Visions Poll: Retina

[Velox]

Visions Poll: RetinaVote here for your favorite Visions story; entries have been randomized. Please MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL ENTRIES BEFORE VOTING.Voting begins now and will end on May 30 at 11:59 PM EST. Entries that do well will move on to the final round. It is currently being decided whether this round will be judged or polled.

• [*]Contact For the first time in countless millennia, the desolate silence of the cavern had been pierced by the arrival of one such noise that it had imagined it would never again hear since its very creation. I emerged into the cavern, the sounds of my heavy breath echoing against the walls. My name is Vezon. And though I had no true idea as to why I had arrived at such a curious location, I knew my duty was done. I had arrived. A distant voice had called me here from the very recesses of my shattered mind. Ever since I had left my old “allies” back in the lair of my birth, I had been egged on by the deep desire. This urge to press ever onwards. This need to travel somewhere, though with never a clue as to where or why. But now, here I was. And there stood my prize, waiting for me. The rivers of lava threw a meagre light upon the glistening ornament that rested upon a throne of rock. I knew that it was meant for me, and the voice approved, so I surged forward to claim it, my heavy footfalls creating vibrations that shot around me. But what I couldn’t have seen coming was that as soon as I laid my hands upon it and pulled it close to me, my already fragmented mind exploded. I tried to stifle a scream, but it tore through my mouth regardless. I threw myself to the ground and thrashed wildly like an injured Rahi. Images swam before me, faces I could not place, locations I might never live to see, scenes of which I could never have dreamed of. I slammed my eyelids shut as if I could escape this hideous torture, but it was to no avail, as all this resulted in was the ceasing of the war between reality and the visions that threated to tear through my own skull. And the visions had won. All before me was beautiful, yet all was terrifying. I knew now what I held, the Kanohi Ignika. A source of terrible, yet glorious power that could devastate the entire universe, or perhaps save it. It could fall armies or raise them from the ground. It had seen the beginning of the universe and it would remain to see it at the very end. And now it was mine. I cradled it in my arms as I screamed helplessly for whatever assistance the Great Beings might lend me. They offered no solace, but even as my mind unravelled at its last remaining seams, the voice that led me here whispered ever so softly, like a lover, “Let me show you.” And so I did. I felt my prize sink into my body, even as I beheld the worst of it. For following this example of power and horror, came visions even more sublime than any I had hitherto witnessed. For I saw the end of the world. I saw the fire in the sky, the fall of Metru Nui and the extinction of the very stars. I stood back and stared as the last breath of life was swept away in the hurricane that enveloped all I might ever have known. The sights receded eventually, but the damage had been done. Devastated, I rocked back and forth, sobbing gently. The back of my head seared with pain and the ghosts of those visions were alive in my mind. And as I lay, shivering and alone in that deep, dark, desolate cavern, slowly, I began to laugh. ------[*]Fates Toa Radeic sped through the chute system, using his powers over sound to block out any distractions. He checked the device on his wrist. “Twenty minutes,” he whispered. Time seemed to slow as he looked down, his eyes fixating on a Matoran being terrorised by a Visorak. He released a quick concussive blast, accounting for the change between liquid protodermis and air, and knocked the Visorak off its feet, allowing the Matoran to escape. Under any other circumstance, he would have gone down there and helped the Matoran more thoroughly, but the situation was dire…

***

From the beginning, Radeic had the gift for seeing visions. Some would say gift, others would think it a curse. Radeic had mixed feelings. It had helped him before, seeing things that would happen and then being able to stop them, but sometimes the visions made no sense. This was a problem at first, leading Radeic to believe he was going mad, but that stopped once he acquired a Kanohi Rode. Now he could tell the difference between the true visions and the mere delusions.

***

Radeic saw his stop, and cut through the chute, using soundwaves to cushion his descent. He landed next to a railing, over-looking a large gorge half full of silvery liquid. He checked the device again. Fifteen minutes. He checked that he had everything. The sword, the Kanoka, the scales, the venom, the torch, everything was here. He just needed one more thing…

***

The last vision Radeic had seen was disturbing. At first, he wrote it off as another delusion, but it kept recurring and, with the use of his mask, he learned it to be the truth. He had panicked at first, but eventually managed to calm himself. He formulated a plan. The vision was terrifying, but it had shown him how to stop it. He just needed to collect some items; the sword said to be able to sunder protosteel walls with the merest slice; the scales of a Kanohi Dragon; a level 8 reconstruct at random Kanoka disk; venom from a Nui-Jaga; and an ever-lasting torch of legend. These items would be hard to find. But he had to try. He was more worried about what he had to do with the items, but that didn’t matter right now. Now he had to get them, because he only had one week left. One week until his island was destroyed.

***

He looked over the railing. It was a long fall. Even with only ten minutes left, Radeic hesitated. All the items were strapped to him and he knew that had to do this, but still he hesitated. The outcome was still uncertain to him…

***

One thing had plagued Radeic. Every time he saw the vision, the ending would change. There seemed to be two outcomes, one good and one bad. He tried to use his Rode to determine which result was true, but they were both the same. It would appear that he couldn’t see what the results of his actions might be. This was new to him. Occasionally, he would see what would happen if he didn’t follow the vision, and while that was bad, it seemed that if he did follow his visions, there was a chance that it would be worse. But he couldn’t worry about that now…

***

Radeic wished he had thought about it before. He wasn’t sure what to do. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He had to take the chance. “For the island,” he said, leaping into the energised protodermis below. -----[*]Finding the Mask of Visions Onua, Toa of Earth, was digging an underground tunnel beneath the Motara Desert. He was searching for the Great Kanohi masks of power, and Turaga Whenua had informed him that the Kanohi Akaka, the mask of visions, was located in a cavern deep beneath the desert. Onua was close to the natural cavern now, and he would break through after just five more minutes of digging. Suddenly, the tunnel around him began to tremble. Cracks formed in the ceiling, and then a hole was punched through, and sunlight flooded the tunnel. Onua squinted his eyes, unused to the bright light, but noticed the being descending towards him. “Pohatu?” Onua questioned. Pohatu, Toa of Stone, dropped through the hole and landed next to Onua, causing the ground to vibrate as he did. “Onua, fancy seeing you here. I’m in search of the Kanohi Akaku, and I believe it’s located nearby.” “But I am after the mask of visions,” Onua protested. “Whenua told me it would be here!” “Turaga Onewa specifically told me of this location,” Pohatu countered. “Guess the first one to the mask gets it.” Onua shook his head. “Well, go shatter tunnels somewhere else. I’ve almost dug through to the cavern, and I’ll be inside in a few minutes.” “Or I could break through right now!” Pohatu exclaimed. He lifted his large foot and kicked the tunnel wall hard, releasing his elemental energy. The rocks fractured and fell apart, creating an opening to the cavern. “Race you!” Pohatu said, as he activated his Mask of Speed and zipped into the cavern. Onua pushed through the debris, but he could not keep up with the Toa of Stone. “The mask is mine!” Pohatu said as he raced across the room. He saw the glint of silver that indicated the Akaku, but suddenly the rock wall reached out and punched him hard. Pohatu was moving too fast to dodge, and the blow threw him back through the air. Onua reached out and caught him before he could slam into the wall. “A Vatuka!” Onua said. “A stone elemental creature. It must be guarding the mask!” “I could try running around it…” Pohatu suggested. “Allow me instead,” Onua said, charging forward. He lashed out at the Vatuka with his claws, but they hardly scraped its stone skin. With a mighty shove, the Vatuka knocked Onua back. “Tough luck,” Pohatu said. “Neither of us can defeat this thing!” “Perhaps if we work together,” Onua suggested. “I can match its strength, so while I’m distracting it, zip in and grab the mask!” “But then who will get it?” “We’ll decide later,” Onua said, and he attacked again. He grabbed onto the Vatuka’s arms and activated his Mask of Strength to keep them pinned down. Meanwhile, Pohatu raced around the Vatuka and snatched up the prize. “Get out of there!” Pohatu yelled as he ran for the exit. “I agree,” Onua said, and utilizing all his strength, he pushed back the Vatuka and retreated. The Vatuka took a moment to get back up, but found itself facing two Toa, who released a combined elemental blast of earth and stone which caused the cavern to collapse. The Toa returned to the surface while the Vatuka was buried in the cave-in. “That was excellent!” Pohatu exclaimed. “Teaming up sure works out!” “Yes, but now we must decide who gets the mask of visions,” Onua said. “No need,” Pohatu said, holding out his hands. “It turns out there were two Akaku masks down there. One for each of us!” “Then Mata Nui smiles upon us,” Onua said. ------[*]Mirage “I don’t understand.” “What don’t you understand?” Toa Arisma glanced at his companions, a couple of Skakdi whose names he did not know, or did not remember. All he truly remembered was his name and a few fragmented memories of a time he knew were from long ago. None of these memories were relevant to him now. Presently, he found himself in an unknown desert, and according to the Skakdi, he had just collapsed. He was confused and more than a little unsettled. “You say we were traveling this desert together, but I don’t remember either of you. I also don’t understand why we would be trying to reach the other side. Where are we going?” “You tell us. You have the map. As for why we’re going: there is an important tool on the other side of this desert. We need it to protect the village. We always knew it existed, but had no way to reach it until you found that map. You wouldn’t surrender it to us, so we had to bring you along,” answered the smaller of the two, a silver-armored, smooth talking Skakdi, whose appearance was slightly less savage than that of most of his brethren. Arisma noted that he didn’t seem concerned by his amnesia. “We must hurry. Night will come soon, and so will the Rahi who stalk the dark,” said the other one, a teal-armored, brutish type. Like his companion, he didn’t seem as bestial as most Skakdi. Despite his puzzlement, Arisma somehow knew he was right. He began to remember tales of the desert’s dangerous creatures, and decided to go along with the Skakdi. He saw that he carried a satchel, and in it, he saw a map. Due to the dimming light, Arisma started a small fire in the palm of his hand, and used it to read the map. The Skakdi visibly recoiled at the sight of the flames, which puzzled him. Deciding to ignore their behavior, he wordlessly led the way. As they traveled, more of Arisma’s memory came back, and he started to notice even more oddities in his companions. They seemed shorter than they had been at first. Their faces, softer to begin with, appeared less and less savage. It was not only until they had almost reached the edge of the desert that his memory returned fully, and that his companions were no longer Skakdi, but a pair of Toa whose armor matched his own. Mustering all his willpower, he spoke coarsely: “Why? Why must I endure this again? Why won’t you let me be? ” “Why should we?” they answered in unison, “It was you who placed us here. You relive the memories of those gone day after day. It is by your own conscience that you are haunted. This will not stop so easily. Surely you know that.” And he did. He knew know. This desert was a lifeless expanse beyond the village he once protected. These were not Skakdi, had never been. They were fellow Toa, who in trying to stop him from abusing his power and retrieving a dangerous weapon, had been murdered by his hand. Arisma closed his eyes, and opening them again, he saw it was not night, but day. He was alone. In his hands he held the charred remains of a map. He had sought power and glory, and as a result, he had committed unspeakable crimes. Now banished to the wastelands, he relived the same vision every day, a mirage of the dead that haunt him even in his waking dreams. ------[*]The Castaway The Steltian slave clings to the flotsam as waves battered his face. He has done so for the last several hours since those beings, members of Barraki Ehlek’s species, had risen from beneath the sea and sunk the ship where his cruel masters pushed him to toil without respite as a laborer. Now his entire life depends on a fortuitous wind sending him toward land. And then he sees the island, rising from the horizon. He hoarsely screams in jubilation; then everything goes black. Suddenly, he sees across space and time. A city on a sea of protodermis. Six districts that work for the whole. Thousands of inhabitants fulfilling daily tasks. Underneath, a network of circuitry. The circuitry, a central operating system. The operating system, a massive supercomputer. It measures, computes, and thinks. It will evaluate the universe. The vision is gone. During his blackout, he has drifted nearer to the island. He remembers the dream. Nonsense. It implied that Metru Nui is a giant thought-processor for a robot – the Matoran, its nanobots. He hopes landfall is soon. Clearly it was a hallucination caused by his time at sea. Nanobots aren’t sentient; computers aren’t kios in length. Like a physical blow, he is hit with another vision. A central energy core – a universe core. Radiant energy ravaging it in the form of energy storms. Ambient energy seeps out, powers up systems. The core, an energy source. The energy source, the subsystem. The mainframe? A massive supercomputer. It measures, computes, and thinks. It will evaluate the universe. He is lying in the sand. Landfall. He gets up and stumbles down the beach. He’s going to make it. He isn’t dying at sea. He doesn’t see anyone. Perhaps the island is uninhabited. At least he’s on an island, even if he’s alone there. Yet, the visions nag him. So visceral and illogical, yet they felt so… real. No matter. Power cores aren’t irradiated with lightning storms; a robot isn’t big enough to be mistaken for a universe. Again, the blackness and a vision. An organic being. The overseer. The secrets of the universe lie in his head. He maintains the heat, light, and forces to make the Great Beings’ creation whole. But in time he is no longer needed. He is exiled, chained like an animal to a rock. Fused to an island. He isn’t necessary anymore. The project is ready. The project, a robot. The robot, a massive supercomputer. It measures, computes, and thinks. It will evaluate the universe. In his trance, his feet have taken him to a cave. He doesn’t know why, but it looks…inviting. He’s tired. And confused. He staggers in. Suddenly panic overtakes him. Something is wrong. He doesn’t know what, but something is. He tries to run, but he can’t. His body won’t respond. Then a voice speaks in his head. THEY CALL ME A LEGEND, A MYTH. THEY WOULD HAVE ME FORGOTTEN. The voice continues, now calmer. So be it. But I hunger for knowledge of the world outside. I’m trapped here and exiled from the universe I gave birth to. And now you are here. Yes, something is very, very wrong. I’ve shown you what this world truly is, but you’ll know even more. I desire to know what’s happened and I’ll do with you what I once did with that Makuta Mutran. You will know all there is to know about this universe. Of course, it will probably be too much for your feeble mind. My name is TREN KROM. Goodbye… and thank you. The Steltian screamed for an eternity. -------[*]Specters of the Charred Forest Kapura liked it here. Amongst the sharp angles, darkened shadows, and complex burned odor of the Charred Forest, some found revolt, most found apathy, and the vast majority saw uselessness. Not him - not now, not ever. There was nothing here, and he looked upon it, and he saw that it was peaceful. Nowhere else upon the entire island could he have a place of quiet. He could practice in peace, and he could keep his thoughts to himself. Sometimes, though, he did not practice. On the most desolate of all desolate days, he eschewed what he was going to do, instead just sitting in a tiny clearing in the Charred Forest, where the trees were even taller and his sense of aloneness was even further amplified. On these types of days, he sat, and sat for long periods of time, contemplating the nature of good and evil, Mata Nui and Makuta, light and darkness, what had come to be and what might come to pass, and what today had brought that impacted his thoughts of the past and elucidated - at least in part - the future. But that was not the reason he would come here. Occasionally, he would get brief thoughts, as if he was reaching back into the past and pulling bits out, illuminating them with a flash before subsiding into oblivion. It was worth it, he thought, to stay here just for those moments, because they would make him feel whole again, even if it was only for a moment. Today, he was sitting down once again, feeling the charred earth underneath him, almost feeling the weight of the shadows. He was at peace, but yet he felt restless, more restless than he had ever been. He closed his eyes, feeling like he was falling back, and back, and further back ... His flight took him up, above the forest below. All of his Matoran brothers and sisters were flying with him up into the sky above, climbing higher than the highest of circling birds. He called out to them, but they were not listening - their heartlights had slowed to halts, and they had curled up in tiny balls, morphing into silver spheres. The Island of Mata Nui was far below, almost to the point where the Wahis became indistinguishable. As soon as they had, the entire Island rushed towards them, faster and faster, until they would surely die. The island opened up, leaving a vast sea below. A much smaller island was visible, and it became clearer as they came to it ... He came down lightly on his feet in this metropolis, as his ball-encased friends came down to rest around him. Above him, two large stars winked and illuminated the city. Tentacles, brown and mottled as they were, reached for him, swatting away the massive spider webs that hung everywhere. He could not move, and he could not feel, as he too was inside one of those curious spheres. They engulfed him, and he was on the move again, staring into two gigantic orange eyes. Evil, embodied in laughter, burned its way through his head, echoing louder, and louder, and louder still ... He gasped, exhaling loudly through his mouth. The spiked texture of the burnt earth had dug into the armor of his back, and he could feel droplets of sweat evaporating off of his organic parts. He knew, now, that there was a world beyond, and that there would be redemption and sacrifice, and that he was just only a pawn - if that! - in a universe so vast as to be unimaginable. He knew. ------[*]The Last Dangerous Visions At times, Turaga Vakama dreamt of stars. He dreamt of space completely unbounded, of planets and galaxies and universes stretching out beyond comprehension, packed with stories and struggles and losses and victories and life and danger. And then he would open his eyes and see the walls of his hut in New Atero, the torch in the corner of the room flickering and casting shadows across the wall. At times he would lift himself from where he slept, take his staff, and hobble out into the streets of their city, a hodgepodge of half-finished buildings, and walk for a while. Matoran and Toa greeted him warmly. Agori and Glatorian greeted him cordially - but that was good enough. Once he was startled to find an old friend on a walk of her own, staff in one hand, tablet in another, heading back from a long night at the school, and together they walked and spoke of days gone by and days yet to come. She never asked him if he still had visions, and so he never told her of his stars. Another time he came upon the Toa he'd almost come to think of as family, and the two of them walked and he listened to his son describe the struggles he still faced in uniting the Agori and Matoran. And his son never asked him if he still had visions, and so he never told him that his stars were getting smaller, that at night he no longer saw galaxies or universes, only a single planet, and he never told him that he feared that perhaps the planet was theirs. But another time he stumbled upon two Toa he'd known well even as Matoran, and simply smiled and shook his head as the former Ga-Matoran insisted that she'd just been getting some dirt off her companion's mask, which was as red and unblemished as ever. And the three walked and he offered a few old tales to them, because that was what was expected. And they never asked him if he still had visions, and so he never told them that yes, he did, but it was alright. That night he bade them farewell and returned to his hut, leaned his staff against the small forge he kept, and laid himself down to rest. And he dreamt of a planet so far away, of its cities that put Metru Nui to shame and of heroes and villains, and when Turaga Vakama awoke he smiled, because it had nothing at all to do with any of them. ------[*]The Curse of Vagueness Kafor blinked and saw herself. No. That wasn’t it. Not exactly. She did see herself, but it was herself from the future. The Skakdi Seer watched as her future self battled a figure dressed in white robes. The being moved with the grace of a serpent; indeed there was something vaguely serpentine in his thin arms and legs that sent shivers up Kafor’s spine. Kafor wasn’t alone in this vision, however. She saw a black-and-green warrior fighting alongside her future self. She did not recognize his species at all. He was hunchbacked and hideous, with a round helmet with a protruding backside. He carried a sword and buzz saw shield, but he used them mostly for channeling shadow elemental energy. Who is that being? Who are we fighting? Kafor thought, but she really didn’t expect an answer. Her visions were always vague and this one was no different. It was then that Kafor sensed someone nearby. Glancing to the left, Kafor saw a Toa of Iron chained up (which she found ironic). She recognized him as Toa Nasis, a customer of hers, but she didn’t feel disturbed to see him in chains. She’d never liked him much anyway. She didn’t even bother theorize why he was here when she knew there wasn’t any point in speculating in these visions. Kafor turned her attention back to the fight. She saw her future self fire eye beams at the white-robed being, who ducked while at the same time with his arm blocking the shadow being’s sword. The white-robed being smirked and his face changed into a Kanohi Pakari. He slammed his fist into the shadow being’s face, sending Kafor’s future ally stumbling to the ground. Future Kafor gasped, but then the shadow being got back up and shook his head, as though he got punched in the face by unnaturally strong beings every day. The shadow being charged at the white-robed enemy again, swinging his sword. This time landing a hit on the enemy, cutting through his robes and revealing black armor underneath. Future Kafor shot more laser blasts at the white-robed enemy, which hit him in the chest. Kafor figured that should‘ve been a fatal blow, but the enemy merely staggered backwards and glanced down at the smoking hole in his chest. It looked as though the enemy’s innards were completely devoid of organs, similar to a robot’s anatomy. Then the enemy scowled and clapped his hands together, creating a sonic boom that Kafor couldn’t hear. She knew it was a sonic boom because her future self and her future ally clasped their hands over their audio receptors and reeled in agony. Kafor was glad she couldn’t hear it. The enemy ran at Future Kafor and her ally. Kafor blinked again and found herself lying rigid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her room. She cursed her vision for ending just then, but only halfheartedly. Her visions were always unclear and she hadn’t expected this one to be different. This one seemed more important than past visions, however, perhaps because it directly concerned her. Kafor only wished she knew when it was going to take place, if nothing else. She also wondered what Nasis had to do with it. Not much I can do about it, Kafor thought. Except, of course, wait. And, although I’ve become so good at it over the years, I hate waiting.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Velox

[Sumiki]

Number six, my own. Not to say that there weren't some great entries here; it looks like everyone brought their A-game.

[The Dark Chronicler]

I went with number six here. I really liked the interesting concept of Kapura knowing what was to come, and it stood out in my mind as the best among them. The others were all great, but I really liked six.

[fishers64]

I went with number 4. Believe me, it was not an easy choice.

[Excelsior]

Every entry here had something going for it, I have to say. However, I personally narrowed it down to 5 and 7.And in the end, I went with 5. I think part of its appeal was its visions, of the 'supercomputer.'May the best story win!-Excelsior