The White Space

Recording Start

June slowly opened her eyes to the sight of familiar concrete ceilings and the smell of wet asphalt. The smell of her own filth hit her nose which caused her to suddenly be sat up to heave.

Did I really just..? It felt so real.

June frantically stared at her hands, still stained with layers upon layers of dust and grime and still wearing musty old clothes she couldn't wash nor change. She felt tears prick her eyes.

Of course, of course! Why did I ever think it was going to be real? It was just a stupid dream in the end.

A cheerily grating voice slips itself into her ears.

"Oh? What made you think it was?"

June frantically turned around to find herself sitting next to a symbol on the ground drawn by what she can only assume as stolen chalk. Sitting on top of the symbol is a woman, unnaturally pale, a smile pinned by two grooves to form a ventriloquist mouth. Blank eyes stare down at her, peering from the darkness of her hood. It tilts its head, joints creaking softly as she does. With a clack, she opens her mouth to speak.

"I forgot to warn you not to shower when you arrive at that realm. Otherwise, the contrast upon waking might be upsetting to feel."

The sight of this stranger and her instinct to back away made her finally realize the sheer soreness searing through her legs and arms. Every attempt of movement made her weakly wince in pain.

"Just- What happened? Who are you!? What did you do to me??"

Questions flew like water in a desperate bid to regain her bearings, but she was quickly shushed by the mysterious stranger holding up a finger towards their own mouth.

"Easy with the questions."

June slowly managed to lean on a nearby wall behind her amidst the whining and groaning, the stranger continues to stare at them as they struggle. Eventually the wincing quiets down as June's body relaxes leaning on the wall.

"... Can I ask questions now?"

"One at a time, but yes you may."

"Okay.." June shuffles in place, taking a few deep breaths before readying her first question. "Where am I?"

"In an abandoned building miles away from Ness Anne."

"Miles??" Well that certainly explains why she was so sore all over, there's no way she would have the money for the commute. "What did you do to my body?"

"I needed it borrow it for something important."

The stranger raised their hand to pause the questioning.

"That reminds me."

They began to slowly stand up.

"Do you remember my offer? I'm sure you have a lot of questions about that, but I have a new proposition for you modifying it from the old."

"I want you to use my realm as your temporary residence."

... What? June still remembers the deal of course. In exchange for a temporary use of her body, she will assist her in any way she could. "Can we talk about it first?"

"Of course. That's why we are here talking."

"What do you gain by helping me?"

"None."

"I am doing this out of my own volition."

"If that's the case well- for one, I'd like to have my body back. That means no more possessions or anything like that." June looks away, "Because... Because if you really wanted to help me, then you wouldn't hold anything against me."

"You're already in your body but consider it done."

June's body leaned towards the stranger, almost ready to lunge had she not been weaken down. "I KNEW YOU WE'R- huh?" She stills, not expecting the response.

"You make a really good point. Which is why I accept your terms."

"Anything else?"

Shit. She didn't think she'd make it this far. They shouldn't lower their guard just yet. "What did you mean when you said: 'borrowed it for some important?"

The creature leaned away, eyes closed with contemplation before quickly standing up in rigid posture.

"I just recently helped a friend escape their situation after being abducted into an establishment. The people they dealt with were cruel towards them, mutilating their body to a point they have reduced them into a sickly being."

"You've witnessed it yourself on our first meeting."

Upon recollection, June did recall the sickly imagery. It gave her shivers had she wasn't so clearly on death's door.

"To ensure those very same people do not return to hurt them once again, I had to borrow your body to stalk them and their databases."

"I can assure you that they are not catching us."

"Okay..." Well, that is certainly evidence of her good deed, she could be lying still. June slowly leaned back to a wall. "Who are you."

"I don't have a name, but most people have settled on referring me either as 14 or XIV."

It's almost creepy how little the stranger named XIV moved throughout their entire conversation. "When I-" June took another breath as ribs begin to feel tight upon her chest. "Another thing is no more house arrest!"

XIV tilts its head.

"House arrest? You went under house arrest?"

"Uh yeah?" June attempted to regain the feeling into her fingers, slowly flexing and relaxing. "When I was staying in the shelter, I suddenly got locked in that place." The more she recalled her dream her voice grew louder, "It was terrifying! Please don't make me go through that again."

XIV returns back to her rigid posture, this time, a single finger rests under her chin pondering.

"I'm afraid I cannot grant this request, for the shelter locking itself is a defense mechanism from intruders to the realm."

"As recompense, I allow you to use the sigil below me to escape to the human realm when it happens."

June looks at down to the sight of an intricate sigil that the stranger is standing on, "And you expect me to remember that?"

"I'll be sure to send you a copy to reference."

"Anything else in mind?"

June looked down eyes scanning every word she spoke, not like she has a lawyer to oversee the contract. "Are you really going to allow me to leave whenever what I want?"

"Of course! So long as you draw the sigil. There's a possibility that it might transport you into a random location which is why I recommend you bring a map to gain a more accurate bearing."

"Anything else?"

"... What else can you tell me about this realm of yours? Anything I should know about the place?"

"You won't be alone in there."

"In my realm resides the spirit of the most wanted criminal in history in a different place. This man has hurt children like you, running experiments no mortal should be running."

"Another is a detective, placed upon her is a heavy weight of solving that criminal's case. The hope of that distant world being carried on her shoulders."

"I can assure you that those two will not be able to harm in anyway shape or form."

Oh great. A weirdo and a cop. Should've known that there was a catch and there it was. Well at least she was honest about it in the get go. "How can you be sure?"

"They do not have their bodies in that realm, your flesh will protect you from them."

"So basically, they're ghosts?"

"Yes."

Is it worth dying in the street or live in what is essentially the weirdest haunted house to ever exist in the nowhere? ... Screw it "Sounds good to me." June slowly sat up, finally recovering some strength from resting. "Can I bring something to defend myself?"

"Sure you can, not sure how effective it'll be for the ghosts."

"Just for safety." June slowly stood up, legs slightly wobbly. "So uh... How do I enter."

"Just walk into the sigil."

XIV stood alone in the Endless White, observing her newfound vessel’s soul disappear deeper within the shelter. They seem to begin the process of adjusting into what will be their new life and XIV couldn’t be any happier.

A small moment of time felt as if it had slipped away suddenly. Or perhaps not slipped, but ran towards her, leaping with a set of jagged teeth. Until the moment simply faded from the mind.

A woman in a white button-up with a dark blue capelet over it, and a short blue skirt had wandered into the space, seemingly out of nowhere. Her face was framed by raven black hair styled into an outgrown pixie cut, eyes obscured by a pair of rounded glasses. The lenses were a golden color—yet the left lens in particular was almost fully eclipsed by a light Indigo eating away at the yellow tint.

She looked like a tourist, if anything. Walking around aimlessly in the white void, a curious smile on her face as she looked around, humming to herself.

Like an instinctual force, the shelter from the distance closed and disappeared. White tendrils shoot out to feel away at the intruding stranger. 

“My, how strange!” A man’s voice, fanciful and soft, greets you. “I don’t recall inviting any guests over.”

The woman tilted her head slightly at the sight of the other being in this seemingly endless void. She placed a hand to her face, adjusting her glasses as to make sure that her eyes stayed covered.

“Oh? Me, need an invitation?” She mused, the smile twitching a little wider in amusement, perhaps. “Don't worry, I'm just looking around! Not a very good vacation spot, is it? Going from one endless void to another?”

For a moment, you feel the ground gain its texture soft yet so mushy. A small kick from behind felt a root, even the tendrils that poke at thee reminisce on blades of tall grass. From its folds, a mannequin emerges.

“I concur,” XIV nodded as he made his way towards the unexpected newcomer. “So many beautiful aspects of the universe, and yet you chose this?”

“I suppose there can be beauty in nothing… Are you an aspect of time perhaps?” A singular tendril attempts to steal the pair of glasses the young missus is wearing. “Only those beings tend to barge here unannounced."

"An aspect, well now that just feels demeaning," the woman said, keeping her playful demeanor as she turned to focus on the mannequin now appeared in front of her. "I'm but a humble caretaker of one of its ghastly beasts. Even still, a girl's gotta take a break every now and then, don't you think?"

She lifted her hand and smacked the tendril away sharply, the action giving away her annoyance at the curiosity. Some things should not be revealed, after all.

She leaned forward, staring down at the now solid yet not-solid ground beneath her blue sneakers. "Hmm, can't say I've ever been in a place like this before! Are you always able to spawn such settings on a whim?”

“What setting?” The tendrils receded, every texture disappeared to make way for nothing. A windy place for the endless white. “Well knock next time I’m always happy to take in guests.”

They slowly made their way to a more distant area.

The woman followed leisurely, looking around even without any sights to see. 

“Funny,” she hummed, her smile never leaving. All of it was rather entertaining to her. “I don't suppose we can have anything more refreshing? It should be close to tea time right about now! Or, if you're too mature for it, a coffee date would be fine too.”

“Ohhhhh you came here for tea and snacks?” XIV pulled out a table and a pair of chairs from nothing, the tablecloth and chair cover being irrevocably attached to the ground. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Hmm, in-trest-ing!” The woman chirps gleefully, her smile widening at the sight. “You're quite a skilled manipulator of this place! I could learn a thing or two from you!”

She bunched up her skirt enough to sit down politely in one of the chairs, pushing up her glasses slightly to adjust them. “Do tell me, is your manipulation related to memories at all?”

“What’s wrong? Interested in taking a bite of me?” XIV sifts through the nothing to pull out a kettle and tea set. She plates the snacks in the middle, in a form of warm and slightly large pretzels that seem to be a painting that came to life. “What kind of impression are you looking for?”

“Oh, please!” The woman almost laughed, a chuckle escaping instead as she took a cup of tea. She sipped it once, not caring for the taste, perhaps not even tasting it at all. “I'm far too exhausted to do anything to you! I did say I was on vacation!”

She lowered the teacup gently onto its saucer. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the tablecloth and clasping her hands together. “I have a small problem, you see, a pesky one at that. I was hoping to meet someone that could teach me how to manipulate things I shouldn't.”

“And what do I gain from teaching you?” XIV pours the stranger a cup. “We barely know each other!”

Taking a sip of the tea, it tastes bitter and bland, an instinctual disgust from drinking what is akin to heated up bathwater, sweat and grime included. Despite that, the snacks tasted delightful, freshly baked in the oven on a hot summer day.

“Fair enough, I should've guessed that you would want something in return.” The woman's smile twitched slightly, irritation seeping through at the complication. Of course, other beings were complicated. 

She didn't reach for any of the snacks, regardless of how good they looked. Her smile grew again as her words became laced with pride. “I suppose I should introduce myself, then. I am who they call the One True Voice of the Clockwork.”

“I carry no name, only titles, but I suppose you can call me Fourteen.” XIV took a sip of the tea. “Are you not hungry or thirsty? Or do you not have the need for that?”

“Fourteen?” The woman joked, tilting her head slightly. “What, do you share a last name with thirteen others?”

“It was the first word I heard.” XIV took a bite of the snacks.

“Really, now?” The woman hummed, taking the teacup in hand again. “It's not exactly a common word, you know. But anyway, to answer your earlier question. You're right, I don't need to feed to survive. Not anymore, at least. But I do still enjoy drinking when I can!”

She took another sip, longer this time. “Brings back some of my fondest memories.”

“Really? You remember this flavor fondly?” XIV giggled at the thought. “Well these tea and snacks are your first lesson, in case you haven't realized it yet.”

The woman froze. Her ever-present smile managed to falter for half a second.

First lesson?

“Oh?” She hummed, setting down the teacup with a sharp clink. “Hm! Perhaps it had slipped my mind to be paying attention!”

She lowered her chin slightly. If her eyes weren't hidden away behind those lenses, she might as well have been glaring daggers. “You don't mind showing me again… do you?”

“Faha,” A rich laughter that reeks of condescension emanated from the mannequin before her. “If you are lacking in observation, then perhaps you might struggle…”

XIV placed a hand to cover his own mouth. “Even better– Not cut out for such a thing?”

The woman set her elbows on the table, interlocking her fingers to cover her mouth. She stayed silent for a long moment, thinking. She kept most of her composure intact despite the insult landing well.

“You're quite the snarky one,” she mused, her voice heavier than before, though the playful tone remained. “However, I did say that it’s something I can't naturally do. So yes. I'm not exactly ‘cut out’ for it.”

A smile of subtle malice settled back over her lips as she lowered her hands. “Which is why it’ll be all the more fun to show that I can do it.”

“Why are you interested in learning about memories anyway?” XIV continued sipping the crappy tea she made. “I can sense the malice dripping from your voice.”

“A girl's gotta keep some secrets, you know.” The woman eyed the tea again, picking up the teacup more delicately this time. She studied it closely, as if it would tell every secret about itself if pressured enough. “Let's just say I work with them quite a lot. It would make my life a thousand times easier if I could just…”

She took another drink, longer this time. As she lowered the teacup, her gaze seemed to follow.

“Hmm, that's quite unfortunate.”

“Ran out of time?” 

“Quite right, actually,” the woman said, her smile widening slightly. She brought one hand up to her glasses, adjusting them once more despite not needing to. Something about the left lens had changed now. The sliver of gold that had been waning before was now smothered completely by the indigo color.

She stood up from her chair, dusting off her skirt in a single movement. She snagged a snack off of the plate, taking a small bite, the tasteless flavor being ignored. 

“It was very lovely to have this chat, but I'm starting to feel a little tired now. Don't take it personally… Well, actually, I don't really care if you do! Goodbye, anyway!”

XIV waved goodbye before tea and snack table disappear into the ground. She silently took a sip of the tea before it too disappears. What an… Interesting guest.

Recording End