«Your Dectorade’s name is Cogito. He will get you out of troubles as well as he’ll get all the skills you don’t know yet out of you…» the interferences grew stronger and frequent, so much that her face turned into a sort of distorted line, whereas her voice came to be an irregular hoard of rambling sounds: «ACTIVATE COGITO GUIDE», I only heard before the screen went off and the darkness fell back into the room.
I stood steady and looked around bewildered. With my eyes I followed each silhouette of every machinery, whilst listening to that hypnotic and repetitive squeaking that came from the gears. Then, right at my back, I heard a long screeching which brought with it the reflection of a light; this latter began to slowly rise onto the wall in front of me. As I turned around, I saw a shutter gradually lifting up and jamming, from time to time, between the sizzling of the iron scaffolding. At that very moment, my mind grew foggy, once again, and my body moved by itself, rushing outside that strange place where I had awoken. Thus, I found myself in a knot of crumbling and wasted corridors. I stumbled and then I hardly picked me up just using the strength of my knees, raving, and mumbling meaningless words. I crumpled upon a door.
I fell on my back hitting the floor, breathing frantically. I was so confused that I couldn’t even cry, nor feel the fear, I couldn’t feel but those rough shudders that made me writhe. A breath. A deep breath alone, enough for I smelled that stench which filled the mask; which made it stink of rotten and stale. When I came to see again, amidst the tears and the burning that clouded my eyes, I realized to be in a house: a house made of rotten wood. It looked like one of those dwellings of the countryside and the door, which was wide open in front of me, proved me right: outside, a dark forest showed.
Whilst my limbs restored the charge I needed to run out of that place, my eyes were darting all around in my orbits. I took a rapid look at a dusty table encircled by some chairs knocked over the floor, where the mould had grown among the cracks. Shattered glasses threw their glare against some yellowed sheets, scattered along the floor as well as the pieces of torn-up tapestry. Old shelves squeaked, budged by who-knows what kind of wind, echoing among the shattered crockery of that kitchen.
The ticking of a cuckoo clock, along with the vibration of other mechanisms fitted among the crevices of wooden beams, were hammering my brain. I only seemed to catch a glimpse of certain shadows that would live that place in a joyful past. I tried to rebuild it as an old memory. I shouted loud, so loud that the scream rang in my head ripping it apart.
I fled away bumping into the objects on my path, falling without feeling any pain, since stronger was the one that drilled my skull. And then, there was the smell of leaves. Dead leaves, spoiled leaves, which rustled in a cry. And then again, there were the trees, high trees, sad, gnarled, dark … Dead trees. Leaves were falling, lost in the dark and gloomy background of a cloudless sky. They were falling in a feathery rustle that did not give any relief but made my eardrums writhe. Everything in that place seemed to be forlorn. I opened my eyes wide, inspecting the dark forest around, listening to its creepy sounds.
I fell on the barren grass, a pin-like rug which pierced my body. I looked at the sky coated with lead grey clouds and, all of a sudden, I saw some golden threads shining up there, making it look like a livid skin of gilded veins. Trees had something artificial ―I noticed. Their logs almost appeared like twisted cables as their roots drove into the earth like sockets. I turned again to stare at the house and I got surprised by its crooked framework. Every wall differed in both length and width; the roof threatened to fall down at any moment, along with the huge gear that seemed to sink its teeth in the house turning mechanically to the sound of weakly creaks.
I turned my look away and then I kept still. The icon of that gas mask flashed on the map, at my sight. I brought a hand onto my chest and felt my heart pounding like mad. Thus, I closed my eyes and followed that beat like the rhythm of a song until it deadened growing quieter.
I stood up arduously; my balance was precarious, my body one big thrill. I remembered what Snow White had told me before the connection suspended, so I uttered those words: «ACTIVATE COGITO GUIDE». A crescendo of whistles upset my ears and then suddenly decreased into the sound of a yawn.
«Cogito Guide: activated», said a terse, drowsy, voice, «Restore identity data».
«... Data for what?! », I exclaimed muddled.
«Scan: started.», he barged in unconcerned, then a laser light walked down my body, in a flash. «Data acquisition: completed. Nice to meet you, Bianca!», he introduced himself, his voice became shriller and warmer.
«Yeh… Are you the Dectorade?».
«I'm just another Dectorade. Miss Snow White called me Cogito, but You can change my name if you wish».
«No, that's fine. I’d call Cogito the master of my thoughts, so, I guess it’s okay…», I observed.
«Glad to hear that. I had grown fond of it! Snow White and I have been together for a very long time!», he told me.
«So you can make things clear, huh? », I asked.
«Of course, I can. But there’s no time, now. She’ll have already learnt your awakening, she may attack at any moment!», he cautioned me. I couldn’t ask him whom he was referring that Cogito broke me off quickly, «first, I’ll set you free!», he uttered hastily and straight away I felt the grip, which kept my arms steady, to come untied.
«I can’t move them, anyway! What’s goin’ on?», I questioned troubled, feeling my arms collapsing, paralyzed, alongside my hips.
« You have to leave the blood flowing free again».
«What do we do now? Snow White told me to go an’ look for Darknight, but I just can’t see my location on this map», said I, «also, how do I get rid of dis picture before my eyes!? It’s so annoyin’! », I complained.
«You just need to say: GMW OFF!», said he and I did that.
Once I had pronounced the words, the image disappeared, and I felt relieved for I could clearly see, in the end, what I had around.
«Darknight’s location is: City of Mercenaries, he will surely have been imprisoned», Cogito grumbled.
«Imprisoned? Who’s that guy? Hey! You gotta gimme some explanation!», I said angrily, trying to tear off the mask from my face but a stabbing pain hit my temples.
«Are you off your chump? You almost damaged your brain functions!», asserted he overwrought.
«Fuck da brain functions, then!», I growled, «Give me an explanation, you goddam robot! Otherwise, I swear I’ll pull ya away from me face, by force, an’ then I’ll crush ya to the ground until I won’t have you reduced to dust!», I threatened him.
«We don’t know how contaminated the air of this zone might be, hence, I strongly advise you against trying!», he replied sarcastically.
«Lemme guess! Dectorades can also estimate the number of toxins that pollute the air, am I right!?» I said sceptically, but Cogito verified it and, shortly after, he asked me if I wanted to know how much infected the surrounding area was.
«Of course, I want! Com’on! What the hell you’re waitin’ for?»
«Of course, you’re different from Snow White!», said he angrily, «Calculating air contamination: liveable area. Risk of contamination: low. You’re suggested to remove the Dectorade in order to take fuel on oxygen», Cogito affirmed, laconically, with an artificial voice.
«Take fuel on Oxygen!? What does this mean now?», I asked upset, «would you explain this?»
Suddenly, a sharp pain. I brought my hand to my temples.
«My head!»
«That’s because you need to calm down! The Dectorade is linked to your brain! Any cognitive effort, as well as anxious emotional states, can cause you painful migraines!», he taught me conceitedly.
«Now you tell me!? You, Junker!»
«Do you want me to activate the Relax mode?»
«What are you talkin’ about, now?»
«Presently, your stress level has exceeded the limit, it is more than 45%. Therefore, I am allowed
to launch the procedure: Wellness of the Mind», he conveyed, and his voice became telegraphic.
« What da hell! Wellness of the Mind! The only thin’ that could calm my nerves, now, is to know…», I did not end the sentence, that I found myself doing some yoga and meditation against my own free will.
«Are you stress-free now?», asked Cogito.
«Yes...», I replied, «still, I'm so pissed as hell!», I growled.
«Your stress values are increasing, again. Come on! Miss Bianca!», he spoke sternly.
«Come on, what exactly? We were talkin’ about gaoled, parallel dimensions, twins, intoxications, ultramodern masks, refuellin’ the oxygen … And no one here takes the trouble to explain anythin’ to me? ».
«Miss Bianca, I understand the way you feel! But now you have to trust me, you’ve nothing to lose, after all! I can’t tell you everything right now, nor I can do this right here, also I cannot do this by myself!», he lighted.
«Tsk!», I muttered accommodatingly, «How do I take you off? »
«Promise me you won’t crush me?»
«I swear», I shouted bothered.
«Your stress values are...»
«I get it! Don’t mind that!», I interjected almost howling.
«DECTORADE FACE OFF», he revealed after a fleeting silence.
I repeated those words and, finally, I felt that slight grip releasing my temples. I filled my lungs with that air by taking a deep breath and looked at the mask in my hands.
«Cogito?», I called him.
«What?».
«So, you work even when you’re not stuck to my face».
«Why does that “stuck to” sound so offensive? Anyways, of course. Unless you deactivate me. Now, you should fill me with oxygen. This might help if you’re somewhere with a high rate of contamination, where the air cannot be purified by the filters of your Dectorade».
«Are there such places?»
«Sorry to say yes».
«How can I do to recharge it?», asked I.
«Do you see that bar inside the mask?», said he, and by following his instructions I found the bar: it flashed, filling and then emptying itself alternatingly with a cobalt blue colour.
«Is it chargin’ by itself?», asked I, «that’s amazin’! It looks like the battery of a mobile!», I uttered keenly.
«What is a mobile?», inquired he.
At first, his question left me speechless, «aren’t her any mobile phones? I mean, like … like… Forget about it! It’s a device from my world.», I replied tersely, «where do we go now?».
«Behold»
Out of the blue, a sweet song caught my attention, touching on my ears, passing through them with a light swing. An ethereal song that crept into my head like it was real, calmly replacing the migraine – which had tortured me mercilessly, up to a few seconds before. I got to my feet and soon I found myself following that song; I could hear nothing except that song. I had to reach for the source of that pleasing melody which made that strange and cold forest a pleasant and relaxing journey.
The high trees seemed to swallow me down with their gnarled and skeletal branches, mummified by cables and wires of iron, while my eyes turned their gaze toward the sky juddered by aureated doodles, which smothered me in that air plague-stricken by the smell of burning and rotten soil.
Despite the fact I had my body numbed and felt my knees about to crumple, I followed the song as a shadow that moves amidst the trees. Each breath that I took turned into a steam cloud, which almost seemed to crystallize becoming an ice sculpture.
As the voice grew closer, amidst those trees’ clefts, I glimpsed a fading light blending slightly among the waterless trunks. Following that light, I found myself before a spring that glinted like a nebula lost in space, like a crystal made of interstellar light.
CHAPTER 3
THE MERMAID AND THE DEER
The gold-streaked sky was reflected upon the gleaming mirror of water and I stood there gazing at those shades, which looked like floating on the surface as the veils of a petticoat. Suddenly, the water rippled and a figure came afloat: a fair-skinned and scaly woman. She looked at me with her blue eyes, whilst her graceful arms bowed beyond her head and her tapered fingers gathered her silvery mane on her nape. The woman was singing sweetly; she stretched her sinuous arms out to me as her hair slid fast down her body.
I felt so relaxed that I no longer perceived any weight nor concern; I felt slight, enchanted by the melody of that pleasant voice.
I dipped a leg into the water and felt no cold at all, it seemed as if the cold did not exist: for it was neither cold nor hot, actually it was nothing. I went ahead; that strange clothing I had on weighed me down. Despite that, I wanted to reach for the mermaid, whose singing did not make me think to anything: neither to my past, nor to my future, nor to drugs, nor to my pain. My hand, however, tightly held the mask, almost as if there were a small hint of both rationality and consciousness still wavering within me.
It took less than second: I heard Cogito’s voice calling me back, then I felt my heart in utter confusion and, then again, the mermaid’s hands violently caught me for my throat. The blue painted every single thing around and, holding my breath, I felt her fingernails harpooning my neck. Her eyes turned into black.
« It was too good to be true. » I thought with a pinch of bitterness, almost resigned. You can’t expect to get as far as to Heaven without going through Hell, first. So, I wondered where my own Virgil was. I still held Cogito tightly; I could see him through the foam and the waves. I was drowning, my lungs were about to blow up craving for oxygen. I had to manage to put Cogito upon my face, if I didn’t want to die. With a darting I dodged the Mermaid and kicked her way, then, put on the mask.
«Cogito, what’s the plan!?», I asked panicking, «What the fuck am I gonna do, now?», I screamed, trying to keep the Mermaid and her fangs away from me.
«Your battle skills have been erased following the hibernation. You’ll have to recover them a little at a time!».
«I can do nothin’!?»
«The one skill available is the so-called Transformer. This will allow you to turn any object into a weapon!»
«Neat-o!», I exclaimed enthusiastic. «But I guess it’s bloody useless, right no! Since there’s nothin’ I could…», but it was then that I noticed a golden comb through the Mermaid’s hair. I set my teeth and, got a shot off, I grabbed her by her back trying to choke her with my forearm.
The creature began to wriggle going nuts; its sharp claws moved trying to whack me. Quickly, I slipped off her comb as Cogito came to rescue me.
«To turn it into a weapon, you need…», he tried to explain, but the mermaid managed to pull me away. She stood in front of me, threatening, ready to hit. Everything was crazy. The pitched eyes of the Mermaid, the underwater fight, her rapacious gaze. «…You just need to think about it! Just think about that!», cried Cogito that was beside himself with chaos.
And then I thought. I thought about a keen, long, weapon. I displayed it in my mind and then imagined the Mermaid body being skewed.
The water turned red. The comb’s teeth had changed into fearsome and long harpoons which pierced that mermaid like a skewer of squid. I moved her over with a blow and quickly swam towards the surface. As I came out the water, I felt a slight cold sharpening upon my skin, making me shudder. Yet, I already was out of the water. Shook, unconvinced. I dragged myself along the blazed ground, meanwhile, Cogito began to speak again suggesting me.
«That was Nix, a demon living in waters. He hunts in the North, usually, so I wonder what was he doing here...»
«HE? That thing was a HE? », I questioned shocked.
«If that’s your concern», he sighed patiently.
I lifted my face up to the sky; it was colourless as well as the desolation that filled that forest. That landscape sewed my heart to a hopeless and strange sorrow. I took a look at the crimson comb-harpoon.
«It's sheer madness! », stated I.
<
br /> «You’d better keep that. It might come in handy in case other monsters come looking for you! », suggested Cogito.
«What, are you crazy? It's golden, I could resell it! I’m gonna turn it back into a comb!»
«You goober! You need a weapon!», he hauled me over the coal.
«Uhmm … », muttered I thoughtfully.
I snapped my fingers, then I dived again into the water. I swam to get close Nix's remains and, as I grabbed it, I sawed both his wrists with the comb-harpoon.
Once I swam out of there, I turned the two hands into a pair of gloves, made of iron and leather, whose spring-loaded mechanism made the baleful claws going in and out.
«See? It’s so much easier now! I feel like… Wolverine! », said I excited.
«Who’s that?»
To tell him about my world would taken too much, so I chose to evade his question.
«So, what’s next?», I asked wearing the gloves.
«The place we’re in, at the moment, is a well-fenced area that Snow White built with a skill of hers called: Date Dream. This one allowed her to generate parallel dimensions. The fact that Nix has managed to get here means that someone opened a gap between real and unreal dimension… »
«I bet my ass! Otherwise, I wouldn’t get into this trouble!», I grumbled.
Cogito ignored me and kept on with his speech: «We have to find the teleport room… »
«Find? Don't you know where is it?», I questioned incredulously.
«This forest’s huge! Even Snow White wouldn’t have known how to get her bearings, that’s why the guide exists!»
« Shouldn’t be you that guide!? »
«The map of this place is not uploaded to my database», he said with a grain of disappointment.
«Well, we have to find this mysterious guide, what does it look like?»
«It’s a deer».
«A deer!?»
«Yes, a deer ».
The Dreadful Nightmare of Snow White Page 3