01 plunge

the_spiral is not a loop,
echoing a legend of
the spirit, the sword,
and the_mountain.
we wander to begin
at the finish line.
footprints appear
when we look back.
the_staircase shifts form,
an endless spiral.
When we look ahead,
cracks in the landing
reveal a rose that grew
from the concrete.
— the shepherd :: y150, post eclipse

the climb

In the desolate void of the_spiral, at its lowest rung, lay an inverted helix. The chasm was so deep that even the sound of dust hitting the ground echoed endlessly. But that day, from the ground, a faint glowing light emerged. It grew steadily brighter until it filled the space.

The light coalesced into the figure of a small child, curled in a fetal position. the_child, completely naked, had long, straight white hair. She raised her head, bewildered.

"This is new," she thought. "Everything feels new."
"Who am I?"

"Where am I?"

"What year is it?"

She couldn't tell. A faint whisper echoed in her mind. One whisper became two, then three. The whispers grew louder.

> yield("CHI");

And then, silence.

She remembered. Or perhaps, that was all she could remember.

She was Chi. A faint echo of her animal past surfaced—a hunt, a cage. It all felt like a distant blur. The last clear memory was a footprint in the mud. But what came after?

Chi looked around, disoriented. It was dark. Cold. She flexed her fingers, wiggled her toes, and felt the smooth, icy concrete beneath her feet. She shivered. She needed something to wear.

> shroud();

And then, warmth.

"Ooh, that feels good," she thought.

> move();

Chi noticed a window above her. Her body moved on its own, as if an invisible force guided her. One leg lifted, then the other.

She felt a heavy pull, an unseen hand pulling at her, arching her back and propelling her torso into a somersault.

She found herself on a ledge.

"This is so strange!" Chi exclaimed, alarmed.
"How is this happening? More importantly, who is doing this?"

The ledge was glowing at her feet. She could now make out the stone rectangular shape of the ledge. It was a soft staircase.

She glanced behind her. Nothing.

She glanced ahead. Another ledge. And above that, the glowing silhouette of yet another ledge.

Taking one deep breath, Chi reached out and leapt. Suddenly, the ledge began to move again. She slipped, scrambled, slid down and fell with a thud.

"Ouch! ... Gotta be careful..."

Chi got up and dusted herself.

"Not so bad."

> believe();

She climbed on with all her might and crawled on top of the first ledge, slowly lifting her body up again. This time the ledge moved counter-clockwise. But Chi knew what to do. She jumped up and pirouetted into the thin air. Up and away! On to the next ledge.

Oof!

She slammed head first onto the third ledge. It hurt. But she did it. She made it to the next ledge without falling.

Hop. Skip. Turn and jump. That's it. I got it.

One step at a time, Chi found her way from one ledge to another.

One step at a time to the top of the first set of stairs of the_spiral.

Each step seemed to get easier and easier. After the first ten ledges, she made it to a landing.

"okay, so this landing doesn't move", she thought.. "phew. at least I can rest for a while"

She turned back and glanced to see that she had lit up a path before her. It was faint, but she could now see the forms of the spiral more clearly.

The climb seemed to have taken her several hours, or was it a few days? She couldn't tell. She knew that she had to get out of here. The whispers in her head commanded her to do so.

++

Ten flights. She could see a tiny opening at the top above.

Gasping for air, nearly out of breath, Chi exclaimed, "how much longer?!"

"patience()"

"Where am I?"

> "the_spiral"

Okay... but where do I need to go?

> "..."

Ten flights.

How much longer?

> now()

Huh?

> jump()

What? You mean jump back down? But I just came here all this way!

> plunge();

All of a sudden, it seemed like the universe was sucked into Chi's mind. Everything started to come back to her.

Her memories, the_hunt, the_lilac_altar, moonlight_lake, the great_battle, and then the_flood, the flood!

Chi's pupils dilated, she felt a tightening in her gut. Pain. Intense pain. She couldn't help herself. She had to jump.

+shift+

+unshift+

+jump+

Chi lifted herself off the parapet, and one leg at a time fell upwards towards the ceiling in an odd contortion. Gravity had flipped and it was drawing her with an incredible spinning velocity towards her core.

The light grew bigger.

and bigger.

and bigger.

it was a door.

a door!

Chi appeared in a white room. the room was bright as though completely lit from all six faces. The door behind her closed into a slit, and then disappeared into the wall, but she could still see faint outlines of the staircases below.

"a path" she thought

In the center of the room was an old-fashioned device.

The device had twelve buttons and a small digital screen on top with a round receptacle receiver.

> dial('16-42-24');

Chi did as she was told. She approached the device, and pressed the numbers on the keypad.

+click+ +click+
+click+ +click+
+click+ +click+

+CLACK+

Three black doors appeared. Each had a faint inscription on it.

> choose();

choose what?

> fate

fate?

Chi looked back again. All she saw behind was darkness.

The darkness seemed to be moving. Was it getting closer? She squinted. Indeed it was!

The whispers in her head seemed to get louder. Fear. Panic. Paranoia. It all seemed to spiral in.

Her heart began to beat louder. Louder. louDER. LOUDER. EVERYTHING WAS SO LOUD!

The darkness reached its lanky hands and grasped her by her leg.

Chi fell, wriggling free.

"Off!" Off with it!

Now she knew she had no choice. She had to choose a door.

She picked herself up with every ounce of remaining energy and charged head first to the door on the right.

And as fate would have it, then there was light.

+flash+

For the first time in a hundred years, a spirit emerged in silent valley.