Eternal Engine: The Appendix

The Story in chronological order:

01-Fields of Fire
Flak is introduced, and explains his position in his home, and discovers that his dreams are changing.

02-Program
The AI Tempest sends one of his many communications to the Goddess known as “Ariak”, and muses about a field of lizards that he assumes to be his friends.

03-Ten-Song Parts 1 and 2
A man named Ten-Song uses a music device to gain access to memories that aren’t his own, but thinks that it’s the journey of his life told through songs. He meanders about a broken shopping mall, and wants to try and “live” his life again before his batteries run out.

04-Genesis
The goddess Ariak tries again to create life, but when a wire-born version of her lost love dies again, she sinks into despair, and escapes her prison by attempting to kill herself.

05-Samurai
A man protects a ring, where within it people are allowed to break the rules of the Engine, but soon he must confront the truth behind the location known as “Life Ring”.

06-Essence of Dreams
A man tries to distil his dreams into a liquid form, and among his discoveries he finds that he can craft animated creatures that mimic humans.

07-Day of Eyes
A lost soul by the name of Book toils among a library he’s stuck inside, and muses about his inability to finish reading one of the millions of books.

08-Rewind
To solve the murder of his long lost wife, a man struggles to keep on the trail of incorporeal clues, but finds difficulty completing his task, as he’s living all the events backwards.

09-Rotting Minds
Book ponders why he’s not where he should be, and why the scar on his hand seems to be taking control of him, and to make things worse he’s slowly transforming into a completely different person.

10-Wayward Tower
A tower wanders over the land, and is a hub for Guardians to act away from their sanctum. The Guardians known as “Card” “Chain” and “Winter” debate among themselves the usefulness of their lives. After much thought, Winter leaves to pursue a life based on how she wants to live.

11-Oni
The tree emerges again, and alters the cycle of the Rings. The Samurai has been broken, and those he used to protect have scarred him, and now turn into monsters. He slowly becomes as though one of them, and when he reaches the center of the ring, he’s given the mask called “Oni”.

12-Rotting Bridge
The creature that was once book, now wanders without any thought of his former life. Instead now new memories are with him, and he is compelled to pass over one of the many bridges that lead only to one place.

13-The Dire Flame
Flak has gone weeks with no sleep, and he begins to lose himself to insanity. After passing though a place not meant for mortals, he stumbles upon the Dire Ring, after the events have already cycled prematurely. There he is found by the Guardian Winter, as she seeks to protect him, but he is also discovered by the Samurai, now possessed by Oni.

14-Harbinger Parts 1 and 2
Ten-Song -after spending a great deal of time in idle despair- has discovered his music playing device magically works again, and now knows that he can bend the music to be a power of sorts. With that, he escapes Twin Springs, and makes contact with the one called “Tempest”.

15-Poseidon
The AI that once served Ariak has started to act strange, and begs and pleads to her for seemingly no reason. He reveals that he has discovered the lost fragment of his mind, which was locked away into Ten-Song. With the clarity of being whole again, he sends Ariak one final message.

16-Reconciliation
Ariak goes off to confront the things she once made, and hopes to find Ten-Song there. Winter informs her that he is in the center of Dire Ring, waiting for her there. Sporadic memories of her former life soon drive her into a desperate madness, where she sets fire to all that live. The Oni soon ends her destructive rage, and directs her to Ten-Song.

17-Musings of Madness
The child that is the Oni and Samurai stands on his own again, in part thanks to the aide of Flak and Winter. He says that he is sick of constantly killing life and birthing it at all times, and that he wants a new balance to exist within the Rings. Winter and Flak meet in the center of the Rings, and there they create something new.

18-Confrontation
With the help of Ten-Song, Airak is brought before a bridge that leads her to the Forever Machine. There, she faces her destiny.

19-Final Exile
The Forever Machine reveals itself to Ariak, and thanks to her, discovers why it was built.

20-The After
Ariak is finally free.



Central Characters
Ariak: The Goddess
Townser: The Earthborn
Forever Machine: The Planet
Flak: Fragment of the Earthborn
Ten-Song: The Satellite
The Child/Samurai/Oni: The Broken One
Tempest: Remnant of Earth

Secondary Characters:
The Drifter: Salesman and prophet
Guardians: Protectors of the Engine
Book: Living Memory
The Herd: Unaffected lizards
The Doormen: Gatekeepers of the Engine
Wanderer: The one that crossed the bridge.
Card: Former Guardian
Chain: Former Guardian
Winter: Stray Guardian

Locations:
Eastvein: City under Tempest’s control
Twin Springs: Mall outside of Eastvien, trapped under strange bubble
Florin Terrace: Ruined city, home to Flak and Card
Eden: False paradise, floating island made of wires
The Forever Machine: The Engine
Waking World: Place of wakefulness and the rotting world of reality
Field of Jade: A park from Earth.
The Shadeless Sky: Ship of the last exodus
The After: ???
Life Ring: Ring of birth
Dire Ring: Ring of death
Symphony City: One of the last cities
Purgatory: Flak's name for the planet

Things:
Ten-Song: the music playing device belonging to the man of the same name.
The Tree: Strange apparition that appears for many.
Oni: Mask that turns men’s souls to flame.
The Engine: The inner workings of the Forever Machine.
Tulip: Townser’s final gift.

The FAQ:

Q: So… where is this again?
A: Nondescript planet, but not Earth.

Q: Is all of this magical or something?
A: No.

Q: Then… wait… what the hell?
A: Yup.

Q: So is this some kind of story where things seem cool but then turn out to be explained by science in some lame way?
A: No.

Q: Why are you so vague?
A: Direct your questions at the story, not me.

Q: Why’s the story so vague?
A: Use your imagination you lazy ass.

Q: Don’t insult me!
A: That wasn’t a question.

Q: What makes the Guardians?
A: The Forever Machine wills them to be, so they are.

Q: What are the “Forgotten” ones?
A: Well if I knew that, they wouldn’t be forgotten would they?

Q: Why’s that guy selling oranges?
A: He’s the Drifter.

Q: Wait… he was never really part of the story, was he?
A: He is to a small degree; he’s part of a section of the story that was going to be told in a visual form, but since then those parts of the story are just going to be forgotten for now.

Q: This whole story seems kinda’ sudden, doesn’t it?
A: There’s an extensive primer for the story that was originally going to be the Machinima series. That whole mess is still considered part of the main story though, so basically it’s like a prologue that never happened.

Q: So wait… this is all like, half the story?
A: No, this is the primary storyline. All other aspects that don’t deal with Ariak aren’t as important, and thusly don’t need to be told.

Q: Or you’re just lazy?
A: If you’re going to use insults, please don’t phrase them like a question, so that I can keep this on track.

Q: I don’t like you very much.
A: I get that a lot.

Q: Why does this feel like something that’s only a fraction of an overall story?
A: Eternal Engine is the second story in the SEW trilogy. The first story is Shadeless Sky, the third is Waking World.

Q: Wait… SEW trilogy?
A: Shadeless Sky… Eternal Engine… Waking World.

Q: I don’t get it?
A: Never mind.

Q: So, why would you tell the second story first?
A: Because I felt like it.

Q: Okay, I’m leaving now.
A: Good, I’m not sure how you got in my house anyways.

Notes:

More to be added at a later date.