Chapter 3: A Long Walk

POV: Zac

I just had a truck dropped on me by Omega. I could control gravity and had some dark unknown power dwelling inside me? I still didn't understand anything going on, but I guess the only way to find out would be to get my ass out of this bed. I let out a sigh and finally took a look at the room I was in. This was a different world, huh? Things here seemed familiar enough, but at the same time, foreign. The bed was different, but what was od was that its placement in the center of the room. Different design practices, I guess.

I got out of bed to explore this room a bit. The room itself was quite a bit larger than I was used to, and my bachelor pad wasn't too bad. This room was just stupid big, while also empty. My feet touched the carpet, and it didn't feel like carpet. Looking down, I noticed that it was an ashen green color, and it looked like short-cut grass. It didn't feel like any kind of grass I'd ever seen, and it was softer than any carpet I'd ever experienced. I ran my tootsies through the alien grass carpet before my attention turned to the rest of the room.

The walls seemed to be made of natural wood, just like the bed, but it has a lighter shade of purple like I was inside the tree it came from. The room was filled with a sweet scent, almost like flowers, but it wasn't artificial. It all came from the walls and floor and the few bits of furniture in the room. Everything was very minimalistic; it had everything a bedroom needed and precisely nothing else. Although I didn't see any dressers, maybe it was in the closet?

There were three doors; all were barely visible; only the aqua green lights that gave out a thin outline of the doors let you know they were there. Two doors faced the foot of the bed; one was the closet that Omega had pointed to, the other was most likely the bathroom. Speaking of bathrooms, I lifted my arm to sniff myself,

"Gah, I could use a shower."

I sauntered towards the aqua green outline that I assumed was the door to the bathroom, not really knowing how to open it. Before I got too close, the door indented slightly and then slid into the wall, opening up for me. Walking inside, the door closed behind me. I turned my attention to the closed door and curiously spoke.

"Ummmmmm… lock?"

Once I said that the aqua green light spread across the entirety of the door like a thin sheet, forming a protective barrier. I nodded my head impressed,

"Ok… good to know."

The bathroom was standard, other than the size. You could fit two college dorm rooms here, and there'd still be space. The walls were the same as the rest of the home. The floor was made of what felt like natural gray stone, and the stone had a strange bumpy texture to it. The toilet was in the far left corner, and it looked like a typical toilet, and the same could be said for the sink next to it.

"Now, where is the shower? What the hell!?"

I looked over towards the right side of the bathroom, and there was a hole in the floor the size of a small hot tube.

"No way! Is that the tub?" I said to myself as I moved closer. I looked down into it, and there was no way that it could be anything but the tub. Ok, people in this world really knew how to live it up, I guess.

"So that's the tub, then this must be the shower."

I looked next to the tub. A section was blocked off from the rest of the restroom; it seemed to be made of two-way glass. I couldn’t tell how to get it open, so I just took a stab in the dark,

"Shower open?"

I only had to wait a moment before the two-way mirror shifted, and I could see the inside of the shower; the glass doors then opened up. I took off my undies and then walked in. Once inside, I noticed I didn't have any soap or a towel of any kind. Before I could leave to look, I heard a male voice,

"Good Morning, sir. Would you like a quick or relaxing shower?"

"Ah… quick, please," I responded tentatively.

"Hot, warm, lukewarm, or cold, sir?"

"Ah, warm, please," I responded again, not really knowing what was going to happen.

"Very good, sir, a quick warm shower, please remain still." I was frozen in place as my eyes shifted around the area. There was nothing there. Only those strange markings I saw on the bed before. Those markings began to glow, and warm water manifested seemingly from nowhere and began to wash over my body. Threads began to form from those Aqua Green lights. They quickly wrapped themselves around me. I felt a tingling sensation. Looking down, I saw the lathering of soap forming.

"Sick! Um, voice guy, you there?"

"Yes, how may I help you?" The voice responded immediately.

"Yeah, ah, what are you exactly?" I asked, mainly because I was worried some creeper was watching me on a camera somewhere. The voice was quick to respond,

"I am an artificial Soul designed to be your personal assistant for mundane tasks. Including but not limited to cleaning, maintenance, food preparation, and balancing finances." Ok… so it was a personal assistant, an artificial soul. I'd have to ask Omega about that later.

"So you have a name?"

"My owner chooses my name. Since you have yet to give me one, I do not."

"Me?" I was a little surprised.

"Isn't Omega the owner of this place?"

"Incorrect, she has put the deed in your name, sir, and I was programmed to assist the owner of this home. Thus you are my owner." It responded in no uncertain terms. The washing was coming to an end, as the soap was rinsed off me by another round of water. Then a warm breeze manifested from the glow; a moment later, the breeze completely dried my body.

"How about… Devin? Yeah, I'll call you Devin."

I said with a smile on my face. Devin was by far the most annoying of my friends back in my old world. He always expected everyone to inconvenience themselves for his sake. So having a personal assistant that did everything I was too lazy to deal with named after him was poetic justice—Freak' in Devin.

"Very well, sir… I will respond to Devin from now on."

"You can drop the sir… Zac is fine. Ah, and can you ah, shave me, and how do I brush my teeth here?" I said as I walked out of the shower. Once I stepped out, I saw a thread of green light guiding me towards the sink. I followed the light and stared at myself in the mirror above the sink. I really did look like a mess—that scruffy mess of baby bread and hair all over my head.

"How would you like your haircut, Zac?" Devin asked me.

"Smooth face, but give my hair a just got out of bed look. Know what I mean?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, one moment, please." The Threads of Soul energy appeared again and began their work. About 15 minutes later, it was done, and I was happy with the results. I looked down at my still naked body; it was time to see what kind of clothing this world had. If it was anything like what Omega wore, it should be pretty cool.

Another 15mintues passed, and I was ready to head downstairs to meet up with Omega. I felt a lot better than before. It was amazing what a quick shower and a shave could do for one's mental state. I walked out of the room into the hallway, and it seemed the same natural minimalist motif was present throughout. Although the same colors everywhere was a little annoying,

"Hey, Devin? Can we change up the colors a little? Pale purple and green in every room are… boring?"

"Of course, just let me know what colors you'd prefer, and I'll get to it right away."

"Good, ok," I said with a bit of relief in my voice. I headed downstairs, and I saw Omega sitting there, seemingly in deep thought. Omega turned around to look at me, and I spoke,

"I'm ready for you to tell me about this place."

Omega stood up and smiled at me.

"Well, then… let's go for a walk." She told me while looking over my attire. I looked down at myself for a moment. Did I look weird or something? I was only working with what was available after all. I had on some black cargo, Harajuku Jogger-style pants, made from an unknown material. It seemed as robust as denim but had the stretchiness of elastic. The pants had white suspenders hanging off the sides. I had on a white A-Shirt and over it a Soft knitted oversized Hooded Cardigan. It seemed very cyber-punky, I liked it. The shoes were like a cross between sneakers and boots, there were no shoelaces, just straps, and zippers, and they went about halfway up my shins.

"What? Do I look weird?" I asked, a little self-conscious about my clothing choices. Omega smirked at me and just shook her head.

"No… it's just. You managed to make yourself look most like a street punk, and I didn't even need to ask." Omega said with a smile on her face.

"Really? I was going for CyberPunk Hip-Hop." I shrugged my shoulders as I made my way over towards Omega. When I approached her, she handed me a necklace with an odd crystal hanging off it.

"A gift?" I asked.

"No, from your smell, I can tell you took a shower, which means you meet the Soul Assistant."

"Oh, you mean Devin?" I interrupted. Omega raised an eyebrow. She was quick enough to pick up on the fact that I named the thing already. She rolled her eyes and continued,

"Yeah, sure, Devin. That necklace will allow Devin to accompany you outside of the home, and it will also function as a communicator."

I looked at the necklace and the crystal-like structure that was attached to it. It was no larger than the tip of my pinky but had a deep blue color. It didn't look too extraordinary, but I guess it was. I put the necklace around my neck and followed Omega out of the door. I was still looking down at my new jewelry and asked,

"Does everyone have something like this?"

"Exactly like that? No, that is a highly advanced model, but all homeowners and those that live in the same home have something similar." Devin's voice sounded out of the crystal that was now around my neck. That was pretty cool, so my personal assistant could follow me everywhere. If this was as high-tech as I believed it to be, it meant that Devin's core was still back at the house somewhere, and he wasn’t physically traveling with us.

"So, where's yours?" I asked Omega as she didn't seem to have one of her own. She looked back at me with a smile,

"I gave it to you; I do not need it. The only person I need to keep in contact with is you, and we have our own way of communicating." As she spoke, her mouth didn't move. She was once again talking directly into my mind. I finally looked up at her and noticed that we were in a crowd of people. For the first time, I took a look at the world and the people around me.

"Holy shit…"

This place was insane. There were giant lavender trees as far as my eyes could see. When I say giant, I mean they were absolutely massive, enormous! They extended higher than any skyscraper I had ever seen, and their thickness looked to cover several city blocks. The tops of the trees had light pink leaves that continuously fell through the sky, reflecting the gentle sunlight that shone through the branches. I could see figures in the tops of the trees, chopping away at branches. It looked somewhat orderly as if they cut just enough for the rays of sunlight to get through.

Built around these massive trees were platforms, each larger than the last. They were all bustling with activity and people. Most of which were not humans, as I knew them. Some weren't even humanoid. It was clear that more than just humans developed intelligence here, and some evolutionary paths were... exciting. As I stared in awe, trying my best not to stare too hard, Omega's voice echoed into my mind,

"Each tree is a city district with several layers of platforms, the higher up the platform, the better off the individuals living there tend to be."

Once she said this, I looked up again, and there didn't seem to be any platforms above us, just the treetops. I looked back over my shoulder in the direction of the home, but it was already out of sight. I'd have to pay more attention when we went back. I looked at the light pink leaves falling in front of me like snow, and I held out my hand, letting one fall into my palm. It had a silky texture to it, almost like a flower but tougher. I sniffed it, and it was the same smell that wafted throughout the house, only more concentrated.

"Wow, this place is really something. Is it like this everywhere?" I asked Omega, speaking within my own mind. It seemed she wanted to have our discussion this way. She obviously didn't want our conversation heard by others around us.

"Like what? Filled with giant trees? No. Even within the Castle, this place is special. Let me put things in perspective. Each floor of The Castle of Dreams is a Universe at least twice the size of the one you came from. This Universe is known as the Lobby. It leads to all other colonized floors in the Castle." She replied, and I was more than a bit floored. This Castle contained Universes within it? How was that even possible? And did she say Colonized floors?

"Wait, how many floors are there?"

"More than you imagine, with even more left unexplored. Currently, not including the Floor of Rulers, there are 10,000 Colonized floors, with much more left to be explored."

I blinked a few times, scratching the top of my head. That was… well.

"Don't be shocked so soon. There's more. Your Universe belongs to its own Castle, and it is a lesser subsidiary of this Castle. And there is a multitude of Castles of equivalent size to the Castle of Dreams." My mind was just about to explode. Everything I had learned in my life was already called into question, but I never imagined things would be taken this far. My Universe that seemed so limitless has just a tiny part of a much larger whole that was part of an even greater whole.

"How do you feel, Zac?" She asked. As if I had time, even partially, to process all of this. I stopped and then looked up into the pink falling leaves. How do I feel, huh?

"I feel like my Universe is a hell of a lot smaller than I thought. But life is more interesting and a lot grander than I ever imagined. No one in my Universe knew of the existence of 'Castles.' Is that true here as well?" I asked Omega, who seemed to have a smile on her face. We continued walking through the crowd, she still had not told me where we were going, but I followed nonetheless.

"Every Castle has an Owner or Ruler. Each Ruler runs their Castle as they see fit. The Ruler of yours decided to keep the weaker, less advanced floors out of the loop. This Castle doesn't. Everyone on the colonized floors is aware." I suppose that made sense. I was in a subsidiary Castle. I guess as long as it functioned and served its purpose, upper management wouldn't care how it was run. But what exactly was the use of subsidiary Castles? This thought echoed in my mind, and I looked over at Omega; she raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders. It seemed she didn't know either.

I looked ahead, and it looked like we were heading to a massive bridge. I then noticed,

"Why haven't I seen any vehicles around here? This place is huge; how do people get around if they're in a rush?" Omega pointed up into the treeline and simply said,

"Pay attention… focus."

I looked into the tree line for a few seconds, and then I saw streaks of Aqua Greenlight. The harder I focused, the more light streams I saw zipping back and forth. My eyes widened. Where are those people flying? Not only flying, but doing so at speeds I could not perceive with my eyes?

"Some fly, some jump, others teleport. Either via equipment or through the use of AOS. Of course, there are some vehicles, but they are terribly expensive. Before you ask, you're not ready to try even the most basic movement System. It would be best if you familiarize yourself with this place first anyway."

She saw right through me. I was going to ask to start flying like that too. I sighed to myself; it looked like I would have to wait before I could soar through the treetops of this magnificent place. Omega smiled at my disappointment, "Don't be sad; I'll get you where you need to be as soon as you figure out where that is. Any ideas about what you want to do in this Castle?"

She asked the million-dollar question, what did I want to do in this place?'' I had no idea; I had no bearing; I wasn't even sure what it really meant to be Senohoi. There were a few things I needed to know before I thought about any of them.

"Are Senohoi only taken from Subsidiary Castles?"

"No, there are Senohoi chosen from within the Castle of Dreams itself. Senohoi from Subsidiary Castles, while not unheard of, are still rare." She responded. So I was a rare case? A bumpkin from an underdeveloped Universe with no AOS knowledge to speak of. Tsk!

"Are the people here aware of Senohoi?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing not everyone appreciates them, am I correct?" I asked, already knowing the answer to the question. Omega seemed to see the question as rhetorical and just nodded her head affirmatively. As I thought, it was no surprise. The have-nots will always be envious. It wouldn't help if they knew I was from a Subsidiary Castle. I was basically a nobody from nowhere given an extraordinary opportunity, while others probably struggled to get recognition; with no results, I could completely relate.

"Can someone who is not chosen to be a Senohoi become one?" I asked, fearing my own train of thought.

"Yes…" Omega responded flatly

It seemed that she didn't want to give me the complete story, and I honestly didn't want to hear it. We finally crossed the bridge, and Omega took a turn down a back alley; I followed close behind, placing my hands into my pockets. We had been silently walking, not even engaging in mental conversation because I didn't want to ask the next question. Taking a deep breath, I finally found the courage to ask,

"How?"

Omega let out a sigh as she seemed not to want to answer the question herself. Her voice echoed into my mind,

"The mask that you received during the Cleansing. That is what marks you as a Senohoi. You can give that mask away, and that person will become a Senohoi. Or when you die, the mask will manifest, and the next person to acquire it will become one. Or…" Her voice paused for a moment, but I knew where she was going and finished her thought,

"Or you can Kill the Senohoi and take the mask off their corpse…."

"Correct," Omega said with a solemn voice. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. Ok, I'm sure that meant that there was going to be a target on my back. But all I needed to do was not broadcast to the world. I was a Senohoi, simple enough. Though something still bothered me.

"Doesn't this place have laws, rules, or something?"

Omega nodded, "Of course, but the laws of the Castle don't apply to Senohoi, for or against. Except in extreme cases, Senohoi and Quqe have their own set of guidelines to abide by. However, corruption is still an issue."

"What?!" I see so that's how it was. I didn't fully understand what the purpose of all this was. Why gather talented or unique individuals if you only throw them to the wolves like this? Were they trying to weed out the duds from the studs? Or was this the work of those corrupt in power? There were still many questions that I wanted to ask. I was looking down at the ground in thought until Omega tapped me on the shoulder.

"We're here." Where the hell was here? She didn't even tell me we were going somewhere or did she? I won't lie; I was kind of out of it at the moment.

We stood in front of a door; Omega knocked 4 times. Aqua green light began to shine on the door, and then it formed into a rather forgettable human face. It looked at Omega and then stared at me.

"What the hell do you want?

"To see the wares, asshole. It's me, Quinn." Omega said with a stern look on her face. The man glared at Omega, who called herself Quinn, and I could only assume that it was an alias she used.

"Quinn?! You finally show your face, huh? Who's the pup?"

"My little brother." The face looked back over at me, and I said nothing in return. Omega was someone familiar with these shady individuals and was passing me off as her brother. I needed to act like all of this was beneath my notice. Luckily for me, pretending to be a detached asshole was right in my wheelhouse. I looked at the face on the door unassumed and rolled my eyes as I folded my arms.

"So that's him, huh? Fine, you know the rules, Quinn. Keep that pup in check."

The face disappeared, and I threw my thoughts in Omega's direction,

"Where the hell are you taking me?"

"Blackmarket trading post. I want you to understand just how serious things are." Omega gave a serious look that turned into a cocky smile when the door opened up. I understood and placed my hands into my pockets, pretending as if none of this bothered me. Once we were inside, it was like we entered a new world. Everything outside worked with Nature and had a soft and warm feeling to it. Here everything was so… fake.

The room was rather large, about as large as one would expect of an upscale ballroom, equipped with a very high ceiling. The floor was made of sturdy material; I could only qualify it as some kind of graystone. There were gaudy rugs and couches spread through the area. The walls were embedded with gold designs. The walls themselves were made of some odd white material that couldn't possibly be ivory, could it? I could only assume it was expensive.

As was the case with most things of such exclusivity, there were more tables and chairs than people. Each table was made of black ivory edged with gold. The chair followed the same pallet. Everyone here was dressed their best, it seemed, all of them dying to show off how much money they were worth, to impress the other. Beautifully decorated men and women of various races walked around with trays of drinks and snacks to serve the extravagantly dressed guests. Everything and everyone was so,

"Gaudy and tacky. I thought it was just a human flaw to be so boldly ostentatious?" I didn't speak particularly loud, nor was I trying to hide what I was saying. It did catch the attention of a somewhat reptilian-looking man. He was at least half a foot taller than me and built like a brick shithouse. He had red quills that lined his scalp and piercing golden eyes. His face was slightly more humanoid than reptilian, but there were still apparent dark green scales visible on his body. The parts of his skin that were not scaled were light gray. Strangely enough, what really caught my attention was his rather snazzy, black tuxedo. It looked like steampunk meets an old-timey Victorian vampire, complete with a black Ascott instead of a tie. I could dig it.

"Indeed, it is all rather vulgar, isn't it? I say, boy, who might you be?" The reptilian man asked me. I wasn't in the mood to make friends, especially not with anyone in this place. I motioned my head to Omega to lead me where she wanted.

"No one important," I responded honestly to the lizard man or whatever the hell he was. I would have to ask Omega later as well as how I could understand him. I highly doubt he was speaking English. I didn't bother to look in his direction after I left. I followed after Omega and continued to look around the room. Everything was so cold; everything was either some kind of metal or plastic. Whoever owned this place clearly wanted this place to give off a shine—showy douche.

Omega said that this was a Blackmarket trading post. Still, all I saw were some images of strange weapons at stands located in the corners of this place and some assholes at gambling tables. Whoever owned this place was basically the boss of a back alley casino that doubled as an arms dealer. We arrived at the back corner of the room in front of another door. She knocked on the door, and without much ceremony, it opened. She walked into the room, motioning for me to follow.

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