Drifting Consciousness

Once the man reached the main thoroughfare, he continued through the market. The girl slogged along behind, each step taken at the last possible moment, as the man pulled her hand. This time, he made no further deviations from the path, single mindedly walking forward, trying to reach the exit. Of course, the path was infinitely long, so there shouldn’t be an end in sight. And yet, the stalls were spaced further apart the more he went on as if signaling that the end was near. That was the issue in a realm made of mana – nothing really made sense. It wasn’t like sense was needed, but it would’ve been preferred.

After a few minutes, all of the stalls were left well behind the man, leaving him within the endless expanse of white. If one turned around, they could see the boisterous noise of the market slowly fading from view. However, out here, the only sounds were the sound of their footsteps – one clacking assuredly, the other plodding irregularly.

At some point, the path and the market had disappeared completely, as though they never existed in the first place. It was once again impossible to tell whether they were moving at all. The man, unperturbed by any of this, stopped immediately. The girl trailing behind fell forward, unable to stop her momentum since she didn’t understand what momentum, or anything for that matter, was. The man made no effort to stop her – there was nothing to worry about in the first place. The girl simply flipped around in a circle, seemingly going through the ‘floor’ and righting herself when she came back around. It made one wonder what in the world they were even standing upon.

The man glanced out of the corner of his eye, noticing a stall that had materialized in an instant. Unlike the pristine, uniform, rectangular prisms in the marketplace, this stall was rickety, barely held together by the wood(?) it was made from. There was nothing on display, as the owner never tried to sell anything. It was questionable whether this stall was even in business, but the man knew it was. Why? Well…

“Would you mind not stealing things from my pockets?” The owner sat right next to the man on the chair he had bought from Smith. She looked rather average, like another person within a crowd. Her eyes were dazed, but she was highly attentive, trying to take in every detail. Whenever she appeared, she rarely moved unless something caught her eye. The only visible difference was that, occasionally, the top of her head would float away above her, as if it was made from a cloud.

“I just didn’t expect to see you again, so I thought I would play a small prank. How long has it been? Ten eons? Maybe twenty? It’s hard to keep track when nothing changes,” the owner sharply spoke, though her words had no subtext behind them.

“Maybe you should join the Mixing Market proper then.”

“There’s nothing there though. It just mana moving around mana – something I see everyday. You should know how boring it is to see the same thing over and over again, seeing that you’re actually going to do something this time.”

The man made no comment, but the owner wasn’t looking for confirmation. She didn’t need to know what he’s planning on doing, only that he was doing it.

“So, since you’re here, I have a pretty good idea of what you need.” Although her eyes didn’t move, one could tell she was focused on the girl expressionlessly standing behind the man. “A soul, huh? I thought you didn’t believe in souls.”

“And I still don’t. They are simply a collection of experiences and thought processes that allow one to make their own decisions, packaged in some physical form.”

“...but you’re still trying to obtain one.”

“Well, giving the immaterial a tangible existence is what mana does, is it not?”

The owner sighed. The man was splitting hairs, but he was one to rationalize everything, even nonsense, should he encounter it.

She opened her hand, making the surrounding mana coalesce around a point just above it. The mass became distinctive from the white void, turning a bright orange hue. The insides continued to swirl around with only a thin membrane keeping it intact. It looked as though she was holding something so ephemeral that the slightest tap would cause it to dissipate.

The man was visibly pleased as he observed the soul, or ‘consciousness’ as he preferred to call it. “That’ll work nicely.”

“Just so you know, you can’t afford it.”

“But you’re showing it to me because you have a deal in mind, correct?” the man smiled, reading the intentions behind the owner’s statement. The owner remained silent. She hesitated on whether to make her request, but eventually she began to speak.

“I want to see what’s beyond this place. I… want to see the outside world.

“Everything is stagnant here and nothing really changes. We look like “people” and play with “sticks”, but what are they really? What does a “stick” do? How do “people” interact? Although we attempt to mimic outside culture, none of us truly understand. The most we can do is “think”, and even that doesn’t really make sense. You may see us moving around and selling objects, but all I see is a never-ending darkness, impossible to distinguish one thing from another.

“So, for once, I would like to actually see, in every sense of the word.”

The man seemed to think for a moment, but he already had his answer before she finished talking. “Sure.”

“Yeah, I thought you wouldn’t–huh? Wait, you will? But, that’s…”

“Insane?”

“Yes! You’re the one who defines and teaches the rules! Why in the world would you allow chaos into it?!”

The man sighed. This was a misunderstanding he had to correct. “First of all, you and everyone else are bound by those rules.”

“Huh?!?”

“Watch. Teach rule: manaforms cannot speak or transmit their thoughts [Lecture].”

“–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––” The owner could not speak, though her face was very expressive in that moment.

“See? Teach rule: manaforms can speak or transmit their thoughts [Lecture].”

“...” the owner was flabbergasted, unsure what to say.

The man ignored her confusion and continued. “Second, the world is already stagnant. The world needs mana to develop, but the endless wars use it up. More mana needs to be introduced, which my plans will remedy. If another bit of chaos from a being made of mana can save the world, so be it.”

“...are you sure about this?” the owner asked hesitantly, if only to hold back her own excitement.

“Just be aware you may not be able to maintain your current form. Who knows if you’ll be able to do anything.”

“Then I accept,” the owner responded immediately, standing up and slamming the soul into the girl’s body. The man wore a cheeky grin, rocking the chair against the ground and shattering it. Through the opening was an old, small cabin in the middle of a burning forest. With everything back in his pockets and two ladies in hand, the man jumped through, saying–

“Let’s get started.”