Symphony Book 3: Edited Chapters 29-35 (Patreon)

Chapter 29: The Impossible Choices

Blood continued to drip from the corner of Walker's mouth as he looked at the results of his efforts. He couldn't help but show a bloody crescent grin when the reflection asked again about the rewards.

"I have to name it."

... Analyzing ...

...

... Analyzing ...

...

Error..

Results are not possible ...

...

Adjusting information

... Analyzing …

…

Database connected...

... Searching Database ...

New information gained from Original source ...

... Analyzing ...

Designated Evolution Multiverse recognized

Adjusting future rewards

...

...

...

Rewards adjusted ...

Congratulations Dante!

As the first to discover a new strand, any future combinations, per your agreement with the Alpha Protocol Council, will automatically be siphoned to your resources.

Would you like to name your discovery?

Yes/No

He simply selected no.

Strand will remain unnamed until you make a decision.

...

Master Portal Key Detected ...

...

Rewards updated ...

...

Congratulations Dante!

Due to your grand discovery, You've unlocked access to the Third Gate.

Travel to the Third Gate is now unrestricted.

...

Congratulations Dante!

As you are the first member of the Evolution Multiverse to synthesize Everlasting strands into a collectible resource, you've achieved a Grand Discovery! Extra rewards gained.

…

Special rewards have been given to those who contributed to this achievement

…

Due to your Grand discovery, You’ve unlocked the Inherent Encryption Ability!

Due to your Grand discovery, You’ve gained a Guide token!

Due to your Grand discovery, You’ve unlocked the Dimensional Anchoring ability!

You've been granted a bonus reward for your finding!

- - -

Reward for discovering a non-standard use of unnamed Everlasting strand energy:

Congratulations Dante! You've been granted bonus resources!

You’ve gained the Remote Access System!

10,000 Primordial resources.

An amount of equal value in unnamed strand resources.

… Error …

Unnamed Everlasting strand does not have an equal value

Compensation required …

…

Compensation found …

All discovered strands have gained 10,000 resources

… Error …

Unable to provide resources to strand labeled: Entropy

…

Compensation adjusted further …

“What in the fucking fuck?” Walker said after reading everything.

“What?”

“Dude…just…” Walker ran a hand down his face as the system continued attempting to find a proper compensation. His screen filled itself with errors and further adjustments as time moved on.

When it finally stopped its attempts, a single question appeared.

Compensation unable to be found.

Direct command issued …

… Analyzing …

…

Complete

Query: Would you like to choose from a set of curated rewards?

Walker didn’t even think as he selected yes.

Command recognized

Options presented:

The Extract Upgrade

The Hero Paradigm

The Safe Haven ability

The Nemesis system

The Statistical Index Interface

One Supreme A.I.

One Reincarnation Tablet

Walker read each reward option out loud so David could provide his own input. The reflection scratched his chin as he listened, “What do each of them do?”

Walker shrugged, a residual cramp almost making him bend over, “You don’t have much time left. Are you sure you want to blink out when I’m still describing everything?”

David gave him a lopsided smile, “Good point. Well, based purely on the wording, my vote would probably go towards the Safe Haven ability or maybe the Hero Paradigm, depending on what it brings to the table. You have to think about what’s best for Symphony as a whole.”

“You don’t think we should go for the Supreme A.I.?”

His reflection shook his head slowly. “No, because you don’t know what restrictions may be placed on it. For all you know, it’s a trap, and it will be forced to report back to whoever controls what we’re doing here.”

“Like Virgil was’

David nodded, “Like Virgil was.” He looked around wistfully, “I think my time has just about run out. Do you have anything else you wanted to ask?”

Walker considered it momentarily, taking a breath from his bag, “Do you think I should pop up more reflections?”

David smiled, “Even if it’s just more of us, it couldn’t hurt to have another voice speaking back to you, right?”

Walker smiled in return, “Right.”

With a wink, David popped, leaving Walker alone in the vastness of space yet again.

Now that he didn’t have as much of a time deadline, he looked at the reward options again.

The Extract upgrade:

The Universal translator is a wonder, which many across the Omniverse wish to obtain at almost any cost. Its abilities allow the average citizen’s commerce and communications to expand to untold heights as they find options they didn’t even know existed.

Freely given to the Colonists of barren verses across the Cosmos, it provides a surety that the REDACTED care for their people, no matter how far away they are from each other.

The Extract upgrade allows the Universal Translator to gain a new option: the ability to scan documents and extract information in its entirety.

Warning: May cause pain

The Hero Paradigm:

The Paradigms are a series of frameworks designed by the REDACTED to empower the people of the cosmos in their travels.

Should a member of the Omniverse show the traits of being a hero, the Paradigm will connect them with the strength to match their personality. This includes unique abilities as they continue their heroic journey, access to the overarching Paradigm framework created by the REDACTED, and the potential to enter the Hall of Chronicles.

The Safe Haven ability:

Interstellar combat is fraught with dangerous creatures, worlds, and natural calamities. Designed by the REDACTED, this ability ensures that every armada and army has a chance against overwhelming force.

By infusing strands into the ability, the Strandbinder can empower a defensive shield that protects them from all physical attacks for as long as their resources can supply.

The Safe Haven ability is restricted only to those with access to the Omniverse's strands.

The Nemesis system:

A system designed by the REDACTED in their battles against the Hoploi, a species known for its highly elusive talents.

This system allows the user to designate a target, enabling them to share their information across all other user profiles. Once the designation is complete, the target’s information will be updated to the REDACTED for future scenarios and strategic planning.

The Statistical Index Interface:

One of the most essential features of an early Omniversal verse, the SII enables all within the designated universe to gain physical upgrades by performing feats.

The Statistical Index Interface is one of the oldest methods for a new universe to empower its members. Formed by an unknown civilization from the time before the REDACTED, the interface is a must-have for any Strandbinder.

One Supreme A.I.

No information is presented with this reward.

One Reincarnation Tablet

Congratulations, Strandbinder, on receiving the option to select this reward!

Reserved as a reward only for those whom the Omniverse deems deserving, the Reincarnation Table, when used upon the death of its holder, will bring the Strandbinder back to life moments before their death and with perfect health.

The Reincarnation Tablet is restricted only to those with access to the Omniverse's strands.

A large headache was building in the back of Walker’s mind after he stepped out of the reward descriptions. Each was presented from the system that came before the Origin. An Omniverse, of all things. With an intuitive leap, he understood where the extra resources from his discoveries had been coming from.

But as his mind recovered, his body still needed more time. It was still slowly recovering from the damage he’d faced after forcibly combining the Trinity strand with his overlay. It felt wrung out, like he’d been stepped on by a heavy person wearing high heels.

After enough time had passed, the pain began to abate. His nose finally ceased to bleed, and he felt the pressure slowly release from the top of his skull.

Gently looking around, he found droplets of red splashing across the previously empty space in his vicinity—a testament to the pain his own rewards had brought him.

Walker blearily grabbed some of the Reflection strands directly from his resources, taking over one hundred to ensure it would last long enough and have a powerful physical presence. A moment later, a new David popped into space, looking at him worriedly.

“Yeah, it’s as bad as we thought.” He said with a grim expression on his face.

Walker gave a choking laugh, “It’s what we have to deal with. You know what I saw in there, and my brain is too fuzzy to consider the options. So, what do we go with? You know what the previous David said.”

The new David nodded, “Yeah. That Paradigm stuff was interesting. It makes me think that there are other Paradigms out there.”

“Yeah….” Walker grumbled, holding his head between his hands, “Like what?”

“Like a Villain Paradigm, for one. For all we know, it could be based loosely on the archetypes of stories. The Sage or the Innocent, so on and so on. It almost resembles what we’re trying to do with Masteries, but who knows?”

“So.” His brain stuttered, “Should we go with it?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. The teacher in me wants the first one. Think about it.” David’s voice grew excited, “We could read any books we wanted, instantly. All of those different stories that the Unending Summit is going to produce. BAM!” Walker groaned. “We just absorb them right up, instantly.”

“Right now, I’m honestly considering the Reincarnation Tablet.” The Creator said through gritted teeth, “Also, please try not to yell.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, dude.” David replied amiably, “It’s weird knowing how much pain you're in while I’m not feeling it in the slightest. Would you please rate your pain on a scale of one to AHH!”

Walker glared at his reflection, “I really hate myself right now.”

David grinned in return, “I bet you do. Neways, the Reincarnation Tablet wouldn’t work in my opinion. I feel like if we die, everything will disappear even if we come back right away.”

“It stated that …” Walker was forced to take a sharp breath.

David picked up what he was saying when he realized Walker couldn’t finish, “That we go back a few moments in time. I know. But I feel like that’s a cheat. There are always ramifications to those kinds of things. A double-edged sword, if you will.”

Walker didn’t reply, so David continued to speak, “I don’t think the Nemesis system is a lot of help, and it’s weird that what should almost be an ability is brought forth as an entire system. Because it’s designed like that, I bet it’s for military conquest. They can say it was to get rid of the Hoploi, whatever those are, but the writing is on the wall with that kind of system. It’s to destroy a civilization.”

“Yeah,” Walker replied heavily as he felt more of the pain abate, “no doubt.”

“Feeling better?”

“A little,” Walker said with a heavy sigh, “Just give me a few more minutes before you say anything too loud.”

David gave him an unseen thumbs-up, and they waited for Walker’s body and mind to rebuild.

Walker tried to occupy himself by doing his breathing exercises, but that was designed more for anxiety and stress than general pain. The candle in the darkness refused to accede to his need, and he felt only further frustration from the attempt.

Meanwhile, David spent his time floating around space, attempting to find different ways to call upon their Icon. All his attempts were met with failure, but they were a nice way to pass the time.

Eventually, he just settled on thinking about Athena and how little time they’d really had together throughout the protocol. It inevitably led him to consider her in the grand scope of recent events. What they meant to each other, and what was likely to happen in the future.

Once Walker started to feel a little better, he brought it up.

“So, what am I going to do about Athena?”

David snorted, “You’re a godeater, she’s a goddess. You know it will never work out.” David tsk’d, “You’re really just biding your time.”

“Dude, we’re literally the same fucking person.”

“Yeah, but it's your conundrum now, not mine.”

Walker rolled bloodshot eyes, then broke eye contact, “This is so weird. Why do your personalities keep changing so much?”

“Hrmm…you noticed that too,” David said as he scratched his chin, “Maybe it’s just the simple idea that we’re a finite resource for you. Naturally, that would cause us to consider the world and the events surrounding you, us, from a different perspective. After all, if you see a rollercoaster about to collapse, you don’t feel what it’s like to be inside of it.”

“True…” Walker looked back at him, “So, what do you think about the other options?”

“That interface seems legit. Think about it, man. It would work really well with your skills and Masteries. Perform a feat, BAM, physical upgrades. It’s gotta be a crazy life that way.”

“True again. I’m also leaning away from the Supreme A.I. The previous David was right; it’s too much of a gamble with too many other, big reward options.”

“So that leaves what? The Universal Translator upgrade and the Interface?”

“Yep.”

They looked at each other for a long moment, then Walker said what David naturally suspected, “The upgrade.”

“Yeah. Other people would probably think we’re crazy, but the ability to just extract and download any book or information we see is too powerful.”

“Plus, we supposedly have a Bounty system manual that popped up not too long ago. For all we know, it could be several thousand pages long, and we just don’t have that kind of time right now.”

“Yeah, time’s a bitch.”

“Right!” Walker said with a smile, “Finally, someone gets it.”

“And it just so happens to be you, times two, Strandbinder,” David finished with a smile back.

“Yeah, I saw that. So, I guess we’re not the only ones out there.”

“Yeah. But at least we have a name for it now. Strandbinder,” David said with an open mouth, “Sounds alright.”

“I like it.” Walker agreed, “I just wish some of the things we’d done were original, coming straight from us and no one else.”

David floated over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, we’ll get there. Just gotta keep on, keeping on. Who knows, maybe when this is all over, you’ll be in that Hall of Chronicles or whatever.”

“I’m betting you have to die to get there, though, and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

“Still,” David replied as he rubbed his shoulder once before backing away, “Now, let's get to it! You know this shit is going to hurt, right?”

“Probably. But what else can I do?”

Walker clicked on the options and avoided the descriptions for a second time. He selected the Extract upgrade and confirmed his choice.

Congratulations Dante!

You’ve unlocked an upgrade to the Universal Translator!

Please prepare yourself as the mental instrument further embeds itself into your person.

Walker’s standard blue screen turned a shade of purple as a countdown appeared in front of him.

3.

2.

1.

The Creator, Strandbinder, and other titles blacked out from the pain as further red spread itself across the empty space around him.

Chapter 30: A Hidden Agenda

When Walker came to, he experienced a powerful wave of cognitive dissonance. He’d never before realized how dependent he had become upon the blue color of his overlay. Even though it was only a shift to purple, which wasn't so large on the scale of colors, he still felt like his vision was tilted.

It also created further implications for him.

His other self grinned when he noticed Walker was up, “You know you’re still in the buff and in dangerous need of some manscaping.”

Walker scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Whatever.” He broke down the implications of the color change to the reflection.

David nodded, “So, blue was the first level of the overlay.”

Walker nodded in return, “And purple is the next one. That creates the idea that there’s further to go, and there’s further enhancements to the Universal Translator.”

“Truue...” David replied, stretching out the word as he thought, “I don’t think my memory is as good as yours, so I have to ask. Have you ever looked at the ability on your screen?”

Walker shrugged, which for the first time in a while didn’t cause any pain, “I haven’t looked there in a bit, but the last time I did, it wasn’t listed.”

“Yeah, that’s weird. Almost everything we’ve ever been able to do here is categorized and listed, except for strands. And yet, the overlay and the Universal Translator that goes with it aren’t.”

“Pretty strange.”

“Yeah. Anyways, we never looked at the other abilities we got before the weird compensation thing.”

“Oh, right!” Walker said, getting a little excited about some new toys.

Looking through his abilities, he didn’t see anything listed about the Third Gate. Talking to David momentarily, they hopped over to the Portal he’d erected. Walker clicked around the semi-familiar screen, scrolling through dozens of different grids that appeared before him, but still didn’t see it.

In fact, he didn’t find what he was looking for until he pushed the grid as high as it could go. At the very top, a singular red dot appeared, labeled only as the Third gate. When he looked at it, it began to pulse. He couldn’t help but think that it recognized he was looking at it and was saying hello. Walker told David about his thoughts.

“Weird. All of this has to do with the pre-origin stuff.”

“Yeah, and the redacted, whoever they are.”

“Mhmm, let's hop back in the secondary distortion.”

Walker floated over and clicked into his other rewards.

The Inherent Encryption ability:

Nothing causes fear in a person quite like the ability of another to peer into their thoughts.

During the territorial expansion of the now thoroughly defeated Flamish Family, the REDACTED researched and developed this ability as a safety measure.

The Inherent Encryption ability grants not only mental surety for the Strandbinder, but also any life that they may choose to divest.

Warning: The Inherent Encryption ability requires the Strandbinder to create their own mark, which will be recognized across the Omniverse as uniquely their own. Without creating a mark, the ability will not operate.

He relayed the information to David, who gave him some solid advice.

“Make it a book, man. The Book of Souls is literally our mark.”

Walker nodded and clicked on the screen. A vast assortment of different images cropped up, with lists of different options for as far as he could scroll. A long time went by, but when he was done, a green-covered book with a tree stamped on it floated on his screen, its thick pages covered in hints of purple as a reminder of how everything started.

With his mark done, he selected the option confirming its completion, and a moment later felt a small pulse push out of his overlay. In the top left corner, his mark appeared, just as he’d seen it in the overlay’s projection.

Giving a thumbs up to David, he clicked on the next ability.

The Dimensional Anchoring ability:

At the beginning of the REDACTED’S work with Strands, Dimensionality was adrift across the Cosmos. A traveler or nearby ship might be pulled into a world of fire and fury at the time of their least convenience. A world might become unmoored and find itself suddenly millions of light-years out of position in the darkness of space.

Due to this, the Dimensional Anchoring ability was developed to allow Strandbinders the un-optional gift of connecting their strands to their own portion of the Omniverse. The ability is pressed upon Strandbinders so that they must connect their Dimensional workings to a specified location.

Dimensional Anchoring can be used with any Dimensionally related location or ability.

“Huh,” was David’s only response.

“So, no matter what, once the Omniverse figures out you can work with strands, you’re going to get this ability forced on you.”

David shrugged, “I guess. I mean, it’s not a bad ability. 

“Almost seems like an afterthought from whatever the Omniverse is.”

Not having anything to do with the ability, Walker pulled up the Guide token.

One Omniversal Guide Token:

This token is gifted to any newly introduced citizens of the Omniverse who suddenly gain a great deal of power. When used within the citizen’s veil, new functionality will appear, as well as descriptions that the citizen likely wouldn’t find on their own.

Developed by the genius minds at the REDACTED, this token is dear to any citizen who travels across the verses.

Please use it with care.

Walker repeated it out loud for David, then clicked on the last one when his face became pensive.

… Analyzing …

…

… Analyzing …

Language located: Pheravian: Pre-Origin

Adapting use …

…Translating…

Hello Administrator Dante, and welcome to the Remote Access system!

You are quite lucky to gain access to a premier system developed by our company.

If you encounter any problems accessing your system network, please let us know, and we will work on it immediately!

Thank you for choosing Pheravian Industries, and we hope you have a pleasant day.

“Seriously, what the fucking fuck?” Walker mumbled.

“Customer service corporations,” David fake vomited into space, “That’s like every goddamn company we ever came across. Just annoying. Tell us what you do, tell us how to do it, and leave us the fuck alone! It’s like a waiter who has to ask if you would like more water after he’d already been at the table two minutes ago. Not that I’m besmirching waiters, who already have it hard enough, but…”

Another notification struck him.

Remote Access system integration beginning …

Remote Access system integration at 1% …

Time until completion: Unknown

Temporal Distortion discovered.

Hello Creator Dante! It seems that you’ve entered a powerful Temporal Distortion!

Please allow us extra time to get your Remote Access system up and running.

Thank you for choosing Pheravian Industries, and we hope you have a pleasant year.

“Is it watching me?” Walker mumbled to himself again after the second update. David went on a rant he wasn’t listening to, coming in just as it ended.

“...And they just keep coming! No, I don’t want your handouts. No, I’m not donating to the children’s cross of children’s crosses. No, don’t play that god damn Sarah Mclachlan video with the fucking dog. I mean…what?” David noticed Walker just staring at him, “Did I say something wrong?”

“You sound like a prick,” Walker commented lightly.

“Look who's talking, buddy.”

“True. So, I was thinking about all of this.”

“Yeah? About what? How the rewards seem to go together?”

“Exactly. We created a Trinity strand that combines the entire Cosmic category. Then, immediately after, we’re given access to the Third Gate, whatever that is, and a guide for traveling through the Omniverse.” Walker felt each dot continue to connect in the back of his mind, “The Remote Access system allows us to monitor and work on things from far away. There’s an ability that lets us set up a dimension in a static location, and finally, an ability that makes it so nobody can access our shit but us. Doesn’t that seem a little too coincidental to you?

David looked like he was thinking hard about it, “You mean they want us to set up our stuff and travel away? Why? What would be the purpose?”

Walker shrugged, “Who knows? Maybe there aren’t that many Strandbinders, and this was one way in which they could ensure we could go to work for them while still keeping our personal interests private. Or, maybe it’s all a way to mess with us as they attempt to install back-paths into everything we do. There’s really no way to know.”

“Well, that’s pretty shitty,” David said with a frown, “You said they forced the anchoring ability on you?”

“That’s what the notification itself said, yep. That no Strandbinder can go without it because it fucks up the Omniverse somehow.”

“Huh… yeah man. That’s…not good.”

Walker shook his head, “Nope.” He scratched his chin as he pulled up the notifications in his mind again, “You know, the first thing they gave us for the Trinity strand was access to the Third Gate. Maybe they just want us to go there and leave all our shit behind?”

David see-sawed his hands, “Can’t really do that. We’re on a pretty strict time limit, and that would mess up a lot of our plans. There’s no guarantee that we’d still have our Temporal distortion. That would mean we might only get back to find that all of our work is for naught and everything’s broken.”

“Not to mention all of the Founders, Primigenials, and Assistants feeling like they’re abandoned.”

“Yeah, we can’t do that to them,” David agreed, “Still. Do you think the Evolvers even know about all of this shit? I mean, when we sacrificed teleport, it said we were the first Master Portal, or whatever. That would imply that they don’t know how to do any of this?”

“Shit, they may not even know that an Omniverse exists out there. They’re all wrapped up in politics and getting their place back in the Origin.”

“Yeah, when you think about it, that’s pretty small potatoes.”

Walker laughed, “If that’s small potatoes, what do you think Symphony is in relation to everything else?”

“Hrmm,” David replied with an odd look on his face, “that’s pretty humbling.”

Walker nodded, “Yeah, it is. It’s kind of nice to be humbled every so often.”

“Getting too godlike for your britches?” David said with a grin.

“Just worried about the scope of everything. But we’re not here to think about all of that. Are you ready to pull out our one unnamed strand? After all, when I pulled up the list, it only said one?”

“How much of everything do we have now?”

Walker pulled it up to take a look. 

His Primordial resources had taken a significant jump up, as had everything else. But that wasn’t what made his face shift from astonishment to confusion. “Didn’t we combine five of each Cosmic resource? Why would it only give one Trinity strand? Plus, the system said that it couldn’t duplicate it, right?”

“Weird. So what do you think the strand is if even the Omniverse can’t duplicate it?”

“Only one way to find out. You ready?”

“I mean, we almost killed ourselves putting the damn thing in there, may as well let it out to play, right?”

“Right,” Walker replied, although he couldn’t help but feel anxiety strike him. 

Placing his hand near his overlay, he pulled out the single strand. It looked exactly as it had before, only as he watched, the book in the left corner of his vision gently floated down and stamped itself on the strand, leaving an imprint behind as it returned.

“Did you just Superman laser a book onto that thing?”

“Hell if I know,” Walker mumbled, then gently let it float out in front of him.

The Trinity strand gently sat in space for a time before a crack rang out. A moment later, a fissure erupted across the center of it. Walker’s mark was not disturbed in the slightest as it rose up and continued to float over it.

“Oh fuck me.”

“No,” David said quietly as he braced for what might happen next.

Chapter 31: The Unnamed Strand

Walker continued to stare at the crack arcing its way across the Trinity strand. He watched, and watched, and watched. Five minutes passed with no changes. He looked over at David, who made a face and then shrugged.

"I don't know, man. This is all testing, right?"

"I guess. It just feels anticlimactic. We went through a lot of stress, pain, and anxiety just to get this shit out here, then it just flops around like a limp-"

An explosion rang out, one that didn't make a sound nor push the two back in the slightest, but it was an explosion nonetheless. Walker knew this because, as he watched, a pitch-black material began to leak out of the strand, quickly swallowing them both up.

At first, he panicked, believing that he was being swallowed by something he didn't fully understand. But, as more of the strand consumed his vision, he began to feel something else.

The darkness, that great blot of black in his eyes, so all-encompassing that he could neither see nor feel anything else, had something else within it. He felt the edge of an idea that was all but impossible to describe fully. The closest memory he could attach it to was the day he'd surfed during a terrible storm. The water had crashed and roiled against this skin, further pressed upon by the furious wind driving it in ever-changing directions. 

This felt the same, as if the pitch-black material was straining for itself to move but felt outside forces driving it back toward the center of its birth.

His panic continued to drop as he felt a pulsing resonance within the deeper reaches of his psyche. Instead of fear, he felt something unique in his time within the Alpha Protocol—a sense of calm.

Rather than continue to float within and allow events to continue unchanged, Walker attempted to push himself toward the center, where the strand had originally cracked.

David's voice barely cut through the void, its sound seemingly far more distant than what he could recall, "Walker? Walker! Where are you?"

But he didn't answer. Not unlike a father knowing his child is in danger, Walker felt as if the strand needed him. It was in pain and was never meant to be contained in this fashion. He didn't know how he knew that, but some part of his isolated consciousness understood on a fundamental level that this wasn't right. 

The closer he grew to the center of the strand, the greater the pressure it continued to emit. Where before he'd moved at a sedate pace, now, every step felt like crossing miles in a single bound. It grew so intense that he was forced to use his kinetic strand for movement lest he be pushed back and lose any of the progress he'd already made.

To his memory, the strand had only been a few feet away when the fissure occurred. But, as he moved, it felt like hundreds of miles, thousands. Any extraneous thoughts he might've had disappeared with the distance traveled behind him.

After applying more force to his body than ever before, the extra propulsion needed to continue traveling at a decent clip, he felt the tendons in his knees begin to complain as he forced more energy behind him. Feeling himself begin to reach his limit, he could only grimace and continue to push as the darkness surrounding him gave off even greater pressure.

When he felt that he was approaching the center, reality began to take a different shape.

Moments soon stretched from the seconds they were meant to be into individual eternities. Each stride Walker took through the endless expanse of time was a great journey across the years. As he moved past an unknown threshold, time seemed to give up its hold, and something else took its place.

Spatial fabric ripped, bent, and folded, causing Walker to shut his eyes and move by feeling alone. His body, still barely protected by the power of his soul, was having great difficulty holding itself together, but he persevered until, when he felt that he was only inches away from the beginning of his quickly rising madness, the Dimensional boundaries around him sundered. 

The strand convulsed, and within it, he viewed a panoply of altered and fractured realities spreading from this singular moment. Each a fragment of himself, cracked and leaking like a Dali painting of old. Each sliver held a different version of Walker and the actions he might take in this moment of forever. Some were victorious, while others showed things he didn't like to think about.

Madness.

Death.

The implosion of the strand, leading to the eventual destruction of rendition 4AA.

Walker crying over a destroyed Symphony as he didn’t finish his work in time.

He reached out his hand, trembling from the stress of possibilities surrounding him, and saw himself doing so countless times as this singular moment became frozen within the history of a young universe. This was monumental. This was important.

This was Walker Reed's attempt to stop oblivion.

Rather than touch the strand, which he was sure would somehow destroy him, he tapped into System Viewer and did something he had been considering since the moment he understood the strand was in pain.

He looked for a gap in the soul of this universe.

He hadn't truly understood what he had done until the Dimensional sundering showed him the future’s possibilities. Sure, he had ideas, but seeing it explained to him through countless images cemented his hold on what was happening.

This strand wasn't a strand at all. It was far grander.

When a Strandbinder takes Time, Space, and Dimensionality and forms it into something greater, the import of that power can't be mistaken. It can't be lessened.

This Darkness spreading across rendition 4AA, his adoptive universe, wasn't truly darkness at all. It was a collection of space. And the strand, which wasn't truly a strand, didn't just feel contained and wrong; it felt misplaced. Layered. 

Because the strand, which was not a strand, was something else. That something else only had one answer.

This was a new universe.

Walker was sure of it. The dimensional realities showed the two universes, the old in rendition 4AA and the new that he had just created, clashing and crushing each other. The new attempted to expand, while the old attempted to simply survive its younger sibling.

A universe, at its core, was an engine for expansion. Power. Stability. Something that starts with a crash and bang, and never stops growing. But what happens if you place an ever-growing object, one whose expansion isn't just forced upon it, but is intuitively built into it, within another?

Boom.

It had to be a universe, as nothing else made sense. He even had further evidence from the system itself. Those errors and descriptions suddenly became clearer as he used the frozen moment to further investigate what was happening.

The system didn't know how to compensate strand resources for something so singular. So individual and powerful. He hadn't created life, but the possibility of countless lives to come. 

Countless worlds and stars. And power.

Walker tried not to consider the rewards inherent in what he had done, as if he didn't find a way to separate his newly formed universe now, everything he'd ever done would end. No, instead, he was looking for a hole in 4AA's overlay, in its soul. A gap that could be used to separate his burgeoning expansion from the already established rendition—something, anything, that could keep everything from ending.

His system viewer didn’t greatly help. Although the new universe had only just popped up, it seemed to fill his vision completely. The only reason he could tell the difference was that this new universe only held striated lines rather than the solid grids he had grown used to with the 4th rendition. It didn’t matter if he looked up or down, left or right. The overlapping universes left no real gaps to be found. Leaving him only one option.

He’d have to punch a hole.

But what would that do to a baby universe? Did it need time to form before he could do this? That point was moot, as he didn’t have that much time. But if this one failed, he didn’t want to go around making more universal strands. 

Not yet, anyway. 

Plus, what happens to a universe when it dies? There was no way the implosion of something so colossal could happen with a whimper. And yet, he didn’t see much choice in the matter.

He needed to punch a hole powerful enough to not only break through this universe, but the fourth rendition as well. There’d be no point in only doing it once. That would require either something special or a metric load of soul power.

The problem was, he’d burned a lot of that just protecting himself from his use of the Kinetic strand. Moving through the initial expansion of a universe could not be underestimated. He didn't know how far he had traveled or how much time had passed since everything first began.

Dark, intrusive thoughts began to invade, but with a flare of darkness, Walker pushed them away as he called out to his Icon. He knew, just knew, that this was a moment in which his skills and experience were the best that could be found. 

There was no help coming, and no one else within the entire faction of Evolvers who could do what he could do. It was only up to him. And with that thought in mind, he took a large connection of Kinetic strands and spread it across the darkness enveloping him.

At once, he felt the grip that time had on him begin to loosen. Not willingly, but through force. With his System Viewer ability still on and thinking quickly, Walker formed his fingers into the sharpest knife he could make. A punch wasn’t necessary for this moment, no, a stab would do. He needed to penetrate through the new universe and keep going.

As his fingers joined together, Walker did something he hadn’t done before. He shifted the power of his soul, covering his body from head to toe, and slowly moved it upward. Asking his Icon for a bit of help, together they shifted the darkness, still enjoined by the Kinetic strand, in an unpleasant arc. The torturous feeling of small strands of kinetic energy reaching out and puncturing his skin didn’t distract him from his goal.

Combining everything into one powerful bullet was the only way.

Walker gritted his teeth as his skin continued to look more and more like Swiss cheese, dragging extra temporal resources out and speeding himself up to the maximum he thought he could handle. 

Until, finally, the collected power of his soul, kinetic energy, and small bits of gathered Temporal resources reached the tips of his fingers. Walker shifted his vision to look at what he’d done.

Covering his spear-like hand, a great blot of darkness filled with the orange bolts of kinetic energy sat. As he watched, small sparks of it leapt out, clearly unhappy about being bunched together so closely while also being contained. Over it all was the opaque power of time itself, a glove to such destructive power that he was sure any world it touched would be blown to pieces.

Knowing this was his one shot to get this right, Walker reached his arm back as far as he could, needing the extra momentum, and swung it forward. Almost in slow motion, he watched as the Dimensional rifts all followed his trajectory, thousands of himself performing the same action. He couldn’t eyeball exactly what they were doing, but several winked out as that reality changed.

Taking the lead from his other possibilities, Walker angled his hand so that rather than shooting just past the universe, he did the opposite.

Walker threw the soul-empowered kinetic strand directly at the Universal strand.

It landed right on the mark, making not a sound. Instead of punching a hole through the universe, it empowered the fractured strand itself.

In less time than it took for Walker’s temporally charged mind to see, the darkness surrounding him was sucked into a small hole, and he, along with it.

Chapter 32: On Earth: Nobody and Elsie

On Earth…

Deep in the tunnels beneath London proper, a frustrated man of some importance stared at a poster on the wall.

It showed a suited man in a red tie traveling down a set of metal stairs. One of the man’s hands was raised, as if asking the round metal transport to wait. Near the top of the yellow sheet, the words “A little patience won’t hurt you” were stamped in bold black letters.

In his mind, he saw himself as the man. That all of the delays, all of the trials he’d had to bear after landing on this backward planet, were worth it. 

Only, he knew deep down that they weren’t.

Staring into his own facsimile, he tore it from the wall with an unrecognizable snarl before throwing it to the ground.

Elsie looked toward him. They’d been traveling the tunnels for a few days, still clearing out all of the life left within the rotten core of London.

Nobody looked at the girl for the first time in the last several days. Stubble covered her formerly smooth skull. Elsie had allowed her hair to grow back, which confused him. Since the first day of training in the ruins, she’d always kept it shaved. It was the mark of the warrior. Yet now, bristled tips poked out.

It worried him. 

If she had begun to stop marking herself as the warrior he had trained her to be, then she had changed. One change begets another, and another.

Nobody knew that when a person began to show signs of fundamental alterations to their person, it was time to worry. But he was stuck with her. There wasn’t enough time to find another Champion and train them. The fact that she was from his bastard Creator’s world didn’t even factor into it.

Even now, thousands of shadows swarmed across the Earth, attacking and destroying any life that might find a way to survive. Always with the goal of completing the next step.

Step 3: Eliminate all life forms within your chosen vicinity.

Destruction is your cause, and returning the primordial energy to the root of all creation is your mission. Let no one encroach upon where you build your base of operations, and take over that which has failed the multiverse.

Life forms eliminated: 90038/94987

Reward for completion: Wildlife Actualization

Nobody ran a hand across his face, a greasy feeling making him look at his fingers. Their tips held a grimy film, likely picked up from the poster he’d torn down. He used his Removal ability to erase it from existence with a grimace.

For months now, they’d been trying to eliminate all life in the city. But they just wouldn’t die.

Making a face, Nobody clicked on the Shadow system, the first that had been granted to him after his initial breaking of time. Another shadow had to be replaced. And another. Hundreds…thousands.

Checking the world map he’d received for destroying San Francisco, Nobody found that all the replacements were only going to three locations.

Surprisingly, one was near the northern edges of England, only a day or two of travel for his Champion. He noted that the replacements occurred simultaneously each day, within a few short hours. Logically, he knew that meant they were on a schedule.

“Schedules are dangerous,” He said to himself quietly. It meant they would be an easy mark when it came time.

Looking at the second one, he found most of the replacements coming from the middle of…Kansas. Although the attacks had slowed recently until eventually stopping, implying they’d either moved on or died. He sincerely hoped for the latter but knew he wasn’t that lucky.

The last one was in New Delhi, a place he knew well. It was a city that once held millions of people, but now it held mostly death and long echoes. Apparently, that had changed.

“So many plans, so much to do,” Nobody said loudly to get Elsie’s attention. He took note of her shaven skull a second time, and couldn’t help himself.

“You’re not shorning your hair anymore?”

The young woman shook her head without speaking, causing him to consider her a third time. When had he last heard her voice? He wasn’t sure, and that caused him to worry even further. He’d have to keep her close to him for further observation.

Changing tactics, he gave her a smile with many teeth, “Hey, Elsie girl, what’s the matter?”

Elsie…

Elsie looked at the display of teeth but knew better. She also knew better than to let him know what she was planning.

Giving him an unaffected shrug of the shoulders, she said, “I don’t know. I just wanted to see what it would look like if I grew it out.” Elsie pointed out an ad on the nearby subway wall. It depicted a young woman smiling with lustrous hair as a man looked back at her. "It makes me wonder if I could’ve looked like that in a normal world.”

His grin faltered, seeming to slip off his face before reappearing. In her mind, his smile looked like nothing else than a sunrise ascending from hell. 

“Oh, daughter, you are much more beautiful than that woman.” His eyes flicked to her stubbled head before he looked at the poster again. “No,” He said with a shake of the head, “The vanity of that woman is what did her in. Her, and this world. They believed in the purpose and strength of technology, of money, not of self. They were worthless, and they deserved to lose their place in the cosmos.”

He was always talking about the Cosmos. About a new world, he was going to take her to. One that didn’t let parents die and brought out the best in everyone.

Only as she grew older did the cracks start to show. The biggest problem he ran into was the simplest one.

Repetition.

He always said things in the exact same way. Practiced. Perfect. But whenever she asked a direct question about something, he’d shrug it away as if it didn’t mean anything.

She hadn’t noticed before. Not within the ruins, or as she now thought of it, the place of her torture. There were too many distractions. Too much to learn, to do, to train. Then they’d arrived here, and all of his plans for the last several years were coming to fruition.

She could fight; she could prove herself worthy of the time and sacrifices he had made for her. She could prove the stories right in the next world.

But now, those stories he’d told since she was a little girl no longer matched up.

These people she was fighting and killing, the ones her master said were the cause of the world’s darkness…the cause of everything. They were just people. Fighting as best as they could to survive in the world. Whereas, for her, the shadows never attacked. 

She’d watched settlements, villages, and children die. And yet, no matter where she looked, they ignored her. She’d watched as many of the Champions fought the shadows. 

Mr. Nobody had said that killing the Champions would kill thousands of the things. But she’d seen no evidence of it thus far. It was all just…it felt evil.

She moved out of her introspection when she noticed him staring at her expectantly, “Sorry, can you repeat that?”

“I said,” He replied evenly, though his eyes told a different story, “We need to finish clearing out this tunnel. Immediately.”

“Yes, of course, Master.” Elsie nodded sharply, “I’ll get to it right away.”

“Excellent. Please proceed.” He made a shooing gesture with his hand. But, unlike normal, where he’d turn his back immediately afterward, this time, he kept his eyes on her the entire time.

She self-consciously rubbed her head and lifted Chuck from where she’d left him against the train car. The weight of it on her shoulder was both comforting and uncomfortable.

Moving into a light jog while holding the ball of her morning star in her other hand, she quickly moved down the tunnel. Killing rats never hurt her feelings, and according to Nobody, was required to complete his task. But after Chuck's fourth swing, she began to feel something. 

Exhaustion. Not of the body, but of something else. The soul, maybe.

Finding, she sat down on an only slightly broken chair in a heap. Chuck fell from her fingers to the ground as she placed the bottom of her palms to her eyes, but no matter what she did, the images of the things she’d seen or done wouldn’t go away.

The Boy’s face had stared at her from her dreams, and now she saw him whenever she closed her eyes. She hadn’t killed a Champion since the one that came before him, and she felt no regrets now. 

But, she’d killed what had sounded like his family. People who cared for him. His screams resounded in her mind, but it was his face, the moment he saw her watching him and his family from atop the tree, that stuck in her mind.

It was a face that thought it would die and didn’t agree to it.

How could a boy, a young child who, by all rights, should be doing their best to survive school right now, be one of the people who had started all of this? It was impossible; thus, she found another hole in Mr. Nobody’s plan. Another gap in the stories he told.

The more she thought about it, the more real it became for her. Elsie’s breathing came in sharp and fast as she considered the ramifications of everything she’d done since she’d met Nobody. Was she on the wrong side of all of this?

That line led her down another. Was Mr. Nobody, the man who raised her, the cause? Is that what was happening now?

Further thoughts were put aside as she heard the sound of something crashing to the ground nearby. True to her training, she quickly lifted Chuck and put him on her shoulder. 

With careful steps to avoid being heard, Elsie moved along the sides of the wall in very little light. The only brightness that drifted down to this world without power was from small breaks in the ceiling.

She turned a final corner and spotted a small boy and girl scraping the inside of an aluminum can. Both were emaciated, skin stuck to bones that long ago should’ve given out. 

She let go of Chuck, the Morningstar falling hard to the ground, and watched as the two children hopped at the sound. Putting her hands up in the air to show she wasn’t a threat, she stepped closer, quietly saying, “It’s okay, kids. I’ll get you out of here.”

Elsie had made a decision.

Chapter 33: A Broken Universe (I)

Walker became aware all at once that something was immediately wrong.

Looking around in what should have been utter darkness, he instead found great bursts of orange lightning sparking and clashing from all directions. As soon as one faded in the distance, another would take its place in a new location, lighting up the perpetual night and granting Walker limited vision. Even after watching for a moment, he saw no discernible pattern. It was random. Chaotic.

As terrifying as the Kinetic energy was, what bowed him over was the severe pain erupting across his body. The darkness of his soul was a well tapped dry, and the voided depths of his soul could not be described..

All thoughts of awe and wonder at what he’d done fell away to the one inescapable fact that the empty pain within him would not release its grip.

He screamed.

An arcing crack of Kinetic strand energy blew past him, parts of it just touching the edges of his nude form. In the vacuum of space, this had a multiplying factor, causing Walker to shoot through the darkness of the cosmos and fly into the vast reaches of nothingness. Through all of the travel, and the damaging burns now applied to his body, Walker continued to scream unpaused.

After he was struck, the Creator felt himself in an unending spin, an omnidirectional bullhorn as the universe’s first member.

However, something, eventually, changed.

Walker touched on a part of empty space that seemingly wasn't empty. Like a hand entering a hot glove at a baseball game, Walker suddenly felt warmth surround him in the deep recesses of the nothing around him. It was a decidedly strange warmth—one he felt he instinctively knew, as if it were a part of himself.

The Book of Souls seemed to agree with him. It had shuttered itself away the moment he'd drained his soul, but the warmth he felt radiating from it mirrored what he now felt everywhere around him. It only lasted for a few precious moments before disappearing just as quickly as the brief respite had come.

That moment had been just enough for the stricken man. Even though he was now feeling the cold emptiness of space surrounding him yet again, Walker could finally moderate his voice from open-mouthed screaming to panting, adding a few mewling sounds in to break up the monotony.

Walker tried to regain some semblance of control, pulling from the deepest well of his limited strength. Small, patterned thoughts emerged from the haze. He’d been through something like this before, but never this bad. 

A part of him wondered if this was what life would always be like. Him running off to the middle of nowhere, facing pain and confusion at each turn, trying to find a way out of the mess he had likely caused. At some point, he had to recognize that this was “his thing,” and it wasn’t helpful. 

He felt another warm glove wrap around him. 

For a second time, his Icon warmed up at the feeling. Instinct told him what it was, but he didn’t believe it. He couldn’t. But still…

Walker breathed it in.

Even though he’d only taken it in for a moment, he could already feel his low reserves begin to fill quickly. The warm feeling left him all too soon, and Walker continued to float through the cosmos in an uncontrolled spin, only now, he felt far better than he had before.

Whatever he’d taken in had tasted like nothing. Not the hollowness of the Nomads, nor the memories of the Founders and Primigenials. Instead, it felt like a piece of him was coming back. As if all of the darkness he’d put into punching the hole had returned a large piece of it.

With his return to sanity, so too came logic. Using a small amount of Kinetic energy, Walker gently pushed off space, trying it in spurts to slow himself down. After a great many errors and taking longer than he wanted to, he finally gained a semblance of control, managing to still himself in the vacant darkness.

Looking around, he noticed the orange flashes of Kinetic energy were far away. Spinning up a low-timed Reflection, he looked at himself.

“Well?” He asked the new David.

“Dude, I’ve been here for all of a minute.”

“You’re me! God, why are we always like this?”

His reflection smirked at him, making Walker want to punch his own face.

“What?”

“Dude, I don’t think you’re covered in the Temporal strand.”

“What?” Walker repeated, looking down at his hand. He discovered that his reflection was right. The mostly transparent strand was no longer smothered over his body. His breathing started to quicken as every terrible thought he could have clawed its way out. 

That’s when David’s voice broke in, “I think we’re alright here.”

Walker looked up, his eyes a little wild, “What do you mean? How do you know that?!”

“Whoa, calm down,” David said, putting his hands up, “I was just thinking about the Kinetic strand, right? Why is it here and so…everywhere, you know? I mean, what did we use to punch the hole through?”

“Our soul and Kinetic energy.” Walker thought about it as his pulse began to calm down, “So, what? It got absorbed by the Universe?”

David shrugged, “Maybe. It’s all guesswork, you know. But, and here’s where it gets really interesting to me. What if it also absorbed the Temporal strand?”

He looked around, spotting a massive bolt of orange lightning in the distance, “Why the fuck is it doing that then? Huh? That’s a huge god damn bolt of Kinetic energy. There’s no way we put that much into the punch. It’d have to be, what, hundreds, thousands of resources?”

“Mmmm, yeah,” David said, scratching the back of his head, “I don’t have an answer for that one.”

Walker snorted. He didn’t have an answer either, and there was no one else to ask. After considering the answer from multiple angles and still coming up with nothing, he decided to do what every human being from across history had done when presented with an impossible question. Find someone smarter.

Walker stepped into his catalog of memories and began pulling and pushing things around. There had to be an answer for why the Universe took in all of the strand's energy. He was sure that once he found it, it would also explain why no Kinetic energy struck them this far out.

He’d have to look through his memories of scientists who studied space, theoretical physicists….that gave him only one answer.

“Stephen Hawking,” Walker said aloud when he found his inadvertent mentor.

David looked over at him, gently floating nearby, “Yeah, that’d be great and all,” He replied with a morose expression, “Only we didn’t really read any of his books.”

Walker shook his head, “No, we didn’t. But that doesn’t mean other people we’ve spoken to haven’t. Just need to find the right memory.”

And he knew where to look…the only science department meeting he’d ever attended.

Walker once had to sit through a science department meeting long ago. He’d been invited to participate when he first started out as a teacher. Some administrative officials had thought up placing new teachers in different departmental meetings in a misguided attempt to help them understand how the school works. He’d expected it to be orderly, smart, and above his head as far as the terms and knowledge went. That was not what occurred. The memory quickly swallowed him, and he mentally buckled himself in.

He was sitting in a chair, a tight necktie encircling his neck not unlike a noose, and gazed at himself as he watched two faculty scream at each other over something he considered to be simply a preference in teaching style.

“I told you, MRS. RODRIGUEZ, that is not how to teach these kids how to analyze data.” A hefty woman said with her finger in the air. “I’ve been teaching for over twenty years, and I think I know a thing or two. Hell, I’m sure that I’ve forgotten more than-”

A younger woman wearing a strikingly blue blazer started speaking loudly to interrupt her; she cut through the older woman with a sharp voice, “Qualitative analysis is the best way to get these kids to work, Ms. Filler. They don’t have the time or inclination to learn through quantitative studies. What? Do you want them to analyze things by the dozen or the hundreds? When it’s hard enough to just get them to focus on one thing at a time?”

“It’s simply a matter of what you’re teaching you…you…moron!” Ms. Filler got out with a quick gasp of air, “You don’t know what you’re saying in the slightest! How long have you been teaching? A Year? You know about as much about science as Mr. Reed here.” She looked at Walker, back at Mrs. Roridguez, before she seemed to realize something. Glancing back at Walker, she said, “Sorry, Mr. Reed. I just needed to prove my point.”

Walker wisely decided to stay out of the argument, “Quite alright, Ms. Filler.”

The older woman nodded, recognizing she wouldn’t have to fight a battle on two fronts. But she hadn’t noticed Mrs. Rodriguez standing up in the background, nor the stormy look covering her face.

“Ms. Filler.” She said before shaking her head. She then looked at Walker, who unconsciously gulped in the back of his throat, “No, Mr. Reed. What does the acronym Ms. mean? Do you happen to know by chance?”

Walker had an idea of where this was going, but didn’t see much choice in the matter. At least he was simply providing a definition; there shouldn’t be any harm there. “The acronym Ms. stands for the neutral title used to describe women, no matter what their marital status means.”

Mrs. Rodriguez nodded, a grin splashing its way across her face as she squared up on Ms. Filler again, “Exactly, Mr. Reed. Exactly. And do you, Mr. Reed, know why Ms. Filler is missing that oh so important r in her title?”

Walker did not want to answer the question. Luckily, he was saved by the Department chair.

The older gentleman quickly stood up, “Mrs. Rodriguez, that’s enough now. Please return to your seat.”

“Oh no,” Mrs. Rodriguez said, a feral cast to her features, “Ms. Filler asked for this. Mr. Reed,” She looked over at Walker again, who now knew there was no way out of this and could only helplessly stare at her as if she were a truck was about to run him down, “Ms. Filler lost that oh-so-special letter because she was sleeping with our chair, Mr. Bishop there.” She tilted her head at the older man. ”Even though Mr. Bishop is also married, they decided to have a dalliance, a copulation if you will. Now, the whole department couldn’t help but speak of it last year. Oh, we talked, and we talked,” She said, swinging her arms with each word, pretending to form a metaphorical child with them. “And finally, Mr. Filler had had enough, and that was that. No more R. Right, Misses Filler,” She said, dragging the word out.

At this point, both Ms. Filler's and Mr. Bishop’s faces were cherry red. Although Mr. Bishop tried to speak first, all of the attention was still on Ms. Filler as she collapsed in her seat.

Mrs. Rodriguez had to know at this point that she was in deep shit, but Walker guessed she was going to go for broke. And no less than a few seconds later, he was proven right, “Honestly, Ms. Filler,” Mrs. Rodriguez said with a shake of her head, “I don’t know how you convinced Mr. Bishop to be with you. Your ass, which is as constantly expanding as the universe, can barely fit in that chair as it is. It’s a wonder how a woman of your age and an ass as big as that can even still get so busy. Oh, if only dear Professor Hawking could study you now. We’d have solved the five-dimensional theory long ago just by looking at how your ass could fill a stadium and a chair at the same time. Dear me.”

She left the table, leaving a deathly silence in her wake, “Tah tah. I believe I’ll go home and see my husband now. At least he still gives a shit about me.”

The door closed behind her, and Walker was planted with a memory of how to leave a room from that day forward.

Walker exited the memory, “A constantly expanding universe…” He scratched his chin as he considered it, and then something else struck him, “Wait a second. Did I just copy her when I quit?”

Chapter 34: A Broken Universe (II)

David gave him a funny look, “Look, I don’t have much time here since you gave me only a few resources. What the fuck are you talking about with the universe thingy.”

“In that memory of Mrs. Rodriguez destroying Ms. Filler, she called her ass an ever-expanding universe-”

“Shit, she was right. The size of that thing was enough to warrant two seats on any plane ride.”

“-Then she quoted Stephen Hawking. There were a few more memories where he’s mentioned, but they weren’t in-depth, so…this is what we have to go on.”

“Okay, alright,” David clapped his hands together, “So, let’s break this whole thing down.”

Walker mimicked him, and they looked at each other, “Okay, riff off. I go, you go.”

David nodded, “Right. So, theoretically, the baby universe we punched a hole in is an ever-expanding universe-”

Walker picked up the following line, “One that took in the resources we gave it and somehow absorbed it into itself-”

“Expanding those resources infinitely into greater resources than it was given-”

“While it itself expands. The resources we gave it-”

David held up a single finger, “Kinetic.”

Walker snapped his fingers in response, “Right. Kinetic is energy. It’s-”

"Force, velocity, speed-”

“Power. Then we have-”

“Our soul,” David scratched his chin, “How’s that going to work?”

Walker shrugged, “I have no idea, but somehow it’s been multiplied just as much as the Kinetic strand we’re seeing-”

David popped, his time running out without warning. Walker scratched his chin, “Gotta be a better way to set them up than that.” Walker took a very small amount of dimensional resources and combined them with days of temporal. A moment later, a very hazy version of himself floated while looking at him.”

“Before you ask,” the new David’s voice said, his voice sounding as if he was speaking from the end of a long hallway, “I feel weird.”

“Weird, how?” Walker replied.

“Weird, as in I absolutely can’t feel anything. You realize you made me for days, and you likely won’t be here that long.” He adopted a stern expression, “I know I’m you, and I did this. But you won’t suffer its ramifications; only I will.”

“Mmmm, the ramifications of the philosophical discussion here are big.”

David waved it off, “Alright, fuck it, we’ll deal. As we were saying, our soul is spread across this universe, and based on what we’ve seen so far-”

Walker picked their conversation back up, “It’s everywhere. Meaning, people, if they can get into here, could technically absorb large quantities-”

“Of Origin, as that’s what influences our soul.” David ran semi-transparent hands down his face, “Fuck, man. We seriously created an Origin battery, or something. That’s gotta be bad.”

Walker frowned, “Yeah, it can’t be good. We’ll have to deal with it when we get there. My soul is about halfway full. Hopefully, we can find a recharge station.”

“At least we won’t have to kill anymore Crystal Nomads.”

“That fucking parasite.”

David nodded, “That fucking parasite. I mean, what did it first say when it popped up?”

Walker looked in his memories, “It said that Unknown changes were occurring-”

“Which only happens when it’s something having to do with a System Administrator, like the Tree of the Gods.”

“That only brings up further questions.”

“Like that, the designer might be someone from beyond the Evolver multiverse. Maybe even further than the Origin.”

“Maybe,” Walker agreed. He looked out at a universe devoid of stars and planets before returning to his reflection. “I’m betting that someone from the Omniverse somehow got over here and built it for them.”

“Or something,” David pointed out.

“Yeah, maybe. It’s all guesswork, but we have to follow where the logic leads us.” Walker took a breath from his bag, then slid it over to David so he could fill up. The reflection looked at him, “Bag’s getting a bit low.”

Walker slapped his hands against his bare thighs. “Great. So I still might choke to death out here.”

“That’s the danger of exploration, Walker. You never know what you might run into.”

“Yeah…yeah.” Walker looked around space, “So, our soul and Kinetic energy are spreading from the center of the universe.”

“Yep,” David said, looking around with him, “and time.”

“Wait, look at how empty everything is.”

David gave him a look, “Dude, I’ve been staring at this for a while now. It’s super empty, I get it.”

Walker began to grow excited, “I know, that’s my point. Look, it’s all starting in the middle of this universe, right?”

“Right, what’s your point?”

“Time, man. Time. When we first landed here, Kinetic energy was everywhere. Our soul wasn’t, but that’s probably moving in pockets, not unlike the orange lightning we saw. But if Time was added as well, then there are pockets stuck in the middle of the universe with slower time. If we can get there, we don’t have to worry about losing so much time on the outside.”

“Mmmm, I don’t think that’s how it’s going to work.”

Walker deflated a little, “Why?”

“Because the Universal strand, which you still need to rename by the way, was composed of Time, Space, and Dimensionality. I’m betting that when it absorbed all of the units that were covering us, instead of it being in pockets like our Origin and the Kinetic strand, it instead accelerated things here to a higher level. Meaning, everything we’re doing right now, and in the future, will be faster.”

“How fast do you think?”

“Well, my thoughts align with the idea that a Universe, being ever-growing, is kind of like an engine. Whatever you put into it upon creation, it continues to spit out once it’s formed its own space. So even though it only absorbed, what? A few weeks is what we had on us when we made it?”

Walker nodded, “Yeah, about that much, I think.”

“Okay, but that’s still fuel for the engine. You see what I’m saying?”

“Wait wait wait,” Walker waved his hands in the air, “Are you saying we can engineer and design our own universes using the strands?”

David smirked at him, “Did you even look at your notifications yet?”

“Noooo. No, I did not.”

“Why?”

“Because they keep throwing stuff out that I have to analyze. I figured it would be better to wait until we get all of our stuff done first.”

“Hah! When are we ever going to get all of our stuff done? Skill system, Mastery system, the Conservatory. It’s always going to be one step in front of another man. I think we need to stop thinking this way. You jacked up Symphony with the Slicer, and that got you thinking less like it was going to be one big world, right? That you could attach things individually.”

“True.”

“We fucked up Romulus and Remus, and that gave us an alternative to eating the Primigenials. Now, we fucked up a universe, and that gave us another means of expansion and control over our parasite.” David shook his head with a laugh, “You pointed this out once before to Virgil and the crew. It’s our greatest strength, my guy. We adapt. That’s humanity's greatest strength. Something they can’t really take away from us.

Walker said something that was on his mind, ”The Evolvers don’t really evolve, do they? They just pick up abilities and throw them at the wall, seeing what sticks. I feel like they took the name Evolver as a form of superiority. To show that they were going to become the pinnacle. But that’s not what they currently are. Just something they’re trying to do, to be.”

David shrugged, “That’s why they need us. We adapt and overcome. Humanity's greatest strength is our personal evolutions. It’s not something given to us, but something earned over a great amount of time by our ancestors.”

“Valid point.” 

“Anyways, look at your notifications, damn it. I want to know what you get for making a universe.”

Walker did as he said and clicked on the flashing icon.

... Analyzing …

…

Database connected...

... Searching Database ...

New information gained from Original source ...

... Analyzing ...

Designated Universe not recognized

Adjusting future rewards

...

...

...

Rewards adjusted ...

Congratulations Dante!

You have created your own Universe for the first time!

Would you like to name your Universe?

Yes/No

“No time.”

Universe Symphony is named

As the first citizen of the established Evolver multiverse to create a universe using Strandbinder methods, you’ve received an enhanced reward.

…

Congratulations Dante!

You’ve received a Cosmic Life Engine!

“Huh,” Walker said aloud when he saw the reward.

“What?”

“It only gave one reward…that’s…weird.”

“Only one? That is strange,” David replied, “What’d you get?”

“A Cosmic Life Engine? Whatever that is…”

Obnoxiously, it was listed within his resources tab.

The Cosmic Life Engine:

A thoroughly advanced machine designed to allow life to flourish and thrive throughout a newly designed universe. This engine holds elements of the latest feats of Omniversal engineering, biotechnological breakthroughs, and significantly restricted artificial intelligence.

Activating the Cosmic Life Engine is necessary for any newly established universe to connect to the Omniverse itself, and subsequent activations may lead to further rewards.

To activate the Engine properly, please proceed to the center of your Universe’s origin.

Would you like to activate the Cosmic Life Engine now?

Yes/No

Walker clicked No and exited the screen. He explained everything to David, then looked in the general direction he believed to be where they entered. Just in the far distance, he could see spouts and clashes of roaming Kinetic energy.

“Well shit,” David said, looking in the same direction. “We’ve gotta get through a veritable minefield of Kinetic energy just to get to the center.”

“Yeah…the Center….did you notice that?”

“What?”

Walker repeated the exact description he’d just read. David looked thoughtful, “The Center of the Universe’s Origin. Hah!”

Walker grinned, “Yep, they have troubles with names just like us. Bunch of dumbshits.”

“Morons.”

“Pieces of shit.”

“Alright, alright,” David said, waving it away, “We’re just compensating for what we don’t want to do. We’ve gotta get through all of that Kinetic energy, fast, or we’re screwed. That’s the basic idea here, right?”

“Right.”

“So, how do you want to do this?”

“Well, I was thinking about that, and-”

Walker was interrupted by a Kinetic storm quickly approaching them. Before he could think about what to do, a bolt the width of a Volkswagon reached out and slammed into them both. 

Walker was tossed away so quickly that he couldn’t see how David was doing. The energy from the bolt sparked and clashed across his skin, causing him to grit his teeth. Even though he’d spun out a good distance, his memory let him recall exactly how long and in what direction he’d traveled after the strike. He quickly returned to where they were hit and found David looking bored as he stared upward.

He looked over at Walker right as he got close, causing the original to speak out, “What the hell?”

David shrugged, “I dunno. It didn’t seem to do much to me. I’m guessing that making me from reduced Dimensional resources has an effect on my metaphysical state.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean. It hit me, don’t get me wrong, but it’s like my body was here and not here. No pain, just poof, and I’m fine.” He pulled at his hair, checking to ensure it was real, then shrugged.

Walker stared at him for a long moment, many long and serious thoughts going through his mind. He put a little force into his feet and drifted over gently.

David canted his head as he inspected Walker’s odd expression. "Why are you looking at me like that? What are you doing?”

Walker responded in a deadly serious tone: “Just relax, man. It’s going to be fine.”

Several minutes later, Walker was inspecting his memories as he pushed his Kinetic strand-covered feet against the metaphysical state of the universe. They were making good time, as he estimated he’d only floated away from the center by a little over thirty minutes. He couldn’t guess the speed at which he’d traveled, but he believed they were heading in the right direction.

“I don’t like this at all!” David protested loudly yet again.

“You’re fine; quit being such a baby,” Walker replied evenly as another bolt of Kinetic energy crashed upon David’s form. Walker was holding his reflection’s arms behind his back, barely able to keep any semblance of a grip on the semi-metaphysical reflection.

They made a sudden turn as Walker’s memory pulled up a very slight kinetic bolt, having pushed him in the opposite direction in his screaming past. As they did so, three more bolts struck David, having no effect as they continued on toward the center of the Symphony universe.

“Walker! I lied! This does hurt now!”

“Huh, who knew? Is it a bad pain, or-”

“It hurts, man, but it’s not, like, terrible. It just feels…I don’t know. Feels like I'm becoming more physical the more I absorb.”

“Interesting. Let me know if it gets too much, and I’ll make another reflection for us.”

“I’d give you a thumbs up, but you’re holding them,” David replied as a bolt just missed them overhead.

They traveled like this for another ten minutes before approaching what Walker felt was the center. All around them were hundreds and thousands of bolts crashing across the area. It was a beautiful orange nightmare that would forever stand out in his memories. As they grew closer, a dozen bolts fired in different directions, some striking David, and a few even touching Walker.

They were knocked back and to the side a good distance before Walker could regain control. David sighed as they slowed down a few miles away.

“Walker, I’m fairly certain I’m just about fully on this plane now. I'll be taking full damage from the strand.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Sorry, man.”

“It’s okay, I’ve got a plan.” He let go of David, spinning him a little so they could face each other as another bolt just missed them.

“Okay,” His reflection said, “What’s the plan, we’ve gotta be quick”

Walker gave him a grim smile, “You’re probably not going to like it.”

Chapter 35: A Broken Universe (III)

Although the new universe was a baby by human standards, it was also vast and unending. If a person could travel at the speed of sound and made it a priority to see what lies beyond the farthest edges, they'd still never reach the ends of the nascent space due to its pure rate of expansion. 

The longer the universe existed, the further its borders would become.

It was a thing of darkness, colorfully punctuated by the staccato rhythm of orange bolts. But things were different in the middle, where it all began.

Only a few short miles away, a nude man in desperate need of a tan stood next to a hazy, outlined version of himself. They had spent the last several minutes discussing the man's audacious plan, and while they both knew it wasn't perfect, it had a good chance of success.

As the soundless thunder of kinetic lightning flashed around them, they finally came to a decision.

"Five minutes," David said as he looked at Walker. His vague body structure had firmed up as he continued to shield his partner whenever the lightning approached. The reflection looked around and repeated, "I think it'll work if we only use five minutes."

"You're worried about the philosophical ramifications again?"

"That, and I don't think they'll survive much longer."

Walker nodded, his face shifting from one of anxiety to something steadier. There was a very short timeframe in which they could complete everything. 

"Okay, let's do it."

"Wait...," David said, raising a single hand, "Say the thing."

"...dude," Walker replied with an incredulous expression, "we just need to-"

"No, say the thing. Come on. We haven't had a lot of fun during this. It's all stress and stupidity. Just...just say the thing. You'll appreciate it later, trust me."

"Trust myself."

David smiled, "Just so."

Walker shook his head in defeat, "Fine.....KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Walker pulled out reflection resources at a high rate of speed, applying them to himself as they needed an incredible amount of doubles for this to work. At first, there were only a few. Then more, and then more again. 

They'd decided to use a hundred reflections at once, and regardless of what he'd just said, applying the strand to himself took longer than he would like. As each came to be, the older Davids pushed off of Walker, spreading themselves out to absorb the hits for their younger brothers.

By the time Walker was done, they'd already lost a few to time or orange lightning. Without thinking about what would happen next, Walker yelled out, commanding his reflections to take the next step, even though they all had the same information.

"Davids! Move toward us! Shell! Shell!"

Every David in the area condensed down at once, surrounding the original and the Creator himself. After a quick jostling, they left only a single opening pointed toward the opposite side of the center. Walker placed his feet in the location, using the low-dimensional bodies around him for leverage, and applied the orange power of kinetic energy to them.

Feeling the Davids surrounding him tighten their grips as much as possible, Walker pressed down and kicked off the metaphysical state of the space around him. He heard most of the Davids curse at once, a mixture of his own voice saying, "Shit," "Fuck," and "I'm telling you, Bruce Almighty was accurate." 

To an outside observer, watching this scene would have been like eating a bad mushroom while already drunk. A hundred or so naked men held on to each other as small bursts of orange light fired from the back area in pulsing beats. Like kinetic lightning rods, the Davids absorbed the force as best as possible. When each had absorbed enough to become more metaphysically present, they would press off one another, drifting out into the darkness to await their final moments. 

This was why David and Walker agreed only to give them five minutes. By reducing the timed lifespan of the reflections, Walker found a moral high ground to balance the need to throw versions of himself at their own ultimate doom.

The Davids sloughed off the accelerating ball of humanity at such a high speed that Walker and the original David began to grow increasingly worried.

"We're not going to make it!"

"Fuck that, we just need more!" Walker applied an extra portion of force, further increasing their speed at the cost of a few more reflections who lost their grip on the unconventional spaceship.

The closer the naked shell of Walkers approached the center, the more Davids they lost until only a core of twenty remained. Walker observed that the Kinetic energy was no longer moving in straight lines. It now inundated the area so heavily that bolts would strike each other, causing a rapid escalation of broken strand pieces to break out, like shrapnel from an explosion. The effect of the chaotic changes was that Walker's reflections took damage so quickly that he lost four in a single moment.

There was a small bright side to his current situation. In a move that many would consider brilliant, Walker had ensured that only the newest Davids could be in the inner area, giving him extra time for the required distance. Looking behind him briefly, he watched as the last of the Davids poofed out, lost to either time or such a large bolt of kinetic energy that it destroyed them on the spot.

Moving fast, he created one last reflection, and as the new David wrapped him from the front, the original did the same from behind, creating a smaller and tighter shell as they pushed onward. Another solid kick, and Walker felt as if they passed through something unusual. 

Staring ahead for the first time, he caught his first glimpse at the center of a nascent universe.

Something within him changed. He was unaware of whether it was the awe of being at the center, the simple idea that he had created this, or perhaps the fact that he had forgotten to breathe for quite some time. But either way, something established itself within him that was impossible to truly describe.

The center appeared as a solid, white pillar. A beacon lit from within, that contained pulses the length of its figure. Near the center of the light, just to the right of the middle, a tiny fleck of darkness lay, marring the perfection in front of him. Instinctively, he knew what that bit of darkness was and felt no small amount of shame.

Another grouping of large pulses rang out, but he watched as they couldn’t push past his Origin. So silent he could barely hear it, Walker felt the soul calling out to him. It was dying. 

Zeroing in on the discolored patch, he knew it was a piece of his Origin, corrupted by the Godeater. And it was his fault that the fledgling universe was asking for help.

In a rare moment of unrivaled ego, Walker considered if the power of his own soul was superseding that of the nascent universe. But it passed quickly as he knew that wasn’t it. His darkness wasn’t overpowering the universe, but corrupting it. Like a small drop of poison in the bloodstream, he was tearing it apart. 

No matter how much it tried to push away the darkness of Walker’s soul, all it did was further empower the parasite. His Godeater corruption was spreading to a wholly new universe.

Walker wasn’t sure how to fix this.

“This is fucked,” The oldest surviving David said.

“You see it too?” Walker asked.

“Yep. Also, look up, then down.”

Walker did so. He found crystallized lightning floating above and below them. As each pulse from the crystal fired out, it would naturally strike the Kinetic energy, and pieces of it would travel with each new expansion.

“Well, shit.”

“Yeah, boy. That little piece of darkness is probably supposed to be floating like the kinetic energy is, but instead, because of what we are, it’s glued to the universal core.”

“Good name for that,” Walker noted.

They watched as another series of pulses fired, and Walker focused on the darkness marring the core. Ever so slightly, with each pulse, it grew larger.

“You see that?” He asked his reflection.

“Nope.”

“It’s spreading itself. It’s not fast, don’t get me wrong, but it’s certainly taking over the core.”

David squinted his eyes at it before shaking his head, “I can’t tell. What do you think would happen if it completed its takeover?”

“Probably one giant Godeater universe…”

His reflection’s eyes widened at that, “Oh, hell no. No, that’s not going to work.”

Walker nodded as he stared at the darkness of his own soul, a bleeding cancer on an otherwise pure creature, “So, we’re resolved.”

David looked at him without speaking, then back at the mark on the core, “You know what’s weird? I think I can feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“The mark, man. I don’t know; it’s almost like it’s calling to me.”

“That’s funny,” Walker said as he scratched his cheek, “I feel the same way about the core. I can almost hear it asking for help.”

David looked back at him, “I think I hear the mark doing the same. It’s like it's inviting me.”

“You don’t think-”

“That I can go over there and get absorbed in, too?” David said with a smile, “I mean, I’m going to have a pretty short life, what’s spending my last thirty minutes on a big experiment going to hurt?”

“You think you can get in there?”

David shrugged, “Maybe. It doesn’t hurt to try, though.”

Walker agreed with him internally. David only had a short period of time left, so why not spend it on an experiment that would give them some certainty? “If you get in there, what are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know. But I’m a reflection of you; I guess I’d just do whatever you would.”

Walker thought about it. Would David’s body become a universe?

He thought back to why they were here. They needed to build an AI. Something that could flawlessly manage his systems and the esoteric and complicated programs he had in mind. 

Who could run that better than him? Math problems aside, it could work.

But it also made him consider the negative angle of this whole thing. What would becoming a universe do to a person? The idea of David retaining his humanity went out of the metaphorical window. It wouldn’t make sense for him to think as mere mortals do, but he kept coming back to the magnitude of it.

Becoming a universe. 

He looked over at David, who continued to float in the darkness of space, waiting for his response. He knew what his own thoughts would be at this moment. His life was about to go poof, so why not spend it doing something that mattered? And if it continued in a new and extraordinary way, why not?

For better or worse, they had to try. 

Leaving the mark on the core was a recipe for certain doom. Who knew what a universe inundated with the Godeater parasite would do? He didn’t want to find out.

Making his decision, he threw a thumbs up at his reflection, “You’ve got my approval.”

David gave him a slanted grin. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Can you throw me at it?” He gave a big laugh as he reached out, “I can’t exactly do that myself.”

Walker smiled and grabbed his extended arm. Placing a minuscule amount of kinetic energy into the bottom of his arms, he rotated his body, holding onto his reflection as he did so. After a couple of spins, he pushed some extra resources into the throw, then canceled out his rotation with a quick burst, causing him to float just a little further away from the action.

“You got this, man!” He yelled out, watching his own nude form float through space toward the shining white core.

A naked Walker, arms and legs spread to the vastness of space, streaked toward the disturbed core of the universe. Walker watched as the same ripples he’d seen with the last David occurred; however, this time it was different. Before, it seemed like it was crushing the reflection's body, but now it almost looked like it had trouble holding on to him. 

Pondering on the solidity of the metaphysical realm, he almost missed when David grew close to the core.

The naked reflection suddenly sped up without warning. His body bunched together, arms and legs snapped straight, and he shot forward at a speed that was almost impossible to view. Walker just caught a glimpse of David about to crash into the center of the core when the darkness of his soul seemed to reach out and pull him in.

A moment later, a huge pulse of darkness erupted inside the core. Screaming exploded from everywhere around him, a voice keening for something he could never understand, before the mark on the core began to expand. Quickly and with no mercy, the black mark soon swallowed the bottom of the white core, before it reached up and began to take the top half as well.

Walker felt an immense amount of pressure strike his body. Feeling something leak from his eyes, he reached up and touched them, coming away with a streak of darkness that quickly sucked itself toward the now fully corrupted core.

“Oh, fuck me!” Walker yelled out.

Applying the kinetic strand to his feet, he tried to kick away from the overwhelming darkness before him. But as he kicked off, space expanded directly in front of him. An odd feeling reached him, making it seem like he was running against a treadmill with nowhere to go.

Looking back, some of the droplets, parts of his soul, fell from his face and flew toward the dark core behind him. He didn’t have long to look as he continued to push, kick, and do everything in his power to get away from the Godeater core. 

But it was to no avail. The further he tried to move, the more the space warped, sending him right back to where he was.

The pressure increased twofold, forcing him to apply further resources in his attempted escape.

“I’m not going to die like this!” Walker screamed out as he felt his body get weaker, “No! I’ll die when I’m old. When Symphony is in a place to take care of itself! Not before!”

He kicked a few more times, pushing with all of his might and as many kinetic resources as he felt he could handle. When that didn’t work, he tried using a temporary gate for the first time, but the space around him felt like it was locked down.

Walker looked back at the core, and that’s when he noticed a change. To the right of the middle, just where the original mark had been, a new color was spreading.

Green.

A deep forest green. The same color as Walker’s original soul from before the Godeater. The darkness covering the core began to flake off as it started its own takeover. 

Pieces of the parasite burned, creating a small ash cloud around the core, as Walker felt the pressure around him drop significantly.

Walker took the last breath from his bag, the amount far less than he needed, and floated in the darkness of space as the power of his original soul fought against the Godeater parasite itself.

The more it gained, the faster it moved, and with one last skip toward the top, the final darkness of the parasite burned away to the green which enfolded it.

A moment later, the pressure disappeared, and Walker felt something else surround him. This time, instead of a whisper, he heard a crashing sound that was barely decipherable as words.

“Hey, bud, how are you feeling?”