METEM

BOOK ONE: THE BLIND CHEMIST

BY HANLONS AWKHAM

Prologue I

Kopius burst through the door, slammed it shut behind him and braced for impact. He dismissed the notification window that popped up–still blank like the rest–while trying to catch his breath.

He pushed against the flimsy excuse of a door knowing at any moment the beast that was chasing him would likely crash through it. His nerves tingled, his anxiety peaked; even a steel-walled vault would have done little to ease any part of his soul.

Seconds creeped by as Kopius wrestled with his imagination. His heart thumped in his throat as sweat slid down his face, off his chin and onto the floor below. His basic strap-on sandals failed to find leverage but he kept a heavy pressure against the door no matter how much his feet slipped.

After about a minute and with the impending doom still pending, Kopus found a small crack in the door and chanced a look outside. His eye darted back and forth in what little space he could see. When he looked past the densely packed trees, his pulse ran cold and he held a sharp breath.

There it was, pacing back and forth, looking around like a dog in search of game. The thing looked like an elongated bobcat with scales–like a lizard–instead of fur. It wore the fruit bush on its head as if it were an angler fish and packed a disorientating roar that sounded like a cat on helium.

The animal moved about with purpose, both on guard to attack and investigating to do the same. For the moment the thing seemed totally unaware that what it had been chasing was a mere twenty feet away, through a thick set of trees, hiding behind a piece of wood.

This went on for several moments; Kopius steadfast in his gaze and the beast investigating. Several ideas ran through his head as he stood there, but apparently none made more sense than opening the door and poking his head out.

Rhyme and reason were more guidelines anyways.

He quickly closed the door when the beast's head turned in his direction. Looking back through the crack, he could see that the beast moved with more caution, its movements more subdued, its head in a constant swivel.

Kopius repeated the head-poking a few times until the beast was no longer sniffing about, instead moving backwards in a semi-retreat. Its appeared no longer interested in locating its prey as the four-legged alligator-cat bush monster backed down the way it had come.

"Holy shit," Kopius exhaled, turning around and slumping to the ground, his back still bracing the door. He closed yet another blank notification window and wondered what information the game was trying to relay to him.

"I see you decided to leave the door shut," said a pleasant, high-pitched voice from inside the room, startling Kopius to jump back to his feet.

He had spent the whole time peering out the crack in the door or had had his eyes closed while praying to any and every god out there, that he hadn't bothered to check the space he had burst into. A rookie move by any standard.

The elementary-classroom-sized room had a scattering of fire light with a short ceiling. An intricate fireplace sat in the center, billows of smoke racing up a wooden range hood lined with metal. A large cauldron hung above the low flames, with various metal pipes snaking out to different sciencey-looking stations that lined the walls. Bookshelves were everywhere, stuffed into any and all free spaces; filled to the brim with liquids, artifacts, plants, and more.

"Wh-wha-what?'' stumbled out of Kopius's mouth, both as a question and a statement. His eyes darted from one lab table to the next.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, eat your heart out, Kopius thought to himself.

"The door," the voice peeped. "I find it best left shut, but you seemed less sure."

Due to the lack of overall illumination, Kopius couldn't see anyone in the dim space. The different small flames dancing throughout the room caused his pupils to dart from one moving shadow to the next.

As his vision began to adjust to the darkened state of the room, so did his nose. Several stenches assaulted Kopius's nasal passages. It was a mixture of earthy staleness, frothy moisture, rotten fruit; his stiff linen, potato sack shirt provided little in defense from any of it.

On further inspection, and to his surprise, part of the smell was coming from him. Not that body odor hadn't been simulated in games for years–it had–but it was his smell. More specifically, it was his stank. It was the same 'spicy Taco Bell hot sauce that had gone rotten' smell he had endured his whole sweaty life; potent and specific.

As he added his stink to the ever-growing list of things to figure out later, Kopius saw a figure emerge from the back of the room, so he cleared his throat and answered.

"I… I'm… I was running from…" Kopius paused to figure out what exactly he was running from. "Some… bush?"

Borderline stammering, he continued, "I'm sorry about breaking in here... I'm…I'm lost, and I–I don't know where I am."

Kopius had always tried to keep it together when things went bad, but he was having a rough go of it and started speaking faster.

"I woke up in a cave, but I can't log out, and then I was attacked by some hell spawned porcupine chihuahua! It hurt! The pain hurts! Then it healed–I mean–I healed, and then I got out of the cave and still can't log out."

His hands were moving now, chopping at the air, animating his plight.

"Then I was hungry, which was weird because you can't eat real food, so I went to pluck a berry but it wasn't a berry, it was an angry berry bush and that's what chased me through your door!"

Kopius ended by gesturing to the place he stood.

By the time he had finished his vigorous rendition of the past few hours the figure had come to sit in a chair next to the central cauldron.

"It is quite alright, quite alright," the figure said kindly. "I can assure you we are safe here." After a brief pause, he continued. "Can you understand my words?" the man asked.

"Uh–yes," Kopius replied, staring at the silhouetted man.

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"Excellent!" the shadowed figure exclaimed, jumping to his feet and clapping his hands together. "Common seems to be more universal than expected…" the man said quietly.

"Common... is what?" Kopius asked, confused.

The man's head jerked in Kopius's direction, as if he had just noticed him.

"What's that?" the curious man said. "Common? Oh, yes, but you are using it right now!" Kopius could hear the glee in the man's voice. "But that is not important, ah, it is important–more useful, very useful..." The man's words trailed off.

They both stood there for a few moments before Kopius moved to lean against a short wooden cabinet. It was one of many cabinets and bookshelves that made a maze of sorts, leading to various parts of the room. With most of the furniture only reaching up to Kopius's waist, he could make out the paths like an adult in a children's hedge maze.

Some cabinets had doors, others were just shelves; yet Kopius could not make out most of the contents. The large room, with the exception of the central cauldron and workstations against the walls, looked as though it had been thrown together. Before Kopius could continue to survey the room any further, the short man stepped forward and out of the shadows.

"Please excuse my mess. My name is Oh-jin. Oh-jin Ochos," he said, finishing with an arm gesture and slight bow.

The man looked as though one of Santa's elves had tried meth for a year and then decided to take up alchemy. The top of his head was shiny and smooth. Around the edges, white hair raced away as though he had recently been electrocuted. A long goatee hung from a face that had as many wrinkles as it did odd blemishes.

His eyes were hidden behind crudely made goggles that stretched tight over slightly pointed ears. A heavy apron looped about his neck, wrapping most of his slender torso. It had various straps and pouches, and it rested snuggly atop a plain, long-sleeve shirt folded to the elbows.Sturdy, well-worn boots, almost reaching his knees, were affixed to the man's feet.

"You must be famished," Oh-jin said matter-of-factly. "That sounded like quite the adventure!"

The audible grumbling that sprang from Kopius's stomach was all the confirmation Oh-jin needed. He spun on his heels and before he disappeared through a backdoor, he shouted over his shoulder, "I have just what you need, my boy!"

Kopius exhaled.

His heart rate had started returning to normal now that he felt a bit safer. As the adrenaline eased throughout his body, he stretched his neck and arms trying to relax further. Hunger continued to gurgle in his belly, and he was able to give the space a better look.

An array of pipes branched out of the large central pot, creating a vast system throughout the room. The patchwork pipes ran over and through shelves to the three stations situated along the three other walls. There were small leaks in some joints and steam coming from others. Crude knobs were in various places.

Maybe they're safety valves? Kopius guessed.

The three stations looked similar in their setup: various glass tubes, containers, and tools. Each area had four pipes to one side like air vacuum tubes in a mailroom with the only noticeable difference being that each had the slightest hint of a different color.

The station to his left had a red hue emanating from a medium-sized, nondescript metal pot hanging above a small pile of smoldering embers. Similarly, the back wall across from him had a yellow-hued metal pot, and the right wall was blue. The colorful pots, mixed in with firelight, accounted for all the light in the room.

Oh-jin emerged from the back carrying a small wooden platter that had a short knife and something that looked like a disfigured, elongated, burnt potato. With the smallest of grins he placed the items on the counter that Kopius was leaning on. Oh-jin gently pushed the tray in his direction, making the two-handed, palms-up gesture as if to say 'here you go'.

Kopius looked at what he assumed was supposed to be food for quite some time before bringing his gaze up to meet Oh-jin's. The short, lean man simply returned the gaze and nodded.

For several reasons–though hungry and parched–Kopius hesitated to take the offering. The oblong, disfigured-potato-looking thing was about the size of a child's rubber football. The food had a deep-brown, almost burnt skin and hair follicles like kiwi fruit. It reminded Kopius of a bachelor party he had attended, and not in a pleasant way. It was gross then, and the object Oh-jin had slid in front of him was gross now.

Sensing the hesitation, Oh-jin pulled the tray back and picked up the small knife. His cuts were quick and precise, slicing the fruit into five equal-ish pieces. The inside of the fruit was white, had many small, purple seeds, and sounded like a watermelon when it was cut.

"These are really quite good," Oh-jin said as he picked up a slice and took a bite. He ate all the white part until the only thing left was the poop-colored peel, which he placed back.

"This is a marshromo," Oh-jin began. "It can be found deep in the swamps, usually by pools of water that are isolated."

Kopius just stared, so Oh-jin continued, "Though it looks unappealing, the nutritional benefits are unmatched for what can be found in the wild. Not to mention, it tastes like it was blessed by Pomo herself!"

"Pomo?" Kopius replied, shaking his head slightly.

"Yes, Pomo! Goddess of the Fruit!" Oh-jin exclaimed, smile still present. He looked at Kopius directly and asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," Kopius answered.

"Good. Are you thirsty?"

"Yes," Kopius replied with some wonder, "But I shouldn't be. Uh, hungry that is. Not like this. Not for real."

"Whether you should or you should not be is irrelevant if in fact you are. Well, hungry," Oh-jin said.

He took a slice of the fruit and handed it to Kopius.

"It is safe, I can assure you. Better than safe! It will replenish you entirely. Please, you will not regret it!"

Kopius took a piece of fruit and held it in his palm, sure to not touch the white parts.

Kopius tried to recall a survival lesson his grandfather, Papa, had taught him long ago. Though the approach was slow in its going, it worked.

Smell it, rub it, taste it, Kopius recited in his mind.

He brought the white fruit slowly to his nose until he could get a whiff of it. Papa would say, "Now, if it smells like crap, you leave it be. Sour, rotten or just plain poo-smelling, leave it alone."

The marshromo smelled wonderful. It had an aroma of watermelon mixed with warm honey, and Kopius could almost feel his lips reach out for it.

Resisting the urge to take a bite, he then rubbed the white part of the fruit on the inside of his wrist. The texture of the marshromo was firm and crisp. After removing the fruit, he waited for several more moments to see if his skin reacted in any irritated or noticeable way.

Part three of his grandfathers 'will this kill me or make me stronger' approach was to bring the fruit to your lips and rub it on as one would with lip balm. If your lip exploded in pain, hives, or swelling, the fruit would most likely cause you some suffering–or death.

Kopius could smell the fruit just below his nose; the soft, pleasant aroma-there one moment, gone the next. He pulled the fruit away and waited for any signs that proceeding further would be a bad idea.

Nothing happened.

The last stage of Papa's plan was to take a nibble and then wait some more; so that's what he did. The piece that he bit off was too small to have any meaningful flavor. Kopius swallowed and waited.

Several moments later he took a larger nibble, and this time there was flavor. His mouth filled with the taste that his nose had already smelled. It was so juicy and refreshing that he didn't even think twice and started to eat the whole thing. He closed a blank notification window and just enjoyed the delicacy instead of lamenting the missing information.

His body began to tingle, like someone had thumbed a guitar string in his soul and the sound waves were reverberating through him. The dry, smacking sensation in his mouth abated and the knot of hunger in his belly lessened. He might have freaked out about another ball of energy growing inside him but this one was pleasant, empowering, and light. It passed through him and was gone.

Kopius felt more energized, refreshed, and aware. He smiled and looked at Oh-jin, who had been watching him the entire time. Oh-jin had not moved or spoken, he seemed like a man content to watch paint dry if given the chance. Kopius picked up a second slice of the marshromo and finished that one as well.

"Two should do you just fine." Oh-jin said, breaking the comfortable silence in the room. "We can save these last two for later!"

With that, Oh-jin scooped up the tray and returned to the shadows in the back of the room.

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