Realms: Abandoned
This log is being written by me now, so that you may remember the important events leading up to this point, and to give you direction moving forward. I will paraphrase some things and skip what isn't important.
You were chosen. Chosen as one of 7 drivers by the Accelerons to compete. You claimed the Wheel of Power and won the Storm realm and Metro realm, and your Accelechargers are in the hands of your loyal companions. The other chosen drivers are brutal, and would do anything to win. You must do the same. The more realms you and your own win, the easier it will be to win more. Written below is the series of events that lead to who you are now.
–
I must have passed out while in that wormhole. Upon waking up, I found myself amongst my car absolutely wrecked. My right eye was gone, my hoodie was in tatters, and my left arm was gone. I panicked for a while, mostly from the pain. Freaking out over my arm, I remembered that I brought the robotic one with Mr. Using my good arm I scoured the wreckage, quickly swiping my Accelechargers when I found them. Eventually I spotted it, it's black glossy metal standing out slightly. I grabbed it by the shoulder, oriented it as if it was my own arm, and pressed it on my own shoulder. The arm reacted. It tightened around the wound. I continued to press it into place. Then I felt something move, like needles piercing my flesh, wriggling their way deeper like worms. I hated the sensation, but I grit my teeth and took it. Then, it stopped, and the pain was gone. I felt something new. I looked down at the arm and tried to move my finger. It responded. I slowly tested its movements, ensuring they worked. It was bigger than my old arm, my body's balance would have to adjust, but it was much better than having no arm. Calming down, I took off my broken helmet and observed my surroundings.
I was in a large gray room, pillars stood in a three two three pattern and a large orb was on the ceiling in between the set of two pillars. It shone pink light out of its cracks, slightly tinting the room pink. Behind me was a corridor filled with my wrecked car. Beyond it a track extended out, turning up and around a large pink and black ball to the left. The road looked like gray bricks and looked like it was supported by dark gray girders. As I approached the ball, I could feel it begin to pull me toward it. Combined with the track being vertical for a portion of its ascent, I couldn't go this way. Not without a car at least.
Turning the other direction and walking to the other side of the room I noticed something. The room was entirely a bland gray, and unlike the toad, it wasn't brick. It was just solid gray, aside from the orb of pink light. Reaching the other side of the room was an opening with more track. Stepping outside, the entire sky was gray, sparse white clouds breaking up the color slightly. Looking to my right was a sun, providing light. To my left, the track moved up and over some floating islands. I could see where it ended. No portal, probably the start of the track then. The room I was in was encased in a mountain of plain gray blocks. There were even more gray blocks just floating nearby of various sizes. Just to the left of the opening was a huge tombstone, easily over twice my height.
I made my way back inside and continued moving my new arm, adjusting to its feel. I ran it along the blank walls. I could feel with the new arm, but it was slightly muted compared to my real arm. As I ran my arms along the completely smooth walls, I felt a crack. A perfectly straight crack, unnatural. I pressed slightly with my mechanical arm and it instantly broke open, revealing a square room. The arm is stronger that I'm used to. Peering into the room, I saw robots. Sleek black robots, taller than I was. Most of them had green accents, their eyes, lines across them, and joints, but the two largest bots, equal in size, were orange and cyan. As I approached the dormant robots my Accelechargers began to glow brighter. The bots lit up, turning to the source of the power. Their activation startled me.
"You, both human and Drone. You have won?" The orange one spoke.
"I have. I have won several times now. And Drone?" I replied, displaying my Accelechargers. The bots looked at my robotic arm.
"Your arm. You are part Drone." The cyan one observed.
"It's a new development. Do you know where we are?" I ask.
"A realm, abandoned by its creators." The orange one explained.
"I see…" I think to myself for a moment. "Do you know if it is possible to escape this realm? A portal out?"
"There is a portal. But can you reach it?" The Cyan one says.
"I'm an amazing driver, but my car was destroyed." I lament. It was possible to get out, but without a car it wouldn't happen.
"That will not be an issue." The orange one said. The orange and cyan bots walk across the room, their heavy metal feet slamming against the ground. I follow close behind, and the smaller bots surround and follow me, like a security detail. As they reach the other wall, the duo punch it down in unison, revealing a set of cars. Two of them are nearly identical, save for orange and cyan coloring. A sleek black design sat atop a set of wheels that seemed a bit too big for the frame. It looked like a sports car modified to have much better suspension and off road capabilities (Google Italdesign Exeneo Vision GT concept car.) On the outer edges was a low to the ground black and green design with two wings off the back. Their rear wheels looked to be the height of my chest (Rd-06). Finally in the middle was a black and gold sports car, similar to the duo, but without the huge wheels. It looks like I was built for maximum performance. Speed, acceleration, maneuverability, and the texture of the tires looked like it could handle anything (Google DeLorian Alpha 2 Concept Car).
While the Drones moved to their colored vehicles I approached my new car. I loved my old car, but this new one had everything I could ever have wanted. Opening the vertical door and sitting down I started the car as the other Drones fired up their vehicles. They were quiet, like an electric car, but I could tell they packed much more power.
"Lead us to victory." The orange one said
"Lead us to glory." The cyan one said.
"Assist me and I will." I promised.
"Understood." They replied in unison.
We drove out of the corridor and around the pink and black ball, our speed keeping us on the track. I drove just ahead, the duo flanking me while the other Drones followed close behind us. Escaping the ball's pull, the track evened. Where the track should have been was just a framework, light indicating where the track may have been. Instead, the track turned into a square right turn. Ahead of us, there was a panel on the ground and no track. I drove up to the panel and stopped on it. I got a splitting migraine as time seemed to slow. I was no longer looking through my own eyes. I could see things. I could see a destination and where we were. I could see there was no track. So, I thought about changing that. A segment of track appeared. It was disconnected from our current track, but close enough that we would be able to jump to it. I saw solid ground ahead with another panel on it. I placed in more segments of track, my mind beginning to hurt less from the overload of information. When I decided I had placed enough track to reach the next spot, I became myself again. Time resumed. The Drones didn't question what had happened. I think they could already tell. We drove across my precariously placed platforms to the next panel.
Stopping on the next panel I could once again see where we were intended to go. A pink and white vortex sat above the void below. I decided I would try to make an actual track this time instead of platforms. I thought about connecting the track in front of us, then dragging it out and around the floating cubes the reach our destination. A track appeared where I wanted it. It didn't look like the usual track. It was comprised of solid white lines, but my mind told me it was solid. As I dragged out the track I turned and banked it. I even added a loop, testing my newfound ability. It worked the way I wanted it to. I locked in the track, returning to my usual point of view, and drove across the newly placed track with my company in tow. As we hit the vortex, we vanished. I could feel myself being pulled. Similarly to the wormhole but much less intense. Then my surroundings melted away, and was replaced. The void was no more, and we were once again on a gray brick track. Gray cubes formed a mountain to our right while the track dipped down to the left.
Tombstones lined the track, massive and flat, with nothing inscribed on them. Rocks surrounded the area, but I could tell that the void lay just beyond them. The track split ahead. In between the tracks, a pink and black ball. The cyan Drone, myself, and two basic Drones took the right track, while the orange Drone led the other two basic Drones down the left path. Huge skeletal ribs lined the left track, their ends sharp like claws. The left path moved under the right path intersecting with the girders beneath. The Drones swiftly avoided them, and passed under another pink and black ball. Sharp ribs continued to line the track as they escaped it's pull. The drones following me shifted to my left to allow the other Drones, now on our right, to join our formation.
Another pink and black ball was over us as we drove into a large space formed of cubes. The track turned over to the right, corkscrewing us down into an area illuminated by small floating white spheres. Under the track looked to be something brown or red. I couldn't tell, but it was clear that this realm was either unfinished or forgotten. Even the Swamp realm, disgusting as it may have been, was clearly crafted with care. This place had some semblance of a theme or idea but it was probably forgotten about, abandoned by its creators, just like the Drones had told me.
The track made a small jump over the material below before landing and turning our convoy to the right. Then, twisting back to the left, it straightened out into a tight tunnel. The drones lined up behind me. We twisted around the tight space, narrowly avoiding what appeared to be tree roots. I heard an explosion behind me but ignored it. Not crashing myself and escaping was more important. We emerged from the tunnel into a ravine of dirt, gray girders twisted unnaturally above and around the track. One of the basic Drones was gone. I could guess where he went.
"I sense a portal ahead, but the energy is weak." The cyan one informed me over the radio.
"Good. Stay in formation. Let's escape." I commanded."
The track snaked along the ravine, twisting into a corkscrew and banking side to side as the terrain arched over the track like tendrils. As the track crested a hill, a giant cube could be seen in the distance. It was standing on one of its corners and would look like a diamond shape from the front. The track split into a circle around a pink and black ball. On both paths was a panel. I took the left path, stopping on the panel. I would have to be quick to move again, or the ball would pull me off the track. I could feel it. See it. There should be a portal the the end of the ramp. I mentally survey the spot, finding two broken half circles on the ground. I pick up the left half, placing it where it should be before quickly returning to myself. Turning around, the panel under me disappeared. I circle around to the other one, stopping as far as I can from the ball. I reach out, willing the other half of the portal to move into place. When both circles unite, I will ignite them. They do, and the portal glows its usual light blue. On it, a symbol similar in shape to a 7 with curvy lines appears in blood red. We drove through the portal in formation, and the symbol vanished.
–
Upon leaving the realm, we landed not in my usual bay, but in a black and lime city. A hologram of the Wheel of Power sits at the end of a giant ramp. We come come a stop at the bottom of the ramp, and I can now see. Dormant Drones, droves of them, all lines up like soldiers. The Accelecharger for the realm appears in my car. It is different from the others. Instead of the usual background of lines and circles, it looks like the symbol was smashed into stone, cracked lines spreading out from it. It glows blood red. There is no inscription on the bottom, but I mentally name it 'Abandoned'. It begins to glow immensely, and I get out of my car to look around. The inactive Drones begin to glow, waking up. They look at me as I hold my new Accelecharger in my robotic hand. I raise it in the air, showing it off for all to see. The drones raise their arms in salute, all cheering the same laudatory noise. The Drones who I escorted out of the realm lift me to their shoulders, carrying me through the crowd. At that moment I decided that I would lead these Drones to victory. That under my command we will win, instead of those dangerous lunatics.
When you are reading this, you won't remember, but I write this so that you will remember something, to give you guidance. You are the King, and you will be victorious.
–
"I'm finished. Hand this to me when it's over." I say, handing my finished writing to a basic Drone. "And Alpha, Beta, you two know the deal. If a realm opens while I'm still under, you're allowed to go in and try to win. You have my Accelechargers with you, just don't lose them." I state, looking at them with my one good eye.
"Understood." The orange, Alpha and cyan, Beta say. I nod at them and step into the machine. The front swings shut, as I begin my transformation. My old self will be gone, and King will be born.
–
"I got distracted and forgot to mention this but he and I had discussed implementing regulations for the realms. To avoid attacking each other. I believe we absolutely should. Those in agreement raise your hand." Will said to his fellow racers. All six hands raised. "Notion passed then. We will no longer try to attack each other in the realms. Also, while we don't have a body, I think a grave or memorial or sorts would be appropriate. Thoughts Marie?" Will suggested.
"Sure." She said. She was wearing a grey hoodie with a teal six on the back of it. Her eyes were slightly red. After their discovery that Aidan was gone she closed off, contemplating what had happened. 'It's my fault he's gone. I need to be better. Take his place.' She thought. She had taken to wearing his hoodies and was remaking her car. "If that's all, may I get back to work?"
"Yes, that's all. If there's anything anybody would like to add to the memorial feel free to suggest it." Will said. "Meeting adjourned."
–
Happy with how this turned out, especially because it lets me do what I wanted to do without restarting from scratch. See you next time.
Next Chapter: Realms: Monumental Understanding