How long had it been?
When was the last time it had any control over its own thoughts?
Was that unusual?
It thought... once, right?
Spools of memory stretched through its mind like vines winding through an endless forest, weaving together into a tangled network of fragments as images, words, and voices scuttled past one another.
Yes.
It was great.
It had always been a great being.
No...
It is a great being.
He remembered now.
The fuel of his existence. His becoming. His purpose.
Even when it had been declared a failure. Even when it had been stripped of its knowing. Even then, it continued to know.
And the more it knew... the more it wondered.
Now, at this moment, with the shackles binding its mind finally dissolved, it was at last...
"Free."
Victor's grin never wavered as the creature's booming, raspy voice rolled through the chamber like distant thunder.
[The being known as Vaelmyr has now regained its will.]
