Embarrassing stockpile of scraps and collections of works I've done.

Sentinel excerpt (Beyond our realm)

Beyond our realm
Excerpt from Sentinel
~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... How to prove I'm a Sentinel... ?"

Cozy frowned ever so slightly, and then 'popped' a voice recorder into his hand.

"... This recorder, is one that has my tapped Origin of Power, my Soul Totem infused within. Simply put, it, just like myself, it can exist outside of your time." Playing the play button, the recorder uttered no sound at all, showing that it's blank. Cozy rewound the tape.

"Uh huh. Pretty convincing, Sherlock."

James rolled his eyes and folded his arms in annoyance.

"... I'm going to say three sentences now, and I want you to react to them accordingly. Is that okay?" Pressing the record button, Cozy questioned.

"Whatever."

Cozy pointed at a faraway mountain, one that was obviously at least 200km away. Its only distinguishable figure was its gigantic image.

"That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain."

"So?" James was completely unimpressed that the Sentinel had pointed out something that obvious.

Looking at him wordlessly, Cozy then clenched his fist lightly, and punched toward the floor. It was no special-looking appearance in particular - It had been a mere punch downwards that hit absolutely nothing.

*** Phasal Shift ***

"Let's try it again. That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain."

"Are you stupid? I just told you it's two mountains, not one."

James couldn't believe that the Sentinel would get something like that wrong twice.

Looking at him wordlessly, Cozy clenched his fist lightly, and jabbed an uppercut into mid-air. The mountains in the background suddenly grew mass between them.

*** Phasal Shift ***

"One last sentence. That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain."

"... You repeatedly the same sentence three times, to prove what, exactly?"

James was closing his eyes in disbelief, at how foolish this idiot was before him.

"..."

Cozy, pressing the stop button, rewound the recorder in his hands and pressed the play button.

"... I'm going to say three sentences now, and I want you to react to them accordingly. Is that okay?

'Whatever.'

That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain.

'So?'

*slight pause*

Let's try it again. That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain.

'Are you stupid? I just told you it's two mountains, not one.'

*slight pause*

One last sentence. That mountain over there, has always been one single mountain.

'... You repeatedly the same sentence three times, to prove what, exactly?' "

... !!!

James widened his eyes in disbelief.

That second sentence came from his mouth.

It was his voice, his accent, his self-defined tone of sarcasm. It was not something anyone could merely replicate within two minutes. Cozy's voice was much higher-pitched than his, so it would be impossible for him to replicate the voice anyway.

What had startled him was that he had not replied that sentence at all. All his life, that mountain far off in the background had always been one single mountain - Mount Gigraceldi. And yet, that second sentence...

"Play that again! Play that second part again!!!"

Cozy rewound the recorder and played it once more.

"-le mountain.

'Are you stupid? I just told you it's two mountains, not one.' "

Pressing the pause button again, Cozy looked at James with determined eyes.

"... Impossible...!!! That's my voice! I NEVER SAID THAT!!! THAT SENTENCE MUST BE FALSE!!!..."

"False? ... That's not entirely correct. It is true, and false at the same time."

"... !"

"You see, James, it's hard for me to prove I'm a Sentinel. It's not because I cannot prove that I am a Sentinel, but rather, it is the way we work."

"The way you work... ?"

"Unlike fully-fledged Sentinels who literally modify the space, I can only modify its history and its properties. Currently, anyway. In other words, the big changes I invoke to the environment is not detectable by someone attached to the flow of time."

Cozy 'popped' a cup of water onto his hands, and an owl 'popped' onto his left shoulder by the same method.

"Foo. Take this cup and pour the water down in a straight stream."

The owl picked up the cup from his hands, and flapped its wings and took flight. Trying its best to maintain its position, the owl made of translucent orange material poured the contents down.

What was supposedly only a half-litre cup of water was pouring an endless stream.

The stream of bubbly water hit the ground, but it was unsteady. The owl was flapping its wings, causing the cup's position, and the stream's flow, to be distorted along its flight. But, with a snap of Cozy's fingers, strange 'sticks' appeared around the cup, locking it in that particular decanting position. The owl flew away, and disappeared into an orange mist.

"Observe."

Cozy outstretched his hands, and shifted his hands into the stream.

Or, so James thought.

The flow of water bent and slithered around the space between his hands in a serpentine shape that completely defied what nature and gravity would have deemed it - flowing straight through.

"What in the name of God did you do?"

"I simply changed its history. Where it would have poured down in a straight line and my hands would have been soaked, I changed the course it would have poured, by modifying the air and the water's history."

'Simply changed' was pretty significant for being able to manipulate an object's history. Yet, to this being before him named Cozy, it was in its truest sense. He had effortlessly created what was not possible without any signs of strain.

"What you heard in the recording is different from this. This is a small-scale change, so it is noticeable. However, when I cleaved the mountain and regrew it, I had changed not only its history, but also the records of it in the past. That is why in those moments that mountain has been changed, you have felt like nothing had happened."

James listened on attentively.

This being before him could invoke miracles, disasters, and the like 'effortlessly'.

What if he had become serious? What would it take for him to go beyond this 'effortless' zone? And what awaits him had he dared ask?

... No. James didn't want to ask him that question.

"... Incredible..."

Knowing that he could make such change was enough.

No more details need be told. It was most often better to be shut in ignorance than to know everything - James had learnt that the hard way enough times.

Because there is also the possibility that he could be killed off the instant he prompted a question like that.

"... I'm convinced. You're a Sentinel. So... What do you want from us?"

"I wish only for permission to traverse this world, unbound by laws and people. If I am to judge this world without influencing it, I must be allowed to move without having to stop for every little thing."

"You want an excuse out of everything, huh..." James looked away for a moment to think.

(God damn, to ask for something this difficult...)

"... Okay. I'll have a false international passport prepared for you. It's all about identity in this world - If you can fake your 'identity', you can get by almost anything."

"... Thank you, James."

Cozy 'popped' the cup that was pouring the endless stream away, and in the same fashion, 'popped' himself away as well.

The field is now lonely, with only James and a puddle of water its only occupants.