The Signal

[Mr Bekkler]

This is a short prose piece in the form of audio journal transcriptions by a certain character in our beloved series.:





Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. It wouldn't stop.


Since I arrived, I've been able to cobble together basic survival supplies. There is garbage everywhere, and the wind bites cold. It's a strange wind. An empty wind.

Luckily the technology here has an easy learning curve, and most of it still works when it actually has a power source. Such a waste, really. A single blackout and everything in a 50 mile radius is junk.

While it has been less potent lately, my magic has helped me a great deal. I only hope that my decrease in power is a reflection of my age and not caused by a more immediate threat.

Journal sign off. June 6, ????

______________________________

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Tell me about it.

I've had a run-in with the natives of this place. They don't understand the concept of a "year" but they know there was a time of joy and a moment of apocalypse. The story doesn't die. Also, they have a remarkable economic system, all things considered.

I've also found out that the large dark window in the shelter I've taken is a sort of storage device for information, like a book. It's called a computer, and it works just like most of the other technology here. I know the year now (or at least the approximate based on the computer's internal clock, which could have stopped or been reset) I've been using it to help me re-design a vehicle based on what I can find around here. The terrain outside is harsh, and the rain actually burns to the touch.

My magic is still in tact, though for how long I could not estimate. I feel like my energy is fading exponentially with each day.

Journal sign off, June 13, 1999

______________________________

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I get it.

This signal has been driving me insane. I built a device that would find the same magical properties here that were once in Zeal. This has been key to my construction of several devices. I finally got that water purifier working. Drinking water from rusted pipes with remnants of what looked like quicksilver was not ideal. Had to wash it down with some alcohol I made from the rotting plants outside just to be sure I wouldn't die of some foreign infection.

Anyway, this device has been beeping incessantly about a location I can't reach. The signal is strong but only once my hovercraft is complete can I stop the noise. I haven't slept much in the past week, but it's almost done.

Journal sign off June 20, 1999
______________________________

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Today is the day!

Finally, my Golbird is complete. Catchy, eh? It's my new all-terrain vehicle, and can even go through water. The hovering didn't work well so I had to use treads and make it air-tight. Now I can follow the signal and finally know what Zeal remains are left here. I made sure to add a drill and plenty of storage space.

I have a scanning device that will detect and identify life-forms, and a decent supply of tonic. I don't expect to find anything incredible, but perhaps something edible on the way.

Journal sign off June 27, 1999

______________________________

No more beeping. It's stopped. I can't work. I can't sleep. I'm an emotional wreck. The remains were not Zeal technology or anything particularly useful. The remains were in a coffin. They were human remains. The gravestones had been destroyed but the yard was maintained in a dome with a computer, which held records. The names. They don't make any sense. Nothing makes sense anymore. What do I do?

The names. This will keep me up at night. I knew they would all be dead, but her? How could she go through all the torture and the abuse and still end up like that? It couldn't be her, but the beeping stopped. IT STOPPED.

Journal sign off June 28, 1999

______________________________

New estimated year. I think these computers have been out of order for about three hundred years. I have been meaning to redact these dates in these entries, but I just haven't had any time. Have to keep busy. I can only keep one or two appliances on at once now, my magic is fading quickly, so I've been working more with this technology. I fixed a power generator, and it's been running the dome I'm in, but I know it's running out of juice. I have to find more power. I have to do something.

I decided to look more deeply into these remains. I connected the computers to a sort of network and was able to find all information on these NAMES. I got a death certificate and a marriage certificate. Nothing more. I've been looking for more Zeal remains. I may be able to finish the Sylbird. Golbird now rests at the bottom of a river, I forgot to put the parking break on. Now I'm all about the Sylbird!

I've found a Nu. It was left over after all these years, still operational! Just buried. Finally something to keep me sane!

Journal sign off June 30, 2300
______________________________

I've been able to construct what I believe is a Time-Egg. I will attempt to use it tonight, and if what I've theorized is correct, the timeline will change, and I may be swept away with it, or I may be restored to my home. I may even forget this ever happened. I have to do SOMETHING. I just have to concentrate on these names while I activate it. Serge Wazuki. Schala Zeal-Wazuki.





Basically this is Belthasar going crazy in the ruined future and finding Kid's remains from Radical Dreamers. He uses a homemade time-egg and goes crazy drinking water with mercury in it.

[Sajainta]

Wow, this is intense.  You did a good job of increasing his level of insanity, which I'd imagine would be difficult to do in such a short piece.  I liked this; it was very unnerving which I think was precisely the point.  You're a very talented writer.

[Mr Bekkler]

Thanks. The idea came from other people on the forum postulating that perhaps Radical Dreamers happened in the same universe, but a prior timeline to that of Cross, and that's why Serge was chosen in the first place, because in an earlier timeline Kid had been sent and they fell in love. So I thought of lonely Belthasar, stuck in the year 2300, having to reverse-engineer everything around him just to live. What if he found the remains of the Kid from that timeline and was able to identify it as Schala? The idea reminded me of a Poe story, the "Tell-tale Heart" or "The Raven". The main character is slowly getting crazier and isn't sure of what's really happening, but he's also the narrator so he's unreliable and the story is automatically very tense and claustrophobic. I could have gone deeper and written more but wanted it to stay fresh and vague. I hope it works!
But really, thank you Sajainta. You are awesome and have good taste, thus your opinion means a lot to me. 

[FaustWolf]

Haa! I was just going to suggest this is what would happen if Poe and Masato Kato combined their powers. Cool stuff MrBekkler.

I can't wait for him to get his gums scraped in the sequel. 

[TheMage]

Ohh! This gave me chills! I like the idea that Radical Dreamers was in the same timeline as CT opposed to an alternate dimension. Belthasar's descent into madness was excellent very well written! Perhaps this is why Belthasar murmurs Schala's name when the CT party visit him in the first game

[tushantin]

Bekkler, you're Radical!  You're great at sprites, great at Video editing, great at music, great at voice-overs, but I never knew you were so good at writing. You're better than me!  Hallo, SoY Unlimited!

Ah, hell, if someone can voice that I could make a video-log footage with this as a script. I personally like how you pulled the "uncertainty" or "Audience Deception", I'd like to call; developing this trick properly is crucial and can let you place neat bag of treats for the reader, with twists and stuff. This is rad! This is rad! 

What really spooks me is that in RD timeline, from what you've stated, Serge and Kid (mostly Kid) don't really get a happy ending... All of a sudden, that French-Mystic Lynx seems more terrifying than the CC one.

[Mr Bekkler]

They might have a happy ending, or they might not. Either way, they die. I had actually intended to imply that they "lived happily ever after" and Belthasar basically dug up her grave, thinking he was somehow on his way to "saving" her. The point, however, is that maybe Belthasar was actually very very wrong, and should not have done anything. He had to get the idea for Project Kid from somewhere, right?

I'll record it if you really want to animate it, that could be really neat! I'd love to see the inventions and stuff in the background get more cluttered and he shivers more and more and keeps trying to talk faster as the entries go on.

[Kodokami]

Wow, this is great. And I'm surprised at how fast you wrote it once you got the inspiration.

[tushantin]

XD It won't be an animation for the time being, just a static audio-video log, to practice my "ambiance". However, when I do finish Polar Detective I certainly will animate this too.

Feel free to record it! That'll be an "updated" version of your DreamSplash.