Freebie Mondays: Weird Patterns (Prompt Novel Chapter 7)

For 2024, I have decided to devote my prompt writing time to a novel. The twist is that the novel plot will be generated entirely by the writing prompts I chose to use for the project – which were rolled randomly using my trusty dice and a few online prompt lists. You can find the Table of Contents here.

For Chapter 7, the prompt was: Character is the only one who can read the lost language and therefore the only person who can decipher “the scroll.”

I interpreted ‘the scroll’ as any form of archaic language that might be difficult to interpret for the average person. In this case ‘the scroll’ is computer code. That might be a tiny bit cheaty in the spirit of the prompt since this was a fantasy prompt, but I still think what I wrote works pretty well.

This is the first time our main female protagonist and our main male protagonist intersect as well. Which in my mind means this is when the plot starts to pick up speed. 6 chapters of set up is a slow beginning, but that’s not atypical for a fantasy novel that requires explanation of it’s setting. And I do think this story has benefitted from the amount of world-building put into it. (How else am I going to explain some of these prompts?)

If you’d like to see this chapter come together, you can watch the VoD on Youtube!
. . .

Every time Nala walked through the door to her research group’s shared office space, she hoped she’d find Alyial sitting up, rubbing his eyes and getting ready to explain what the hell happened to keep him from immediately exiting the computer simulation. She never realized she held her breath when she passed through the door until she saw her co-worker still laying prone on their makeshift cot and had to exhale an explosive sigh.

They hadn’t been planning for Alyial to interact with the simulation for more than an hour. That was all it should have taken to verify the integrity of the updates. But it had already been two days without any form of a response, and she still felt they were no closer to pulling him free of his predicament.

We should have designed some form of emergency release. Something that would eject a subject from the program without damaging their mind. It was, in fact, the first thing on her list for after they solved the current crisis. But since the program was still unfinished, it hadn’t occurred to anyone that they would need such a safety feature so soon.

This is why you don’t skip testing stages, she reminded herself fiercely.

But by all accounts, it should have been safe. And Nala was certain if she had just entered the simulation herself, all would have gone well.

She halted that line of thinking right there, unwilling to utter anything about Alyial’s blasted curse even in the silent vaults of her own skull. It was highly unscientific, and she didn’t want stray mysticism interfering with her precious work.

Since they worked for a research facility, it hadn’t been all that difficult to find an experimental medical team they could recruit to assist with the most immediate of their concerns. None of their additions to the rig looked pretty, but Alyial had an IV line running into his arm, ensuring he received the vital nutrients and fluids required to sustain his body. They had also rigged a hasty heart monitor so they would be aware of any fluctuations in their colleague’s vital signs. The medical staff had even been kind enough to account for the bodily functions they hadn’t even considered when this started – which was the only reason their office didn’t smell like a public restroom.

As far as anyone could tell, Alyial was perfectly fine. His body was acting like he was asleep while his mind continued to act as though he was awake. So long as they didn’t exceed certain thresholds, the medical researchers were confident their companion wouldn’t suffer any form of permanent damage when he emerged from whatever the hell this could be considered.

But those deadlines were rapidly approaching, and Nala was keenly aware that she and the rest of her team were striking well beyond the realm of their expertise. The medical staff returned every few hours to assess Alyial, and the moment they feared his life was in danger, they would no longer be able to keep any of this secret.

At that point, not only would the research institute pull the plug on their project, she and her team would be raked across the coals for ignoring safety procedures. It would be the end of her career. No one would touch her at that point, except maybe some exceedingly skeevy individuals in the private sector.

Nala forced her mind to abandon that train of thought as well and drew a deep breath into her lungs. She continued to exhale until she felt as though her chest might explode, hoping to force her heart to calm its rapid pace.

Everything that just shot rapidly through her brain represented a reason Delmar’s wife, Ira, was here. She was sitting in the far corner of the office, staring intensely at the prone figure that lay in the center of the room surrounded by tubes and wires.

Nala had never actually met Delmar’s wife before. And she had always considered that a good thing – especially after the dinner she shared with him a few nights ago. It was impossible not to evaluate her as she crossed the room to settle into her workspace. She didn’t care how pretty the woman was or even how much money she made from her corporate job.

What she wondered was how intelligent this woman was – and what she had done to catch the eye of a man like Delmar.

“So,” Ira said as she noted Nala’s entry and glanced up to track her movements across the room, “we’re all here then? Shall we get started?”

Her words were curt and clipped. Nala couldn’t help reading judgment in them and, instantly, she bristled. She forced her eyes to her computer screen as she typed her ID and password.

“Now is not a great time for Ira,” the voice of Delmar drifted through the back of her mind, fresh and clear since the conversation had taken place only the night before. “Her nephew went missing a few weeks ago. Suspected kidnapping. And today she got word that the FBI is investigating a potential serial killer in the area he vanished from. So if my wife is a little shorter than usual, I hope you won’t hold it against her.”

It was a lot. Nala wasn’t close enough to her family to know how it would have felt if one of them went missing. But she imagined it was a lot like the panic that filled her chest whenever she glanced at the heart monitor attached to her prone colleague in the middle of the room.

We’re lucky she’s here at all, she reminded herself. They did not dare squander this opportunity!

“I assume my colleagues have brought you up to speed on the current situation?” Nala replied, trying her best not to sound tart.

Ira arched an eyebrow. She clearly detected something in Nala’s tone – perhaps a hint of dislike – but she said nothing about it. Instead she drew a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. “From what I understand, your friend here entered a computer simulation. He was supposed to check on the framework, then exit right away but something made him linger.”

“It’s possible the simulation is realistic enough once it’s beamed into his brain that he thinks it’s real,” Eidas elaborated with a patience Nala didn’t think she could summon at the moment. “We think that’s why he hasn’t engaged with the exit mechanism yet.”

“It doesn’t entirely make sense though,” Nala protested. “The exit is supposed to be in our office. He has every reason to go there if he thinks he’s living out his daily life.”

“How realistic is this simulation?” Ira interjected – and Nala hated the sense of expert confidence that infused her voice. What did she know about computer engineering?

When Nala shot her a dark look, Ira smirked and added, “I mean, how much is it capable of filling in based on his thoughts and feelings? If he walks into this office expecting it to look a certain way, could that override the exit he’s supposed to see?”

“Maybe…” Nodlehs murmured, his tone thoughtful. “It would take a powerful expectation to overwrite the code though.”

“So maybe his mind is dancing around it,” Ira suggested – and Nala hated how much sense her reasoning made. “Instead of overwriting the code so he doesn’t see it, his mind prevents him from looking directly at it. Like when you go to see a stage or street magician. They use misdirection to keep your thoughts and vision occupied so that you don’t notice what they’re really doing with their hands.”

“The brain is actually really good at that,” Nala admitted. “It could be why none of our signals have reached him.” Nala assumed they had all been too hastily compiled to break through the current framework of the simulated world. But if Alyial’s brain was keeping him completely engaged with the belief he was in a real space, he might just have rationalized them away.

How the fuck are we supposed to fool a man’s own brain?

“I need more context,” Ira’s voice interjected, and it grated against Nala’s nerves like sandpaper.

“What do you mean?” Nala snapped. Instantly, she regretted her tone, especially when Ira shot her an acid look that suggested she’d be happy to rise and march straight out of the room if she was spoken to in that manner again. “Sorry,” Nala murmured, and cast a contrite look between the rest of her team. “I just don’t understand what details you’re looking for. I assume you’ve been informed about all the technical specs.”

“I’m not here for technical specifications,” Ira replied dourly. “I am here to find the weird little bullshit that your scientific analytic minds have dismissed. So I need to know the context in which this situation is taking place. What happened in the lead up to this incident?” She waved to the prone figure laying in the middle of the cot. “What drove this man to jump into an unfinished computer simulation? What arguments have been happening around the office lately? Why was he the one that went in?”

Gossip in other words. She wanted to know what drama had been circulating their work space so she could pin the blame on some nonsense someone muttered a few weeks ago.

“I don’t see how that has any relevance to the situation at hand,” Nala declared bluntly and folded her arms in front of her chest. The look she shot her team members suggested she would murder them if one of them dared to utter a single word in answer to Ira’s queries, and both men shrank backwards as a result.

Instead of annoyance or exasperation, Ira responded with another of those knowing smirks that crawled directly beneath Nala’s skin and made her blood roil. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” she countered. “To notice a pattern you wouldn’t. If it was somewhere in your computer code, you’d have figured it out by now. What did you think Delmar meant when he said I’m good at solving weird problems?”

This query was directed toward Nala, and it came with a cutting stare that demanded she answer. Nala twisted her lips at the reminder that weird had crept into her perfectly logical work space. Delmar hadn’t defined exactly what he considered the word to mean in regards to his wife, but Nala guessed it involved the supernatural and paranormal. Things the scientific mind rejected because they were childish and foolish.

“If you don’t want my help,” Ira added when the silence dragged beyond thirty seconds, “I’ll happily see myself out.” She rose from her perch on one of the office chairs shoved into the corner, and Nala fully believed she would waltz out the door never to return if she didn’t receive the answers she wanted.

A word flitted through the back of Nala’s head, but she quickly banished it.

“Wait,” she sighed instead. “I just don’t see the connection. That’s all.”

Ira’s gaze shifted toward Eidas and Nodlehs and, this time, Nala lowered her eyes to indicate she wouldn’t interfere if they wanted to speak.

“Well…” Eidas jumped in right away, “a lot of weird things have been happening around here lately.”

“Alyial in particular seems to be experiencing a string of mishaps,” Nodlehs added, jumping straight to the point.

“What kind of mishaps?” Ira replied, obviously curious.

“Everything he touches breaks,” Nala said bluntly. And she still wasn’t convinced it was all the result of accidents. There was incompetence here somewhere. And when she ferreted it out, there was going to be hell to pay.

“It started with an innocently spilled coffee,” Eidas insisted with a deep, helpless shrug. “And since then it’s just been short after short every time we try to replace a hardware component.”

“Not all of Alyial’s mishaps can be explained either,” Nodlehs insisted. “I have personally checked over some of his code, and so has Eidas. But as soon as we run it through the compiler…” He let the statement hang and mirrored Eidas’s helpless shrug.

“So your friend here has been experiencing a barrage of technical mishaps and you thought it was a good idea to immerse him directly in the machinery?” Ira demanded, her voice tinged with dark amusement. She glanced over her shoulder in Nala’s direction when she added, “It isn’t hard to spot the pattern here.”

“Nonsensical superstition,” Nala insisted – mostly because she didn’t want to admit that she had pressured Alyial into serving as the test subject so that he could make up for all the mishaps that had put them behind schedule.

If he wanted to stay on this team, after all, he had to earn his keep somehow.

The knowing smile that brushed Ira’s lips suggested she saw straight through the veiled answer, and Nala had to grit her teeth to keep from growling at the woman to leave.

“And you haven’t encountered anything odd since he went in there that might represent some sort of technological mishap?” Ira pressed. “No strange errors in your logs? No code that doesn’t make sense?”

Rejection was on the tip of Nala’s tongue; she had been  combing through all of the available data to look for any sign of what might have gone wrong, and the fact that it all defied logic and reason was why they asked for Ira’s help in the first place.

But before she could speak, Nodlehs and Eidas exchanged glances, and Nala instantly snapped her jaw closed.

“There is something,” Nodlehs admitted. “I’ve been hesitant to mention it because the simplest explanation is just an unfiltered response we haven’t told the computer to quantify yet but… Well, here, see for yourself.”

He shifted his computer screen to reveal a line of highlighted code.

Nala stomped out from behind her workstation so she could skirt the cot in the middle of the room and peer at the screen along with their guest. She was furious this hadn’t been brought up sooner but, the moment she looked at the text, she agreed with Nodlehs’s assessment.

“This is gibberish,” she blurted without giving Ira a chance to respond.

“It certainly doesn’t make sense,” Nodlehs agreed. “I’ve run it through every system of computer language we use. It’s not binary. It’s not hexcode. I can’t find anything that translates it from numerical value to a language we can read.”

“It’s a tarot card,” Ira replied. Her tone was direct and matter of fact. So much so that Nala and every member of her team stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

“How the hell did you arrive at that conclusion?” Nala demanded. She looked at the stray code again, but it still seemed nonsensical to her.

“It says fifty-five,” Ira replied with more patience than she had any right to display. “Then the arrow suggests, to me, a breakdown of what that fifty-five means. Next it says four point thirteen. Then it repeats seventy-seven three times.”

“And that screams tarot cards to you?” Nala retorted tartly, not bothering to hide her hostility anymore.

Ira blinked once, and Nala thought she had finally thrown the woman off-guard. But then she smirked again.

“There are seventy-eight cards in a standard tarot card deck,” she explained in a shockingly reasonable tone. “The first twenty-two are the Major Arcana. The remaining fifty-six represent the Minor Arcana which are shockingly similar to a standard playing card deck. Each contains ten number or ‘pip’ cards and four face cards – as opposed to the three face cards in a standard deck of playing cards. Four point thirteen likely indicates the thirteenth card of the fourth suit – the next to last card in the deck if it is organized according to the standard default presentation.”

“And you know all this how?” Nala spat.

“My association with weird shit,” Ira reiterated with an exasperated roll of her eyes.

“What card would those numbers represent?” Eidas interjected, and the curiosity in his tone annoyed Nala to no end.

“The Queen of Pentacles,” Ira replied without hesitation. Then she cursed. “I need to know what happened the day this all started,” she insisted, her tone far more urgent than it had been before. “Was the innocent coffee spill really the start of everything?”

“As far as we know,” Eidas replied without hesitation. “Although Alyial did say he was having a rough morning before he arrived.”

“He may have had to rush through traffic to get here,” Nodlehs elaborated. “There was an emergency with the simulation that involved his code area and I may have told him to floor it so we wouldn’t lose months of work.”

“He said later that he cut someone off,” Eidas added. “He wasn’t proud about the near miss, but he didn’t have time to stop and make it right.”

Ira’s eyes widened. “What day was this?” she demanded, her tone more urgent than it had been the last time. “And did he happen to give a description of the car?”

This time, Nala was involved in the hastily exchanged glances thrown between her team. A sinking sensation started in the pit of her stomach, and it only grew worse when Eidas rambled off the date of the initial hard drive crash and Ira turned pale as a sheet.

Nala was forced to admit that reason and logic had flown out the window a long time ago, but Ira clearly knew something about this situation that cast it in a brand new context.

And the coincidence of her potentially being involved before they called her was so astronomical, so beyond the realm of reasonable possibility, Nala couldn’t even wrap her mind around it.

“I think I can solve your problem,” Ira declared after a moment of deafening silence. It was the first thing she said that Nala actually appreciated because it grounded her back in the moment.

She instantly shattered that appreciation by following the statement up with, “You need to send me into that simulation.”

“Out of the question,” Nala retorted without pausing to think about it.

“Fine,” Ira replied, and again spun toward the door.

“Wait!” Nala relented and caught the woman’s arm before she could brush past her. She sighed. She hated this.

But what other choice did they have?

“I don’t suppose you’re going to elaborate on why you have to be the one to enter this simulation and fix this problem?” she demanded as she locked gazes with Delmar’s wife.

“I could,” Ira retorted, “but I don’t think you’d like it. So it might be better if we just solve the problem and worry about the why later.”

“Fine,” Nala agreed. She still didn’t like this but, if Ira’s explanation was just going to melt her brain more, it might be wise not to probe too deeply. “But you’re going to have to give us an hour or two to prepare. Because I am not sending another person in there without some kind of emergency recall release trigger.”