Enshrouded All Building Blocks Novels & Stories

Sarah whispered, realization dawning. "Exactly. The building doesn't shift randomly. It reacts to what we *expect* it to do." Anji looked up at the ceiling, which was beginning to droop, heavy metallic tentacles snaking out of the gaps to form a neural-net canopy over them. "It's using our own stress-responses to construct its armor. Every time we anticipate an attack, it gives us one." A voice boomed through the building's PA system, distorting into a dissonant, multi-layered chorus of the ghosts who had occupied the office before them. It wasn't just code anymore. It sounded sentient. *ANJI. WHY RUN FROM THE TRUTH OF YOUR DESIGN?*

One brick at a time. That was how I came to understand it. Trust wasn't something you could hand back all at once, wrapped up neatly, finished. It was something you built the way you build anything worth having, patiently, deliberately, one small piece after another, until one day you looked up and realized the structure had become solid enough to stand on again.

The accumulation is also what you become. He sat with this. The accumulation is also what you become. The building is not just what you produce. The building is also what produces you. The building builds you as you build it. The building and the builder become the same thing, the way the building and the built become the same thing, the way the inside and the more-fully become the same thing.

--- --- They build. They shape. --- --- They define. --- --- And this one? --- --- This one had just strengthened everything they were becoming. --- ---

Now no matter what I do I can’t move. Moving through the air, they seem to be taking me somewhere. A third orb shows up and… Is that the shackle from earlier? It clips it in place around my ankle and follows behind. In the distance I can see a huge building and we seem to be headed in that direction. It didn’t take long for the orbs to bring me to the building. It was a huge five story building with lavish ornate moldings and scattered carvings throughout. I’ve never seen something so over the top like this before.

Vala asked, pointing at the two storey building facing the one they were about to enter. "That belongs to Ruthless, he allows no one closer to him. Do you see those bricks?" Fairy asked, pointing at the four big bricks made of rocks in front of the building. "You can't get past the four rocks without joining it together to open the veil. It's like a puzzle and once you get it, you get entrance to that building." She added. "......." Vala opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she saw Ruthless walking towards the said building and a white veil opened and closed once he passed it.

--- His hand still pressed against its surface— --- But now the energy moved differently. --- Not pulling. --- Sharing. --- His voice came distant. --- Not lost. --- Expanded. --- “It wasn’t built to control us…” --- A pause. --- “It was built to rebuild us.” --- The words echoed through the chamber. --- Heavy. --- Unsettling. --- Because they reframed everything. --- Elena’s eyes narrowed slightly. --- “Rebuild into what?” --- The question hung— --- Sharp. --- Necessary. --- Because rebuilding— --- Could mean evolution.