I CLIMB (A Progression/Evolution Sci-Fi Novel)

"So the Xok'als were artificially created," I stare at the diagrams outlining different phases of the process, apparently failed models and how they slowly started looking more like the Xok'al I know. I still cannot read the language it is written in, but there is no doubt.

But… why? Why all this lore for this stage? Why this lab here, hidden and abandoned underground?

Sure, the Xok'al were created by some older pre-Ajnal civilization, that was somewhat more advanced than them, so… what? Sure it's interesting, but not like I really care. The objective is the same, isn't it? Kill the Xok'al to pass this stage—or is it?

I put the cylinder down after going through all the data stored.

It's rather convenient, this storage method… probably Lukas would be interested in something like this.

I check the rest of the place and find nothing more of interest. My gaze lingers on the robot on the floor. I could scavenge some parts… but no rush. My objective is to return to the Ajnal outpost. I can always come back with others and carry the stuff we need back.

I go out of the room and check others, finding several more remains along the way, even pieces of automatons. Along the corridor I find some rather decent pieces of armor—some bracers, shoulder pads, and kneepads—that I put on. The material is tough and conductive.

I find another locked door at the end.

I try to force it, but it won't even budge.

The gap is too thin, as if seamlessly integrated to the outer frame… can't use anything for leverage.

I send my waves, but they cannot go through either, but… I do feel a faint feedback. It's like… trying to scan something.

Hmmm…

I raise the electronic bracer I 'borrowed' and hold it close to the wall. Then I focus on sending a wave through it.

Beep.

There is a small sound, and then the door rattles for a bit before it roughly opens all the way.

GRRRRK—SKSHHH!

A wet, tearing sound echoes through the corridor as the door slices through something soft on the other side—fibrous, organic.

As it does, the smell from the other side assaults my senses.

Thick. Rotting. Acidic.

What the…

It is full of dirt and pieces of biological tissue and eggs… wait… Eggs!?

I look ahead. There is something moving on the ground.

I step closer. It looks like…

I gulp.

Fuck.

Should I make a run for it or—

I dare not send my waves forward. I focus on my other senses as I crouch and slowly move ahead.

But then I hear sound. Quick pace. Coming towards me.

Rotten piece of shit, my luck is.

I rush back behind the door.

How do I close this damn thing? I raise the bracer again and send a wave through it—nothing.

Oh come on… come—

Clang!

I raise my blade, blocking the incoming projectile.

I keep sending pulses, raising the bracer, but the door won't react.

You… you can't be serious…

Of all the damn places I could end up in…

I block the incoming strike of the bladed limb.

A fucking Xok'al nest!

The force pushes me back. I pivot on my left foot and use the narrow corridor to my advantage, twisting the Xok'al so it doesn't have the range to use its right arm.

I activate a node through my legs and knee-strike it in the abdominal section, slamming it into the wall and trapping its tails.

My blade is free. I activate nodes along my arm and shoulder, then thrust it into its neck before it can react.

Blood pours out, but I ignore it—more are coming.

I look at them.

I close my eyes.

"Alright then, le—"

Beep.

"Huh?"

The door suddenly closes with a heavy thud.

The place goes silent.

I stare, dumbfounded.

Just in case, I move the bracer away from the door.

I wait several seconds and hear the faintest sound from the other side.

The bastards are attacking it?

But the door doesn't even budge. Vibrations are minimal—barely perceptible.

Doesn't look like they'll break through anytime soon.

I glance at the dead Xok'al next to me. If only all of them were this weak.

I adjust my grip on the scimitar and bash its skull until it cracks.

Stage 1 – 10.482%

Good ol' Stage Progress.

So… now what?

I look back at the corridor. Didn't look like there was really another way out, did it?

I walk back and carefully check the three chambers along the way. I find another bracer I missed and two new cylinders with more data—some of it quite interesting visuals on the automatons and comparisons with the Xok'al—but that's it.

But then I remember there was a room sealed shut near the start I didn't access.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Perhaps…

I reach it, raise the bracer, and send a pulse.

Nothing.

I send a few more and—

Beep.

The door opens.

I step inside, prepared for the worst—but no. No murderbots or Xok'al nests. Just another research facility room.

I quickly find the lights and turn them on.

"Oh… now we're talking," I grin as I step forward and carefully stare at a half-finished automaton—no wait, it's not an automaton. It's… a full suit of armor? A mech suit?

I scan it carefully, noticing the intricate layout. It has several individual pieces that seem to combine with each other. But it's missing the right leg.

I look around and find what could be a right leg in progress on what I guess is a crafting table.

I zoom in and notice the carefully laid out conductive lines, the capacitors arranged in no random way, and connections I can roughly relate to my poor knowledge of circuit logic from undergrad.

I hold it in my hands. It's lighter than I thought, for such a full metal structure.

Interesting piece. It has a faint copper color and looks like full-plate armor from medieval times—but with a touch of a more… archaic style. I'd dare say a Mesoamerican touch in the faint decorations along its edges.

Now the question is… would this help? Can I use this armor?

I look around the room and find a lot of stuff I can't quite identify. Some tools here and there, probably used in the crafting process. Spare parts. Several capacitors on the floor. Some lenses. A highly conductive set of needles and fibers.

And… the information cylinders. A lot of them.

I pick one up and read it. More visuals—now related to the crafting itself. I see pieces being combined, diagrams, schematics, symbols highlighting functions.

I put that down and pick up the others. Some don't work, but most do.

Yet, if I really want to get a sense of it… I need to learn the language.

It's gonna take a while, though.

But… it's not like I have somewhere to go.

For fuck's sake, I'm trapped in an abandoned underground research facility, that 'conveniently' opens into a god damn Xok'al nest!

I don't know if The Tower has favorites, but oh damn, does it seem to like me.

I sigh and sit on the floor.

I close my eyes, clear my head, and start working through the data. Dozens of knowledge sets packed into these cylinders—no glossary, no translation key. Just raw information. Schematics, blueprints, biological diagrams, system layouts.

Scientific. Engineering-based. Symbol-heavy. Easy stuff… kind of.

Alright… visuals first.

I isolate the ones with consistent imagery. Components shown again and again—same shape, different symbols next to them. Labels? Probably.

Filter by pattern… this connects here… that cluster shows up across three separate energy pathways—must be a conduit, or maybe a link type.

Hmm. That one changes position but not form. Modifier, maybe?

Time slips. I don't know how long I've been doing this. But eventually… things click.

The structure of the language—it's not as foreign as I expected. Actually… it's pretty close to Ajnal.

Like Spanish and Portuguese. Different enough to be confusing, but the roots are clear.

There are still gaps—terms I can't decode precisely—but the overall meaning? It's there now.

And with it, something else. Context.

These people—the Xayen—they weren't just advanced. They were foundational. Everything in this stage, every piece of tech, every creature… it all seems to trace back to them.

Far beyond the Ajnal. More refined than the Azcoyatl, at least based on what I've heard of them. And yes, they had the same obsession with automatons—structured, layered engineering.

But it didn't stop there.

The beast-men from the plains… the ones I thought were just brutes caught between two civilizations?

They were engineered. Purposefully.

Xayen genetic work—enhancing their own bodies by fusing human and beast DNA. In their words: the destined evolution.

That's their core. Not war. Not conquest.

Evolution.

And they didn't limit themselves.

They followed every path—biological, mechanical, electromagnetic. The Pillar Path. The Body Path. External suits. Internal enhancements. Hybridization. Full-scale genetic overhauls.

And then… they made the Xok'al.

The text doesn't hide it. The pursuit of a perfect race.

Strong. Adaptable. Self-replicating. EM-capable. Able to consume organic matter, metals, conductive alloys. Able to grow. Change. Evolve.

They created stages. Measured success rates. Categorized failures.

The one-tails? Failures. Two-tails? Still failures.

Even the three-tails… only "moderate success."

Which means…

Yeah. They made four-tail Xok'al. And those… were considered the real breakthrough.

Born with capabilities on par with the elite of the Xayen themselves.

And still… they didn't stop there… at least not willingly.

The records become vague. Glitched. Incomplete. I read between the lines. Hints of collapse. Emergency protocols. Data purges. A sudden break in entries.

Something ended them.

The question is… what?

Was it the Xok'al? A revolt? A mistake that spiraled out of control?

Or was it civil war? A split that fractured the Xayen into what we now know as the Ajnal and Azcoyatl?

I frown. That part doesn't align. The history I know says the Xok'al threat is recent.

But these logs—this facility—it's clearly ancient.

So how the hell are the Xok'al both recent and older than the Ajnal themselves?

Something doesn't add up.

Well… while the historic lore adds some spice to the stage—and gives me something to brag about when I see the others—I need to make sure I will eventually see the others.

And maybe… just maybe, I've found the key to blast myself out of here.

The Xayen, as huge as their egos and ambitions were, were undeniably talented. They had the skill to back up their confidence. Similar to the Ajnal, and unlike the Azcoyatl, they pursued both the Pillar and Body Paths.

They also developed capacitor nodes in their bodies, just like I did to reach the Stone Jaguar Stage.

But there's something else. Something interesting.

There's a fundamental difference between the node setup I used back then… and what they considered the 'real' arrangement.

At the start, I assumed becoming a Lord of Sparks meant hitting the second Pillar State and the second Body State. A dual breakthrough. Clean. Logical.

But it turns out I was completely wrong.

Those milestones? They're not the entry requirement. They come later.

No… to reach the Lord of Sparks stage, what you actually need to do is take the base nodes from the Stone Jaguar model and shape them. Modify them according to what works best for you.

You need to find your own capacitor-node arrangement.

Custom. Personal. Unique.

And suddenly it all makes sense.

Why every Lord of Sparks had distinct armor. Why none of their structures looked alike.

Their suits weren't fashion statements.

They were engineered to align perfectly with their internal node distribution—each one tuned for resonance.

That resonance… that's the key. Like always.

It's the bridge between mind nodes and body nodes. Capacitors and circuits.

They feed into each other. Strengthen each other.

And because of that harmony, your waves don't come out from just one focal point anymore.

They can come from anywhere.

From any mental node.

That changes everything.

I can already feel the simulation spinning up in my head.

Before: the Pillar, one emitter, one pulse direction. A straight line.

Now? Dozens of nodes. Multi-vector output. Instant path correction. Interference control. Recursive feedback.

It's not just more power. It's control.

Scary levels of control.

Even if raw output stays the same, that flexibility makes it feel like you're wielding ten times more. And that's just the start!

I grin to myself.

Maybe I nearly got buried alive. Maybe I ended up right next to a Xok'al nest in an abandoned, unethical research facility.

But damn, if The Tower's gonna throw this kind of nonsense at me…

I'll take it.

And I'll win.