Chapter 3 : Mines

Einya put the necklace on with the lock on the necklace still locked " No wait " Xena stopped Einya from inserting the key " This anomalous item will counter the effects of your eyepatch " Xena took it from her and hung it on a hook and unlocked it giving it back to her .

The hook fell out and Xena sighed as she got the hook and threw it at the trash can " At least one thing is down " Einya locked the padlock and hang the key with her .

" Do some testing by walking around the guys who chased you . And don't bring this " Xena picked up the box and put it at her desk " I should really change the entire house . "

Einya left the house with the key on a necklace and the small lock on another " Wait before you close the door , don't really think you can apply what I told you a while ago not all anomalies manifest from thoughts they can manifest on their own "

Einya nods dumbfounded since she didn't know why it would feel important to her ' Still why are its memories so unclear ? ' Xena thought trying to jump to the mindscapes of the memories ' But then again I was there when I was asleep '

Xena thought of the bed with her on it sleeping ' Nah if there is someone that can point out the threat then it will be bad if they think to bring some weapon to destroy the house but for now I should've readied for dinner ... even though it isn't even lunchtime yet '

Xena sighs looking at the time ' Well Einya should know we have a meal at this hour ' Xena went to an anomaly of a house plant and placed a bowl " Chicken please "

Lab-growing items plant - a sentient plant that is capable of surpassing most labs with their lab-grown products such as honey which is just like organic honey . it's basically a plant that can imitate the work of labs but right now it has no plan of producing weaponizable products .

A chicken soup was produced with the contents filling the bowl " Funny " she got the bowl and put it on a table ' I'll just eat it for them to feel useful and try to develop '

A glass of sweet orange-flavored soft drinks tossed with ice cream of avocado flavor with all natural and healthy effects . Xena looked at the counter she bought together with her since it might give Tri a drink before bed " Sure it doesn't have any bad effects against sleep but you added a small drop of tea concentrate "

Old fashioned drink and shake server - can make any kind of drink whether it is very sugary or even the bitterest tea , but most importantly like most anomalies in her house it's sentient and had to learn to make healthier drinks because Xena didn't like the unhealthy effects it bought to a certain anomaly .

" thanks though " Xena looked at the soup and finished it walking to the sink in the kitchen where two sinks full of water one was bubbly and the other was just water ' Here you go ' she put the bowl on the sink watching it wash the bowl and spits out to a basket .

" Thanks " she got the dish soap and poured a few drops on the living water and returned to her laptop ' Anyways I should gather more anomalies I still haven't gotten the fun myths that have yet to gain popularity '

Xena has been tracking not-so-popular stories or things like a popular game that gets lots of players and the lore becomes real as the world ' No strange sightings outside in the cities for a while only this place has natural anomalies born from the nature of the world . '

Knock knock " Come in " Einya peeked at the door looking at Xena " You're back ? " " I want to talk about anomalies " Xena sighed and pulls a stool close to her " Take a seat " Einya climbs to the stool and sat down " Let's start with those that don't need too much explanation " Xena closed her laptop and put her attention to Einya .

" But I will classify the anomalies first , let's put them between savages and intelligent . Savage anomalies are like animals that rely on instincts for decisions but not all have similar instincts to follow so they can go in many directions . Then the intelligent ones are those that make choices like choosing what food even though the food is not exactly the right one . Example "

Xena looked at the anomalies and took her cup to shake it . A combination for an energy drink was made " See this drink gives you energy but at a cost that you have to lay in bed for days . If in a situation where you can't beat the enemy or escape an intelligent anomaly would drink it since they know they have a chance to survive but a savage anomaly wouldn't choose to drink this since it doesn't understand the drink's effect "

" So is there more ? " " Yes anomalies are more than just things that are unnatural which is the one I told you about the manifested ones by the thoughts of people . I've heard of ghost stories like a monster under the bed they can appear as anomalies but some people preferred fear instead . And then there are the gods people pray to they become real and are shaped by people "

Xena went to a drawer and pulled it " I usually seal those types of anomalous hear " Xena showed a statue with countless hands touching it " It is a representation of a certain god I have many statues like this the bigger they are the more hands there will be but of course the size doesn't matter much since my skills in keeping them in the statue is very proficient so when you see them try to be as careful as possible cause you'll never know which is stronger "

" But I'm not going to touch them " " Sure you won't " Xena smiles and pats Einya " Uhm Xena what's that ? " Einya pointed at a flat blade that was sheathed with cloth instead of a scabbard " Oh this was a sword of an insane killer who had many personalities and would have plenty of ways to kill I used it to split personalities "

Xena started to remember the scene she saw behind the TV from home " I thought about this idea when I saw that scene ... It was a very scary scene you know " " What does it look like ? " " If you were to stay conscious of your actions and kill your family that you didn't want to kill ... it makes you feel like a monster right ? "

Einya started to shake on the chair since she just understood the concepts of death and family " But what was scary was when you were enjoying it and you fear the place where you murdered them and displayed their heads ... If that wasn't enough that dream turns out to show what you are which is why it's scary and sometimes that fear dulls since you realize the person that did it was truly you "

Einya started crying " Come on it's okay it was just a scene something that has been forgotten and dulled " Xena pats Einya and Einya wipes her tears " You know I had little siblings , sometimes they were afraid of things like a monster under the bed but we get by and what I mentioned before is like an anomaly ... only that it was molded by one person who thinks of the other thing as something they fear "

Xena points at a mirror which had a cloth over it " That mirror is an anomaly I found which reveals the other personality if the one looking has no other personality then it's a normal mirror to them but if it was someone with another personality they can use it to talk to the other personality " Einya looked at the covered mirror and trying to find its shape .

" Then what does the frame look like ? " Xena sighs " It has no frame it was part of an amusement park I bought there was a mirror maze so I stored it inside my collection " Einya remembered that they were talking about the classifications of anomalies .

" Wait then what kind of anomaly is that ? " " I'd say the thing outside the thoughts of people so something unnatural while the mirror may be imaginable it isn't something people can assume or think of "

Xena then points at the anomalies that made her lunch " Those anomalies are unnatural ones not formed by thoughts so they are not molded by anything and they are hard to find especially if they just hide and pretend that they are everyday things but a few can't really do that so they get caught " " What happens if they do ? "

" human nature takes the reins and they end up victims to experiment in an attempt to mimic the abilities or forced to be obedient or maybe ignored or taken care of . " Einya looks around and recognizes the anomalies " Then what do you teach them ? " " Be independent hide anything unnatural about them by teaching the norm to them "

" That's nice " " Back to classes I talk about unnatural which isn't formed by thoughts and is preferably called unnatural anomalies , unnatural can do anything they are capable of doing things like if the living water can float it can float if it can turn the water it has into acid and bases then it can do it ... But the natural anomalies can't just do that "

" Really ? " " Yep if Kill anomaly learned how to make a cotton it can do it if it doesn't use its anomalous ability but if it does it gets stuck " " What do you mean by stuck ? " " It's stuck because it is Kill so it can't make cotton since it isn't a proper murder weapon or because it doesn't know how to use cotton as a murder weapon "

" So if you know how to use water to murder then does that mean Kill can make water ? " " Yep Naturals can bypass rules by gaining knowledge of their related field like Doctor can kill people by producing medicine and overdosing them , after all the medicine they make is to save but an overdose can kill . But Doctor can't make poison alone unless it knows that that poison can be medicine "

" Wow " " But you know there is a way for those Naturals to increase their ability " Einya's eye widened with curiosity and Xena frowned and sighed " If you get so hopeful you will make me feel guilty you know ? " " Hmm ? " " Naturals will cannibalize other Naturals just to improve themselves "

Einya looked at the anomalies and started shaking " Does that mean ? " " No Unnaturals don't have limits that stop them the only limit is themselves so they won't eat you , plus what gains will they have ? " Einya looked at the door and pointed at it " Be careful outside " Xena pats Einya as she dashed to the door .

" She's adorable for someone who knows about a lot of things " Xena walked to the shelf and pulled a book out , a click was heard and the shelf opened like a door revealing a library ' May as well read the biography of those three ' The shelf behind her closed as the book with a spine that has the title "Archives" was pushed back into the shelf closed .

The Archives is an omniscient library that writes down the life of every intelligent being including aliens outside . It starts with a book with unconfirmed thickness as the future can always change especially when there is someone who has access to it .

It simply records the life of the main character until death so it's not like a death note since it is only capable of recording and it is not possible to tamper with the archives other than reading the books . But it doesn't have a dictionary and the words are always related to the main character's state of mind so anytime the main character is stressed the writings will also be written in the same tone or mood .

But words are just words especially when the first archived intelligent living being was written done they had no words since they can't be described so pictures were made instead " Hmm those three are weirdos at school which is why the three are always stuck together despite their difference "

She looked at the part where they met her " Hmm it seems they understood but the archives ain't that useful to record about savage anomalies but at least it can record intelligent ones " she let go of the three books as they floated up .

The books of the archives can be classified as two categories one which is still alive or the other which is dead . The dead ones will be arranged in chronological order and stay on the shelves and the living ones float in the air until their story finishes . Of course , there is a sequel to each book such as reincarnation and if in some mysterious ways they come back to life in the same body the book will leave the shelf and a rearrangement will occur to fix the empty space on the shelves .

' Good thing the book has a summary to filter the notable events ' this summary feature is like the memory of a person which remembers only the most memorable details of their lives ' Now I have other problems to take care of ' Xena left the Archives and walks to the sword that splits personalities " I won't be needing you but at least I should store you properly "

Xena threw the sword at a chest and sealed it with a key " Now that should be enough " Xena threw the key at the living water and some chlorine to melt it away 'I got my info now for the nest step '

...

Einya walked through town thinking about what kind of lunch she was going to get after all it is still one so she made sure that the lock necklace was still there and walked to a restaurant that had appetizing food ' Smells good ' she was attracted like a fish caught in a hook and found herself on the cashier where the smell was coming from " Afternoon miss what would you like to order ? "

Einya looked at what was most appetizing and found one plate of glazed chicken with lemon on the side and a pack of white rice , as a being with plenty of knowledge she knows all the taste of the glazed chicken even with the lemon juice dripping into it and the rice helping her cope with the intense taste at the same time a cup which made the drink thirst-inducing by being fogged up drizzled with condensed water caused by the ice inside .

She can already taste it but the feeling was temporary as she pointed at the picture " Anything else what about a hashbrown ? " Einya looked at the hashbrown and her possibly endless knowledge gave her the thought of biting the crunchy outside and digging into the soft insides " Okay " " What about ice cream ? "

Another attack from the friendly cashier as Einya saw the layered soft serve ice cream which image derived from the image of ice cream topped with chocolate fudge topped with another layer and the process repeated with the final product as an ice cream mountain with chocolate fudge flowing down like lava flow " That two "

" What about another meal for a growing girl " The cashier pointed at a spaghetti with a forking squishing the chopped hotdog like an avocado with the appetizing red tempting her as she could smell the food from the kitchen which gave her a nudge to order " That too " Einya went to her seat with the food in a tray as she rolled the spaghetti and the squished hotdog was stuck between the firm strings of spaghetti .

She got it up and put it in her mouth tasting the sweet tomato flavor to be topped with the pasta and the meat from the hotdog " Mmh " she felt that the taste was a little overpowering and took half a spoon of rice and felt the flavor flood the rice " So good " she took a bite out of the glazed chicken and then another from one of the two hash browns and then added rice into her mouth and finally drank some pineapple juice and felt her mouth empty .

' Intelligent beings are so good at satisfying their desires ' Einya took a sliced hotdog and stuffed it with rice and then ate the rest of her food and looked at the receipt ' Now for dessert ! ' Einya took the receipt and ran to a counter where an employee came when she rang the bell " Ice cream " Einya showed the employee the receipt as she nodded and checked a box beside the chocolate fudge ice cream .

Einya looked at the simple two-part ice cream and then took a spoon out of the peek of ice cream mountain and found a small but clear circle layer of ice cream " Huh " she thought the layers would be flat so she looked down and saw the bottom part of the hard foggy plastic cup has a flat cone under .

" So " Einya imagined the layers of fudge getting more taller after each layer and realized that she underestimated the ice cream then scooped the ice cream mountain following the slope and got more chocolate than ice cream the sticky yet easily dissolved melted chocolate mixed so well with the ice cream as cold , soft and sweet treat now was drenched in melted chocolate made the ice cream melt quicker inside her burning mouth which was heated by the hot food she ate .

" So sweet and cool " she drank some pineapple juice and the gulp of ice cream and cold juice cooled her throat and hit the burning sensation in her stomach " cold " she breathe out cold air ' They are even good at making this " Einya looked at the leftover juice and the remaining three ice in her plastic glass ' What if I throw it in ? ' Einya didn't care and dunk the ice cream in and took a spoon out as she tasted the ice cream with pineapple ' So good '

She finished the desert and looked at the counter where she spotted more food but felt full ' Maybe next time ' she left the fast food restaurant and ran back to the shack in the forest and saw Xena playing an online game " Einya You can play in the living room and make sure to not disturb classes " Einya looked at an old chalkboard that Xena had just finished maintenance and beside the chalkboard was a speaker .

The teacher was talking through the speaker and chalk was floating in the air . The chalk Teacher uses is usually small and the bigger ones are used by students " You can watch and even ask questions but you probably don't have to " Xena resumed her online gaming and Einya looked at the couch of the living room and the coffee table had a console in .

' I'm not falling for that ' Einya avoided the console and got the remote control which had no symbols to indicate the use of each button " Hmm " Einya pressed a few random buttons and got to a channel so far away ' Huh aren't these aliens from another planet ? ' Einya understood the language since her truckload of knowledge had the language inside .

' But I don't even know the full story may as well concentrate on watching the shows of this planet ' and so a compilation of Einya clicking the buttons and trying to see if she got the right one was played ' Fun ' Xena closed the game and walks to the door ' I should find out how this town's attraction even works it's like those three guest but much stronger '

She arrived at the entrance of the town and wondered what was happening ' This town was founded a very long time ago and didn't make big ripples in the sea of history but was still connected to the outside world so this town would have a lot of things to hide . ' Xena went to a store and looks around .

' An antique store may or may have normal things but anything old in here might be costly it's best if I make connections to strong parties that have their inheritance in this town ' she took the map of the town from the oldest to the newest ' A mine near my shack should be convenient but I need the land deed the mayor of the town can get me this information '

She turned to an alleyway and disappeared arriving at the mayor office building and entered the mayor's office after some security measures to see a round man " Mayor Wirth I would like to get a deed to the abandoned mines "

Wirth looked at Xena and she sighed " I'm doing a project of reforestation and I want to clean up the mess made by those miners I've done some research on it and figured it would be good if I fix it before a bigger damage happens "

Wirth looked at Xena " Of course , I'll give you the land deed but I need to get it renewed first I can give you a digital copy first to ensure you don't have to face case or lawyers " Wirth took the land deed and then ordered someone to go out and renew it since the paper was too old " As for payment I'll use credit card "

Xena took out a credit card which was an anomaly named the black card as it has an infinite amount of money that converts the money depending on the ATM used or the credit card . But it has limits but no need to be bothered about it for now since Xena was just on a planet where anomalies are hidden to avoid turmoil in all parts of society .

She got the digital copy and then looks at the surrounding lands " By the way Mayor Wirth is there anyone owning the land around ? " " Oh no there is none at least not around the entrance but I hope you don't tear down the signs especially when the mines is still not viewed as abandoned " " Don't worry mayor but I do have to take care of possible rumors painting me as some witch "

She waved to Wirth and left while he thinks ' She must be one of the outsiders who decided to move it might be a peaceful town but the woods are eerie at night ' he laid his body down as the usual heaviness was even harder to carry ' I feel like something is going to happen ' Xena left the building and turned to a corner to disappear and arrive at the mines .

" Abandoned indeed " she phased through the "door" and pulls out a box of matchsticks and used he anomalous abilities to light a reverse fire that creates fuel instead of burning it " Hopefully they found a vein " she kept walking as she lit more of the green flames " Fires are a bit hard to look at " Xena pinched the match stick as a firefly with green light was formed " Much better "

She kept doing the same to the path she was walking and reached a vein and the space was wide as a bedroom " Huh this place would be good but nothing so special " Xena left and used up the matchstick .

She found the other path and this time she got an electric fire lighter , electricity left the lighter as it occupied some pebbles stuck on the walls and on the ground .

" A dead end ? " Xena sighed but she felt that something was off " Maybe it's a hidden wall " Xena touched the dead end but was disappointed " But I wouldn't get this feeling if something was amiss after all the is a lot of possibilities in her " Xena took out an infinity pot and poured water as she flipped the whole thing .

The water was contained due to the slop of the mine and the water stopped Xena used that to look for the crack . At the edge of the wall as a pebble was barely plugging a hole Xena turned the pot back and after losing her mental support the pot turned to dust " If the water is flowing through it this quickly , it might mean there is a good ventilation system "

Xena grabbed the water condensing all of it to solid ice and stabbed the wall breaking it to pieces and behind it was an elevated platform " Wow " Xena looked above the wall and saw plenty of books she stared at the shelves as she walked the stairs to the platform and the ice on her hands melted as the dense water expanded filling up the lowered moat around .

" Must be a really old cult but how did this place stay hidden for so long ? And clean " She looked at a box that was sealed with chains " Einya really was formerly a powerful dimensional being " her eyes were on fire but the fire didn't burn , it was like pressure was being applied to her eyes, constantly not a very comfortable thing .

" I should transform this consequence to a massager I really hate to buy a massage chair " Xena stopped the fire and then connected the information she had known " Really don't want to get older "

Xena found a skeleton and got the box she sent all of the age into it disintegrating it to dust " Now the collector of old age is empty " Xena closed the box to prevent the time that it held inside to age the surroundings in order to preserve the room .

But she didn't let the box exist any longer and used the age sealed in it and destroyed it turning it to dust . But she didn't feel like she was empty-handed from this decision in fact she derived an ability to age and rejuvenate the target ' Much better ' Xena walked to the books and opened a portal to send them into the archives to a personal shelf labeled unread .

" This place seems ancient maybe the platform was ritually made to create the anomalous item " Xena step the ground as she reversed time on the platform so she can find what it was " Oh an anomaly-making platform "

Xena got her phone and set it in bird's view and stood in an open circle to get a perfect view " So single use , specifically creates one anomaly then it's just artwork " Xena didn't want to do anything else so she left the place alone avoiding to create any more variables for anomalies to pop out .

Xena sealed the dead-end with some amber that was left and found the old sign and restored the words by burning the wood ' I doubt a mine would only have two paths ' she kept an eye on the rails to track the direction if one were to deviate from the path .

" None " Xena kicked away a random pebble and turned to the other path " Hope for some luck " ... " No luck " Xena leaves the mine and then returned to the shack " Hm I should still bring in a team to work that place . "

Xena went to a small table and picked up a telephone .

Presidential phone found after a war with the losing country being wiped out from historical records but not reality itself . The phone was found and sold at a pawnshop and Xena found it .

The phone can call any company that was in the losing country also an anomalous trait is that the country still exists and can be contacted through the telephone as they can appear out of nowhere of course Xena modified it to allow people to forget the name by accident .

" I want a team to attend to the mines and make sure you clean up any poison " she had also developed the country to her benefit by allowing buyers to procure books for information " Xena please help me "

Einya held the remote and Xena sent the TV to show the shows on the planet " Keep the volume low can't have that disturb the lessons " Xena hit Einya's head with the remote and this time she didn't ask since it was very playful kind of hit .

Xena scrolled through her phone and found some news about old things having cracks ' Looks like they are using this to signal each other a code to gather , they have been doing this but looks like they all found anomalies at the same time '

She went to her laptop to search up the news and sorted them by the similarities to find what kind of anomaly it is ' Cracks appearing in these old artifacts could be the releasing of an anomaly '

" Einya did you read all of the pages in the logbook in you found in my desk ? " " some of it " " Okay " Xena took a file and deleted it ' At least I have an advantage ' she made sure that no one can get the information she just deleted and then she went to the machine she built that made them all forget about the anomalous encounters .

' So much already ? ' Xena took a container and inserted another one as she brought the liter water bottle-sized container up and plugged it into her computer using a wire as the files were automatically sorted by person .

' Noting noteworthy but I should add files for the new tourist batches and non locals ' a command brought the names of all the people in town recording live only ' Oh there are somehow didn't have their memories gone '

Xena closed the laptop and went to the mines where a team was already building the equipment needed " President the mines have been cleaned out of any anomalies we also found a platform that was used to create an anomaly although it has been rendered useless since it was single use "

" Good make sure you clean out all the mines use the machine of civilization level 0.6 " " Yes ma'am we will make sure to downgrade them " Xena walked to the mine as the top of the entrance was being built with a structure to cover it .

" Any complaints from locals ? " " None " the assistant replied and Xena continued her walk as she sees a group of kids who were looking at her " Hello " ' How nice of them to say that after calling me a witch '

She ignored them and watched as the water is filtered to remove the toxins via electricity so the perimeters are secured with tape for now .

" Ley are you sure you can go to this mine ? " Devin asked and Marie was ready to get a picture to post " Relax I come to this place all the time I even knew a secret passage " ' Secret passage ? ' Xena watched as the children followed Ley's group and decided to watch their movement .

' Better to watch a professional rather than test it yourself ' Xena walked invisible to the normal eye but those who can see a certain kind of anomalies can spot her .

Anomalous events such as the change in the color of the sun for a day , the splitting of the sea , and a burning tornado that happen out of nowhere are related to what Xena discovered . Which was a way to enter their domain from Anywhere's anomalous ability so now she is able to just walk around unnoticed .

' Simple ' she watched Ley brush away some bushes " Don't you post this " Marie rolled her eyes and they went in followed by the children " Are you sure it's safe ? " Devin asked " This is the part where we enter someplace and find a monster " Karl said scaring the children .

Ley kept quiet so the children turned back " No it isn't just don't want normal people to come here " Ley up tries to light up his flashlight " In here I hid away my grandpa's stuff or else someone might get it "

" Who is the someone who wants old stuff ? " Devin asked and Ley turned to his direction even though it was dark" That's what I want to talk about " Ley pushes away a door entering his "secret" base .