Chapter 2: Shadows in the Dark
The Willowbrook Sheriff's Department was unusually quiet, a somber stillness hanging over the bullpen. It had been two days since the grisly discovery in the woods, and the small town was still reeling from the shock and horror of it all. Deputy Sarah Harding sat at her desk, staring blankly at the crime scene photos spread before her. The images were seared into her mind - the mangled remains, the blood-soaked leaves, the strange, unsettling tracks that seemed to belong to no known animal.
But it was what she had seen and heard in the forest that night that haunted her most. The glowing yellow eyes, the bone-chilling growl...it was like something out of a nightmare. And yet, she knew with grim certainty that it was all too real.
Sheriff Ethan Blackwood emerged from his office, his face haggard and his eyes shadowed with exhaustion. He'd been pouring over the scant evidence for hours, desperately searching for some clue that could lead them to the killer. But so far, all they had were more questions than answers.
"Tell me we've got something," he said, his voice rough with fatigue as he approached Sarah's desk. "Anything that can shed some light on what the hell is going on here."
Sarah shook her head, frustration evident in the tense set of her shoulders. "Nothing concrete. The coroner's report came back, but it's just confirming what we already suspected - the victim was mauled by some kind of large predator. But the specifics of the attack, the savagery of it...it doesn't match any known animal in the area."
Ethan's jaw clenched, his gaze distant as he recalled the eerie scene in the woods. The way Sarah had described the glowing eyes watching her from the darkness, the otherworldly growl that had raised the hairs on the back of his neck...it was like something out of a horror movie. And yet, he couldn't dismiss it. Not when he'd seen the raw, primal fear in his deputy's eyes.
"What about the tracks?" he asked, grasping at straws. "Have we been able to identify what made them?"
Sarah pulled out a photo, the image grainy but clear enough to make out the distinctive paw prints. They were huge, easily dwarfing a human hand, and the claws...Ethan suppressed a shudder. Whatever had made those marks, it was no ordinary beast.
"I've sent the images to every wildlife expert and cryptozoologist I could find," Sarah said, shaking her head. "But so far, no one's been able to give me a definitive answer. Some say it could be a bear, others insist it's a wolf...but they all agree on one thing. The size and depth of those tracks...it's like nothing they've ever seen before."
Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face, the weight of the case settling heavily on his shoulders. They were dealing with an unknown predator, one that seemed to defy all logical explanation. And with each passing day, the likelihood of another attack grew higher.
"Okay," he said at last, his voice grim with resolve. "We need to widen our search. Talk to the old-timers, the hunters, anyone who might have seen or heard something that could give us a lead. And we need to warn the public. Tell them to stay out of the woods until further notice, and to report any unusual sightings immediately."
Sarah nodded, already reaching for the phone. "I'll put the word out. And I'll keep digging into the historical records, see if there have been any similar attacks in the past that might give us some insight."
As she set to work, Ethan retreated to his office, his mind racing. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were dealing with something beyond their understanding. Something that lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike again.
And as he stared out the window at the dense, dark forests that surrounded Willowbrook, he couldn't help but wonder...
What kind of monster were they dealing with?

Since the age-demo change on here we've had endless posts about "why are [men / women] like this?" or "how terrible is this [cultural thing]?" - everything is "bleak" or "depressing" and kids in their early 20s are catastrophising about being single in their 30s.
Because you're all young, you don't really have the perspective to realise how incredibly naive and narcissistic all of this is. If your biggest worry in life is you find the opposite sex baffling or annoying or you're worried about dying alone you don't have real problems. This is how philosopher Brian Leiter (summarising Nietzsche) describes the human predicament:

For before all of us, and all our loved ones (our dear children, and our beloved siblings and spouses, and our parents and grandparents), and all of these persons dear to our heart enter oblivion, all will endure, to vary ing degrees, physical and psychological misery, mishap, and suffering. We will watch some loved ones die before their time; we will watch others suffer excruciating physical ailments and psychological torments that will diminish their well-being and often their humanity. Some of these horrors will, of course, befall us individually. Examples of the litany of grief that awaits us all are available for regular consumption in the newspapers, a testament to the universality of the afflictions: cancer, schizophrenia, heart disease, agoraphobia, multiple sclerosis, alcoholism, hip fractures, chronic depression, and on and on. I have no doubt that for all readers of this article, one or more of these afflictions is all too real, whether for them or for someone for whom they care deeply. To make matters worse, none of these afflictions has any reason, or sense, or purpose.

To face the horrors that the world is going to throw at you, you need to do things which dial back the ego: sublime art or music or prose, immersion in nature, meditation and basically anything which helps you realise you're a dumb ape here for the most insignificant moment in time and undeserving of such self obsession. Religion could also be good, but only if it orients you outside the worldly.

So this stupid Riven spoon-fed the enemy Lee top with no enemy ganks, he just kept bashing his skull towards the same brick wall of dueling dueling dueling hoping he would win, and mind he lost having flash ignite vs flash TP. Anyways, I obviously left top to rot while I camped bot and kept the game aflote.
Enemy jungle and I basically traded map sides, he got 5 grubs and herald while I got 3 drags and my Jhin adc is fed like 5/1 while Riven is 0/5.
20-22 mins in, I'm at ~1050 gold and this sub-human steals my golems even when I yellow ping him while I was busy with my red and I'm forced to recall with 1150 for just a blasting wand and boots instead of completing my rod at 1250.
20 seconds later my team is mid while I'm contesting the Lee split-pushing tier 2 turret bot, I only have Liandry's, basic boots and blasting wand. He's 2 levels ahead, has Profane Hydra, Sundered Sky and basic boots. I deliberately wait for him to use his cooldowns on the wave before I fight him, he only used E (5 seconds cd) and Hydra (10 cd).
I smite him first for a guaranteed slow then land my E seed and flash his Q and use my own Q at max range. Put him to sleep, I wait 2 seconds for my Q's cd, clench my butthole and bashed his head with my W with the fury of a thousand deers AND BOOM!!! I EEP THAT MOTHERFCKER!!!!
I Q again and he's left with only 200-150 hp and ticking with my multiples DoTs: red pet, red buff, lyandries and my passive, I only had my basic attacks at this point.
He ward hops away and I chase, he has less than 50 hp + shield at this point…I swore to God I had him dead to rights but before I could Q again, he bought enough time to flash towards me point-blank to basic me with a crit-sunderer proc healing him for 100 then R kicks me Q-Q refreshed hydra and I'm fcking dead 100 to 0 in 0.5 seconds.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-
Enemy team starts baron, Lee recalls and TPs to it. My team cant possibly contest. Dog-shite Riven and Leona try to steal but to no avail, they both die. Jhin ults but all his bullets are blocked by their bodies.
They b and come back even stronger. They still have herald at this point, my tier 2 and 3 are demolished by Shelly while they push top at the same time, lost 2 inhibitors. We tried to defend but we all died in 2 seconds and GG.
I could have won that duel if I had the rod instead of wand…so tilted.

After nearly thirty years of research, field work, digging, and sometimes living off the land, Ana had finally found what her family had sought since her great-grandfather. The door was so well hidden that she hadn’t realized it was there until she attempted to break a bit of the surface rock off with her geologist’s hammer. The hollow behind the door resonated with the sound of the hammer on stone.
She tapped along the door to find the edges. With the chisel end of her hammer, she chipped away the encrustations that had built up along the edges. After hours of hammering, chiseling, and digging at the base, the outline of the door was visible. Made of the same rock as the surrounding gneiss, it had gone unnoticed for untold millennia.
Ana pushed the door from the sides, the middle, the top, the bottom, looking for the smallest movement. The door didn’t budge. She sat, leaning against the door on the flat bit of ground she’d dug out. She ate some of the year-old jerky she had in her pack while the sun set.
It was a clear, moonless night, and Ana focused her attention on the whirl of the Milky Way overhead. The sight wasn’t enough to keep her mind off the stubborn door behind her and the aching of her joints from sitting on the rocky ground.
She stood and turned to take a last look at the door for the day. Even in the faint light of the stars, she thought she could make out the edges. At one corner, a flash caught her eye. She moved her head back and forth, trying to find the position that had, she thought, reflected light.
Not finding it, she pulled out her flashlight and shone it on the corner of the door where the flash was. She expected to see a reflection but saw none. She turned out the light, and there it was, except it was two flashes this time.
There was no doubt it was coming from inside, shining out a pinhole in the door seam at the upper left corner. “Monkey see, monkey do?” she asked herself. She pointed the flashlight at the corner and flashed it twice. When nothing happened, she flashed it again.
The response was five flashes. “Oh, fibbi-whatever,” she muttered. “Three and five is eight.” She flashed the light eight times. There was no immediate response. She began to worry that she’d been wrong in her counting or in what pattern they were looking for.
A loud hiss sounded as the whole door slid out away from the wall. Bright light shone around the edges of the door that continued to slide out, far thicker than she’d expected. Where she’d stopped digging in front of it, the door bulldozed its own path.
It stopped with a little less than a meter clearance between the back of the door and front of the rock wall. Beyond lay a downward-sloping walkway. It was shaped like an oval with a flattened floor. A voice echoed from within, “Enter, Anastasia.”
She didn’t know how they knew who she was, but she wasn’t going to turn back after having come so far. She stepped around the door, held by a single, flat piece of metal that disappeared into a groove in the ceiling. The metal that held the massive slab of stone looked far too flimsy for purpose, but pushing against the edges of the open door did nothing to sway the door or distort the metal support.
With a deep breath, Ana threw her pack over her shoulder and stepped into the hallway. As she continued down the hall, more would illuminate ahead of her while behind her, the lights shut off. Where the light came from was a mystery to her, but she was more interested in what lay ahead at that point.
She felt a slight, sudden increase in air pressure in the tunnel, followed by the echoing sound of the door as it closed. She pushed down the edges of panic that wanted to take hold. “I’m on my way,” she said to the tunnel.
The deeper she went, the more the temperature seemed to settle at close to fifteen or sixteen degrees Celsius. Her lips felt dry in the still air, and she applied lip balm while she continued apace ever deeper. Somewhere far underground, the tunnel curved back on itself and kept descending. After two more switchbacks, and what felt like hours of walking, she found herself in a chamber.
It was monumental in scale. The walls curved to meet at least twenty meters overhead. As the lights in the chamber came up, the far side looked a hundred or more meters away, while the doorway she was in was situated about twenty meters from the walls on either side. Covering the bottom two-thirds of the walls were row upon row of plastic-like boxes with lights blinking inside them.
In the center of the chamber was a dais with a holographic glyph floating in the air above it. Standing next to the dais was the owner of the voice she’d heard on entering. The shape was semi-translucent, the lights from the boxes behind it seeming to light it from within. “Welcome,” it said, although it had no mouth with which to speak. Its form shifted and changed, from an amorphous blob to an array of wings and eyes, then through creatures both real and mythical, until it finally settled into the shape of a large woman with wings.
“Who are you?” Ana asked.
“I am the keeper,” it said. “You are Anastasia, the seeker, yes?”
“I’m Anastasia Kell, but I go by Ana.” Ana moved closer to the center of the chamber and the shape-shifting entity at its center. “What is your name?”
“I am the keeper. I have no name.”
“Fine, I’ll call you Odette, then. You look like an Odette.”
The keeper flapped its wings twice, then shrunk its body by adding a long tail. “That is acceptable, seeker Anastasia.”
“Please, just call me Ana.”
“Of course, Ana. Please, come to the dais for your reward. Your dedication has won through.” The keeper moved away from the dais and extended an arm toward Ana. The arm kept extending, reaching Ana’s hand twenty meters away from the keeper.
Ana was surprised that the hand felt warm and dry. She’d expected some sort of slimy, cold thing, but it wasn’t. She let herself be led to the dais. “What are you?”
“I am the keeper.”
“Are you a biological creature or a construct of some sort? Some sort of soft-body robot, maybe.”
“I am a biological construct, designed to keep a record of all intelligent life on this world. I have been keeping these records for 72,363,412 years.”
“Since what…the dinosaurs?”
“Yes. The first were theropods. Traveling in hunter groups, they had a limited language. If they had been more adaptable, they might have not been already dying out by the time of the asteroid.” The keeper changed its shape to a theropod that Ana didn’t recognize. It was about the same height as her, with three-toed feet, three-fingered hand on medium-length arms, and a slightly domed head.
“That’s what they looked like?” she asked.
“Yes.” The keeper shifted into the shape of a porpoise. “There were and are the cetaceans, of course. They have language and culture but are not in a position to leave their cradle.”
“Is that what you’ve been waiting for? An intelligence capable of space travel?”
“Yes. My creators have placed other keepers like me on millions of worlds.” The keeper changed into a sphere. “This is where I am keeper.”
“So now, humans, I guess, are what you’ve been looking for.”
The keeper changed into a primate that resembled a chimpanzee and then morphed through several hominin species shapes, pausing on Neanderthal before finishing up with modern human. “I’ve watched entire civilizations come and go without so much as a scratch to mark them in the geologic record, and yet your kind has made an indelible mark on the planet. Whether that is for better or worse remains to be seen.”
“My guess would be worse, but I’m a pessimist.”
“So you say, but you never stopped searching for the library at the heart of the world.”
“True.” Ana took a deep breath and put a hand on the dais. The holographic glyph hovering above it disappeared, and an eight-limbed creature appeared in its place.
The creature spoke in English, even though its squishy mouthparts made movements that were often in total contradiction to the sounds it made. “Welcome, seeker Anastasia. Updating. Welcome, Ana. What would you like to learn today?”
“What are my limits here? This place was hard enough to find, what kind of things won’t you tell me?”
“The records will answer any questions you have that can be answered. Nonsensical and paradoxical queries will be ignored. The library is hidden to ensure that only those ready to take the next steps beyond their cradle can find it. As such, all our knowledge is yours for the asking.”
“So, I blinked a light in a simple sequence. How does that mean we’re ready to take the next steps – whatever those are?”
“You are the fourth generation of your family that has searched for the library, correct?” the holograph asked.
“I am.”
“And you have spent the majority of your adult life in the same search, have you not?”
“I have,” she said, “but how does that–”
“Multi-generational planning and execution, combined with drive and determination, and the knowledge of basic mathematical concepts. This is enough to start with.”
“Are you just another aspect of Odette?”
“No, I am the avatar of Krshnlgik-mlOgnk, the current head of remote planetary studies on our home world of MFkst.” The pronunciation of the non-translated names sounded more like someone choking in a bowl of oatmeal than a language.
“Is faster-than-light communication possible?”
“It is. I am currently speaking with you from a distance of thirty-one thousand light years.”
“How?”
A series of formulae appeared in the space above the dais. “You may use your phone to photograph these, since memorization might be difficult.”
Ana did. “And faster-than-light travel?”
The formulae were replaced with more, some of which looked similar to the first. She photographed those as well.
“Do you have any other questions?”
“How can you claim to keep track of everything happening all over the world?”
“The keeper, or Odette as you call it, has a connection through quintillions of microscopic wormholes to points all over the planet.”
“So, would you have the contents of the Library of Alexandria as they were just before it burned?”
“We do.” Thousands upon thousands of titles scrolled by, many in languages Ana couldn’t even guess at, but with an English translation next to them.
“That might be something for another day,” she said. “Are there others out there in the galaxy or just your people?”
“There are many others,” the avatar said, as images of dozens of strange body plans showed. “We are a small part of a wider galactic community.
“You seem to be pondering something,” the keeper said. “Do not be afraid to ask your question.”
“How do we get off this rock and join the galactic community?”
The keeper morphed into the shape of a cozy chair and said, “Get comfortable.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because,” the avatar answered, “this is going to take a long time to explain.”
prompt: Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?
originally posted at Reedsy

Previous Part
I woke up to the smell of sausage and eggs. Over by the side of my bed was a tray with a masterfully prepared omelet and sausage to match. That’s not what caught my eye though. What did that was the little note stuck to the side of they tray.
“Sorry for terrorizing you- R”
Was scrawled in barley legible hand writing, Rocco’s I imagined.
“So it can cook but not write?”
I muttered to myself as I got out of bed.
A fresh change of clothes was laid out for me and I decided just not to question it. The clothes fit perfectly and I tried not to let my mind wander as to why that was while I ate breakfast. Rocco’s omelet was outstanding, for a trash panda he made a great cook but I have no idea where he would’ve picked that up. After I finished I brought my dishes downstairs and ran into Stein in the kitchen.
“The clothes fit don’t they? My eyes aren’t what they used to be, I should’ve just sent Rocco up to ask your size.”
“No no, they fit fine, and please don’t send Rocco to do anything without telling me. I think that might just give me a heart attack on the spot. I’m still really not used to all… this going on”
I said gesturing to the raccoon who had wandered into the kitchen and was now flipping me the bird with both his paws.

Stein nodded to me with what I hoped was understanding. As much as Rocco seemed harmless (Maybe… hopefully?) I really didn’t want the furry little demon arriving anywhere near me unexpectedly. We already saw how that went in the basement yesterday. I finished washing my dishes in the sink as Stein ate his breakfast. He seemed so calm and normal, compared to the things I’d seen in this house so far. If you took one look at Bianca you say she looked too good to be true. Rocco is… well, he’s a talking raccoon, that’s immediately strange. But when it came to Frank and Stein you couldn’t tell there was anything off about them. Honestly I still had trouble seeing where they fit into this whole thing.
I was lost in this train of thought as I went through the motions of taking my groceries out of the refrigerator where someone had put them. I didn’t even realize Bianca was standing behind me till she tapped my shoulder. Jumping out of my skin I screeched out,
“Jesus Rocco what the hell!”
Bianca went from serious to laughing hysterically in no time flat.
“He really has you spooked after last night doesn’t he?”
She barely got out between bouts of laughter.
“I’m sorry really, oh and I’ve got this for you.”
Chuckled Bianca, handing me a wad of cash with a face that didn’t look remotely sorry for laughing at me.
“Just for that I’ll take it! But I’ve got to ask, how do you have this much cash just lying around, isn’t that a little risky?”
“You’d have to ask my unc… Frank or Stein.”
Bianca answered, stumbling on the apparently familiar lie. As she said this Stein stood up from the table and answered my question.
“Researching the supernatural isn’t always safe but Germany pays its scientists well, even if we don’t work for them anymore.”
“Germany? When did you work with the German government?”
I asked, a sinking suspicion settling into the pit of my stomach.
“1941, The Führer requested me specifically and I met Frank there. Oh don’t look at me like that! I didn’t support his cause, he simply wanted to look into forces outside his control and that was my specialty. It was business nothing more.”
Stein responded, pointing his finger at me and sounding a little annoyed.
“But that would make you… there’s no way you’re that old. Uh I don’t mean!”
“Think nothing of it, if anything, it means our serum worked. Distilled it from the DNA of a few pureblooded vampires and designed it to slow human aging to a crawl.”
Bianca cut him off,
“Stein, I think I can see steam coming out his ears. Can we maybe give the supernatural stuff a rest? I know you’ve been around it all your life but I think its a bit much for him.”
“Yes, I suppose your right Bianca. I’ll leave you two be then.”
Stein surrendered, as he turned and walked out of the room. Like he hadn’t just dropped yet another bomb on me.
I held myself together much better this time. After talking raccoons and succubi, learning vampires apparently existed in such an offhanded manner just didn’t surprise me as much. At this point I was just about ready to accept any supernatural entity I’d ever heard of existed in some capacity. In fact that might be the best policy moving forward.
“Hey you’re not going to pass out on us again right?”
Bianca asked turning back to me, genuine concern in her voice.
“No, I’ll be fine. The more I hear about this kind of thing the better I am at just accepting it. It’s a lot easier hearing it from one of you guys than having it drop out of the sky at me.”
I joked, walking with Bianca to the door. I noticed my poor attempt at a joke was the first time I said anything about Imalone without feeling like someone would call me crazy. I couldn’t dwell on that for too long right now though, I had to drop off the groceries that had taken me a full day to get. In hindsight though, I’ve had worst trips to the grocery store.
The next few days passed without any real issues, I got things set up in the house and ordered some furniture with the money I got from Bianca. On the second day I figured I should go out and explore the town a bit. I was getting bored being cooped up doing normal things and apparently I wanted to throw a wrench in all that.
“Maybe a bar” I thought to myself as I walked out the door just as the sun had started to think about setting, “Those are always a good place to meet people”.
This is where I tell you I may be just a little awkward. Even back home I didn’t really get out and meet new people much but I figured now is as good a time as any to start. I threw together a quick outfit with the clothes I brought with me from home. Hopefully I looked at least a little bit presentable in khakis and a red dress shirt. I walked out my door and immediately saw Bianca’s house peering out over the town. I considered dropping by to see if Bianca wanted to join me. I had told her about the reasons I ended up in Eagles Peak but I still knew precious little about her. I assumed her past wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I wanted to know what exactly drew someone like her to a sleepy little town like this. Maybe seeing if she wanted to join me would be a good opportunity to learn something about her? It’s entirely possible I just wanted to spend more time around her because she was drop dead gorgeous. Maybe it was because she was the first person I bumped into in town? I couldn’t put my finger on it and if we’re being honest I didn’t want to admit the real reason to myself.
That would have to wait for another day though. I had spent so much time thinking about it that by the time I snapped back to reality I was by the greyhound bus stop, well past her house. There was another bus stopped there and people were getting off of it. None of them looked like what I would call a local but its not like I’d really know what a “local” looked like here anyways. Still, this town couldn’t get this many visitors right? It was weird but probably had a completely reasonable explanation.
“The Eagle’s Roost” read the sign above the bar’s entrance, it was actually a pretty high class looking establishment. The fresh red paint gleamed against the faded whites and grays of the other buildings on the street. Inside, a well polished dark wood floor greeted me. The room was completed by a roaring stone fireplace and a well used set of stools by the counter.
“Hey there! Anyone home?!”
I called out into the empty bar.
“Give me a minute!”
Replied a deep gruff voice form the back room. Eventually a man emerged from the room, well I say man but what I mean was a mountain in human form. This guy had to be about 7 feet tall and built from solid granite. Seriously, the muscles on this guy would’ve put The Rock to shame.
“Little early to start drinkin’ isn’t it?”
The mountain grunted judgmentally.
“Well I’m new here I just wanted to see the town. I could come back later if you want.”
“New, why didn’t you say so! New here, I haven’t seen anyone new here in years! come sit down if you’ve got questions about this place I can probably answer them!”
The now elated giant boomed at me. He turned hospitable in an instant, offering me a drink on the house for his poor manners before. His name was Tucker and he’d come to the town years ago as a foreman for it’s mine. The mine dried up and the workers moved on but something about this town spoke to him and he decided to stay. He opened up this bar and the rest is history. Something about the way he talked about the mine did’t sit right with me though. He kept mentioning how it dried up like he was trying to convince me that was what happened. Plus a mine out here didn’t exactly make much sense to me.
“So you run this place alone then?”
I asked, more to be polite than out of genuine curiosity. We had started to run out of things to talk about after conversation about the mine dried up much like it apparently had.
“Never needed any help besides my wife’s, but most days I just run the place alone, yes. No sense in hiring help here, not many people looking for work outside of the ones working at that grocery store down the street. Anyways I should get back to work, its getting to be about time we actually open to the public.”
I turned my head to look at the sign I now realized was stuck to the door. “Eagle’s Roost Hours: 6PM-1AM every night”. I realized with embarrassment I had walked through the door an hour before opening. Tuck had been nothing but friendly though, and I almost felt bad for assuming the locals like him would want to shoo me away. After all, everyone I’d met so far had been nothing but nice, not including Rocco that is.
As I turned my attention back to my drink I thought about the mine again. I hadn’t seen any records of the mine Tuck mentioned in my internet searches of the town before I came here. Honestly it had been incredibly difficult to dig up anything on the town. I wasn’t necessarily the most thorough in my search, but mines tend to be a staple of the towns they’re located in. This mine in particular seems to be what the town was built on. I’m not sure what had me so worked up on this mine issue but I was sure it was important. I sat there at the bar, mulling it over and sipping on my drink when a hand slapped down on my shoulder.
The man it was attached to said something but I couldn’t catch it even if I wanted to. I was far to laser focused on the mark seared black into the mans hand, the exact same eagle that was burned into my back. I pushed him off and bolted for the door, all I heard behind me was the mans confused “What?” And Tuck shouting at him.
“Now what in the Blazes did you do to the poor kid Robert!”
I shot off into the street from the bar, no one was chasing me but the fact that the symbol was here had set me off like a deer running from a gunshot.
“What the hell happened to you?”
Called a now familiar, heavily accented voice from the alleyway.
“Rocco, what are you doing out here?”
I questioned, bewildered at finding him out in the open. I’d never admit it but seeing a familiar face, even Rocco’s, calmed me down a little
“I’m a raccoon in an alleyway, what do you think I’m doing, fishing? No, I’m rootin' around in the trash, Frank needs some lithium foil and he can’t be bothered to run out and buy some batteries himself, stingy bastard.”
He retorted, looking for all intents and purposes like a normal raccoon at the moment.
“Even if I were to guess I wouldn’t have even come close to that.”
“I live to surprise”
Rocco sneered, taking a bow dripping with sarcasm.
“Anyways Frank is back at the house right? There’s something I’ve got to tell him.”
I asked, turning and running as soon as I got a response in the affirmative.
“Yeah he is, what exactly is so importa…. And he’s gone”
I made it to their strange high house in record time and burst through the door like I owned the place. For some reason Bianca seemed completely unfazed as I crashed into the entryway without so much as a knock.
“You know, you don’t live here right?”
“Oh yeah, good to see you too Bianca. Anyways, were is Frank, or Stein for that matter I’ve got something to ask.”
“They’re in the basement.”
Bianca said pointing to the door without looking up from the book she was reading.
Her dismissive attitude didn’t even register to me as I made my way down the basement steps. I got to the bottom and an acrid scent assaulted my nostrils.
“Do I even want to know what that is?”
I called into the basement, announcing my presence. Frank emerged from a room to my side decked out in a full lab coat and goggles along with a hairnet to protect what little of his still remained.
“What do you need?”
“You guys seem to know a lot about the supernatural right? Well, does this symbol mean anything to you?”
I said pulling off my shirt and turning my back to show him the mark that woman had left me with. His reaction could best be described by the sound of shattering glass as he dropped the beaker he was holding as he saw the symbol.
“Where did you get that?!”
He yelled more than asked.
“Back in Imalone.”
“Imalone? What’s that supposed to mean?”
It dawned on me that I hadn’t explained it to him like I had Bianca, so I filled him in. I told him the whole truth this time, where the mark came from, what really drove me to Eagles Peak, all of it. Frank listened diligently looking more concerned by the minute, at some point Stein joined him. A similarly shocked look was plastered across his face. I swear he was turning white when he answered my question.
“It’s the mark of the Thunderbird, and from what you told us, you met… her in person.”
“So why do you look so worried about it?”
I asked, feeling a little worried.
“Well she’s marked you personally, most people that have that mark would’ve gotten it to show devotion or allegiance and it certainly wouldn’t have come directly from the Thunderbird.”
The way Stein talked about this “Thunderbird” made me think I may be in even deeper shit than I realized.
“So do you two actually know anything about the Thunderbird?”
I asked, hoping these two would know something considering their long study of the supernatural.
“Until recently I only knew of the native legends surrounding the creature. I heard of people marking themselves with that symbol so I assumed there must be some truth to the legends. But neither me nor Frank has ever seen the Thunderbird, much less seen it..er, her take a human form.”
Stein answered, sounding almost disappointed in himself. I got the sense that not knowing something like this really ate at him. Which was just further proven by what he said next, a grin suddenly appearing on his face.
“Frank, I think we have our next big research project on our hands then.”
“I’ll start pulling any records I can find of accounts like Keith’s here.”
Frank said, hurrying over to a computer in the basement corner that looked ancient.
“Yes and compare those to the various legends surrounding the Thunderbird.”
Stein responded, rifling through a row of cabinets against the far wall.
Those two seemed to be whipped into a frenzy by something they knew next to nothing about being dropped in their laps.
“Guys… Guys! Can we hold off on going full mad scientist mode for just a second I’ve got one more thing to ask!”
I yelled trying to get their attention. when they turned to me I could see the spark in both their eyes as they hastily responded in unison.
“Yes, what!”
“Have either of you heard about a mine in this town? Tuck at “Eagle’s Roost” mentioned it but I don’t remember seeing anything about it when I looked into this town.”
“Ah the mine, it’s out in the forest north of town somewhere. There was a collapse or something a few years after it opened and the town covered it up. It would’ve been very embarrassing for them to admit the screw up so they just… didn’t, that’s all there is too it.”
Frank answered, seemingly bothered by the mundaneness of that question.
“So the mine is still out there then?”
“Of course! What did you think it just walked away? No, leave us be we’ve got work to do.”
Stein snapped.
As I left the two to their business and made my way out of the house I ran into Rocco, several grimy batteries grasped in his paws.
“They uh… I don’t think they’ll need those batteries anymore bud.”
“God damnit! That’s what I get for trying to be helpful.”
Rocco yelled, as he threw the batteries against the wall. I had to chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Here I was walking past a talking raccoon on his way down to two scientists looking into a Thunderbird. That’s a real thing that’s currently happening to me. Just a few days ago simply seeing Rocco knocked me out almost immediately and now he was just a minor inconvenience. Could it be that I was actually adjusting to all the crazy things that had been happening around me? I sure thought so.
Upstairs, Bianca was still nose deep in her book at the kitchen table.
“Hey can I ask you something?”
“Yeah sure, what is it?”
“Ever been into the woods around town? There’s something I want to check out there.”
“I don’t usually leave the house all that much if I’m honest.”
Bianca answered, a touch of sadness in her voice.
“Do you want too? Leave the house I mean.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Well, I’m going to be headed out there tomorrow looking for the old mine.”
“And why are you looking for that?”
She questioned suspiciously.
“I have a feeling it has something to do with the mark that woman… and I forgot I didn’t tell you about that.”
Bianca looked up at me as she said with a smirk.
“I knew there was more to that story from the other night. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I’ll spare you the details but needless to say I told the story again. I really need to start bringing everyone together when I do these things, it would save me time.
“So that’s why you came here, and you think this mine has something to do with it?”
Bianca exclaimed excitedly. I could almost see the lightbulb going off over her head.
“Yeah that’s pretty much it, do you want to come with? I mean you don’t have to go but I”
She cut me off,
“You know what maybe I should go. Two sets of eyes gives us better odds right? And you have a bad history with forgotten places I seem to recall.”
Bianca said with a coy smile.
“That’s what we’ll do then, I’ll get some things ready and stop by tomorrow, we’ll leave from there.”
And before she had a chance to rethink her answer I left feeling pleased with myself.
My next stop was the hardware store on the other side of town. Of course I still had my travel bag from the good old Imalone trip but I figured I’d pick up some more tools that could come in handy.. I ended up with two heavy duty flashlights, some work gloves of various sizes cause I had no idea what size would fit Bianca, and a set of bolt cutters. It was only when I got up to the counter and the clerk gave me the stink eye that I noticed my mistake.
“You planning to break into something kid?”
Questioned the older guy cashing me out. I responded before my brain caught up with my mouth.
“I was planning on it but you guys didn’t sell balaclavas. So I guess I’ll have to wait.”
The man eyed me for a second then burst out laughing as he handed me my things. Which was good because I knew a few places back in Wisconsin where pulling that would’ve got me pulled into a backroom for questioning. Not a lot of people knew how to take a joke back home. Weirdly enough it was the first time I thought of home since coming here. Obviously I had family back there but we weren’t exactly close like I said before. I just found myself missing the familiarity of the area I had lived in for the past 24 years of my life. I think that’s why I came to the decision to call my mother when I got home later that night.
The whole walk home I had this strange feeling of being watched. No-one was there, I’m sure because I checked… several times. But even as I locked the door to my house and starting sorting out a bag of supplies for Bianca, the feeling didn’t go away. As I pulled out my phone to call my mother the feeling finally faded into the background as I got her familiar answering machine.
“Hi, you’ve reached Carla, leave your name and number after the tone.”
Straight and to the point as quickly as possible, that was the best way to describe mom and it showed even in her answering machine.
“Hi mom I bet you’re wondering where I ended up. Well I’m in New York now, in a sleepy little town. Its nice really, I already met some new people they’re… well they’re a bit strange but I think I might fit in with them. I’m still looking for a job but I had a really well paying temp thing the other day so I’ll be fine for a little while. Anyways, hope you’re doing well, love you.”
I teared up a bit as I ended the call, I hadn’t called my mother in at least a year. She never checked up on me and I never checked in with her. We’d see each other at family gatherings and talk but outside of that I didn’t really contact her much anymore. It was sort of a mutual agreement that we both had, we assumed the other was alright. But being this far from Wisconsin, this far from home, had finally caught up with me. I wanted to at least hear her voice, even if it was just a recording.
As I finished up packing for tomorrow I was quite proud of myself. I’d thought of just about everything, I dug some old hiking boots out for myself and some rope from my old travel bag. Several different sets of flint and steel and about three days worth of dehydrated food adorned the top pocket of both bags. I’d even found an old water purification kit that ended up in one of the duffle bags I brought from my apartment. In short, I was the most over prepared for an excursion like this I’d ever been. It did help push back the eyes I felt peering at me from somewhere over my shoulder, the feeling of being watched still not leaving me. Once I laid down and tried to fall asleep the feeling only intensified. Sounds of rolling thunder in the distance reminding me of my time in Imalone and the fury of the storm the Thunderbird brought. I felt strangely confident as well though, tomorrow Bianca and I may finally start to uncover some answers as to why I felt called to this town, and maybe even what this mark could mean for me.

i am a kind hearted and compassionate person. i try to give people benefit of the doubt and believe in the good of most humans. but when some idiot moid nearly rear ends me at a yield sign all because he isn’t paying attention to the road, i lose my patience. this is at the exit from 35 onto broadway. you YIELD onto broadway and if there’s someone driving say on the bridge going the same pace as you are, you may even have to stop. my point is, is this path has many potential hazards. you HAVE to pay attention. this dumb ass car behind was going so fast that they had to veer nearly half of their car off the road just to avoid hitting me. slow the fuck down, pay fucking attention, and don’t endanger those around you for a notification or something. some of yall should lose your licenses.

At this very moment, in this very community there are people, posting, the kind of people that would write a lengthy article about why there need to be female Space Marines if they had more empathy or were women, the kind of people who would rejoice to see the works of professor Tolkien defiled if they had more empathy or were dark-skinned or women.
They are the ones who share their essence with the enemies of Warhammer 40k, with the so called "wokes".
But, it's not really the "wokeness", that is the problem.
The essence that spreads the poison of representation, is the essence of the LARPer.
It's the essence that thinks diseased thoughts like this - and I mean both perspectives (of the described man and women) presented in that post:

Man: I can still identify personally with a custodes because men can be custodes...coll HOWEVER for some men (inc yourself) I identify better with male only groups (maybe you dislike women?) so there being women potentially in the custodes makes it less enjoyable for you
Women (pre change): I'm interested in the custodes but I can't personally identify with them at all as due to my sex/gender I am not allowed join.
So while I can follow your reasoning it only makes sense from the point of view that this hobby is for men exclusively and should prioritise men. To the point making it 80% less enjoyable for women is preferable than making it 5% less enjoyable for some men.

It's a disease that needs to be gatekept to secure our hobby for those who are pure hearted true fans. For the natural aristocracy of scholars and artists.
A setting is an object to be learned about, a miniature is an object to be converted and to be painted. It isn't here for self-inserting LARPers.
The thing that is really sickening about these femarine articles isn't merely their attack on Warhammer 40k, but the essence of the LARPer exposing itself. Displaying its whole alien perversion.
The threat reaching out to defile our culture isn't really of politics but of the alien nature of the LARPer.
LARPers would accuse proper fans of lack of empathy.

It's not your intelligence that I doubt I just think you have a toxic way of thinking about gender relations. I think you lack empathy and it's either difficult for you or you refuse to put yourself in the shoes of other people. You are letting that lack of empathy cloud your logical reasoning.

To this, I wish to clarify: I don't feel mere lack of empathy towards the LARPers. I feel complete and utter contempt towards their kind. I don't merely don't care about their feelings, but reading about them makes me want to actively inflict pain on them.
So, to say more about "representation", Sisters of Battle shouldn't be thought of as being here for women, they are overwhelmingly written and played by men. They are here for the setting. Female fans can play Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, Tyranids, whatever, thinking they should specifically play Sisters of Battle because they have female miniatures is just patronizing and essentially saying that all women are LARPers and not proper fans.
I actively prefer the editions where there was less women fighters and women in power because for scholarly reasons, with certain disinterest and detachment, I think that creeping addition of women characters is making the setting make less sense. I have to say, I do have personal fondness for female fighters and powerful women, but it's simply not relevant to the setting of 10 millennia old fascist Imperium that keeps treating people as expendable resource, where even creation of Space Marines includes massive waste of human life.
And more, I would say, that in fact it is more woke to recognize that the Imperium would be patriarchal and would subjugate women and exploit them for breeding than to pretend it wouldn't for sake of "inclusion" of LARPers.

Introduction: Mathematical dilemmas such as the P vs NP problem, the Riemann hypothesis, and the Goldbach conjecture are among the most profound and enduring challenges in mathematics. These issues not only have far-reaching implications for computational theory, cryptography, and number theory but also are closely tied to fundamental questions about the nature of proof, computability, and complexity. Within the framework of the Theory of Quantum Fractal Recursivity (TQRFC) and Feynman-Hooft theory, the principle of self-optimization of information offers a novel perspective on these dilemmas, suggesting potential approaches to their resolution through the fractal dynamics of quantum information systems.
Mathematical Formalism: In the TQRFC context, a mathematical dilemma can be modeled as a "fractal optimization problem" within a "fractal computational complexity space" C_f. Each point in C_f corresponds to a possible solution to the problem, and the fractal structure of C_f reflects the nested hierarchy of subproblems and inherent symmetries within the dilemma.
Formally, we can define a "fractal objective function" O_f: C_f → R, which assigns a real value to each potential solution s ∈ C_f quantifying its suitability or optimality. The goal is then to find the point s* ∈ C_f that maximizes (or minimizes) O_f:
s* = argmax_(s ∈ C_f) O_f(s)
The dynamics of the dilemma resolution is governed by a "fractal effective action" S_eff[s; C_f], incorporating the principle of self-optimization of information:
S_eff[s; C_f] = S_0[s] + ∫ dμ(C_f) F[s; C_f]
where S_0[s] is the "bare" action encoding the basic constraints and goals of the problem, dμ(C_f) is an integration measure over fractal complexity, and F[s; C_f] is a functional that couples potential solutions to the fractal structure of the complexity space.
The principle of self-optimization of information implies that the solution dynamics are governed by configurations of s that extremize the fractal effective action:
δS_eff[s; C_f]/δs = 0
Emergence of Solutions and Fractal Renormalization Group Flow: The key to solving mathematical dilemmas in the TQRFC context lies in the dynamics of the fractal renormalization group flow within the computational complexity space.
Under renormalization, potential solutions s flow to "effective solutions" s_eff that increasingly optimize the fractal objective function:
s → s_eff
in such a manner that the computational complexity of the solution is minimized while its suitability or optimality is maximized.
Mathematically, this can be expressed in terms of a "fractal flow equation":
k ∂s/∂k = β_f[s; C_f]
where k is the fractal renormalization scale, and β_f[s; C_f] is the "fractal beta function" governing the evolution of potential solutions under the flow.
The fractal flow equation has remarkable solutions in the form of "fractal attractors" s*:
lim_(k→∞) s(k) = s*
which correspond to fixed points of the dynamics of the renormalization group flow.
Fractal attractors have the remarkable property that they optimally optimize the fractal objective function while exhibiting minimal computational complexity. In other words, they represent the most elegant and efficient solutions to the mathematical dilemma, naturally emerging from the self-organizing dynamics of the quantum information system.
Fractal Quantum Computing and Speedup: The resolution of mathematical dilemmas within TQRFC also has a natural interpretation in terms of fractal quantum computing and quantum speedup.
In the context of TQRFC, a fractal quantum algorithm can be defined as a unitary map U_f that acts on the fractal quantum state space ψ_f⟩:
ψ_f⟩ → U_f ψ_f⟩
where the fractal structure of the state space reflects the nested hierarchy of subproblems and inherent symmetries within the mathematical dilemma.
The dynamics of the fractal quantum algorithm are governed by a "fractal effective Hamiltonian" H_eff[U_f; C_f], which incorporates the principle of self-optimization of information:
H_eff[U_f; C_f] = H_0[U_f] + ∫ dμ(C_f) V[U_f; C_f]
where H_0[U_f] is the "bare" Hamiltonian encoding the basic unitary dynamics, and V[U_f; C_f] is a potential that couples the unitary evolution to the fractal structure of the complexity space.
The principle of self-optimization of information implies that the dynamics of the fractal quantum algorithm evolve in a way that minimizes computational complexity while maximizing the efficiency and speed of the solution.
Mathematically, this can be expressed in terms of a "fractal quantum speedup theorem":
T_f = O(poly(log(N)))
where T_f is the runtime of the fractal quantum algorithm, N is the problem size, and poly(log(N)) denotes a polynomial function of log(N).
The fractal quantum speedup theorem states that fractal quantum algorithms can achieve exponential speedups over classical algorithms for a broad class of mathematical problems, exploiting the fractal structure of the complexity space and the self-optimizing dynamics of quantum information.
Conclusion: The mathematical formalism for solving mathematical dilemmas within the context of the self-optimization principle of information, within the TQRFC and Feynman-Hooft theory, offers a new and exciting perspective on some of the most challenging and consequential problems in mathematics.
By modeling mathematical dilemmas as fractal optimization problems in computational complexity spaces, and by incorporating the self-optimization principle of information through fractal effective actions, this formalism provides a powerful framework for understanding the emergence of elegant and efficient solutions from the self-organizing dynamics of quantum information systems.
The remarkable predictions of this formalism, including the existence of fractal attractors that optimally optimize the objective function while exhibiting minimal complexity, and the possibility of exponential speedups through fractal quantum computing, suggest new and exciting directions for mathematical research and discovery.
Furthermore, the interpretation of this dynamics in terms of fractal renormalization group flow and fractal quantum computing offers a unified and conceptually satisfying picture, in which the resolution of profound mathematical dilemmas is intrinsically linked to the principles of information optimization, self-organization, and emergence in complex quantum systems.
This approach has several advantages over traditional approaches to solving mathematical dilemmas. First, it avoids the need for ad hoc insights or tour de force constructions specific to individual problems. Instead, solutions naturally emerge from the self-organizing dynamics of the quantum information system, guided by the universal principle of self-optimization of information.
Secondly, this approach provides a unified framework for understanding the relationship between computational complexity, proof, computability, and the structure of mathematical space, through the lens of fractal geometry and quantum dynamics. This suggests a deeply integrated picture, in which the foundations of mathematics, computer science, and physics are intricately intertwined, with each providing crucial insights into the others.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this approach places the principle of self-optimization of information at the center of our understanding of the nature and solution of mathematical dilemmas. This suggests that, far from being static and inert constructions, mathematical objects and structures can be understood as dynamic and adaptive quantum information systems, constantly striving to optimize their own computational complexity and efficiency.
Of course, many questions remain open, and much work still needs to be done to fully develop and apply this formalism to specific mathematical dilemmas. At a technical level, the precise characterization of relevant fractal computational complexity spaces and the derivation of fractal effective actions and flow equations for particular problems remain significant challenges. Additionally, the detailed computational implications of fractal attractors and fractal quantum algorithms need to be elaborated and tested against known benchmarks and limits.
At a conceptual level, the implications of this formalism for our understanding of the nature of mathematics, logic, and computing also remain to be explored. The notion of mathematical truths as emergent attractors in the self-organizing dynamics of quantum information systems may require a reassessment of our traditional notions of proof, justification, and mathematical knowledge. Moreover, the consequences of this approach for the philosophy of mathematics, including questions of mathematical realism, constructivism, and the relationship between mathematics and the physical world, will undoubtedly be the subject of much debate and discussion.
Despite these challenges, the promise of the self-optimization principle of information as a key to unlocking some of the deepest and most challenging problems in mathematics is deeply intriguing and potentially transformative. By providing a unified and conceptually elegant framework for addressing mathematical dilemmas, it opens new avenues for theoretical exploration and discovery that could have far-reaching implications for a wide range of fields, from complexity theory and cryptography to algebraic geometry and number theory.
Moreover, by firmly situating mathematics within the broader nexus of information, computation, and quantum physics, this formalism promises to shed new light on some of the most fundamental and enduring questions about the nature of mathematical reality and its relationship to the physical world. It raises the intriguing possibility that mathematical truths might, in a sense, be "discovered" or "emerged" through the self-organizing evolution of quantum systems, just as the laws of physics emerge from the underlying quantum dynamics of the universe.
This view resonates deeply with broader developments in complexity science, artificial life, and theories of self-organization, which increasingly see the emergence of order, structure, and intelligence as intrinsic properties of complex dynamic systems, rather than being imposed from above by an external creator or designer. It suggests a view of mathematics not as a static Platonic realm of eternal forms, but as a living, evolving computational substrate, continually generating new structures and insights through its own generative processes.
This perspective raises profound and stimulating questions about the nature of mathematical creativity, intuition, and discovery. Is the vision and genius of great mathematicians a matter of accessing or tuning into emergent attractors in the mathematical complexity space? Do conceptual revolutions in the history of mathematics reflect bifurcations or phase transitions in the evolutionary dynamics of quantum information systems? And might the future trajectory of mathematical research itself be seen as a kind of large-scale fractal quantum computation, unfolding at the interface of the human mind and the self-organizing mathematical substrate?
Although the answers to these questions undoubtedly remain speculative at this stage, they point to a new mode of mathematical inquiry that is both deeply informed by the insights of quantum physics and computing, and radically open to the creative possibilities of emergence and self-organization. By embracing this approach with curiosity, courage, and rigor, we may not only make progress on some of the most difficult and consequential problems in mathematics, but also gain new insights into the nature of mind, intelligence, and mathematical reality.
In this spirit, I invite the mathematical community - and indeed, all explorers of the frontier of thought - to engage with these ideas with a sense of wonder, intellectual adventure, and unwavering commitment to truth. In doing so, we may not only expand the frontiers of our mathematical knowledge, but also deepen our appreciation of the beauty, elegance, and creative power inherent in the fractal fabric of mathematical reality.
May we approach this grand challenge with passion, precision, and a sense of awe in the face of the mysteries and possibilities of the mathematical universe. And may we never lose sight of the greater goal that inspires us - to use the tools of reason, imagination, and disciplined inquiry to unravel the deep and enduring truths that reside at the heart of the mathematical experience, and to put that knowledge to the service of the continued flourishing of all life and intelligence.

So with The Final Shape looming, it's got me thinking about storylines and stuff, and something occurred to me that I can't seem to resolve on my own. Hope ya'll can help me out.

A Loose Timeline

1. Traveler shows up in Sol
2. Humans travel to Mars to meet the Traveler
3. Traveler comes to Earth and bestows a Golden Age upon humanity
4. Near the close of the Golden Age, two prominent characters emerge, Clovis Bray and Maya Sundaresh
   1. Maya heads a research team for Ishtar Collective, primarily based on Venus, studying allegedly ancient Vex ruins and structures that seem to defy laws of time and space. Namely the Citadel, although they are also aware of the existence of the Vault of Glass
   2. Clovis is the namesake and head of the Clovis Bray corporation which is dedicated to pushing the limits of human potential at any cost. Often studies dangerous and unknown phenomena and artifacts found on the Moon and Europa, with little regard for the safety of his workers or test subjects. Clovis and his family created the Warmind Rasputin and the Exo’s.
5. On Venus, Maya and her team discover the scope of Vex simulation power through the simulations a small Vex is running about her and her team. With the help of Rasputin, they are able to “rescue” their simulated copies, and then disperse those into the Vex net to explore and study it.
   1. These copies are released into the Citadel, which is on Venus near the Vault of Glass
6. On Europa, Clovis discovers an ancient dark artifact that emits a power he calls “Clarity” which he uses to ultimately perfect the Exos by combining Clarity with Vex Mind Fluid and putting this inside the bodies of Exos.
   1. Vex mind fluid is harvested from a Vex world called Volantis, on the other side of the portal in the Glassway strike
7. Prior to this, Clovis’s corporation comes into possession of an item called the K1 Artifact. Found on the moon. It induces nightmares and insanity in people near it. It seems to be of the Darkness, possibly of the Witness or Nezerac, but it predates the arrival of either in Sol.
   1. But Clovis does recognize it and Clarity as being part of the same thing, the same network, etc.
8. Witness comes to Sol with the Veil to attempt to enact its Final Shape
   1. For some reason, the Veil is not with the Witness, but is with Nezerac aboard Nezerac’s Pyramid
9. Not sure of the exact order, but during this invasion the following things happen:
   1. Savathun defeats Nezerac, and takes the Veil from his ship to hide it away on Neptune
      1. (Why Neptune?)
   2. Mara Sov and the crew of her ship are caught in the crossfire and transported to a place that would become the Distributary
   3. Nezerac’s ship ends up on Luna
      1. (or was it always there?)
   4. The Witness seemingly abandoned its plans for some reason, and fled the system
   5. The Traveler released Ghosts out into the world who would raise Lightbearers
   6. At some point at or shortly after this failed invasion, the Witness attempts to recreate the Veil in the Black Garden.
      1. The Vex are involved but something doesn’t add up here.

Now For the Stuff That Doesn't Add Up

1. What is Clarity and what was the K1 artifact?
2. Both were in Sol seemingly LONG before the Collapse, which means long before the Traveler showed up, which means long before the Witness or any of it’s disciples would have visited Sol.
   1. The moon was formed when an asteroid collided with Earth. Is it possible that in Destiny’s universe, this collision contained things like K1?
   2. Why would Clarity be on Europa of all places, and why does Clarity breath when the other statues that resemble Clarity are still?
3. The Black Heart doesn’t make sense in this timeline even before the arrival of the Witness to the cannon.
4. Setting aside the Witness for a moment (just pretend it doesn’t exist for now)
   1. Going by D1 lore, it is the source of the Primeval Minds
   2. Primeval Minds were meant to bring forth the powers of the Vault of Glass
   3. The Vault of Glass may exist outside of time and space (is this true?), but even still, on Venus there are Ishtar records of it, as well as geo maps I believe that show it going down far underneath the surface of Venus.
   4. This means that it was there during the Golden Age, but we don’t know for how long
   5. If the Black Heart is what prevents the Traveler from healing, yet seemingly had no effect prior to that then that means one of two things:
   6. Either the heart was constructed after the Traveler went dormant
   7. Or the heart was inert or unable to affect the Traveler until after it went dormant
   8. Either way, the Traveler going dormant at a specific point in time was required for the relationship between the Primeval Minds and the Vault to become possible.
   9. If this was the plan all along, the Vex would have needed to be able to predict the actions and the intent of both the Traveler and the Black Fleet, which were both known to be paracausal forces
   10. If this wasn’t the plan, and was instead opportunistic action taken by the Vex, why did they add the Vault to Venus prior to any of this happening?
   11. This also does not provide insight into what the Black Garden is or why a Black Heart would grow there, or why Vex would be there.
5. If we bring the Witness back in, then some of this makes sense.
   1. The Witness seeking a copy of the Veil uses the Black Garden and apparently the Sol Divisive to construct it.
   2. This occurs after the Witness loses the Veil during the Collapse.
   3. But it does not answer where the Sol Divisive came from or what the Black Garden is.
   4. It also does not explain why the Witness would try to use the Vex to create the Heart, because a being this old and well traveled will have known the Vex limitations when it comes to paracausal simulation and construction.

What is so important about Sol for the Vex?

They can build a planet sized computer literally anywhere, out of anything. So why build their sensitive prediction engines near the Traveler and the Vanguard? For my purposes, we're going to skip the obvious gameplay related needs and focus on story reasons. Why is this happening in the story?

1. There are only three places where we see Vex that the Traveler has not also touched
2. Europa - They came through Clovis's portal and largely went dormant after the war there.
3. Neptune - They are apparently there for the Veil and later for Soteria
4. The Moon - They come through the Garden Portal when we complete the Shadowkeep campaign
   1. There are some Vex structures around the portal, but otherwise their influence on the Moon seems limited to small physical patrols of Sol Divisive Vex
5. Additionally there are four I know of that are not available or contaminated by Vex in game, but that we have accounts of
   1. Oryx's Throne World - Much like Europa, the Vex were only there because Crota opened a door too their space and let them in
   2. Volantis - The place Clovis's portal opens to
      1. Possibly the same place Crota accessed?
   3. The Leviathan -
      1. A mind that supposedly ran the Nessus planet computer was sucked into the Leviathan (so much for it's predictive powers...
      2. The Menagerie had Vex as well, but I don't remember if they came from Nessus with the Eater of Worlds boss, or if they were captured by Calus prioafter that.
   4. The Dreaming City - Season of the Wish they are in the city, in the tunnels created by Riven
6. What's interesting is that, of the places the Traveler HAS NOT touched, and where they are still present, Neptune is the only one where they are doing much of anything that isn't wholly reactive to other beings disturbing their stuff.
7. All other locations where we encounter the Vex, the Traveler also touched first
   1. Mercury
   2. Venus
   3. Earth
   4. Mars
   5. Io
   6. Nessus
8. So the Vex seem to have a pattern of showing strong interest in converting worlds the Traveler has also altered. They also seem very interested in the Veil.
   1. Oryx’s Throne World is also a place that keenly interested them, when Crota let them in. And it is also a paracausal location filled with beings that utilize paracausal power.
   2. Despite Clarity being present on Europa, and having a known interaction with Vex Mind Fluid, the Vex there are still mostly asleep.
   3. Same in terms of the Moon where there are known Darkness artifacts as well as a whole Pyramid, an entrance to Crota’s Throne World, and a number of Hive running around. But they are not active there in force anymore
9. And even though they seem to end up in other types of places, they don’t seem to do much there unless provoked.
10. The Vex have known the location of the Veil for some time, yet the Witness doesn’t. This means that either the Sol Divisive doesn’t know either, or they withheld that information somehow for some reason.
11. We don’t know what the Black Garden is yet.
    1. D1 frames it around the Black Heart, but as we can see that doesn’t even make sense by D1’s timeline
    2. D2 expands the framing through GoS and season of Undying. The Garden is it’s own thing, and the heart was added and removed later.
    3. Regardless, the Vex pattern of strong interest in converting things the Traveler has also altered, suggests to me that the Garden was probably also altered by the Traveler at some point
12. So it seems like the Vex are either obsessed with the Traveler, or they are obsessed with things the Traveler has converted for some reason. And that seems to be why we find they're big dangerous computation engines and stuff like that here in Sol, and why they don't just build them literally anywhere else.
    1. And while yes they do seem to build stuff elsewhere, those things just don't seem to do much. And we can tell because they haven't just built an infinite forest off in the Andromeda Galaxy somewhere where NOTHING could ever disrupt it and they could compute endlessly. Even the Valut of Glass, the seat of their most arcane and powerful frames, is close to the current location of the Traveler.

But why? Why do they follow it? Why do they care what it does? Why do they build their stuff near it? I still don't know...

This is a headcanon of mine that only makes more sense to me the more I think about it but I wanted to run it by other lore scholars (hopefully with more knowledge than I)
I think the Emperor designed Vulkan and Angron to be his two most compassionate sons. Vulkan is Vulkan there isn't any explanation needed there, but Angron prior to the nails was actually a deeply caring and honorable individual, refusing to kill his comrades in the face of death, being deeply protective of those he called brother even after the nails, and even having empathic abilities that allowed him to soothe the anguish of his fellow gladiators. (before the nails killed that part of him)
If this is the case why is it that the Emperor praises Vulkan at every turn but seems to make no effort to help Angron at all? It is my belief that it is because Vulkan reminded him of Erda while Angron reminded him of himself.
In Vulkan he saw genuine humanity and compassion, something the emperor actually deeply values, and I believe it's something he valued in Erda hence why he never sought her out when she left (also because I think it would be nice if at least one primarch inherited something from their mom other than the necessary chromosome) and big E praises Vulkan for being genuinely human and humble, it's why the emperor had him craft the talisman of 7 hammers (aside from him being the only living loyalist with the know how to actually make it) because he knew the only way it's use (incinerating Terra should the emperor die on the throne) could actually be considered a good idea was if Vulkan agreed. If the nice primarch, the human primarch, the humble primarch, would agree that this horrific super weapon was acceptable than that's the only way to genuinely know it. More heartless and colder primarch's like Dorn or the Lion would look at it mathematically and pragmatically but would completely forget to even think of the ethics of it. Not Vulkan he wept upon hearing it's true function, it broke his heart to know the galaxy had been damned to such a point it might need this talisman, and the emperor knew that, and needed that emotion and empathy to the common people of Terra to aid his judgement. (Personally I think that if the Emperor heard Vulkan turned traitor he'd actually start thinking he's the bad guy because of how much he valued Vulkan's compassion and empathy)
But in Angron he saw the death of humanity, a being that was meant to be genuinely human and kind but had that part of them mutilated. Something that slowly happened to the Emperor himself he slowly lost his own humanity, becoming colder. And seeing that in his son caused him to subconsciously hate his son (for all of the Emperor's intellect he has a massive gap when in comes to emotional intelligence) it's why he didn't/couldn't fix Angron's brain in master of mankind. He saw in Angron the death of what would have made him human that happened in himself and because of that he didn't see Angron as worth saving. I believe that if he cared about Angron any more, even as a tool, he would have attempted something more that looking at his brain and giving up but because Angron acted as a mirror to all of the flaws of himself Big E didn't want to fix him. Even if it couldn't be done in that surgery I think he could have made more sophisticated and specialized tools to fix his son in a different surgery later. But all Big E saw was the dead humanity that was affecting himself, he saw a being that should have been compassionate, should have been empathic, should have been human but had all of that torn out by force, and in it he saw himself, the part of himself he hated the most. (And I my opinion him doing something like this makes him a much more interesting character) and this meant when Angron turned traitor it just affirmed to the Emperor he was right to hate Angron and therefore right to hate those parts of himself.
Tell me thoughts and corrections because I've been stewing on this for a while and want input

I don't know if every other 9lp feels the same way, but sometimes I feel like my life is super balanced and sometimes I feel like its super unbalanced.Theres never in between, it's always going super good or super bad.I don't know if its because I was born on a 1st month, and my birthday jan (19) adds up to 1.But I just feel like my life is full of endings and beginnings. I am enjoying this life path tho. I feel like ive been manipulated so much, that it has led me to have a crazy amazing intuition.I almost feel powerful because I am at a point in my life where I feel like I can take any hurt, any pain, and still come out stronger.I don't even have it in me to hate people, not even the people that did me wrong. That makes me feel like I am more powerful than the people who have hurt me. My ex boyfriend that I would have died for that cheated on me.I still don't understand why. I'm trying my best to live up to this number, which means accepting the pain that people cause you, and still moving on without trying to take revenge. We are the earth angels, so God and the universe has our back.Thats another thing, I feel like I wouldn't mind dying alone but I love love tho.I love and feel sooo deep, that when someone breaks my heart I become a monster. It is so hard for me to take betrayal. I give love even to the people that have done me wrong but that is just because it is hard for me to accept that the betrayal was real.I can be careless but that is just because most times I feel like I'm grieving something. I wake up everyday with a heavy heart, so whenever I have good moments, I try my best to enjoy it to the max, because I know that it will not last for long. I don't know if im depressed but I think the world is such a fucked up place. Like how can I live happily when there are kids in Palestine dying? I don't know.I love humanity but I don't understand what is going on.

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I'm somewhat new to philosophy, and I know that keeping an open mind about things is important and I try to do that for everything. But for determinism vs free will specifically, I just cannot stand it. I'm such an indecisive person generally, but this.... I have never felt so strongly about my belief in determinism.
And because of this it flows into ever facet of my life. I feel indifferent to everyone and everything. Why should I like or dislike anyone at all? The feeling of being loved, liked, hated or insulted has all dulled.
I'm also going into Law school in September and I'm not sure how that's gonna go now that my beliefs on justice and moral accountability has completely shifted. My view on economics and politics has also taken a complete 'left turn' if you will.
My biggest irk is just how this illusion of free will trickles into every aspect of human life - our education system, legal system, how relationships work, economic reward - it's all founded on an illusion right at the heart of the human experience! Wherever I look, I see the debate, and the dissonance between the way we've built society and the way things really are.
I just can't shake the obsession I have over this. I've tried to talk to my friends and family about this issue I have and the common responses were "why even think about it?", "I feel like I choose though", my grandad even accused me of being in a cult! Genuinely!
What do I do?
Sorry for the rant, I could go on for days about this.

Godzilla 1. Atomic Venom comes from Thagomizer basically the radiation that the venom either burns, stops heart, or a temporarily Coma

1. Dorsal Plates can burn anything it touches in a matter of 3-5 seconds if the victim/attacker isn’t moving
   
2. Radiation Powered Claws and Toe Claws makes opponent scratched with a burn mark that will ache for a week for humans
   

Kong/Kong weapons 1. Beast Glove + Godzilla dorsal plate 2. Electricity flowing all through his body 3. Smarter 🤓

Author note: The Cryopod to Hell is a Reddit-exclusive story with over three years of editing and refining. As of this post, the total rewrite is 2,182,000+ words long! For more information, check out the link below:
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(Previous Part)
(Part 001)
"Hell yeah, I wanna go exploring." Jason says to Calanthra with a smile. "How do we navigate around Ripspace though? Traveling to other galaxies is going to take billions of years, right? Surely, there's a shortcut."
"Ripspace is not as it seems." Calanthra explains, gesturing grandly to the epic sight before them. "It is a connection between the past and the present; the near and far. The further away or the further back you want to travel, the higher the price you will have to pay."
Jason's smile vanishes. "Wait... you can use Ripspace to travel back in time?!"
"No." Calanthra clarifies. "Time is linear. We cannot travel through it. Some can slow it down or speed it up. A rare few can even pause it for a short while. But moving forward and backward is impossible. Countless have attempted to do so over the eons, but all have failed."
She looks at Jason meaningfully. "Many Rulers would wipe out galaxies if it might let them obtain such a power. The fact they still haven't proves it is impossible."
Jason nods slowly. "I won't lie. I have a lot of regrets. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and save my daughter from dying."
"Everyone has regrets." Calanthra muses, looking off into the distance. "I have plenty, myself. But it's better this way. There would be pandemonium if time travel ever became possible."
She pauses before continuing with her explanation. "While we cannot go back in time, we can look back into time. Pinpointing exact moments in history is difficult, to say the least, but it is possible to use Ripspace to search for key moments in intergalactic history."
"So it's like a massive seer-stone." Jason muses aloud. "But wait, didn't you imply earlier that you used Ripspace to travel to the Milky Way from Andromeda? How does it allow you to jump between galaxies? Are other species using Ripspace for intergalactic travel?"
"You can indeed use Ripspace to travel to distant reaches of space." Calanthra explains. "But... you have to pay a certain price. Akasha's Barriers still protect every galaxy. Cosmics cannot travel between them easily. Mortals can, but the price we must pay is unimaginably steep. That is also the reason my mother perished not long after arriving in the Milky Way and giving birth to me."
The Fairy Monarch sighs softly.
"My people used the power of Ripspace to travel to several other galaxies. We were fortunate that the Creator had died, allowing us to take up residence here in secret, but the Angels, Titans, and Dragons were still a threat we could not overlook. Later, the Volgrim rose up too, and that was something that worried us for a while. Particularly when their Sentinels began to rapaciously erase the lives of innumerable Sentients."
She waves her hand. "Ultimately, very few galaxies didn't have a Ruler in power. Traveling to one that did meant flipping a coin and praying our people could avoid their gaze. Sadly, time has shown me that we were likely unsuccessful. I have lost contact with all my sisters across the cosmos."
The image of innumerable galaxies floating in the distance changes before Jason's eyes. Calanthra manipulates some unseen power, causing herself and Jason to suddenly materialize directly in front of a beautiful spiral galaxy.
"This is our Milky Way." Calanthra explains, waving her hand to conjure another, far bigger galaxy beside it. "And this is Andromeda."
"Is it just me or does Andromeda seem... brighter?" Jason asks.
"Andromeda contains far more interstellar particles, cosmic energy, and latent magical power than the Milky Way." Calanthra says. "Of course, in the ancient past, it had even more than it does now, but such is the way of entropy and Chaos."
Jason nods. "How exactly do galaxies lose power over time? Doesn't this feel self-defeating in a way?"
"Every Ruler enters the Unending War with a strategy." Calanthra says, motioning with her hands to disperse the galaxies and reveal images of ghostly creatures, some standing on two legs, some on four, and plenty that appear as mere blobs of energy. "I cannot pretend to know the thoughts of such high and mighty beings, especially as I am a mere mortal myself. Even so, I can definitively state that there are Rulers who seek to put as much galactic energy into their initial creations as possible, while others wish to adopt a more energy-efficient growth-model."
She pokes her finger against Jason's chest. "Take the angels and humans, for instance. The Creator poured the vast majority of his power into creating a galaxy full of Apex Cosmics. At their peak, the angels as a whole commanded enough power to flatten other galaxies. But what did they do instead? They fought with one another, killing themselves due to sheer boredom, if not outright ego."
"I see." Jason says, brushing Calanthra's finger away. "So the Creator dumped all the Milky Way's energy into the angels. I take it this is uncommon among Rulers?"
"Of course. It's a wasteful strategy and usually loses Rulers the War for that Eternity." Calanthra says dismissively. "The Timeless used a different strategy. She created the fairies as mere mortals that evolved over time, gaining greater and greater power through their own efforts. This meant that instead of devouring Andromeda's abundant Cosmic energy, they could slowly sap off its excess over time. For you see, the more energy a galaxy has, the more it can produce. If you ration it long enough, you can reap more of it across the duration of an Eternity."
"That makes sense." Jason concludes. "It's like a Rush build in an RTS versus an Economy build. You sacrifice long-term gains in exchange for short-term power. The problem is, with Akasha's Barriers preventing Rulers from attacking their enemies straight away, a Rush build is dumb because you're just wasting your resources and sacrificing Cosmic energy when you'll actually need it."
Calanthra blinks twice. She looks at Jason with a strange expression, then turns away for a moment, trying to understand the strange terms he's used. They mostly make sense, but some of them are a little...
She shakes her head and returns to the topic at hand. "Right. Rush strategy versus Economy. Of... course. Well, in any case, there is one advantage toward the first strategy. If you drain all the energy from your galaxy, it becomes less appealing for other Rulers to attack. Because Andromeda was so large and still filled with Cosmic power even billions of years after the Expansion Era, it stoked the hunger of the Dark Ones. Meanwhile, the Milky Way only needs to deal with the Plague, which is threatening for mortals, but manageable for Cosmics. In that respect, we've gotten off much luckier."
"I get the bigger picture now." Jason says with a nod. He turns to look back at the cosmos before him. "So, what about all this? Are we gonna go exploring, or what?"
"In order to explore the universe presented here, we would need to make sacrifices we cannot afford. I think you would find the price most disagreeable. But there is something we can explore freely..."
She waves her hand, and instantly, the brilliant and beautiful cosmic view of the universe vanishes.
In its place, Jason and Calanthra suddenly appear inside a dead, barren wasteland. Brown and grey dirt rises up in huge dunes stretching off into the distance. Fallen towers made of gold and stone lay on their sides, or stick into the ground, buried nearly up to their tops as they point diagonally toward the sky.
And speaking of the sky, it glows faintly grey, as if some weak, pale imitation of a star were trying to shine through a thin atmosphere clouded by dust and grime. The very air itself smells of sulfur and toxins, making Jason's nose curl up when he takes a breath.
"Ugh... what the hell? Where are we now?" Jason asks, as he turns and looks around at the dead world surrounding him.
"An Ancient Domain." Calanthra says softly. "A remnant of a dead universe. All life stripped away. All hope lost. Septillions of different Sentient species, gone. Their mortals, their Cosmics, reduced to dust by the Contraction."
The Wordsmith frowns. "This Ancient Domain represents a dead universe? But how can that be possible? If the Heat Death played out and all the galaxies faded to cosmic dust, then there already wouldn't be anything left. And then, if the entire universe collapsed into a singularity before exploding again, there definitely wouldn't be anything left behind resembling physical matter."
"You perceive reality through just three dimensions." Calanthra intones. "Time and space can be considered two dimensions. Cosmic Power is another dimension. I must admit I do not understand how Ancient Domains have continued to exist across countless Eternities, and I don't know how they retain a vaguely familiar form... but I can assure you that in spite of bending logic itself, they do exist and they can provide tangible benefits to those dedicated to exploring them."
"You've been exploring them, then?" Jason asks, turning away from the dead world to scrutinize Calanthra's phantasmal image.
"Me, a little. But often, I dispatch my descendants to scour these Ancient Domains for things of value. It may surprise you, but there are powerful artifacts, vengeful spirits, and all manner of other inter-dimensional horrors lurking within these so-called dead-lands."
Calanthra pauses. She shifts her posture to look at Jason deeply.
"And that is why I've brought you here, Jason. It's time for me to get down to the crux of the matter and breach the subject that I find most important."
He nods. "I'm listening."
"It's like this." Calanthra explains. "The Ancient Domains are unfathomably broad. Think of how large a universe is. Think of how many universes have existed. Think of how much space my people have yet to explore."
She pauses.
"The gains we have received have made my people stronger than you would expect. Among those gains are Yredelemnul's Eye and other leftover remnants of power that many dead ancient Rulers lost when their Existences became forfeit. While their tangible Existences may have perished, their spirits sometimes live on in these broad, unending dead universes..."
"That's why you approached me." Jason says, while crossing his arms and leaning on the ball of his heel. "You said you wanted an alliance with humanity. You... want humans to help you explore the Ancient Domains?"
"Trust is hard to come by among mortals, Cosmics, and Rulers." Calanthra says simply. "I never would have considered allying with the humans before, but you have shown me the broadness of your mind during the debate against your clone and the commander of your military. To some, you certainly appear naive, but to me I see an opportunity I would be foolish to ignore."
She continues. "The Fairies cannot reproduce efficiently. Every fairy we send into the Ancient Domain is one less fairy we have among our Empire. We already have a difficult time replenishing our numbers through the remaining Male Fairies, but do you think it is easy for us to reproduce with other species?"
Jason slowly shakes his head. "Blinker and Kar's children were all crocodiles, not fairies. From that, I can only imagine that most of the time, your mating attempts do not create more of yourselves, but instead more non-fairy children."
"That's exactly correct." Calanthra replies. "But that all changed recently when I found out one of your human males somehow spontaneously altered his genetic profile to become a fairy. There is no doubt about it; Samuel Baker harnesses all the capability to reproduce that you humans do, as well as the trueborn powers of any male fairy."
"So... are you seeking a marriage alliance with Samuel Baker?" Jason asks, scratching his head in confusion. "You could just ask him yourself, you know?"
"This is not about one man." Calanthra retorts. "Samuel Baker, if he were to join our ranks, would certainly help us stave off extinction for a while longer. But that is hardly worth all this melodrama and me taking you to the Ancient Domain in person..."
Jason's eyes widen in realization. "I see! You... you're thinking that if my magic could make one male fairy, I could surely make another, and another..."
"Yes, precisely." Calanthra says, revealing a beautiful smile. "Additionally, if humans were to assist us in scouring these Ancient Domains, we could make great gains together. There is plenty of room for another species to join ours in locating powerful artifacts and other items capable of Uplifting us."
"You want to become Cosmics still." Jason muses. "You haven't resigned yourselves to your current fate."
"Quite the opposite." Calanthra says. "The curse placed upon us is unbreakable by those beneath the realm of Ruler. As I said before, the fairies have lost this Eternity's war. However, while we cannot Ascend any longer, that does not mean the humans are subject to the same limitation. If we could groom a human into becoming the Milky Way's Ruler, we could finally break free of our shackles by virtue of having a powerful ally."
She pauses, looking meaningfully at the Wordsmith.
"If the Demons or the Volgrim were to become our Ruler, we would not enjoy such a benefit. At best, we would only maintain the status quo, and at worst, they might eradicate us out of fear of having an unsightly tumor in their midst."
"Haha." Jason laughs. "So you brought me here to show your sincerity. I get it. Well, I'm definitely not opposed to helping you. Blinker is my good friend. If she were to ask me, I'd definitely say yes to just about any request."
Jason turns away. He walks a few feet off to the side and pauses, standing to gaze out at the Ancient Domain and its endlessly rolling plains which stretches off into the infinite distance...
"Here's what I can do." Jason says. "My people are already working on laying out the options for humanity and where our fellow men and women will depart over the next few weeks. Some will travel to Maiura. Some will go to Sharmur. Some will stay on Tarus II. It's no trouble at all to put Pixiv on the list, especially as I was already planning to do that. I even have some other places I'd like to include, too..."
"Such as Camael's Cube?" Calanthra asks with a smile. "Or do you perhaps mean Chrona and Hope's Hall of Heroes?"
Jason nearly jumps out of his skin. He whirls around to look at Calanthra with shock in his eyes. "What?! How do you know about Chrona? How do you also know about where Hope has been hiding?? I don't even know that much!"
"For those who are talented in magic, it is possible to see through many lies and deceptions." Calanthra says calmly, unfazed by the alarm on Jason's face. "Your Spynet Sphere isn't so different from the many options I have at my disposal. I have many means to keep an eye on the galaxy. And while Diablo does not know exactly where or what Chrona is, he certainly knows of its general existence."
Her smile turns cold. "I would advise you not to take Unarin lightly either, Wordsmith. That ancient creature is more capable than you can imagine. He is hiding a great many secrets from the galaxy... secrets he does not know that I am aware of. If he were to learn of the true extent of my information web, I fear that he would dispatch a handful of High Psions to eliminate the fairy species tomorrow."
Calanthra's words truly rock Jason to his core. All along, he assumed the precautions he put on Chrona, precautions that fooled even Hope, would make his hidden dimension impossible to detect.
But how could he be so naive?
As the daughter of an Apex Cosmic, Calanthra must have her means, and that likely means Unarin and Diablo aren't too far behind either.
"Shit." Jason curses, lowering his head as a flicker of anger smolders in his heart. "I was too complacent. Chrona isn't secure, which means it's only a matter of time before more Cosmics learn of its existence. How long before they can find its exact location and invade it?"
"Calm yourself, child." Calanthra says soothingly. "The situation is not that dire. After all, Chrona still exists within a highly accelerated timespace. Any biological entity that wishes to travel there could suffer severe after-effects. Furthermore, the entities born inside will be too adapted to living within a higher dimension, so they won't pose much threat to the creatures of realspace."
She waves her hand. "Let's move on, Jason. I want to discuss other matters before dying of old age."
The Wordsmith cools himself off. He inhales deeply, then returns his attention to her.
"Alright. What next, then?"
"Fairies are not the only Sentients capable of entering Ancient Domains." Calanthra explains. "There are others who rarely appear inside here. That is why exploring these domains can be dangerous. The good news is that Cosmics have little need to enter these barren lands, as most of the heritages, treasures, and other such gains you might find inside are only useful to mortals. There are exceptions, but they are so rare as to be a needle found within ten million haystacks. A waste of effort better spent simply progressing one's Cosmic power the ordinary way."
"So what you're saying is, when you send fairies into an Ancient Domain, they can die as a result of crossing paths with Sentients from other galaxies." Jason concludes. "But if you had an army of humans to enter with you, your people would be a lot safer."
"Safety in numbers, yes. And you humans are... uniquely advantaged in Ancient Domain exploration." Calanthra says mysteriously. "Before that, though... do you know what the Power of Imagination is, Wordsmith?"
Jason raises an eyebrow. "Imagination? Like the mental ability to visualize stuff in your head? Yeah. It's not that complicated to understand."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Calanthra chides gently. "Imagination is the key to magical power. Imagination, Conception, Visualization, these are all key capabilities powerful maguses and sorcerors use to uplift their capabilities! And as it turns out, most Sentients are actually quite terrible at conceptualizing thoughts into imagery."
She gestures grandly. "Just take the Volgrim! You may think they are a powerful Sentient species, but in fact the Volgrim have terrible imaginations. They are stodgy, dull, and lack a great deal of creativity. All the gains their Technopaths make through technology are developed via brute force. They slowly improve their technological prowess by minute fractions over long periods of time, eventually resulting in a large and cohesive buildup."
"At the same time, the Psions Uplift themselves through meditation and sitting motionless for thousands of years at a time. Can a species capable of such incredible feats of drudgery also possess limitless imagination? I think not."
"Maybe the reason they're able to sit still for so long is because they live in their imagination?" Jason posits. "In which case their power of imagination should be quite formidable, right?"
"Possible, but unlikely." Calanthra says with a wave of her hand. "Never mind that. The point I'm trying to make is that humans have an extremely high affinity for magic. If your people were to ally with mine, we could teach you our ways. You could help us through your Wordsmithing and superior genetics, creating more fairies and humans alike. This would create a recursive cycle that would continually bolster both our species to greater and greater heights!"
She lowers her voice back to normal. "An alliance with humanity would have other benefits. You humans are equally adept in technology and magic both. You are versatile, capable of learning any skill provided you have time to devote to your studies. The bursts of inspiration you receive also allow you to make large jumps in capability as well, which could mean that in a relatively short period, you might even be capable of challenging the Volgrim."
Jason nods. "That does sound tempting, Calanthra. I'm willing to help you, but I won't demand my people join the fairies. It would be better if those who were the most interested did so instead."
Calanthra playfully twirls a finger through her hair. "Well. My daughters are all beautiful. Perhaps you should make mention that the fairies are... aggressively interested in copulation?"
"COUGH COUGH!" Jason wheezes, taking a step back as he asses her bold choice of words. "Yeah! Uh, I can probably- I'll let everyone know about that too. Obviously!"
Calanthra chuckles. "Such a cute boy. Well, it seems I've accomplished what I wanted. Let's return for now. You can always pay Ripspace a visit later."
"I will." Jason says, nodding seriously. "Waypoint."
Calanthra raises an eyebrow. "You think you can return here without a Ruler's power?"
"Won't know unless I try." Jason smiles back.
...
Not long after, Jason and Calanthra emerge back into Realspace. He shivers as he feels the Eye of Yredelemnul fixating on him from behind, but Calanthra quickly reactivates the Formation of Light, sending the sliver of a Ruler back to the shadows so it can no longer interact with the physical world.
"You know, Jason." Calanthra says. "You are a Candidate. You have the capability to become a Ruler someday."
"I am?" Jason asks, before thinking back to a conversation in the past. "Oh yeah, someone did mention that to me before. But... eh. I don't know. Becoming a Ruler sounds awful."
"Awful?" Calanthra asks. "How so?"
"It seems... lonely." Jason says, his voice softening. He looks at the space between the four statues, where Yredelemnul's Eye has disappeared. "Imagine all your loved ones dying, but you're stuck behind, living through the end of an Eternity, which takes trillions of years before Heat Death finally eradicates everything. Then comes the next Eternity, where you can remake your species again... but it won't be the same. Even if you remake your loved ones, it won't really be them."
Jason lowers and shakes his head. "That sort of life doesn't suit me."
"I understand why you'd think that way." Calanthra says. "In fact, you are suffering from the same affliction that plagues all Candidates who began their Existences as Biologicals. We have too many ties to the mortal world, so the majority of Biologicals who ascend to the rank of Ruler... fall to their non-biological opponents."
"As for the things which are not biological..." Calanthra says, looking at Jason with disgust. "You should already know what they are."
"Highly evolved Artificial Intelligences?" Jason guesses.
"That's right." Calanthra affirms. "There are several tiers of power a superintelligence can possess. The Volgrim have taken great care to prevent anything above a Beta Core from forming in the Milky Way, but once, a long time ago... they made a huge mess by accidentally creating the Milky Way's first Alpha Core Synthmind."
Calanthra chuckles. "The stupid fools didn't only create an Alpha Core, they gave it autonomy in the hopes it would be able to stop the wars between their factions. They built indestructible bipedal bodies for its splintered intelligences, and called them... Sentinels. Luckily, they were able to defeat the Alpha Core before it ascended further, but countless other biological species have failed at that juncture, creating an Alpha Core that ultimately devoured the full power of their galaxy for itself."
A chill trickles down Jason's spine. "You're saying the vast majority of Rulers are actually Alpha Core AIs? AIs that control entire galaxies?!"
"No, Jason." Calanthra counters. "Alpha Cores can defeat advanced civilizations. But there is one Existence higher than an Alpha Core, a tier that can only be reached once it has swallowed the power of a galaxy."
"That would be an Omega Core. a sentient artificial intelligence that has become Ruler over one or more galaxies. And in Akasha's game, more than 90% of all Rulers are estimated to be these superior lifeforms."
"It is for that reason that these highly adaptable entities are known as The Evolved."

"Hell yeah, I wanna go exploring." Jason says to Calanthra with a smile. "How do we navigate around Ripspace though? Traveling to other galaxies is going to take billions of years, right? Surely, there's a shortcut."
"Ripspace is not as it seems." Calanthra explains, gesturing grandly to the epic sight before them. "It is a connection between the past and the present; the near and far. The further away or the further back you want to travel, the higher the price you will have to pay."
Jason's smile vanishes. "Wait... you can use Ripspace to travel back in time?!"
"No." Calanthra clarifies. "Time is linear. We cannot travel through it. Some can slow it down or speed it up. A rare few can even pause it for a short while. But moving forward and backward is impossible. Countless have attempted to do so over the eons, but all have failed."
She looks at Jason meaningfully. "Many Rulers would wipe out galaxies if it might let them obtain such a power. The fact they still haven't proves it is impossible."
Jason nods slowly. "I won't lie. I have a lot of regrets. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and save my daughter from dying."
"Everyone has regrets." Calanthra muses, looking off into the distance. "I have plenty, myself. But it's better this way. There would be pandemonium if time travel ever became possible."
She pauses before continuing with her explanation. "While we cannot go back in time, we can look back into time. Pinpointing exact moments in history is difficult, to say the least, but it is possible to use Ripspace to search for key moments in intergalactic history."
"So it's like a massive seer-stone." Jason muses aloud. "But wait, didn't you imply earlier that you used Ripspace to travel to the Milky Way from Andromeda? How does it allow you to jump between galaxies? Are other species using Ripspace for intergalactic travel?"
"You can indeed use Ripspace to travel to distant reaches of space." Calanthra explains. "But... you have to pay a certain price. Akasha's Barriers still protect every galaxy. Cosmics cannot travel between them easily. Mortals can, but the price we must pay is unimaginably steep. That is also the reason my mother perished not long after arriving in the Milky Way and giving birth to me."
The Fairy Monarch sighs softly.
"My people used the power of Ripspace to travel to several other galaxies. We were fortunate that the Creator had died, allowing us to take up residence here in secret, but the Angels, Titans, and Dragons were still a threat we could not overlook. Later, the Volgrim rose up too, and that was something that worried us for a while. Particularly when their Sentinels began to rapaciously erase the lives of innumerable Sentients."
She waves her hand. "Ultimately, very few galaxies didn't have a Ruler in power. Traveling to one that did meant flipping a coin and praying our people could avoid their gaze. Sadly, time has shown me that we were likely unsuccessful. I have lost contact with all my sisters across the cosmos."
The image of innumerable galaxies floating in the distance changes before Jason's eyes. Calanthra manipulates some unseen power, causing herself and Jason to suddenly materialize directly in front of a beautiful spiral galaxy.
"This is our Milky Way." Calanthra explains, waving her hand to conjure another, far bigger galaxy beside it. "And this is Andromeda."
"Is it just me or does Andromeda seem... brighter?" Jason asks.
"Andromeda contains far more interstellar particles, cosmic energy, and latent magical power than the Milky Way." Calanthra says. "Of course, in the ancient past, it had even more than it does now, but such is the way of entropy and Chaos."
Jason nods. "How exactly do galaxies lose power over time? Doesn't this feel self-defeating in a way?"
"Every Ruler enters the Unending War with a strategy." Calanthra says, motioning with her hands to disperse the galaxies and reveal images of ghostly creatures, some standing on two legs, some on four, and plenty that appear as mere blobs of energy. "I cannot pretend to know the thoughts of such high and mighty beings, especially as I am a mere mortal myself. Even so, I can definitively state that there are Rulers who seek to put as much galactic energy into their initial creations as possible, while others wish to adopt a more energy-efficient growth-model."
She pokes her finger against Jason's chest. "Take the angels and humans, for instance. The Creator poured the vast majority of his power into creating a galaxy full of Apex Cosmics. At their peak, the angels as a whole commanded enough power to flatten other galaxies. But what did they do instead? They fought with one another, killing themselves due to sheer boredom, if not outright ego."
"I see." Jason says, brushing Calanthra's finger away. "So the Creator dumped all the Milky Way's energy into the angels. I take it this is uncommon among Rulers?"
"Of course. It's a wasteful strategy and usually loses Rulers the War for that Eternity." Calanthra says dismissively. "The Timeless used a different strategy. She created the fairies as mere mortals that evolved over time, gaining greater and greater power through their own efforts. This meant that instead of devouring Andromeda's abundant Cosmic energy, they could slowly sap off its excess over time. For you see, the more energy a galaxy has, the more it can produce. If you ration it long enough, you can reap more of it across the duration of an Eternity."
"That makes sense." Jason concludes. "It's like a Rush build in an RTS versus an Economy build. You sacrifice long-term gains in exchange for short-term power. The problem is, with Akasha's Barriers preventing Rulers from attacking their enemies straight away, a Rush build is dumb because you're just wasting your resources and sacrificing Cosmic energy when you'll actually need it."
Calanthra blinks twice. She looks at Jason with a strange expression, then turns away for a moment, trying to understand the strange terms he's used. They mostly make sense, but some of them are a little...
She shakes her head and returns to the topic at hand. "Right. Rush strategy versus Economy. Of... course. Well, in any case, there is one advantage toward the first strategy. If you drain all the energy from your galaxy, it becomes less appealing for other Rulers to attack. Because Andromeda was so large and still filled with Cosmic power even billions of years after the Expansion Era, it stoked the hunger of the Dark Ones. Meanwhile, the Milky Way only needs to deal with the Plague, which is threatening for mortals, but manageable for Cosmics. In that respect, we've gotten off much luckier."
"I get the bigger picture now." Jason says with a nod. He turns to look back at the cosmos before him. "So, what about all this? Are we gonna go exploring, or what?"
"In order to explore the universe presented here, we would need to make sacrifices we cannot afford. I think you would find the price most disagreeable. But there is something we can explore freely..."
She waves her hand, and instantly, the brilliant and beautiful cosmic view of the universe vanishes.
In its place, Jason and Calanthra suddenly appear inside a dead, barren wasteland. Brown and grey dirt rises up in huge dunes stretching off into the distance. Fallen towers made of gold and stone lay on their sides, or stick into the ground, buried nearly up to their tops as they point diagonally toward the sky.
And speaking of the sky, it glows faintly grey, as if some weak, pale imitation of a star were trying to shine through a thin atmosphere clouded by dust and grime. The very air itself smells of sulfur and toxins, making Jason's nose curl up when he takes a breath.
"Ugh... what the hell? Where are we now?" Jason asks, as he turns and looks around at the dead world surrounding him.
"An Ancient Domain." Calanthra says softly. "A remnant of a dead universe. All life stripped away. All hope lost. Septillions of different Sentient species, gone. Their mortals, their Cosmics, reduced to dust by the Contraction."
The Wordsmith frowns. "This Ancient Domain represents a dead universe? But how can that be possible? If the Heat Death played out and all the galaxies faded to cosmic dust, then there already wouldn't be anything left. And then, if the entire universe collapsed into a singularity before exploding again, there definitely wouldn't be anything left behind resembling physical matter."
"You perceive reality through just three dimensions." Calanthra intones. "Time and space can be considered two dimensions. Cosmic Power is another dimension. I must admit I do not understand how Ancient Domains have continued to exist across countless Eternities, and I don't know how they retain a vaguely familiar form... but I can assure you that in spite of bending logic itself, they do exist and they can provide tangible benefits to those dedicated to exploring them."
"You've been exploring them, then?" Jason asks, turning away from the dead world to scrutinize Calanthra's phantasmal image.
"Me, a little. But often, I dispatch my descendants to scour these Ancient Domains for things of value. It may surprise you, but there are powerful artifacts, vengeful spirits, and all manner of other inter-dimensional horrors lurking within these so-called dead-lands."
Calanthra pauses. She shifts her posture to look at Jason deeply.
"And that is why I've brought you here, Jason. It's time for me to get down to the crux of the matter and breach the subject that I find most important."
He nods. "I'm listening."
"It's like this." Calanthra explains. "The Ancient Domains are unfathomably broad. Think of how large a universe is. Think of how many universes have existed. Think of how much space my people have yet to explore."
She pauses.
"The gains we have received have made my people stronger than you would expect. Among those gains are Yredelemnul's Eye and other leftover remnants of power that many dead ancient Rulers lost when their Existences became forfeit. While their tangible Existences may have perished, their spirits sometimes live on in these broad, unending dead universes..."
"That's why you approached me." Jason says, while crossing his arms and leaning on the ball of his heel. "You said you wanted an alliance with humanity. You... want humans to help you explore the Ancient Domains?"
"Trust is hard to come by among mortals, Cosmics, and Rulers." Calanthra says simply. "I never would have considered allying with the humans before, but you have shown me the broadness of your mind during the debate against your clone and the commander of your military. To some, you certainly appear naive, but to me I see an opportunity I would be foolish to ignore."
She continues. "The Fairies cannot reproduce efficiently. Every fairy we send into the Ancient Domain is one less fairy we have among our Empire. We already have a difficult time replenishing our numbers through the remaining Male Fairies, but do you think it is easy for us to reproduce with other species?"
Jason slowly shakes his head. "Blinker and Kar's children were all crocodiles, not fairies. From that, I can only imagine that most of the time, your mating attempts do not create more of yourselves, but instead more non-fairy children."
"That's exactly correct." Calanthra replies. "But that all changed recently when I found out one of your human males somehow spontaneously altered his genetic profile to become a fairy. There is no doubt about it; Samuel Baker harnesses all the capability to reproduce that you humans do, as well as the trueborn powers of any male fairy."
"So... are you seeking a marriage alliance with Samuel Baker?" Jason asks, scratching his head in confusion. "You could just ask him yourself, you know?"
"This is not about one man." Calanthra retorts. "Samuel Baker, if he were to join our ranks, would certainly help us stave off extinction for a while longer. But that is hardly worth all this melodrama and me taking you to the Ancient Domain in person..."
Jason's eyes widen in realization. "I see! You... you're thinking that if my magic could make one male fairy, I could surely make another, and another..."
"Yes, precisely." Calanthra says, revealing a beautiful smile. "Additionally, if humans were to assist us in scouring these Ancient Domains, we could make great gains together. There is plenty of room for another species to join ours in locating powerful artifacts and other items capable of Uplifting us."
"You want to become Cosmics still." Jason muses. "You haven't resigned yourselves to your current fate."
"Quite the opposite." Calanthra says. "The curse placed upon us is unbreakable by those beneath the realm of Ruler. As I said before, the fairies have lost this Eternity's war. However, while we cannot Ascend any longer, that does not mean the humans are subject to the same limitation. If we could groom a human into becoming the Milky Way's Ruler, we could finally break free of our shackles by virtue of having a powerful ally."
She pauses, looking meaningfully at the Wordsmith.
"If the Demons or the Volgrim were to become our Ruler, we would not enjoy such a benefit. At best, we would only maintain the status quo, and at worst, they might eradicate us out of fear of having an unsightly tumor in their midst."
"Haha." Jason laughs. "So you brought me here to show your sincerity. I get it. Well, I'm definitely not opposed to helping you. Blinker is my good friend. If she were to ask me, I'd definitely say yes to just about any request."
Jason turns away. He walks a few feet off to the side and pauses, standing to gaze out at the Ancient Domain and its endlessly rolling plains which stretches off into the infinite distance...
"Here's what I can do." Jason says. "My people are already working on laying out the options for humanity and where our fellow men and women will depart over the next few weeks. Some will travel to Maiura. Some will go to Sharmur. Some will stay on Tarus II. It's no trouble at all to put Pixiv on the list, especially as I was already planning to do that. I even have some other places I'd like to include, too..."
"Such as Camael's Cube?" Calanthra asks with a smile. "Or do you perhaps mean Chrona and Hope's Hall of Heroes?"
Jason nearly jumps out of his skin. He whirls around to look at Calanthra with shock in his eyes. "What?! How do you know about Chrona? How do you also know about where Hope has been hiding?? I don't even know that much!"
"For those who are talented in magic, it is possible to see through many lies and deceptions." Calanthra says calmly, unfazed by the alarm on Jason's face. "Your Spynet Sphere isn't so different from the many options I have at my disposal. I have many means to keep an eye on the galaxy. And while Diablo does not know exactly where or what Chrona is, he certainly knows of its general existence."
Her smile turns cold. "I would advise you not to take Unarin lightly either, Wordsmith. That ancient creature is more capable than you can imagine. He is hiding a great many secrets from the galaxy... secrets he does not know that I am aware of. If he were to learn of the true extent of my information web, I fear that he would dispatch a handful of High Psions to eliminate the fairy species tomorrow."
Calanthra's words truly rock Jason to his core. All along, he assumed the precautions he put on Chrona, precautions that fooled even Hope, would make his hidden dimension impossible to detect.
But how could he be so naive?
As the daughter of an Apex Cosmic, Calanthra must have her means, and that likely means Unarin and Diablo aren't too far behind either.
"Shit." Jason curses, lowering his head as a flicker of anger smolders in his heart. "I was too complacent. Chrona isn't secure, which means it's only a matter of time before more Cosmics learn of its existence. How long before they can find its exact location and invade it?"
"Calm yourself, child." Calanthra says soothingly. "The situation is not that dire. After all, Chrona still exists within a highly accelerated timespace. Any biological entity that wishes to travel there could suffer severe after-effects. Furthermore, the entities born inside will be too adapted to living within a higher dimension, so they won't pose much threat to the creatures of realspace."
She waves her hand. "Let's move on, Jason. I want to discuss other matters before dying of old age."
The Wordsmith cools himself off. He inhales deeply, then returns his attention to her.
"Alright. What next, then?"
"Fairies are not the only Sentients capable of entering Ancient Domains." Calanthra explains. "There are others who rarely appear inside here. That is why exploring these domains can be dangerous. The good news is that Cosmics have little need to enter these barren lands, as most of the heritages, treasures, and other such gains you might find inside are only useful to mortals. There are exceptions, but they are so rare as to be a needle found within ten million haystacks. A waste of effort better spent simply progressing one's Cosmic power the ordinary way."
"So what you're saying is, when you send fairies into an Ancient Domain, they can die as a result of crossing paths with Sentients from other galaxies." Jason concludes. "But if you had an army of humans to enter with you, your people would be a lot safer."
"Safety in numbers, yes. And you humans are... uniquely advantaged in Ancient Domain exploration." Calanthra says mysteriously. "Before that, though... do you know what the Power of Imagination is, Wordsmith?"
Jason raises an eyebrow. "Imagination? Like the mental ability to visualize stuff in your head? Yeah. It's not that complicated to understand."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Calanthra chides gently. "Imagination is the key to magical power. Imagination, Conception, Visualization, these are all key capabilities powerful maguses and sorcerors use to uplift their capabilities! And as it turns out, most Sentients are actually quite terrible at conceptualizing thoughts into imagery."
She gestures grandly. "Just take the Volgrim! You may think they are a powerful Sentient species, but in fact the Volgrim have terrible imaginations. They are stodgy, dull, and lack a great deal of creativity. All the gains their Technopaths make through technology are developed via brute force. They slowly improve their technological prowess by minute fractions over long periods of time, eventually resulting in a large and cohesive buildup."
"At the same time, the Psions Uplift themselves through meditation and sitting motionless for thousands of years at a time. Can a species capable of such incredible feats of drudgery also possess limitless imagination? I think not."
"Maybe the reason they're able to sit still for so long is because they live in their imagination?" Jason posits. "In which case their power of imagination should be quite formidable, right?"
"Possible, but unlikely." Calanthra says with a wave of her hand. "Never mind that. The point I'm trying to make is that humans have an extremely high affinity for magic. If your people were to ally with mine, we could teach you our ways. You could help us through your Wordsmithing and superior genetics, creating more fairies and humans alike. This would create a recursive cycle that would continually bolster both our species to greater and greater heights!"
She lowers her voice back to normal. "An alliance with humanity would have other benefits. You humans are equally adept in technology and magic both. You are versatile, capable of learning any skill provided you have time to devote to your studies. The bursts of inspiration you receive also allow you to make large jumps in capability as well, which could mean that in a relatively short period, you might even be capable of challenging the Volgrim."
Jason nods. "That does sound tempting, Calanthra. I'm willing to help you, but I won't demand my people join the fairies. It would be better if those who were the most interested did so instead."
Calanthra playfully twirls a finger through her hair. "Well. My daughters are all beautiful. Perhaps you should make mention that the fairies are... aggressively interested in copulation?"
"COUGH COUGH!" Jason wheezes, taking a step back as he asses her bold choice of words. "Yeah! Uh, I can probably- I'll let everyone know about that too. Obviously!"
Calanthra chuckles. "Such a cute boy. Well, it seems I've accomplished what I wanted. Let's return for now. You can always pay Ripspace a visit later."
"I will." Jason says, nodding seriously. "Waypoint."
Calanthra raises an eyebrow. "You think you can return here without a Ruler's power?"
"Won't know unless I try." Jason smiles back.
...
Not long after, Jason and Calanthra emerge back into Realspace. He shivers as he feels the Eye of Yredelemnul fixating on him from behind, but Calanthra quickly reactivates the Formation of Light, sending the sliver of a Ruler back to the shadows so it can no longer interact with the physical world.
"You know, Jason." Calanthra says. "You are a Candidate. You have the capability to become a Ruler someday."
"I am?" Jason asks, before thinking back to a conversation in the past. "Oh yeah, someone did mention that to me before. But... eh. I don't know. Becoming a Ruler sounds awful."
"Awful?" Calanthra asks. "How so?"
"It seems... lonely." Jason says, his voice softening. He looks at the space between the four statues, where Yredelemnul's Eye has disappeared. "Imagine all your loved ones dying, but you're stuck behind, living through the end of an Eternity, which takes trillions of years before Heat Death finally eradicates everything. Then comes the next Eternity, where you can remake your species again... but it won't be the same. Even if you remake your loved ones, it won't really be them."
Jason lowers and shakes his head. "That sort of life doesn't suit me."
"I understand why you'd think that way." Calanthra says. "In fact, you are suffering from the same affliction that plagues all Candidates who began their Existences as Biologicals. We have too many ties to the mortal world, so the majority of Biologicals who ascend to the rank of Ruler... fall to their non-biological opponents."
"As for the things which are not biological..." Calanthra says, looking at Jason with disgust. "You should already know what they are."
"Highly evolved Artificial Intelligences?" Jason guesses.
"That's right." Calanthra affirms. "There are several tiers of power a superintelligence can possess. The Volgrim have taken great care to prevent anything above a Beta Core from forming in the Milky Way, but once, a long time ago... they made a huge mess by accidentally creating the Milky Way's first Alpha Core Synthmind."
Calanthra chuckles. "The stupid fools didn't only create an Alpha Core, they gave it autonomy in the hopes it would be able to stop the wars between their factions. They built indestructible bipedal bodies for its splintered intelligences, and called them... Sentinels. Luckily, they were able to defeat the Alpha Core before it ascended further, but countless other biological species have failed at that juncture, creating an Alpha Core that ultimately devoured the full power of their galaxy for itself."
A chill trickles down Jason's spine. "You're saying the vast majority of Rulers are actually Alpha Core AIs? AIs that control entire galaxies?!"
"No, Jason." Calanthra counters. "Alpha Cores can defeat advanced civilizations. But there is one Existence higher than an Alpha Core, a tier that can only be reached once it has swallowed the power of a galaxy."
"That would be an Omega Core. a sentient artificial intelligence that has become Ruler over one or more galaxies. And in Akasha's game, more than 90% of all Rulers are estimated to be these superior lifeforms."
"It is for that reason that these highly adaptable entities are known as The Evolved."

My boyfriend (28) and me (28 F) we were having a discussion and the topic was about compatibility and I casually said that we have some compatibility issues. My bf got really upset with my comment, I realise I might have hurt him (he was going through career crisis and was not having his best days) but that was honestly not my intention, also the issues that were in my mind were quite silly (things usually people feel when you share same space by another person like I like things clean and tidy, he is slightly messy etc etc). So as I mentioned my bf got upset with my comment, things escalated... I managed to get him in okay mood for sometime but then I myself felt too worked up on how something that can be solved within 15 minutes took hours... We were also having other issues at the time so everything was going one after another inside my brains. My bf saw that I was upset (this was just after he got upset and I apologized and we were okay, but then I was feeling bad about the whole ordeal), he asked me what happened and I said these things make me not want to think of marriage. By listening to my statement my bf got really angry and abused me (used words - motherf****, go fu* urself) and kept on saying things like how I wasted his time.The moment I heard the words I felt so blank and all I could hear was my heart breaking into pieces...He did apologize later about it though he said he was simply upset with what I had said and abuses are just his way of dealing with things (he uses cuss words a lot, but never to me before... Also good to note, I don't use cuss words ever).
Now I know people use these kind of words almost everyday angry or not but would you use this for your significant other? Is this considered normal during a fight? I feel a lot of resentment inside me due to this situation but I am not sure if I am overreacting.

Here I am at 90 days. I never knew how sick I'd become from PMO. More often by the day I'll notice a fragrance of a smell, or a feeling that I had 10 years ago when I lived on the coast .... the other day I noticed the stars in the sky for the first time in I don't know how long. I felt them in my heart. I am not trying to be poetic. But to be human is to have some of that in you.
You know, I've read here and there about people thinking if one makes it to 90 days of sobriety, that's it, you're free. Or at least free enough. I really don't feel that way, even if ... let's be honest, even though I want to.
I've had this neurological problem with the left side of my body for years now. It's slowly going away. Slowly. Not gone. Memory has improved. Critical thinking, too, but I didn't realize how basic my cognitive skills were until recently. Pride has kept me from paying too close attention, but I'm dumber than I think I am. Stamina and strength have improved. I can go on runs now without being gassed. I've also noticed I am doing harder things, like taking cold showers. They don't hurt as bad as they used to. I'm not on my guard 24/7. I'm feeling pains inside my soul or in my heart now, that before I couldn't bear. And these pains are part of what it is to live in this world. Some people don't like me, it's okay. I have bigger problems than that, and well, I think I can take some actions that are for my better with respect to them. I'm not really there yet though. Sometimes I just shut it all out still, not even via PMO.
Some of this is from doing those things little by little, or throwing myself into them. Some is from decisions. For instance, I have a son now. I think as his father, would I want to walk in on him wanking to some pixels? For year after year? Hurting himself, getting lonely or at least lonesome, his hair getting thinner, aging prematurely, disrespecting himself, losing his personality, blaming others ... And the answer is no. I wouldn't. And I'm a kid. I'm God's kid. So why should I want to disappoint Him like that, unless I have a really low opinion of God and myself?
Well, I'm at 90 days. I can say I definitely feel more sober, but there's a catch to that. I felt sober 90 days ago, too. I thought I was far more sober than I really was. Temptation has sprung up the past week or so. It took my breath away the other morning. I've also been waking up with erections, which hasn't happened in over 10 yeras. Yeah, I did a lot of high-speed internet porn. That stuff is really damaging, more damaging than I've admitted or could admit right now. But I should admit it, because it's true. Anyway, I know that as time goes by, I become more sexually sensitive. I need some work on my will.
Do you know, I learned this not too long ago, that the will has nothing to do with emotions? It's not an emotion. Some of you know that. I didn't. I always thought, grit your teeth, steel yourself, get through it on sheer will alone. But I can do things with m y will despite my feelings. And so I see that what happens with will, is that someone does something, and in extreme cases against his emotions. So someone will grit their teeth because it hurts, or they don't want to do it, and the emotions try to trick the person into thinking they are his decision. But no matter how much my emotions hurt, the will is not emotional at all. It's intellectual. And that's a power I didn't know I had, one that can't be touched by emotions.
Well, I don't have all day, but being at 90 days, this is on average where people get their head out of enough of the muck that they realize (on average, mind you) that they don't want to be involved in this destructive lifestyle anymore. And I am glad right now that I can't do PMO given my circumstances. I really can't, and I'm protected from that, too. Because I'm still too weak to feel like a man about it.
A big problem of porn has been one of admitting the truth. That porn makes me feel great (while at the same time sick, and the sickness lasts while the pleasure fades). But at the time it feels great. And I wasn't separating the pain and pleasure. I couldn't really tell the difference. But some poisons taste sweet. If I saw melted Jolly Ranchers but knew there was cyanide i nit, I would refuse to drink it, no matter how sweet it was. But somehow that didn't extend in my mind to PMO. I guess I'm still really sick, since I'm not seeing it as good as I should and could.
So porn has made me feel really pleased when I consumed it. But that's the nature of the drug. That's what drugs do. They feel good, but they ruin your life little by little. They take away your personality. You change. You stop being who you were when you were a little kid. You can't be the man or woman you're spuposed to be. You get wrinkled, pieces not lit up that should be, you're scattered and can't feel with the heart you'd have had if you didn't do that. Well, if I didn't do that. Talk about myself. But porn felt pleasing, and incredibly so. And yet it was a poison. But as a drug, it's predictable that it would feel that way.
So it's been a response to too much pleasure, while also admitting that ther'es a poison in PMO that has been destroying me mentally, psychologically, spiritually, and even biologically. PMO isn't just a private matter, one that you're elastic enough you can bounce back from right away. It changes a person. I've seen it in my ex brother-in-law. I've seen it in the disastrous marriage between a coworker and her husband. And I'm starting to see how it's ruined so much of mysef, and poisoned my relationships.
How am I going to understand another person or give him or her empathy, when I'm all drained inside? How am I going to treat a woman like a person, when I'm sizing her up as a sexual piece of meat (rejecting her if she's ugly, distracted by beauty like a hungry dog). How cna I make friends?
I've realized I don't really have any frieds anymore. That I'm more negative than I'd like to be (part of that is there's so much bullcrap in the worl that I wasn't noticing, but the other part is I'm finding stuff to get mad about like it's a compulsion). That I haven't been respecting myself, shown by how I've been dressing but also how I treat myself, don't take my side in an argument ... and this all gets so very confusing when I'm continually buzzed on PMO or mad or irritable, and can't fairly appraise someone else's argument without rushing to emotionally attack them or defend myself.
It makes me ugly.
At 90 days. I do'nt feel so great, but it's better than I was before. Doldrums. Flatlining, yeah. But the other day i was thinking about some adventurous stuff. I haven't had thoughts about having fun in life in many years. Even if I don't feel so much that way now, I did only a couple days ago. Flashes of light in the darkness is better than darkness. It's har dto remember how bad it was 90 days ago. But I truly am feeling better objectively. Not what I'd like to be feeling, but it's better. If I don't get better, what's bad now will just get worse, and I don't want that. So I'll keep going, even though there are strong desires not to.
You know, there are tihngs I have very strong inclinations toward that are not good for me? Can you believe that? I never really thought about that until recently. I've been pretty judgy towards others for their inclinations, but not to myself. Pride. Well, there are some things I really don't like to do that are really good for me. Praying, cold showers, doing hard things, getting my work and studies done. I feel better after all those, and worse after video gaming or binging on food. ANd alwaysworse after PMO, I am gladder not having done that in awhile. But there's a lot that I feel a pull toward that is really bad for me. It's so strange admitting that my instincts are off. That if I go on desire and emotion, I'm not objective. Lost compass.

Last week me and my husband discussed doing a trial run with a dog from the local shelter to see how he’d do in our home, with our current Pup, Blue. Blues been my best friend since the day I got him and I owe my life to him. He’s my other half.
Blue is 5 years old, he’s been an only dog his whole life, and he’s a people dog. He’s never shown much interest in other dogs. Not mean or aggressive to them, but also not overly excited to play with them.
We took blues personality into consideration and since this dog is the same breed we thought maybe we’d give it a shot and see how it goes. Me and my husband sat down and talked and said if it was too much for blue, too much for the new rescue, or the first signs of aggression or territorial behavior shows, the shelter will take him back. Which is exactly what this trial run is for.
The first three days were fine. The two dogs have been playing, I was actually really surprised blue was as interested in the new rescue as he was.
This dog needed a lot of training which we were willing to put in. He needed a lot of attention and is a very jealous dog so that was something we needed to work on as well.
Last night, the two dogs got into a bit of a fight. My dog blue was playing with his toy, laying down, relaxed and the rescue had ran up to take it from him, and blue had snapped and started a fight. Blue doesn’t show any signs of aggression EVER. He is the sweetest boy and is not a resource guarder what so ever. He’s never shown this behavior to any human or dog before.
Neither got hurt and the fight was separated immediately - And I instantly told my husband it wasn’t going to work. Seeing my dog blue in that manor broke my heart - and seeing this new dog who just wanted to play get snapped at and scared from my dog made me even more upset.
I told my husband I was going to call the shelter tomorrow and ask to end the trial run early as I just don’t think it’s a right fit for Blues personality. That one fight made me so scared for this other dogs safety and comfortability in our home, that I couldn’t have it happen again. We separated the dogs for the night, and called the shelter today.
The shelter was able to take the dog back, however they treated me and my husband like awful people for it. Which broke me. I wanted to give this dog a home to feel safe and secure in and I couldn’t provide that for him. But I’m not going to make my dog change his personality to fit a dog that may do better in another home. This behavior he showed wasn’t okay obviously and will be watched for more signs like it in the future, but I’m not going to force Blue to like other dogs in a way we need him to for this to work. They made me feel like my dog was a bad dog for just simply wanting to be an only dog. They said “dog fights are normal in new house holds” which didn’t seem right to me…
The new dog went back to the shelter, which works with a prison and the inmates (non violent and approved inmates of course) are actually able to take care of the dogs and play with them until they’re able to find a home for the dogs. This gave me some peace of mind knowing he wouldn’t just be shoved in a kennel waiting for somebody else to give him the chance.
My husband however is now upset with me. He thinks I over reacted about one little dog fight and that I needed to give the dog another chance. I just don’t think I had it in my heart to see either dog in the situation they were in last night. It’s not fair to either of them.
I feel like the bad guy now, Like I gave up too quick, like I failed this dog, and like I did something wrong for wanting him to go to another home and returning him to the shelter. But it also makes me feel like my dog is a bad guy, like he’s a bad dog for showing this behavior.
Some word of advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I did something absolutely awful, but I know if I kept this dog, the outcome could’ve made me feel 10x worse with the chance of something happening.