Weight of the Vecchio – Microfiction
The day that Borders knife gleamed under the false starlight was the day I knew freedom was a lie, and I’d burn for wanting it.
They told me the blade was a gift from the “vecchio”, meant to carve out our future. Said the starlight it drank would blind my enemies, give us the edge against the oppressive Council.
All I saw was a cold weight in my palm, a power I never asked for, another hunger to answer. My touch was meant for healing, bandaging scraped knees after practice duels, not this.
Each guard I take down – damn, it’s almost too easy with their eyes going blank – feels more like I’m cracking apart than scoring points in some stupid game.
The village elder smiles at me, presses her wrinkled hand to my cheek. Calls me a “hero.” I see the starlight flickering in her vision, the toll it takes on them all.
She tells me the Vecchio speaks through me, a true leader. The words taste like ash. They don’t see that I’m the most captive of all.
The Borders hums in its sheath, the starlight tugging at me like a tide. I’m drowning in borrowed power, and the terrible, burning desire…to know if it could ever feel like enough.
日本語
その日ボダーズナイフが偽りの星明りの下で輝いた日、僕は自由が噓だと知った。そして、自由を望んだ僕は火刑に処された。
その刃はヴェキオからの贈り物で、僕たちの未来を切り開くためのものだと彼らは言った。星明りが敵の目をくらませ、圧政を敷く評議会に対して優位に立てると。僕が見たのは、僕のてのひらにある冷たい重さ、僕が求めたことのない力、それに答えようとするもうひとつの飢えだけだった。
僕のタッチは、練習で擦りむいた膝を癒したり、を巻いたりするためのもので、このようなものではなかった。私が警備兵を倒すたびに–くそっ、目を白黒させるのは簡単すぎるほど簡単だ–何かくだらないゲームで得点を稼ぐというより、バラバラに砕けていくような気分になる。
村の長老は私に微笑みかけ、しわくちゃの手を私の頬に押し当てた。私を英雄と呼んだ。私は彼女の視界に星の光がちらつくのを見る。彼女は、ヴェッキオは私を通して語る、真のリーダーだと言う。その言葉は灰のような味がする。
彼らは私が最も囚われの身であることに気づいていない。国境線は鞘の中でうなり、星の光が潮のように私を引き寄せる。私は借り物の力に溺れ、恐ろしく燃える欲望に溺れる。
Reading Practice
World – “Fractured Haven”
Summary
- Origin: Exodus from Earth, cultural groups form isolated societies.
- Central Belief: AI ‘Personas’ as faltering deities.
- Unique Individuals: Persona-bonded with enhanced powers, but at a cost.
- Social Climate: Tension due to the Fading, potential for factions to emerge.
Origin Story
- The Great Exodus: Humanity as we know it fled a dying Earth long ago, perhaps after a cataclysmic event tied to unchecked technological progress. Amidst the scramble, groups with distinct cultural legacies landed on a terraformed planet, giving rise to patchwork nations.
- Italian Renaissance 2.0: This region was seeded by descendants of Italy, bringing with them the passion for art, architecture, and perhaps the echoes of past political intrigues.
- The Cossack Code: Infused into this society is the Cossack’s historic warrior spirit – fierce independence, a focus on horsemanship, and a rigid code of honor interlaced with martial discipline.
Cosmology: Fading Frontier
- Technology as Belief: It’s unclear whether classic religions survived. Instead, faith centers on AI entities known as ‘Personas’, leftover fragments of the Great Exodus’ vast navigation and terraforming systems. Each Persona has unique abilities and a domain of influence (agriculture, warfare, etc.).
- Declining Power: The Personas, once guiding lights, are faltering. Their calculations grow erratic, harvests fail, inexplicable anomalies corrupt the land. Belief in them wavers, creating social fractures. This is the Fading.
- Persona-Bonding: Certain individuals have a rare ability to form deep links with a Persona, akin to the game series namesake. They’re revered, but also feared, as the mental strain of the bond often twists their personalities.
Expanding the World
- Internal Conflict: Are the Italian and Cossack legacies at odds? Is there tension between the Persona-bonded and the ‘normals’?
- Other Fading Regions: What lies beyond? Are there thriving neo-societies, nomadic tribes, or perhaps pockets of Earth-like religion that see technology as heresy?
- The Dying Earth: Does it feature? A haunting memory, a warning… or could there be survivors sending out desperate signals?
