Future City: Heading Out

Dr. Helm

<Video Recording> My team and I have been studying the Nightmare subject [B1N] for 38 weeks, our goal has been to find new ways to control these creatures. We have spent months testing different methods to no avail, leaving us with limited options. I am starting to feel that there is no way to truly control these creatures, leaving us with only one option...to utilize the Knights of Light... like we always have. It frustrates me, knowing that we must rely on a singular entity to extinguish the Nightmares. The issue we are presented with now, is how to dispose of the subjects [B1N], we have kept it contained, but I believe it has grown smarter and there is always a growing chance that it will escape....<Video Recording Stops>

It was morning and Cipher was ready to head out. Cipher had put on the armor given by Axel and the Jacket given by Toli and the townspeople, Cipher liked all the gifts given to him and had been planning on wearing them out of town. Before leaving, Cipher said his goodbyes to Axel, Toli, and the townspeople before finally walking out the front entrance. Cipher gave one more wave before he starting walking off in the direction of Future City.

It was odd, previously his life revolved around the whims of other people, but in the last years with Axel, it was completely different. Axel had taught Cipher while their relationship wasn't necessarily a family bond, Cipher did treat Axel like a father figure and knew he would miss him. Thinking about Axel reminded him of all the training he did and brought to mind a particular beautiful yet devious Elven woman. Cipher shuddered when he thought about Yuri, the training she had put him through was brutal. Cipher was so self-conscious of the blindfold and forgetting it that he still wore it around his neck, It felt like a part of him at this point. Up until about a week ago actually seeing anything but black felt odd to Cipher.

Cipher recalled when he had first started the training, he had shown up the second day late because he couldn't find his way to the courtyard blindfolded. Yuri wasn't exactly pissed about it, she had expected that much. Yuri did however put Cipher through the wringer making him pull hundred and fifty-pound weights up and down the courtyard for two hours. This wouldn't have been too bad if not for the fact that she had him run laps around the courtyard for an hour afterward. To make matters even worse she had him practice swinging a hundred-pound club until noon. Cipher could barely move his arms let alone pick up chopsticks, which Yuri insisted on him using at all times by the time lunch rolled around.

Come back from his sense Cipher realized he was about to enter the laughing forest. Cipher hadn't looked up why it was called the laughing forest, but he did have DEM look into it for him when they were in the library a while back. Cipher wanted to make sure he was prepared for different areas, so knowing DEM should have the information Cipher asked, "DEM before we go into the laughing forest anything I should know? There was a slight pause before DEM provided an answer, {DEM ~ Yes, first the laughing forest is named such because of the gases produced by the flora, fauna, and the biota found in the area. This can become a major issue as the gases act much like nitrous oxide found on Earth, so all jokes aside prolonged exposure isn't a laughing matter. One of the nice things about this area is that Nightmares rarely frequent here so other than the Mushmush tribe you shouldn't much issue, especially since the townspeople gave you this jacket with the built-in mask that should resist most of the toxins if not all of them.}

Giving a shrug Cipher zipped up his jacket, lifted his hood, and placed his mask over his face, preparing himself for the possibility of anything and everything happening. Walking into the Laughing Forest everything seemed normal until Cipher started to see small mushrooms, each mushroom progressively big than the last until the canopy of trees was now a canopy of glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms were so mesmeric that if it wasn't for DEM calling out to Cipher he would have stood in place staring for Goddess knows how long. The other extremely interesting and yet equally odd thing about the forest was the ground, which Cipher could see fumes raising out of. Cipher kept walking following the path that DEM had laid out, knowing each moment that he stayed in the forest put him in more danger.

After walking for about two miles Cipher was starting to get hungry, luckily he had packed food just as Axel had taught him. {DEM ~ Cipher you can't eat in here the moment you take off the mask the fumes will affect you. While you may not die there is no guarantee you won't become comatose in this forest, so it would be better to wait till you stop and eat.} Cipher knew DEM was right but that didn't make him any less hungry or stop the hunger pain he was starting to experience. Giving a sigh Cipher placed the food back into storage and continued walking. Everything was going smoothly till he was walking and got distracted by the canopy ceiling causing him to trip over a semi-small object landing facefirst into the group. {DEM ~ How many times do I need to repeat myself. STOP STARING AT THE CEILING} Hearing DEM's voice echo in his head wasn't a pleasant feeling, [Cipher- I understand I will be more careful, can you please lower your voice.] Cipher after getting briefly chastised by DEM looked to see what he had tripped over. There on the ground Cipher saw what looked like to be a three-foot-tall mushroom that had grown arms and legs.