After several tireless days and night I completed it. My first work since my eyes have been opened to new possibilities. "Mission From Beyond" was received surprisingly well by my fan base and is spreading more than I expected. This is all certainly enlightening and I can only fathom what I have yet to learn. I sunk a fair bit of expenses into printing even after crowdsourcing. I'll have to eat on the lighter side for a couple weeks, but I just know this is gonna pay dividends! I can feel it in my very soul that this is the start of something big. Something huge that I won't be able to contain to just my writing. It scares and excites me in equal measure. The one thing I know for certain is that I must keep the actual events I have witnessed and experienced close to me and hidden from public eyes. It is apparent that few people are in the know and there must be a good reason. Simon did say that these "Harbingers" only recruited people with talent. I don't know enough to make judgements. But perhaps one day I will be afforded a more incongruous look into these higher beings for what they really are.

I decided to make the most of my week vacation in Japan and hit the sites hard. I hadn't been here in several years and I was excited to see how the culture in Tokyo had changed. It was exciting trying all the foreign food dishes and going into the outskirts to visit the varies shrines and temples. But it made me realize something. I had done 2 contracts so far and both of them presented a significant problem. Language Barriers. I needed to try and mitigate this for the future because Simon could very well put us anywhere in the world. So I figured I aught to be prepared some of the time at least. I buckled down and tried to surround myself with the language. Spending hours a day learning and practicing. I told Luna that I was learning Japanese and she offered to be a conversation partner for me which really helped. After a month, I was nailing the language and my accent was improving too. After a few months, I was speaking fluent Japanese and could read and write it too. I wonder if this is a by-product of being a contractor. I've begun to notice that I can do even more than I thought I could....

All I wanted was to help a friend out. I ended up going on one hell of a journey.

First off, I took some snapshots of those old map in the underway that Charlie took down. So I figured I would be a pal and try to find someone who could digitally recreate them as new so she could hang them up and preserve the old ones. So I hop on my own subreddit and ask around. Some user pings me and asks if I took the screenshots in NEO-Genis. Immediately I hop into DMs with this dude and I tell him that sometimes I draw inspiration from NEO-Genis. His username is "Guardian Aegis" and he is on board to help me restore the maps. Fast forward a week and he's done a really solid job tbh! They look great! I ask him if he knows anything about the underground and he says he's done his own research into it and hasn't found out a whole lot besides the fact that it wasn't even complete before the devs scraped it for fast travel and buried it. I guess nothing ever really stays buried in NEO-Genis.... So now I'm curious and I start pokin' around old post on the forum and independent subreddits. I find a couple of entries dating back 5 years when it was first being talked about and notice people talk about some old shops.

I hop into the player hub and start scrolling through all the shops in those fields. I must have been at it for literal hours before I got to the bottom of the list and noticed Gizmo's Gadgets which had a single review from a few days ago from "The Deadline". Well shit if that ain't Charlie idk what is. I track down this store in the back alley of a couple other buildings (I never would have seen this thing if I wasn't looking for it.) and walk on in. Gizmo is...an interesting fellow. Lots of arms...smart...old.... To be completely honest he was pretty enlightening in his talks about NEO-Genis back in those days. He couldn't tell me much about the conductor or the underground, but there was something he said that stuck with me. "Everyone wants to have their story told". That got me thinking, the conductor doesn't really want to kill anyone. He's just protecting his domain. Maybe he's just upset his story ended before it was told. After that, I knew that I had to go to the source. I will talk to the conductor myself!!!

After messaging Charlie I headed into the underway, but she wasn't there. So I stuck my head into the staff room and left her the maps I got with a note. It's not like she asked me to do this, but it wasn't that heavy a lift. I hope they help her. After that, I really didn't know where to go. So I just said fuck it and hopped down into the a tunnel and started walking. These tunnels just don't add up. Something is definitely screwy with the layout down here. I thought I had some idea of how the tracks function, but that went out the window when I saw an e line h line split....

The mongooses found me! They are a little scary looking. I imagine they are here to keep players out of the tunnel. I didn't notice them until my leg got bit, but it wasn't bad and it looked like I could outrun them. Eventually I saw a d line split and practically dove into it, following it down until I hit subway platform 11. This platform was brightly lit with no exit and the mongooses seemed to not want to enter it. So I caught my breath and simple waited for the train to come. Several minutes passed before I heard a train whistle in the distance. The tunnels shifted and the exit opened up. But I saw the lines. a line and delta line. I knew it.... He's giving me an out. He wants me to leave. He'd rather I just leave than actually confront me. I'm afraid I can no longer give him the satisfaction. My body was already moving down the delta line before my mind was made up. The lights immediately went out, but at least there were no more mongooses. I continued on and the train tracks actually descended downwards and then the tracks got older and older until they just stopped.... The tunnel continued on but the air got thinner and thinner. It became real hard to breathe. I could tell I was getting close but something was holding me back. That's when I felt the eye on me. A singular eye from both nowhere and everywhere at once. He's watching me.... So I just sat there. Calling out into the darkness. Wanting to know his story. Trying to get him to interact with me at all while trying not to pass out from lack of air. Eventually he relented and the air returned. I got up and again, heard the train whistle in the distance. This time coupled with a growing light. Not wanting to become splattered, I got onto the maintenance side track and watched as a glowing monster of a train passed by me. Before I could hop on I was knocked out from behind.

I awoke. Sitting up I noticed I was in a cage much like in the video post. A simple matter for myself. As I exited the cage I was alone in a familiar glowing train car. I am so close now. The door proved to be more tricky though. It actively seemed to be fighting me when opening it. So I resigned myself to wait and had a look around. A few boxes with unopened train tickets, an old photo of the player hub back in the day (a snapshot for later), a blank name tag. Several books scattered around. One being a log book which was completely blank and another being an operator's manual on train conduction. I started flipping through it and noticed that after a while it started talking about the specifics of the NEO-Genis railway system. Before I could get too far though, the conductor opened the door and came gliding in. I made no pretense to hide myself or shy away from his presence (I actively sought him out after all). He pointed a gun at me and I put his book down on the table. I tired to convince him that he wasn't the forgotten relic that he assumed he was and that the players are not the devs, nor do they have any input into what the devs do. I did my best to convince him that his story was worth telling.... But in the end...he defaulted to violence. A tragedy unfolding. I didn't make it easy for him. But he still riddled me with bullets. So I did the only thing I could. I lunged for the books and tucked them into my inventory before I was gunned down. I remember him screaming out "NNOOOOOOOO" as I felt darkness take me before waking up in the player hub. Just know that I only ever wanted to talk. I showed him 10 times the courtesy that he showed me as a passenger on his train. I'll figure out this mystery myself if I have to. And next time...I won't be nearly as nice.

I took off the headset!!!!! WHy am I still in pain!!!!!!!!! Oh god what is happening?!?!?!?!! Everything hurts so much!!!!!Fuck, I think I need an ambulance....

I entered the Neo-Genis player hub with one mission. To fix this awful pain in the back of my head. After talking with a couple of experienced players I find out that the Harmony Elderitch Library has someone who cures scars for honestly not that much. I snag a teleport and it's a whole complex of buildings in the middle of the forest. Looks beautiful, but my head still hurt. So I asked the secretary where I could find Luminous. They said that Luminous was the guild master and that he was in the library already. So I headed up to meet him. The library was something else. All sorts of books and tomes and a whole lot of history about Neo-Genis. It really got me thinking...what if he could tell me something I don't know yet about the underground? I introduce myself and he seems like an alright guy. Patched me up with his powers in no time at all. But I could still feel that nagging sensation in the back of my head.... I mull it over a bit more before deciding to cave and tell Luminous that I came across some rather interesting items. He was fairly excited to see them, so I handed them over and let him get to work. At one point he told me to step back so I thought it might be something serious. I'm not taking reckless chances anymore. In the Train Operator's Manual was hidden script that the conductor wrote. Lamenting his creators and rejecting his identity as a conductor. Honestly it aligned pretty closely with what I had heard directly from the demon himself. Luminous tells me that I have some kind of mark. Yea, that tracks. It's always my luck that things turn out like this. I thank him for everything and he kindly teleports me outside. I have a lot to think about. What the heck am I even gonna tell Charlie when I see her?

My power is unlocked. I can now control and manipulate paper.... That sounded better in my head. But I can't back down now! I'm just getting started with this guild and I definitely want to see it through! I had taxed the generosity of my patrons and those interested. But I had 2 truckloads of paper and then some at my disposal to begin with. I made my way outside the player hub to an area I knew wasn't claimed yet and called the members to see who could help build the structure. I also Called in Maze since he said he would be there if I needed help. Honestly, I was extremely thankful for Maze. He made quick work of the exterior and he understood my vision for the guild hall at a glance. We were midway through the construction and I had spent the last several hours sculpting. Honestly, I didn't have to exert my mind much to use this power since I had the manuscript, but after this long I was starting to manifest a little fatigue. I stopped momentarily to eat a sandwich when the ground started shaking. I told everyone to brace themselves and to get away from the build site. The ground began to change and everything seemed to get just a little bit duller. I glanced up at the sky and something...odd was forming. I couldn't tell what. I asked Ripley what was happening and she told me that my power must have caused the biome to become unstable and was adapting to become more resilient! Apparently, this had only happened a few times before to varying effects.

Eventually, the shaking ceased and the land was transformed...or at least, it had started. I guess it will take some time. But the weather was still incredibly odd and building in the sky above. I asked everyone if they were alright and glanced over just in time to see the ground cave in a few hundred feet from the build site and a small metal structure rise up in its place. Walking over, I glanced up at the newfound entrance sign that read "Underway Platform _". Well shit...I need to call Charlie when this is over. I stepped down into the Underway and found a train platform, same as platform 11 that I had stumbled across in my adventure to find the Conductor. But the tunnels were boarded up. So I left and found Ripley running towards me. Apparently some of the archeologists had been testing the ground around the build site after the biome shifted and found that it had become incredibly stable. As in, unusually so. To the point where they were saying that it could be the most dense ground in all of Neo-Genis. I can't even process the significance of that so I tucked it away for later.

We all got back to work at that point and finished out the guild hall. It was modest, but it was ours. The interior was lovely to say the least. shelves for books all over. comfortable seating and writing tables and a beautiful reception area for registration and assistance, including a back office area for paperwork and record keeping. I couldn't help but smile. I thanked everyone for their hard work and Maze returned to Maikendo. We were still patting each other on the back when it started to rain.... The rain was...breathtaking. I can't quite describe how beautiful it was. It was as if the very universe spoke to me. Not in words, but in emotions. I cried, though the tears were hidden in the rain as the droplets played a soft melody that enveloped us all. I was humbled in that moment. I would protect this place, no matter what. In that moment, I decided to name this place after the concept of heaven made tangible. The Firmament.

There was one more thing to take care of though. I sent a quick message to fellow Guild Master Luminous that I was ready to begin talks of an alliance. He arrived but moments later, remarking at the new landscape our lofty hall. He seemed happy that I had agreed to hear him out. Why wouldn't he after all. This was the chance at information and the chance to null growing animosity between guilds of close nature. I knew this as we sat on the sofas were tea and snacks were served. We talked at length about the importance of preserving knowledge and how it was more beneficial to work together. We established boundaries where our guilds wouldn't step on each other toes. We both gave access to our knowledge repositories and other resources for each other's members. Though I did make an exception for certain instances I deemed of crucial importance on a case by case basis. In addition, I also told Luminous that the Writer's Guild reserved exclusive rights to explore and catalogue any and all findings within The Firmament. He agreed and I drew up the contract. It was purely a research and resource sharing agreement. Nothing more since most of my members wanted nothing to do with any guild wars which I wasn't keen on either. We both signed and copies were made for record keeping before we wrapped up our talks and I bit Luminous adieu.

Things were shaping up to be quite interesting in the coming days. I was practically quivering with anticipation. So many new concepts to explore and potential to realize. But before that, I owed it to a friend to reach out. I pulled up my UI and selected Charlie from my friends list. Let's see where this thread takes us~