~~~~
Yole was an artificer, a master of
magic and machines. He was known as one of the greatest to ever live, but that
was all in the past. The old master had perished alone in his workshop in the
mountains. He was to be buried alongside his wife Hilda at the academy they had
graduated from decades prior. The gathering for his funeral was vast but
tightly knit.
“Yole was a great man,” one of his friends
spoke at the funeral. “He may have secluded himself after his wife’s sudden
passing those many decades ago, but he never let the tragedy halt his work.
Even to the end, he continued to work tirelessly to perfect his creations. Any
among you today who possess a prosthetic limb or have a close friend or family
member who does have Yole to thank for that miracle.”
Every speaker at the funeral honored
Yole’s accomplishments, no one could speak ill of him, only praise his work.
Yet, no one could talk of his latest creation, no one had the heart to reveal
Yole’s last gift to the world. Among his final notes, he spoke of activities no
sane man should ever consider.
“I hope Yole and his wife find peace
in the next life,” Yole’s friend stated. ‘I hope the last of research never
came to fruition,’ he thought, ‘it was unnatural.’ Yole’s friend stared out at
the rows of mourners before him and put on a forced smile. ‘Why Helin crystal?
Hasn’t it caused him enough pain?’
Yole had an exceptional connection
to Helin crystal. Without it, his greatest creations would never have existed.
Without it, he would not have lost his wife so early in life. An unstable
magical reagent, Helin crystal is infamous for its volatile nature, but also its
phantom limb effect. Once attached, a prosthetic limb created with Helin
crystal would trick the mind and body into thinking they had the original limb
back. Touch, feeling, and a full range of motion would be restored perfectly a
real miracle.
Sadly, even a single error when handling
Helin crystal may cost you life and limb, which is exactly what happened to
Yole and his wife. Of course, this never stopped Yole, he believed in the power
of the crystals, his notes are proof of that.
Only a few had the privilege to pour over his
final notes and the few who did all agreed to store them away along with his
last creation. Within the notes, Yole theorized that if Helin crystal could
trick the body into thinking it had its limb back then, what if you took the
next step beyond? Could you trick more of the body? Could you just place only
the essential organs into a machine powered by Helin crystal? Beyond even that,
could you trick a dead body into thinking it was alive?
Yole would never see if the fruit of
his research would come to pass, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. His
friends and former peers were horrified to see what he attempted, but it was
likely he didn’t care. Sealed deep within the academy’s storage rooms, alongside
Yole’s notes, was something akin to a machine-made human. Found alongside the
dead Yole, the academy knew not what to make of the artificial human-made in
his late wife’s image. Thus the academy hid it away, hoping no one would ever
repeat such a crime against nature. They were relieved that, by all accounts,
it seemed Yole had failed.
~--~
Hilda opened her eyes to be greeted
only with darkness, she quickly realized she was sealed inside a wooden crate.
In a panic, she pounded on her prison, which broke open like plywood. The
confused woman jolted up, but only found herself in an equally dark room. Her
body felt strange, she felt no sweat on her brow nor shortness of breath
despite her panic. Everything felt right; this was her body; she was sure of
it. Then why did it look so wrong? Where was she? Where was Yole?
Hilda looked down at her hands,
uninjured even after breaking through wood; they also seemed to glint from the
little bit of light in the room. Upon closer observation, she realized
something was off about her hands. A distinct memory of her husband’s work bubbled
to the surface.
‘Since when did I have prosthetic
limbs?’ She thought.
~~~~
Some things are better left forgotten, but that doesn't mean they'll go away forever. Be sure to read the previous stories in this loose series, Loved, Yearning and Recalled.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
~~~~
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