Lost.....and taken over

[DoS Archive]

Date: 10/14/97 8:15 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: SteveLGlow


Steve stood ready. Having the match two weeks after issued did not bother him in the least until he was wisked away on "business" most of last week, left with little practice. He came in to the Arena Monday Night to practice, but felt out of shape. He started slow, never losing, but slow in movement. Only when he did close his opponent out did he feel anywhere near fine. He left the arena partly satisfied but something inside nagged him....He stood ready upon the hills surrounding the battlefield, surveying the crowd, thinking about the match that was to proceed. He had been in the same position before, both as challenger and as challenged, so he wondered, Why should this time be much different? Yet it was. He could feel it in his bones, but he couldn't believe it.....Having faced the test of the Overlord on a previous occasion, he felt that the Overlord would probably not test him. Citing other reasons in his mind, he had convinced himself that the Overlord would not test him. However, he was wrong. After hearing the Overlord's anouncement of intercession, he jumped, atonished. However, having won before, he felt he could do it again, and thought again, Why should this time be much different? Yet, truly it was. His feelings about it grew stronger, and he started to believe it too.....Scared stiff, facing an opponent he had beaten only once, that being in another test, Steve could not concentrate. He moved his blade into parries like he couldn't see they were there. He let himself get sliced and diced to pieces both by full attack and by parry and riposte. Down 1-0, he consoled himself that it was only the first round. Down 2-0, and then 3-0, he let his mind wander. He stop hit when he knew he should have sidestepped. He could not help thinking back to other matches, and in fact to many things that had nothing to do with dueling. Unable to concentrate at all, he let the Overlord dictate the match, allowing the 4th and 5th point to be scored easily. Stepping out of the ring after the match, he could not seemingly find his mind. He opened his mouth, but could not form words. He thought perhaps his mouth was dry, so he took some of his water. It had no effect. He saw a few people notice his problem, but Steve knew what the problem was.....at least he thought he knew.....Running away as fast as he can, he ran to his home in town, scratching this note, finding his hand barely could scratch the comments, then running back to the DoS message board, to post it:"My Fellow Duelers: I post this after losing a match of intercession 5 points to nil in merely 6 rounds. There is no excuse for this. Though the Overlord is the "supreme dueler" of DoS, I am forced to the conclusion that something is physically wrong with me. My lack of articulation helps show this. I seek not for an excuse for my poor dueling, but I do seek to understand it. For this reason, I will take some time off. I will not "retire". I will merely show up less in the arena. My time in the arena would be poorly spent anyways. I will spend this time to recover, studdy my physical condition, study my dualing abilitys, and hopefuly impruve. Do njot attemppt to convinse mee tu noot du thiss......mi mind is maaaaddd upppadfgjhkh."Unable to actually finish the last sentence, and unable to actually read what it says, he follows his instincts to the board where he sees the large body of posts. Pressing the post to the board, the paper falls. Hearing a sound, then turning and looking behind himself to see people about to enter, he rushedly throws the paper on the floor and hides, hoping he is not seen. He watches the group read the posts, write some of their own, and leave. When the people leave, he runs back out, drawn toward the battlefield. The Battlefield empty in the middle of the night, Steve, or what ever he has become, is drawn instinctively directly into the ring. Thoughts flow into his head. He falls to the ground in terror, writhing in pain. He finally gets up, realizing his past self, yet unable to control his actions. He opens his mouth again, and this time a scream finds its way out. Aware now of what he wrote, his actions for the past hour, and what he was become, all he can do is mentally try to sway this creature into something near what Steve was, knowing any attempt is hopeless. The creature stands atop the hills of the battelfield. He spies a wild deer, and hungry, chases after it. Steve, unable to control what he has become, is dragged along, off into a world where he shall be lost, seemingly forever..... After a few hours, Steve let the creature controlling him take over, relaxing his concious hold into the world, and flowing away, into the unconcious world, where he can recooperate, in hopes that, one day, he shall possess the will to rid his body of whatever has taken over.....

[DoS Archive]

Date: 10/27/97 5:40 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: SteveLGlow



((Reference Thread: "Lost...and Taken Over"))

It had been prowling the woods if Rhydin for many weeks. It had been living off what it could catch, and what it could gather. It had reverted back to a primitive life, and even worse, each day forgetting what it had done previously. What ever it was, the body of Steve Glowacki was certainly not human.

Over the last few weeks, the small amount the old conciousness of the ex-Baron was drifting in the unconcious world beneath what had taken over its body. Its periodic glimpses into the concious were unremarkable until the day before. They started to get darker, more blurry. When the creature woke on that morning, when Steve attempt to glimpse at the world, he saw nothing. Un-panicked, he mustered more energy, thinking he was possibly merely
locked out by the creature's mind. As he let himself loose into the creature, he gained more than just a glimpse into the world..............he regained control.

In control of his body again, he began to think of what had happened to him in the past few weeks. He had degenerated from his normal self, to being unable to write, unable to think, then finally, unable to control at all. The body's needs greater than the mind's, he figured that there was some internal instinct that took over as his own mind faded....though he did not have an explanation for this.

He started to think, and think, and well...think. Over the course of the day, he recovered most of his previous memories, all while trying to find a landmark that could tell him where he was. As he went back through his memories, there was a block of a month and a hlaf that seemes to be missing. He was still trying to explain it, when the Town of RhyDin came into view. Recognizing the city scape, he rushed back into it, rushing to find the home
he knew before.

Everything back in place in his life, he returned to the DoS message board. Dis-regarding all other notices posted there, he tacked a new message right over his previous one:

DoS community:

I hope that I did not scare anyone with my previous conduct or the message posted here. If I did, I all I can say is that I am sorry and did not mean it. I hope to make a speedy return to the rings, and lick up where I left off. This may mean finding that I need a vacation, retirement, but I shall be back in the arena, hopefully, this weekend. If I do need a break from dueling, hopefully it will not be for the same reason as for the one I was
just on.

I ask that no one inquire as to know what exactly has happened to me. Just think that I was on a short break from dueling. All that matters to the community as a whole is that I am here.

Enough.

-Steve Glowacki

After posting, feeling much better, he headed straight to the arena, perhaps to practice.....

((If there seems to be something missing from the story, there might be. So what?))