A Gift of Pain

A Glimpse of Infinity

Disclaimer: This is a commission for LeadDeamons, who owns the character of Wesker, as well as the setting and all associated names and concepts.

***

I frowned quizzically at the words "GAIM Jumper." Driven by my newfound desire to learn, I made confused, questioning noises, but quickly grew frustrated as my tongue failed to transcribe my thoughts.

The Tesseract made that whirring sound again. "Current communication is proving inefficient. We strongly urge you to begin the linking process to expedite proceedings."

I responded to this with more frustrated, bewildered noises, not comprehending.

Another whirr. "Linking your consciousness with us will give full access to our stores of knowledge."

While still not fully understanding, particularly not what it was talking about when it said "linking," the promise of knowledge immediately caught my attention, and my eyes widened with excitement. I did still feel some unease, but I quickly dismissed it- this cube had set me free, brought me to this wonderful place, shown and taught me all these beautiful things, and now it was offering me all the knowledge it had, which I craved voraciously. Of course I feverishly agreed.

The Tesseract grew brighter for a moment, then emitted a high-pitched noise. "Authorization noted. Brace for linkage."

I barely had time to begin to wonder what would happen next- when everything turned white. I tensed, and my head was thrown back against my will- before I felt like the inside of my skull was expanding. My body jittered as I felt the emptiness swell within my head- then begin to loop and wrap around me. It was the only way I could think to describe it, and it was extremely surreal, even kindling a burst of panic. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, desperately trying to collect myself, then cautiously opened them-

-to find myself staring at a metal rectangle.

I jerked back in surprise- then yelped and jumped forward as I felt a sensation of cold on my back, whirling around to see what had caused it- only to see another square of gray metal. I stared at it, my eyes popping.

It turned out that it was what looked like a stack of metal boxes, all with handles in the center. I could very faintly remember catching glimpses of something like this back in the complex- my captors would reach into these to pull out or put in papers. Those memories of my old prison started to bring back memories of my torment, and I shook my head rapidly, trying to force them away, before looking around for an escape route- then my limbs went slack, my mouth falling open in awe.

All around me were these metal paper-boxes- they stretched not only as far as my eye could see, but much further. It wasn't an unbroken line- periodically, there were spaces between some of them. It took a few minutes for me to work up the nerve to do so, but finally, shaking, I began to stumble my way toward one of these gaps, gingerly peering around it- only to see another, identical row of what I'd later learn were "file cabinets." I slowly fell back against one of them, tensing again from the feeling of cold, and slid to the floor, thoroughly confused and staggered by the sight.

"Welcome to the archive."

I jumped, making frightened noises and looking around wildly again.

"Calm yourself."

It was only then that I realized it was the voice of the Tesseract speaking. Again, I made confused noises, unable to properly phrase the endless questions running through my head.

"This is a repository of all of the knowledge contained within the Tesseract," the voice continued. "Anything you wish to know may be found recorded on files here."