# Starting init software: calling section 3kv. Protocol error: access denied

  I had just woken up, after years of slumber. To a smallish-looking cub—I could tell that it was definitely a cub. I believe that this is one of the new arrivals. Hu… huomen, yes, that is the name that was assigned to these things. Much like dwarfs, but with less magical affinity. I do think some of them were slightly informed... maybe.

  Oh… it picked me up. That is wonderful. This one is either very unintelligent—or maybe all huomen are—or it has been way longer than I expected. I sent a probe to the man-cub, nothing that would fry it. I don't want the huomen populace to get mad at the “magic death rock” and stab me with pitchforks or something. The huomen showed no signs of noticing. I should report that; huomen should not have such protections, especially this cub.

  Wait, stop. What are you doing?

  The hammer fell, then came up again. And then fell—slamming into the gr?k-d?m1, sparks flying off—sparks to a new world I know. After each hit, the image grows clearer and clearer. It's a stone, about the size of my palm, with hundreds and hundreds of glowing runes—shifting runes carved into it.

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  I carefully place it onto the gold-plated vice. This is to be the adviser to the great Tazdurk2—my life's work.

  The angry red-hot ?zg?r is dipped into the heart of the flame?, a sacred place given to me by a Keeper of Worlds. The ?zg?r3 fades into a sputtering green, then flares up to a raging blue. I can see a gap—I could not describe it to you if I knew one hundred languages. Then it was gone, and all that was left was a small green fire.

  I stepped back and let the sages take over. This is not work that I am fit to do. A moment later, it was done. We made it.

  [Memory accessed: Origin timestamp unknown. Returning to present]

  This huomen cub… accidentally tapped into a Class 7 memory.

  I haven’t even been granted access to those yet.

  And of all the hundreds of possible memories he could have accessed...

  ...He chose my birth.

  Footnotes

  ? 1. Gr?k-d?m: Literal translation is “sacred stone,” could also mean “the rock that is worked.”

  ? 2. Tazdurk: Literal translation is “seeing will,” could also mean “strong sight” if reversed.

  ? 3. ?zg?r: This means “fire spirit,” similar to Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle, but darker.

  ? 4. Heart of the flame: Based on the soul forge from The Cradle book 12 by Will Wight.