tickling my hull with your boots.”

        Salomé grinned.

        “You told me SHE liked me,” said Georges.

        “I also told you the creature was causing interferences with my sensors and navigational arrays.”

        “Why do you always have to take her side?”

        “She’s most often…”

        “Nope, I don’t need that answer.”

        “…right.”

        Salomé laughed as Georges rolled his eyes. She turned her attention to Barney when he started squiggling like he was talking.

        “He’s agitated,” she said. “Something foreboding, urgent.”

        “You’ll be happy to know Léonard’s vitals are showing he’s about to wake up,” said Jorid.

        “Wehoo! At last”, said Georges. “He’ll be able to tell us what the Zathu did to him.”

        “I’m more curious about what he did to them to deserve being treated like that,” said Salomé with a frown.

        #6538
        EricEric
        Keymaster

          “That’s all Jorid had to say?” Georges mused at the sudden philosophical quote that read:

          And doesn’t this point to something fundamentally tragic about our way of life? We live under an assumed identity, in a neurotic fairy tale world with no more reality than the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland. Hypnotized by the thrill of building, we have raised the houses of our lives on sand. This world can seem marvelously convincing until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place. What will happen to us then if we have no clue of any deeper reality? (The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying)

          “I don’t know about this Mock Turtle, but those snapping sand ones that have been lurking about do look rather nasty. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

          Klatu opined “Klatu agrees with your female, sand turtle are lovely traps of death. Come with me now!” He intimated them to run into a sand opening he’d just made.

          “Let me guess,” Georges said, “is it the equivalent of a Zathu prison? What powerful people could Léonard possibly have rubbed the wrong way this time?”

          “Not prison.” Klatu commented “Death sentence.”

          Salomé pointed out a glowing twirl of sand shaped as an ovoid form, inside which a human form could be discerned. “That would explain why he’s not more guarded…”

          They approached carefully, expecting some extra booby trap, but nothing seemed to react to their presence, not even the moving sand egg.

          “Let me guess,” Georges said, expecting a chorus

          “DIMENSIONAL MAGIC!”

          Klatu shushed them “Quiet stupids! Sound waves attract good turtles.”

          “Is our friend OK? How do we break the spell?” Salomé asked Klatu. “Can you help?”

          Klatu took a few minutes to inspect the shape, hopping carefully around it, and probing with soft whistling sounds.

          “Friend in stasis for now. Kept fresh for questioning… possible.”

          “Then we must hurry, how can we free him? Can I brute force this?” Georges asked, looking around for something to pierce the sand barrier and hook Léonard out of it.

          “Only if you like sushi friend.” Klatu said, raising shoulders. “No finesse these primates.”

          Klatu moved around the shape, taking some tools from his belt and making some elaborate plaits of sounds, as if trying to match the energy signature of the sand prison.

          After a first belt of soundwaves was wrapped around, it seemed as though a first layer of the spell broke, and sand rained back into the external construct they were it. But a thin layer was still there, shifting and pulsating, almost clear as glass, and sharp as a razor blade.

          “Crude encoding, but solid. Need more time.” Klatu seemed exhausted.

          Georges was getting anxious for some activity. “Houses built on sand… Well I guess Jorid didn’t find the best quote to help…”

          Salomé who was sitting cross-legged, trying for some time to connect to Léonard in his stasis, turned to Georges in disbelief. “Georges, you’re a genius!”

          “What now?”

          “Jorid gave us the last bit we needed.  Until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place. Remember? It’s risky but that could work!”

          “Oh, I see what you’re thinking about. It’s mad, and it’s brilliant at the same time, how do we go about this?”

          “I can’t reach Léonard, but maybe the both of us can.” Salomé joined hands with Georges.

          “If he’s like anything I remember, he’d be in his mental palace, his workshop on the Duane… or in Marseille… or with Madame Jamelie…”

          “Focus, Georges!”

          “Duane it is, that’s where he did his best work.”

          “We need to focus our energy to make him appear dead to the construct. It’ll be easier if we can locate precisely where his mind wanders.” Salomé said.

          “He’ll be there, I know it. Let’s do this!”

          The two of them joined hands and melded their minds, one as always, turning into a dark mirror of the abyss, bending light unto itself, leaving the void of creation at the place where Léonard was suspended.

          Klatu looked at the scene suspiciously, but started to giggle as he saw the last layer he couldn’t open finally shatter and dissolve to the ground.

          “Little apes full of surprises,… very awful, so very awful.” he said approvingly.

          As his friends rushed to him, Léonard was on the ground, inert, but apparently alive.

          #6535
          EricEric
          Keymaster

            “What was that?” Salomé was trying to get her bearings after they hit the sand storm into a different place.

            Before the sand storm hit, they got chased by one of the Zathu army drone’s which they tried to shake off their tail, but that was only the beginning of the fun.
            Coming ominously from afar, a huge wall of sand came toward them at surprisingly massive speed darkening all in its wake. They were about to be hit and engulfed, but that was when all took a turn for the strangest. The dark sand wall suddenly split open, reacting to a sound beam apparently emitted from Klatu’s speedster. After that, it was mostly a blur. They had gone into a sort of shifting sand vortex that had them glide into a series of  sliding slopes with the oddest directional gravity pull she’d experienced. She had to shout a few times “Watch out” when some of the giant sand snapping turtles tried to gobble their ride, but somehow they seemed to have managed to reach their destination —and quite safely too.

            “Whooo!” Georges was elated at the adrenaline rush. “So that’s the trick our friend had up his sleeve, it seems?”

            “Silly human hasn’t seen anything yet” mumbled Klatu whose middle ear was tuned into their direction.

            “I’ve got sand in places one shouldn’t.” Georges said laughing, as if to make the air lighter.

            “Don’t get me started,” Salomé managed a weak smile. She never was fond of the speed thrills. But when she turned her head, that’s where she saw them —old ruins dripping sand like a streaming source. Down or sideways, she couldn’t tell. The gravitational pull seemed to indicate they were down, but herself, Georges, their pod and Klatu were all stuck on a vertical cliff like geckos comfortably lounging on a warm wall. Down, then it was…

            It took her a minute to realize Klatu was actually manipulating the sand and the gravitational configuration around, revealing the landscape that was hidden.

            “Mmmm, dimensional magic…” she remembered the words from Jorid.

            “Smelly friends of yours inside. Must go quicksy, Klatu can’t hold it long.”

            Georges opened his mouth, but Salomé elbowed him right away. “He doesn’t mean to pee, Georges.”

            #6495
            EricEric
            Keymaster

              The landing on the sandy desert of Bluhm’Oxl was smoother than usual. It usually took a few minutes to get accustomed to their surrounding, the body transformations that came together with jumping across dimensions. In this case, it looked as though this dimension was quite close to their own.

              “Checking translation device…” Georges touched his ear lightly.

              Gremsbtic newkil jumbal” said Salomé in response. Georges looked quizzically at her face before realising she was pulling a classic prank.

              She laughed heartily. “That joke’s never getting old, isn’t it?”

              “Let’s walk a little in this direction, the rendez-vous point with Klatu isn’t too far.”

              “Any idea how Jorid managed to make contact this time?” Salomé asked.

              “Not sure really. Generally the quantum probability framework that’s built into the Jorid is managing to make trades across the multiverse that are quite complex to conceive or track down. Last time I tried to check, Jorid had traded one tardigrade to obtain us a couple of premium pass to the Amp’hool of Athumbra”

              “Underwater Whalets’ concert from the UniverseTour of Shakara, yes that was quite a night to remember…” Salomé reminisced fondly.

              “Fully booked for centuries, near impossible to get, and yet all it took was about a hundred of trades across multiple owners… No idea how it manages, but it found someone who was ready to trade their two front-row seats in exchange for a single Snoot’s hair.”

              “And why are we meeting this guy by the way? What’s his specialty?” Salomé winked. “You left me with the dressing duty, so happy you did all the reconnaissance.”

              Georges chucked. “all that Jorid said was: Klatu’s a relatively trustworthy Zathu, known for their expertise in dimensional magic, which is a crucial asset in your search for Léonard, presumably gone missing in the conflict-ridden Zathu sector.

              “Mmmh” said Salomé. “Dimensional magic. Rather unscientific for Jorid to express in that way. Nothing that I’ve recently dreamt about seems to relate. I guess we’ll see.”

              #6481
              EricEric
              Keymaster

                This is the outline for a short novel called “The Jorid’s Travels – 14 years on” that will unfold in this thread.
                The novel is about the travels of Georges and Salomé.
                The Jorid is the name of the vessel that can travel through dimensions as well as time, within certain boundaries. The Jorid has been built and is operated by Georges and his companion Salomé.

                Short backstory for the main cast and secondary characters

                Georges was a French thief possibly from the 1800s, turned other-dimensional explorer, and together with Salomé, a girl of mysterious origins who he first met in the Alienor dimension but believed to have origins in Northern India maybe Tibet from a distant past.
                They have lived rich adventures together, and are deeply bound together, by love and mutual interests.
                Georges, with his handsome face, dark hair and amber gaze, is a bit of a daredevil at times, curious and engaging with others. He is very interesting in anything that shines, strange mechanisms and generally the ways consciousness works in living matter.
                Salomé, on the other hand is deeply intuitive, empath at times, quite logical and rational but also interested in mysticism, the ways of the Truth, and the “why” rather than the “how” of things.
                The world of Alienor (a pale green sun under which twin planets originally orbited – Duane, Murtuane – with an additional third, Phreal, home planet of the Guardians, an alien race of builders with god-like powers) lived through cataclysmic changes, finished by the time this story is told.
                The Jorid’s original prototype designed were crafted by Léonard, a mysterious figure, self-taught in the arts of dimensional magic in Alienor sects, acted as a mentor to Georges during his adventures. It is not known where he is now.
                The story starts with Georges and Salomé looking for Léonard to adjust and calibrate the tiles navigational array of the Jorid, who seems to be affected by the auto-generated tiles which behave in too predictible fashion, instead of allowing for deeper explorations in the dimensions of space/time or dimensions of consciousness.
                Leonard was last spotted in a desert in quadrant AVB 34-7•8 – Cosmic time triangulation congruent to 2023 AD Earth era. More precisely the sand deserts of Bluhm’Oxl in the Zathu sector.

                When they find Léonard, they are propelled in new adventures. They possibly encounter new companions, and some mystery to solve in a similar fashion to the Odyssey, or Robinsons Lost in Space.

                Being able to tune into the probable quantum realities, the Jorid is able to trace the plot of their adventures even before they’ve been starting to unfold in no less than 33 chapters, giving them evocative titles.

                Here are the 33 chapters for the glorious adventures with some keywords under each to give some hints to the daring adventurers.

                1. Chapter 1: The Search BeginsGeorges and Salomé, Léonard, Zathu sector, Bluhm’Oxl, dimensional magic
                2. Chapter 2: A New Companion – unexpected ally, discovery, adventure
                3. Chapter 3: Into the Desert – Bluhm’Oxl, sand dunes, treacherous journey
                4. Chapter 4: The First Clue – search for Léonard, mystery, puzzle
                5. Chapter 5: The Oasis – rest, rekindling hope, unexpected danger
                6. Chapter 6: The Lost City – ancient civilization, artifacts, mystery
                7. Chapter 7: A Dangerous Encounter – hostile aliens, survival, bravery
                8. Chapter 8: A New Threat – ancient curse, ominous presence, danger
                9. Chapter 9: The Key to the Past – uncovering secrets, solving puzzles, unlocking power
                10. Chapter 10: The Guardian’s Temple – mystical portal, discovery, knowledge
                11. Chapter 11: The Celestial Map – space-time navigation, discovery, enlightenment
                12. Chapter 12: The First Step – journey through dimensions, bravery, adventure
                13. Chapter 13: The Cosmic Rift – strange anomalies, dangerous zones, exploration
                14. Chapter 14: A Surprising Discovery – unexpected allies, strange creatures, intrigue
                15. Chapter 15: The Memory Stones – ancient wisdom, unlock hidden knowledge, unlock the past
                16. Chapter 16: The Time Stream – navigating through time, adventure, danger
                17. Chapter 17: The Mirror Dimension – parallel world, alternate reality, discovery
                18. Chapter 18: A Distant Planet – alien world, strange cultures, exploration
                19. Chapter 19: The Starlight Forest – enchanted forest, secrets, danger
                20. Chapter 20: The Temple of the Mind – exploring consciousness, inner journey, enlightenment
                21. Chapter 21: The Sea of Souls – mystical ocean, hidden knowledge, inner peace
                22. Chapter 22: The Path of the Truth – search for meaning, self-discovery, enlightenment
                23. Chapter 23: The Cosmic Library – ancient knowledge, discovery, enlightenment
                24. Chapter 24: The Dream Plane – exploring the subconscious, self-discovery, enlightenment
                25. Chapter 25: The Shadow Realm – dark dimensions, fear, danger
                26. Chapter 26: The Fire Planet – intense heat, dangerous creatures, bravery
                27. Chapter 27: The Floating Islands – aerial adventure, strange creatures, discovery
                28. Chapter 28: The Crystal Caves – glittering beauty, hidden secrets, danger
                29. Chapter 29: The Eternal Night – unknown world, strange creatures, fear
                30. Chapter 30: The Lost Civilization – ancient ruins, mystery, adventure
                31. Chapter 31: The Vortex – intense energy, danger, bravery
                32. Chapter 32: The Cosmic Storm – weather extremes, danger, survival
                33. Chapter 33: The Return – reunion with Léonard, returning to the Jorid, new adventures.
                #6479
                AvatarJib
                Participant

                   

                  Chapter 1: The Search Begins

                   

                  Georges was sitting more or less comfortably in the command chair on the control deck of the Jorid, slowly drinking his tea. The temperature of the beverage seemed to be determined randomly since the interference patterns in the navigation array weren’t totally fixed when they removed those low quality tiles. Drinking cold or hot tea was not the worse of it, and it was even kind of a challenge to swallow it and not get burned by ice. The deck kept changing shape and colours, reconfiguring along with the quantum variations of the Boodenbaum field variation due to some leakage of information between dimensions. Salomé had preferred resting in her travelpod where the effects were not as strongly felt.

                  “The worse is not as much seeing your face morph into a soul-insect and turn inside down, although those greenish hues usually make me feel nauseous, but feeling two probable realities where my organs grow and shrink at the same time is more than I can bear.”

                  After a few freakish experiences, where his legs cross-merged with the chair, or a third eye grow behind his head, or that time when dissolved into a poof of greasy smoke, Georges got used to the fluid nature of reality during the trips. You just had to get along with it and not resist. He thought it gave some spice and colours to their journey across dimensions. He enjoyed the differences of perceptions generated by the fluctuations of the Boodenbaum field, as it allowed his tea to taste like chardonnay or bœuf bourguignon, and was glad when he discovered a taste that he had never experienced before.

                  During the last few trips, he had attempted to talk with Jorid, but their voices were so garbled and transformed so quickly that he lost interest. He couldn’t make the difference with the other noises, like honking trucks passing by on a motorway, or the cry of agony of a mating Irdvark. He felt a pang of nostalgia as the memories of Duane, Murtuane and Phréal merged into the deck around him. He wondered if he could get physically lost during one of the trips as he started to feel his limbs move away from his body, one hairy foot brushing by his left ear while he drank a sip of tea with the mouth that had grown on his middle finger. Salomé had warned him about fractured perception and losing a piece of his mind… It seemed it hadn’t happened yet. But would he notice?

                  Already he felt the deceleration he had come to notice when they neared their destination. The deck stabilized into a shape adapted to this quadrant of the dimensional universes. The large command screen displayed images of several ruins lost in the sand desert of Bluhm’Oxl.

                  Georges looked at his hands, and touched his legs. His reflection  on the command screen looked back at him. Handsome as usual. He grinned. Salomé wouldn’t refrain from telling him if something was off anyway.

                  Jorid: “I have woken up Salomé.”

                  She won’t be long now. Georges ordered a hot meklah, one of her favorites drink that usually helped her refocus when getting out of her pod.

                  A blip caught Georges’ attention.

                  Jorid: “This is Tlal Klatl’Oxl, better know as Klatu. Your potential contact on Bluhm’Oxl and a Zathu. He’ll guide and protect you as you enter the conflict zone to look for Léonard.”

                  #6472
                  EricEric
                  Keymaster

                    Salomé: Using the new trans-dimensional array, Jorid, plot course to a new other-dimensional exploration

                    Georges (comments): “New realms of consciousness, extravagant creatures expected, dragons least of them!” He winked “May that be a warning for whoever wants to follow in our steps”.

                    The Jorid:  Ready for departure.

                    Salomé: Plot coordinates quadrant AVB 34-7•8 – Cosmic time triangulation congruent to 2023 AD Earth era. Quantum drive engaged.

                    Jorid: Departure initiated. Entering interdimensional space. Standby for quantum leap.

                    Salomé (sighing): Please analyse subspace signatures, evidences of life forms in the quadrant.

                    Jorid: Scanning subspace signatures. Detecting multiple life forms in the AVB 34-7•8 quadrant. Further analysis required to determine intelligence and potential danger.

                    Salomé: Jorid, engage human interaction mode, with conversational capabilities and extrapolate please!

                    Jorid: Engaging human interaction mode. Ready for conversation. What would you like to know or discuss?

                    Georges: We currently have amassed quite a number of tiles. How many Salomé?

                    Salomé: Let me check. I think about 47 of them last I count. I didn’t insert the auto-generated ones, they were of lesser quality and seemed to interfere with the navigational array landing us always in expected places already travelled.

                    Georges: Léonard has been missing for 4 months.

                    Salomé: you mean by our count, right?

                    Georges: Right. We need to find him to readjust or correct the navigational array. Jorid, give us statistical probabilities that we can use as clues to his current potential locations.

                    Jorid: Calculating statistical probabilities for Léonard’s location. It would be helpful to have more information, such as known destinations or areas of interest, to increase accuracy of probabilities.

                    Salomé: Jorid is in a lazy mood it seems. I preferred her more chatty.

                    Georges: You mean “him”, surely dear?

                    Salomé: (rolls eyes)

                    Georges: Anyway, Léonard seemed interested in archaeological finds in recent excavated tombs near the sand deserts of Bluhm’Oxl in the Zathu sector.

                    Jorid: Analyzing data on archaeological finds near the sand deserts of Bluhm’Oxl in the Zathu sector. Probability of Léonard being in the area is calculated at 43%. Shall I plot a course to Bluhm’Oxl for further investigation?

                    Salomé (loosing patience): Please engage your quantum capacities to access more data. We built you to be a bit more helpful than a bloody computer.

                    Georges laughed: I remembered you had more patience, dear!

                    Salomé: She’s in a mood today, isn’t she. What did you do to her?

                    Georges (cunningly): Jorid, sweet thing, please provide more details about the area, the populations, the customs the whole gamut dammit, and potential territorial conflicts in the vicinity. And be more chatty to please Salomé.

                    Jorid: Of course, I apologize for my previous responses. Analyzing data on the sand deserts of Bluhm’Oxl in the Zathu sector, including information on populations, customs, territorial conflicts and other relevant details. The area is known for its rich history and cultural heritage, with several ancient tombs and ruins attracting archaeological interest. The main population is composed of the Zathu nomads, known for their hospitality and trading skills. There are no known territorial conflicts in the area, but it is advised to exercise caution while traveling as the deserts can be treacherous.

                    Georges (laughs): You can’t stop her know!

                    Salomé (smiles noticing the “her”): Well, that doesn’t tell too much, does it. How shall we proceed? Need to synthetise some local clothes, or are you back to your thieving habits (pun intended)?

                    Georges: Haha, always ready for a good adventure. It seems we’ll have to do some research on the ground. As for the clothes, I’ll leave that to you my dear. Your sense of style never fails to impress. Let’s make sure to blend in with the locals and avoid drawing any unnecessary attention. The goal is to find Léonard, not get into trouble.

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