Location: Grand Bazaar, Sumeru City
Current Form: Human
Status: Déjà vu (x50), bored, eating for science
The Sabzeruz Festival was beautiful. There were lights, dancing, and candy.
Raiden sat on a bench, watching Nilou dance. Next to him sat a young woman who looked pale but happy - Dunyarzad - and her bodyguard, the "Flame-Mane" Dehya.
"You're staring at my client," Dehya crossed her arms, her golden eyes sharp. "Got a problem, tall, dark, and hungry?"
Raiden took a bite of a Shawarma wrap. "She has Eleazar. Advanced stage. The scales are pressing on her nerve endings. I'm just wondering how she's standing."
Dehya stiffened, her hand moving to her claymore. "Watch your mouth."
"I respect the grit," Raiden nodded at Dunyarzad. "You have a warrior's spirit in a fragile body. I like that."
Dunyarzad smiled weakly. "Thank you, Mr. Raiden. Today is a happy day. I won't let my illness ruin the festival."
"Good attitude," Raiden finished his wrap. "Hey, Dehya. Bet you 500 Mora that the Grand Sage cancels this party in exactly ten minutes."
Dehya frowned. "The Sage? They wouldn't dare come down here."
Ten minutes later.
Grand Sage Azar (or rather, his holographically projected lackey) appeared, shutting down the music and scolding Nilou for "frivolous behavior."
"I hate being right," Raiden sighed.
Dehya glared at the Sage, furious, but powerless to strike a high-ranking official. Aether and Paimon looked devastated.
The day ended in sadness. They went to sleep.
BEEP.
Raiden opened his eyes.
He was back on the bench. The sun was in the exact same position. Nilou was warming up for her dance.
"Traveler," Raiden said. "Didn't we just do this?"
Aether looked at him, confused. "Do what? We just arrived at the festival."
Raiden narrowed his eyes.
"Great Sage. Report."
"Notice. Temporal anomaly detected. Consciousness has been reset to [Start of Day]. Memory files of Host remain intact due to [Erosion Immunity]. External Reality is looping."
"A time loop?" Raiden muttered. "Classic sci-fi trope."
Loop Number 20
Raiden stood in front of the kebab vendor.
"One Lamb Kebab, please," Raiden said.
"Coming right up!" the vendor smiled.
Raiden took a bite. "Dry. Just like the last nineteen times."
He looked around. Aether and Paimon were running around doing fetch quests, completely unaware they were trapped in a Samsara.
"This is boring," Raiden groaned. "I can't even grind XP in a dream loop."
He walked over to Dehya.
"Hey, Flame-Mane. Your sword is heavy on the left side."
Dehya blinked. "How do you know—wait, who are you?"
"I'm the guy who's going to steal your lunch," Raiden grabbed an apple from a crate. "See you in the next reboot."
Loop Number 46: The Breaking Point
Raiden was done acting normal.
He stood in the middle of the Grand Bazaar. He took a deep breath.
[Dragon's Haki: Low Output].
The air vibrated. The NPCs—because that's what they were in this dream - glitched. The music stuttered.
A small figure in green and white watched him from the shadows.
Raiden turned his head 180 degrees to look at her.
"Found you," Raiden grinned.
The figure vanished.
Raiden walked over to a flower stall where Dunyarzad was looking at a Padisarah. But something was wrong. This wasn't the real Dunyarzad. This was a puppet.
"The real one is fading," Raiden realized. "Her consciousness can't handle the CPU load of the dream."
He grabbed Aether by the shoulder.
"Wake up, Sunshine."
Aether blinked. "Raiden? What..."
"We are in a loop," Raiden said, projecting his memory directly into Aether's mind via [Thought Communication].
FLASH.
Aether gasped, clutching his head. The memories of forty-six days flooded back.
"The festival..." Aether panted. "It never ends. They're harvesting our dreams!"
"Bingo," Raiden tapped his nose. "The Akasha is using the city as a crypto-mining rig for wisdom. And we are the GPUs."
A girl appeared before them. She looked like a child, with white hair and a side ponytail.
Nahida. The Dendro Archon.
"You are awake," Nahida said, her voice soft and echoing. "And you... you have been awake the whole time."
She looked at Raiden with wide, curious eyes. "You are fascinating. The Akasha cannot read you. You appear as a void in the data stream. Who are you?"
"I'm the IT guy sent to fix your router," Raiden crouched down. "Hi, Kusanali. Nice cage you have here."
Nahida looked sad. "It is not a cage I chose. But we must save the people. If the Samsara continues, Dunyarzad's mind will dissipate."
"So we break it," Raiden stood up. "We need to find the Host of the Dream and wake them up. Or..."
Raiden looked at the artificial sky of the dream.
"...Or I can just eat the simulation."
"Please don't," Nahida waved her hands. "If you consume the dreamscape violently, you might lobotomize everyone in Sumeru City."
"Fine," Raiden rolled his eyes. "We'll do it the detective way. Who's the host?"
Aether spent the next loop questioning people. Raiden spent it testing the physics engine of the dream.
He punched a wall. It shattered into binary code before reforming.
"Lazy rendering," Raiden critiqued.
Finally, they realized the truth. The only person who was experiencing new things, the only one for whom the festival was truly special.
Nilou.
They found her on the stage.
"The dance," Aether said. "You have to dance, Nilou. Even if the Sage forbade it."
"But... the Sages..." Nilou hesitated.
Raiden stepped onto the stage. The dream-constructs of the Sages appeared to stop him.
"Halt! This is irrational!" the Dream Sage shouted.
Raiden didn't even look at him. He backhanded the air.
[Extra Skill: Data Deletion].
The Sage exploded into green pixels.
"Dance, girl," Raiden ordered gently. "I cleared the floor. Show us the move that wakes the world."
Nilou looked at Raiden, then at Aether. She took a deep breath.
She began to dance.
The Dance of Sabzeruz.
As she moved, the dream began to crack. The sky fractured like glass. The repetition shattered.
Raiden looked up. "Finally. Actual Tuesday."
Location: The Real World, Sumeru City
Status: Morning (The Day After)
Aether woke up in his bed with a headache.
Paimon woke up drooling.
Raiden was already awake, sitting on the windowsill, eating an apple.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauties," Raiden crunched the apple. "We lost a few days, but we saved the girl. Dunyarzad is stable."
"We need to find Katheryne," Aether said, jumping up. "Nahida said she would meet us there."
They ran to the Adventurers' Guild. Katheryne (possessed by Nahida) was waiting.
"Hello again," Nahida-Katheryne smiled. "Thank you for your help. But we have a bigger problem. The Sages are working on a project to create a new God."
"Let me guess," Raiden leaned on the counter. "It involves a giant robot, a lot of electro energy, and a brat with a hat?"
Nahida nodded. "How did you know?"
"I smelled the ozone," Raiden said. "So, Scaramouche is getting an upgrade. And the Sages are using the Akasha to harvest divine knowledge to fuel him."
"Correct," Nahida said. "They have imprisoned me in the Sanctuary of Surasthana to prevent me from interfering."
"They locked up their own God?" Paimon was outraged.
"Sumeru logic," Raiden scoffed. "They value 'Wisdom' so much they forgot common sense. Locking up a God is just asking for a smiting."
Raiden cracked his neck.
"So, the plan is simple," Raiden said. "We break into the Akademiya, we beat up the Sages, we rescue the radish, and I scrap the giant robot for parts."
"It is not that simple," Nahida warned. "The Doctor - Dottore - is also involved."
Raiden's playful expression vanished. The air temperature dropped ten degrees.
"Dottore," Raiden repeated.
He remembered the files he had read in Mondo. The human experimentation. The mockery of life.
"The Second Harbinger," Raiden's eyes glowed with a cold, predatory light. "Now that is someone I don't mind eating."
"To defeat them, we need allies," Nahida said. "You must go to the desert. To the village of Aaru. The people there... hate the Akademiya. They will help you."
"The desert," Raiden looked west. "Sand. Lots of sand. I hate sand. It's coarse and rough and gets everywhere."
"Please focus," Aether sighed.
"Fine," Raiden pushed off the counter. "Let's go make friends with the desert folk. Maybe I can find some scorpions to snack on."
As they turned to leave, Raiden paused. He looked at Nahida-Katheryne.
"Hey, Radish."
"Yes?"
"Don't let them break your spirit," Raiden said. "I'm coming to get you. And when I do, I'm going to turn the Grand Sage into a houseplant."
Nahida giggled. "I will wait for you, Gluttonous Sovereign."