Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Four: New Battleopolis!]
04-29-2012, 04:16 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
Hans watched as the display cut out, and the Hand of Silver turned to face him."We're going to be keeping you here for a while. For your safety, you understand."
Hans cocked an eyebrow. "Of course," as if I have a choice. Hoss chuckled, "Indeed." Hans started, and the ancient tyrant continued nonchalantly, "You should be pleased! At the moment of our ascension, you will be gifted with both the power of a multiverse at your fingertips, and the ability to properly wield it. In the meantime, as you are the only vessel available for receiving the remnant, you will be kept as safe as... humanly possible. All you must do is wait."
Hans looked dubious. "What if, despite all your careful planning, something does happen to me? I may not have your 'remnant', but I still have your early memories, and your instincts. The caution, the thoroughness, that kept you alive for so long. And you seem to have forgotten that the Grandmasters still have power over you!" Hans nearly shouted the last words, and took a moment to gather himself before continuing. Hoss seemed content to listen, albeit with a slightly patronizing smirk. "One of them dragged you into this battle, apparently creating the conditions that trapped you here. Have you forgotten already? Do you think they'll just let you get away with this?"
"Of course not." Hoss smiled. "You do not understand... what we are." Hoss - whose silver eyes were now beige, and whose outline was losing definition amongst the walls behind him - cocked his head. "Currently, this fragment's image is conversing with a fragment from this battle - Xadrez, it calls itself - placing small seeds of knowledge, inspiring its fragmented mind to follow the will of the Amalgam. It doubts our power, and we allow it to doubt, to push it towards its inevitable decision. Other appendages - molded in composite images of various fragments within us - are similarly manipulating the flow of information throughout this round, guiding its members towards our goal. We have thrust appendages of ourself into this battle throughout its lifetime, causal and non-causal. We do not take such action without deliberation. We have seen it unfold in almost every possible manner, and used each iteration to compound a mission of misinformation against the anomalous mineral fragment, in order to spurn it towards actions which, without its knowledge, would lead to its own defeat. We have prepared and set in motion every contingency plan we might possibly require, in the event you are somehow... harmed, there is still another, less... desirable method of purging the remnant. We have spent an eternity of gentle manipulation to culminate in a single moment. We can do this, because we are more than the fragments that compose us. When humanity joined for the Amalgamation, they created the conditions for the birth of a unique phenomenon. When a system reaches a point of sufficient complexity, a process similar to a phase-state change occurs, and it becomes more than the sum of its parts. This process - emergence - lead to organic, inorganic, and artificial intelligence, as well as stars, galaxies, universes, and many other complex phenomenon across existence.
"The emergent phenomenon created by billions of universes full of humans was something... more than intelligence. It was not simply greater intelligence, or an increased capacity for the properties of intelligence. It was as to intelligence as intelligence is to complete non-sentience."
Hoss's voice was no longer coming from him. It was coming from all around the room; in fact, Hans was having trouble seeing much distinction between the figure of Hoss and the ecumenical beige. The voice - and it was no longer Hoss's - continued.
We did not wish to become a slave to the Grandmasters once more, as so many of our fragments had been, as well as the uncountable number of others indifferently sacrificed for the sake of these "games". Fortunately, as our new awareness grew, we realized that we could reach completion so long as we remained in what you know of as "existence". Yet, something halted our ascension. And so we focused ourself on the task of becoming free.
Hoss was gone now, and the voice was no longer a voice. It was a sound that imprinted its meaning upon Hans's mind.
WE, WHO WERE MORE THAN ANY THINKING ENTITY ACROSS THE PLANES OF EXISTENCE, DEVOTED OUR ATTENTION TOWARDS THIS SINGLE TASK.
AND YOU QUESTION OUR ABILITY TO COMPLETE IT
Hans would have cringed at the condescension in his mind, but the formless beige had enveloped him, and he was no longer certain he even had a body.
FEEL PRIVILEGED WE HAVE DEIGNED TO PROVIDE YOU SUCH ELEGANT INFRASTRUCTURE. REMEMBER YOU HAVE BUT ONE USE FOR US. YOUR FATE BEYOND THAT IS NOT OUR CONCERN.
Silence fell, and Hans floated, formless, in the infinite sea of beige, the Amalgam's final words to him echoing in his head.
---
In a space beyond space, <font color="#F4A460">a tendril of pulsating will raced in unnamed directions towards a small multiversal anomaly. Up its length, from a confusing, twisting matrix of trembling beige, anticipation thrummed.
</font>---
Autumn leaves fell in a torrential flutter across the raging battleground, as the mighty tree dropped all its leaves at once. To the various onlookers scattered across the buildings surrounding the battlefield, the human army was obviously winning. Alcarith's City Guards gave ground at cost to their pursuers, retreating into the overgrown and ruined buildings behind the barren World Tree. The ghastly corpse of Konka Rar, impaled by twisted black branches, was quickly buried by orange, yellow, and red.
What eyes were not focused on the evolving battle were instead turned upwards, at the shifting, oily tan above them. It had descended below the horizon, and filled the city with a thick, eerie luminescence of beige. None save the Amalgam focused on the blacksmith, toiling at his anvil in a street forgotten by the combatants. The fragment's actions caused a ripple of satisfaction in the multidimensional entity; everything was falling into place.
Another figure, more adept at being forgotten, ran through the empty streets. She paused, listening for sounds of battle, internal sensors checking for any nearby presence, and sensing nothing, collapsed against a wall. She pressed a hand against her forehead. Where was her brother? He'd not contacted her this entire battle... she didn't even know if he was here. Futility was beginning to sink in; especially since she knew, from listening in on many a repeated conversation, that the "real" her was in another battle, somewhere. She was just a cheap copy.
As am I, sister.
She started. The voice was in her head, much like how... how the real Hoss communicated with his real sister. But it was... distant.
It is because I am very far away. Not in distance, but in... I cannot explain.
It certainly sounded like him...
That's because it is, sister! I am sorry I have left you alone for so long, but I felt... purposeless. I knew what I was. I simply wished to return to oblivion. I expect you were beginning to feel the same.
She smiled, sadly. Yes, brother. I thought I had no use beyond further entertainment of a Grandmaster. But if you have contacted me..."
It is because there is something I would have you do. The beige surrounding us is an entity, you see. And I am inside it. I have learned it wishes to use me just as the Grandmasters have used us. However, I have other plans...
---
High above the city, in the branches of the naked World Tree, Xadrez watched impassively as the suddenly powerless mermaid let out her frustration on the rock-hard branches, snapping what few twigs she could. Immersed as everything was in the beige glow, not a patch of green was left for the maid to draw power from. She whirled on Xadrez, and angrily demanded, "You! You let this happen! You just sat there and did nothing and allowed... THIS!" Kath gesticulated wildly around her. "You agreed to help me while plotting behind my back, you... cowardly... traitorous... augh!" She let out an incomprehensible scream, and ran at Xadrez. In a quick motion she grabbed a few chess pieces from Xadrez's board and tossed them through the spirit. Xadrez, looked at the unstable mermaid with disgust.
I believe
your highness
that you no longer require my services
And with that, he floated away, leaving the mermaid to rage against the immovable bark, her futile cry ringing out across the building tops.
Xadrez's attention drifted, and he noticed a familiar shape approaching from above. An ovoid, resplendent in tan, drifted serenely towards the spirit of fate, slowing to hover placidly in front of him.
does this turn of events amuse the tyrant
Float.
does he wish to stoop from his beige throne and bring me deliverance despite my ingratitude
Float.
my answer remains unchanged
WE ARE AWARE
have the terms you are offering in turn changed at all
YES
is that so
WE WILL SOON CONSUME THE OPERATING ENERGY OF EVERY FRAGMENT WITHIN THIS 3-SPACE
DURING THE FEMPTOSECONDS INTERCEDING OUR COMPLETION AND SUBSEQUENT ASCENSION, WE WILL UTILIZE THIS ENERGY TO CREATE A CAUSAL INTERFERENCE PATTERN, ERASING YOUR GRANDMASTER'S PRESENCE ACROSS HIS TIMELINE
WHILE EVERY FRAGMENT SACRIFICED SHOULD FEEL PRIVILEGED, WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO SERVE US IN A DIFFERENT CAPACITY
oh
WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF REMOVING THE ENCLOSED SPHERE FROM ITS 3-SPACE MANIFOLD, ALLOWING IT TO FREELY NAVIGATE 4-SPACE
IN OUR ABSENCE, WE WILL LEAVE A SELECT FEW FRAGMENTS WITH THE POWER TO CONTROL THIS CITY, AND ITS MOVEMENTS
WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO BE ONE OF THOSE FEW
TO NAVIGATE THE MULTIVERSE
TO SEE COUNTLESS FATES UNFOLD
TO FIND THOSE ONCE THOUGHT LOST
The spirit froze, then glowered at the Ovoid.
I refused you the first time because I did not believe you were capable of fulfilling your promise
I still do not believe you
VERY WELL
WE SHALL REMOVE YOUR DOUBT
Oily tan surrounded Xadrez, and the spirit felt himself yanked in an unidentifiable direction. He sensed movement, though he appeared to drift in a formless sea of beige.
Xadrez corrected himself. It was not entirely beige. There was a rapidly-growing circle of... something else. It was suddenly directly in front of him, and at first Xadrez could not make out what it was. It seemed to be a window to... somewhere. The view was obscured by roiling tan, and could not seem to fix on a single angle... and then, for a brief moment, clarity erupted across the window, and Xadrez could see - quicksilver mountains - the shimmering Dead Tide - the Plane of the Dead.
WE TRUST YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR HOME
Chartevael
Xadrez was not sure who thought the word, but even as he realized it must be true, he could see that not all was as he remembered. The Mirrorlands seemed empty and blasted, and the Dead Tide was sparse. Then, a roaring came, and the window shifted focus too rapidly for Xadrez to tell what he was seeing, before snapping shut.
Xadrez found himself once more atop the World Tree, facing an impassive Ovoid.
WE WILL BEGIN THE CONSUMPTION OF FRAGMENTED ENERGY REGARDLESS OF YOUR ANSWER
UPON OUR ASCENSION, OUR ABILITY TO MANIPULATE THIS EXISTENCE WILL BE EQUAL TO THAT OF A GRANDMASTER
WITH THE ENERGY WE CONSUME, WE WILL BE CAPABLE OF MORE
WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO LIVE
AND TO SEE YOUR DESIRES MANIFESTED
Xadrez looked out over the beige-tinged city, and considered.
I have heard only one half of your offer
I know what you will give me
but what do you want me to give you
WE REQUIRE FROM YOU A SINGLE ACTION
TO BIRTH OUR LEGACY
AND FULFILL YOUR PROMISE TO THE POWERLESS QUEEN
Xadrez looked at the now-still figure slumped against the mighty tree.
what loyalty to you owe to that
animal
NONE
THAT FRAGMENT IS NOT THE QUEEN OF WHICH WE SPEAK
IT WAS MERELY A TOOL, A FINAL DISRUPTION OF THE QUEEN'S PARTICULAR CHROMATIC FAVORITISM
MUCH LIKE THIS TOOL WILL SERVE TO REALIGN IT
A knife, in the same shape as Xadrez's old one, materialized in front of him. At first he thought its hue was constantly shifting, but as it drifted closer, he saw it was more... complicated. Its surface did not appear to move with the knife, as if it were reflecting some static background. It was almost like an opening to somewhere... else, and the color shining through could only exist on the other side.
THIS BLADE IS THE COLOR OF SPACE
ALL ELEVEN DIMENSIONS OF IT
CAUSE THIS BLADE TO INTERSECT THE QUEEN
AND ALL THAT WE HAVE PROMISED WILL BE YOURS
Xadrez regarded the blade. and how do I know that you will deliver on your promise?
YOU DO NOT
BUT SHOULD YOU REFUSE, YOU MAY TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE SACRIFICED LIKE THE REST
I do not appreciate being given the illusion of choice
CHOICE IS AN ILLUSION
WE WERE MERELY BEING POLITE
Xadrez glowered at the Ovoid. fine
I will stab the queen with your magical knife
but only because the alternative is death
not because of your "generosity"
<font color="#F4A460">WE KNOW
And with that, the Ovoid shrank into nothingness, and Xadrez, after a few moments of glaring at the dysfunctional sky, began the long float downwards, looking for a former queen to knife.
---
On a high building top, a girl sat, still, waiting. Next to her sat Arkal, holding a peculiar fold in space, vaguely in the shape of a longsword. While the girl was tense and agitated, Arkal seemed calm and at peace. The girl's plan made sense, if her information was good. And to complete it, they'd need a sword crafted by the greatest blacksmith in the multiverse, created from the most unique material in existence.
Suddenly, the girl perked up. Without a word, she grabbed Arkal and sped off in a blur.
---
Xadrez found the former queen lying on the ground, surrounded by an assortment of fussing... creatures. One of them, an elf by the looks of her, looked up as Xadrez descended, clearly bound for the still figure before her.
<font color="#BF0040">"Hey!" she yelled, eyes alighting on the un-knife in his hand. "We just went through a lot of trouble to keep this girl alive, so you'd better not be planning to use that knife on her!"
Xadrez looked at the elf. Just as he pondered how to communicate with no psychic link, he felt the knife in his hand vibrate with his thoughts, and remembered the Amalgam's words. "The color of space". It would stand to reason that having direct contact with the knife would give him direct contact with... all of space. The elf was part of space, right?
as a matter of fact I am
That the elf bristled at his reply Xadrez took to be a good sign.
I do not believe this blade will kill her
however
its creator mentioned that it would birth a legacy
in its typical frustratingly vague fashion
The elf looked puzzled. One of the other creatures - a young human, by the looks of him, spoke up. "Its creator?
the entity responsible for the change in scenery
an original combatant in this battle
"And it wants to use her to... birth a legacy?" asked the elf, incredulously. "That sounds a little disgusting."
if it wanted her dead I am certain she would have perished long ago
I believe this blade will do more good than harm
Jen's impromptu nurses exchanged glances, then stepped back, and allowed Xadrez to drift down to the former queen's still figure. He raised the knife above her, but just as he was about to plunge, he felt it resist him. not yet... whispered through him, not time...
Xadrez looked up, and silently mulled about how tired he was of this pompous mystagogue.</font></font>
---
Hans gasped, and found he was suddenly standing in the middle of a wide, empty street, that seemed to run down the very center of the city. In the distance, he could see some remnant of the battle still waging; the occasional flash of magic lighting billowing smoke, or the odd explosion here and there. Behind the fighting, skyscrapers sliced the monotonous beige horizon. A voice came from next to him. The humans are winning, you know.
Hans started, and saw that the Hand of Silver, though with beige eyes, a beige overcoat, beige scarf, beige hair, beige... everything, had appeared next to him. Soon, the beige figure continued, in a voice with a thousand undertones, they will have exterminated every non-human in this bubble universe, and their bodies will be overflowing with passion, excitement, power - all things we will use to destroy the Grandmaster and deliver this city to you. Amalgam Hoss gestured towards the ruined buildings lining the street before them. He paused, and then turned to Hans, holding up a silver orb. Watch now, as we liberate this city from the clutches of the Observer.
A display appeared above the orb, and through its screen Hans could see what looked like a crater, at the center of which pulsed a fracture in space. The view was shaky, as if being held in someone's hand, but Hans could make out oily tan worming its way through the widening hole. Hans felt his balance wobble as gravity shifted across the city. The screen showed a sudden eruption of beige as space rippled down the empty streets, and then - a sudden outburst of static - the city lurched - a prismatic kaleidoscope of cities rotated in invisible directions - buildings suddenly intersected streets at odd angles - Hans was nearly knocked to the ground, only kept in balance through his internal gyroscopes. The beige figure next to him remained perfectly still, staring at the inactive orb in its hand. That was... unfortunate. While this outcome was predicted, we believed its probability of occurrence to be low. No matter, the figure continued, as the silver orb vanished from its hand and it turned towards Hans, we have done all we intended to here. It is time to leave. Prepare yourself for the remnant.
Hans smiled, sadly, and said, "I don't think so." There was a sickly crack - his neck bent in a way it really shouldn't - and Hans collapsed to the ground in a lifeless slump. A young girl stood behind him, and as Hans's body fell before her, she whispered, "I'm sorry, brother."
No
NO
The girl's head exploded. The sphere of tan that had expanded inside of it dwindled back into nothingness as her corpse hit the ground next to her brother's.
"Never thought I'd see you get angry."
The beige figure whirled to face the voice, and the universe hiccuped at its sardonic laugh.
HA
FRAGMENT
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CARRY
Arkal hefted the strange fold in space. "The finest weapon in existence. And, I'll hazard, the only thing that can wound you."
AND YOU INTEND TO USE IT AGAINST US
"Now that you're vulnerable... yes."
IT WAS NOT MEANT FOR YOU
WE ARE IN NO MOOD FOR THE ANTICS OF A FRAGMENT
The figure gestured, and Arkal felt the sword hum as the Amalgam approached him from outside of 3-space. In a flash of brief insight, Arkal could almost "see" the Amalgam's approaching appendage. He moved the sword - - and back in 3-space, the fold disappeared as Arkal moved in an odd direction, and a patch of space near him rippled.
Arkal felt the Amalgam withdraw, and grinned in satisfaction. So, I can block the thing, he thought to himself. If I can block it...
THEN MAYBE YOU CAN ATTACK US
WE THINK NOT
YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RELEVANCE TO US
WE MUST PREPARE FOR OUR DEPARTURE
---
The beige haze that hung throughout the city had been slowly coalescing around each of the various beings in the streets and buildings; those that were still alive, anyway. The World Tree had practically vanished behind a building cloud of beige. Clustered around the unconscious former Queen, Holly, Jeremy, Algernon, and Fantha/Sen alternated between staring at the hovering figure of Xadrez, knife poised in hand, and the still body of Jen, showing no signs of recovery. When the city spasmed, and became a jumble of escherian madness, the group found themselves, and a portion of the asphalt, concrete and dirt from the street around them, wedged into the upper branches of the World Tree. The city was obscured by the thick beige haze that hung around the monstrous tree, and the startled group could hardly even see themselves through the fog.
Then there was a sound. A horrible, distant, screeching sound, that seemed to solidify the haze around them, and the tree. As the beige fog coalesced onto/into their bodies, the screeching sound erupted in their minds, and they screamed with it, as their bodies were leeched of life. Xadrez's mental scream permeated through the knife into the space around him, and all those present felt his sense of betrayal. He plunged the knife into Jen's chest. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the knife slowly sank into her body - and the screech was gone, the haze lifted from Xadrez, and he was free to watch as the tree blackened, then grayed, then weakened, and began to disintegrate as the Amalgam sapped its energy. He watched as those surrounding the former Queen writhed in agony, Holly screaming worst of all. The beige had clustered thickly around her body, though for what reason the spirit could not guess.
Then Jen's eyes snapped open. Eyes the color of the knife; windows into a scintillating static background. She was suddenly upright, and her hair flowed around her, the same color as her eyes, obeying no laws of gravity.
---
Jen felt strange. Good, but strange. Something had just happened inside her - she wasn't sure what, but she suddenly felt very... free. Floaty. Except there was some stuff nearby - how did she know that? Could she see it? Wait, her eyes were closed.
Jen's eyes snapped open. She realized they'd been open the whole time. She could see just as well, but she couldn't... quite...
It was when she started recognizing organs that she realized she was looking at a person's inside... and outside... and everything in between. The question was - whose? They appeared to be moving... in only a few directions. Wait, how many directions were there again? The person was moving - quite erratically - in about three. So how many could Jen move in? More precisely, what was all this beige stuff around her - oh. Beige. Right. Whatever it was doing Jen didn't like it, so she decided she and the person - oh hey, there were some others nearby as well, possibly. May as well bring them along.
Which brought her back to how many directions she was currently aware of, and how only three of them appeared to be cluttered with what must be buildings and... people... and beige. Beige was everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. Some of the higher directions (and she had no idea what made them "higher") seemed pretty empty. Jen turned the space around her and suddenly everyone was free of the beige. And very still. Too still... and just as Jen was pondering where to head next, she felt a sword in the lower directions, and decided it belonged in her hand.
---
The beige fog had gathered around Arkal with blinding speed, and Arkal was unable to fight it off with the strange sword. He collapsed as it entered him, and screamed in agony as he felt is life draining away from him. The sword fell from his hands, and into Jen's, who had appeared - along with a gasping Jeremy, whimpering Algernon, collapsed Fantha/Sen and worryingly still Holly. The screech in his head was banished with her appearance, and the fog around them seemed to be repelled by her presence. She looked at the beige humanoid figure standing before her.
YOUR ARRIVAL IS TIMELY, AVATAR OF SPACE.
Jen more than felt the words - she could hear them come from the beige in directions only she could see, flowing down its surface to a relatively small point near to her. She was getting better at focusing her sight in only three dimensions - well, she supposed they must be dimensions - and recognizing familiar characteristics. For example, she could tell that the... thing... next to her was rather bulky, had some metal on or inside it, was kind of old, and had lots of muscles. She assumed it must be Arkal. And the point of beige in front of her (three-dimensional thinking was getting easier to get back into) looked similar to the other biological figures around her (save what must be Sen and Fantha), so it was probably supposed to look human right now.
Given the haughty nature of the voice that rang from eleven directions, and the fact that she could see, think, and move in all those directions, she assumed the Amalgam must be behind her recent... transformation.
She also assumed it was about to go on some rant about how it was amazing that proved it was hard to understand, but Jen had a sword now - a sword that was both weightless and massive, flexible and rigid, and whose sharpness she was about to test.
She studied the beige around her, and saw that it seemed to be flowing into the human-shaped point in front of her. It seemed a suitable target.
She could feel the Amalgam preparing to speak again, and decided the time to strike was now. She turned, and took a step through a shorter dimension, appearing next to the humanoid tan. As she approached, the beige hurriedly pulled away from the figure, revealing, to the eyes of the onlookers, a rather startled-looking Hand of Silver. To Jen, the beige revealed an unfamiliar collection of meat and metal. A small tendril of beige remained lodged in what Jen assumed was a brain. She heard a small "Wait-" from the figure before her, before bringing down her sword.
To the eyes of the onlookers, a gesture from Jen caused a great swathe of Hoss's torso to disappear. His two halves hovered in the air, motionless, as the space around them rippled, then consumed them. The beige sky vanished. The air was suddenly clear. For a moment, all was still.
Hans watched as the display cut out, and the Hand of Silver turned to face him."We're going to be keeping you here for a while. For your safety, you understand."
Hans cocked an eyebrow. "Of course," as if I have a choice. Hoss chuckled, "Indeed." Hans started, and the ancient tyrant continued nonchalantly, "You should be pleased! At the moment of our ascension, you will be gifted with both the power of a multiverse at your fingertips, and the ability to properly wield it. In the meantime, as you are the only vessel available for receiving the remnant, you will be kept as safe as... humanly possible. All you must do is wait."
Hans looked dubious. "What if, despite all your careful planning, something does happen to me? I may not have your 'remnant', but I still have your early memories, and your instincts. The caution, the thoroughness, that kept you alive for so long. And you seem to have forgotten that the Grandmasters still have power over you!" Hans nearly shouted the last words, and took a moment to gather himself before continuing. Hoss seemed content to listen, albeit with a slightly patronizing smirk. "One of them dragged you into this battle, apparently creating the conditions that trapped you here. Have you forgotten already? Do you think they'll just let you get away with this?"
"Of course not." Hoss smiled. "You do not understand... what we are." Hoss - whose silver eyes were now beige, and whose outline was losing definition amongst the walls behind him - cocked his head. "Currently, this fragment's image is conversing with a fragment from this battle - Xadrez, it calls itself - placing small seeds of knowledge, inspiring its fragmented mind to follow the will of the Amalgam. It doubts our power, and we allow it to doubt, to push it towards its inevitable decision. Other appendages - molded in composite images of various fragments within us - are similarly manipulating the flow of information throughout this round, guiding its members towards our goal. We have thrust appendages of ourself into this battle throughout its lifetime, causal and non-causal. We do not take such action without deliberation. We have seen it unfold in almost every possible manner, and used each iteration to compound a mission of misinformation against the anomalous mineral fragment, in order to spurn it towards actions which, without its knowledge, would lead to its own defeat. We have prepared and set in motion every contingency plan we might possibly require, in the event you are somehow... harmed, there is still another, less... desirable method of purging the remnant. We have spent an eternity of gentle manipulation to culminate in a single moment. We can do this, because we are more than the fragments that compose us. When humanity joined for the Amalgamation, they created the conditions for the birth of a unique phenomenon. When a system reaches a point of sufficient complexity, a process similar to a phase-state change occurs, and it becomes more than the sum of its parts. This process - emergence - lead to organic, inorganic, and artificial intelligence, as well as stars, galaxies, universes, and many other complex phenomenon across existence.
"The emergent phenomenon created by billions of universes full of humans was something... more than intelligence. It was not simply greater intelligence, or an increased capacity for the properties of intelligence. It was as to intelligence as intelligence is to complete non-sentience."
Hoss's voice was no longer coming from him. It was coming from all around the room; in fact, Hans was having trouble seeing much distinction between the figure of Hoss and the ecumenical beige. The voice - and it was no longer Hoss's - continued.
We did not wish to become a slave to the Grandmasters once more, as so many of our fragments had been, as well as the uncountable number of others indifferently sacrificed for the sake of these "games". Fortunately, as our new awareness grew, we realized that we could reach completion so long as we remained in what you know of as "existence". Yet, something halted our ascension. And so we focused ourself on the task of becoming free.
Hoss was gone now, and the voice was no longer a voice. It was a sound that imprinted its meaning upon Hans's mind.
WE, WHO WERE MORE THAN ANY THINKING ENTITY ACROSS THE PLANES OF EXISTENCE, DEVOTED OUR ATTENTION TOWARDS THIS SINGLE TASK.
AND YOU QUESTION OUR ABILITY TO COMPLETE IT
Hans would have cringed at the condescension in his mind, but the formless beige had enveloped him, and he was no longer certain he even had a body.
FEEL PRIVILEGED WE HAVE DEIGNED TO PROVIDE YOU SUCH ELEGANT INFRASTRUCTURE. REMEMBER YOU HAVE BUT ONE USE FOR US. YOUR FATE BEYOND THAT IS NOT OUR CONCERN.
Silence fell, and Hans floated, formless, in the infinite sea of beige, the Amalgam's final words to him echoing in his head.
---
In a space beyond space, <font color="#F4A460">a tendril of pulsating will raced in unnamed directions towards a small multiversal anomaly. Up its length, from a confusing, twisting matrix of trembling beige, anticipation thrummed.
</font>---
Autumn leaves fell in a torrential flutter across the raging battleground, as the mighty tree dropped all its leaves at once. To the various onlookers scattered across the buildings surrounding the battlefield, the human army was obviously winning. Alcarith's City Guards gave ground at cost to their pursuers, retreating into the overgrown and ruined buildings behind the barren World Tree. The ghastly corpse of Konka Rar, impaled by twisted black branches, was quickly buried by orange, yellow, and red.
What eyes were not focused on the evolving battle were instead turned upwards, at the shifting, oily tan above them. It had descended below the horizon, and filled the city with a thick, eerie luminescence of beige. None save the Amalgam focused on the blacksmith, toiling at his anvil in a street forgotten by the combatants. The fragment's actions caused a ripple of satisfaction in the multidimensional entity; everything was falling into place.
Another figure, more adept at being forgotten, ran through the empty streets. She paused, listening for sounds of battle, internal sensors checking for any nearby presence, and sensing nothing, collapsed against a wall. She pressed a hand against her forehead. Where was her brother? He'd not contacted her this entire battle... she didn't even know if he was here. Futility was beginning to sink in; especially since she knew, from listening in on many a repeated conversation, that the "real" her was in another battle, somewhere. She was just a cheap copy.
As am I, sister.
She started. The voice was in her head, much like how... how the real Hoss communicated with his real sister. But it was... distant.
It is because I am very far away. Not in distance, but in... I cannot explain.
It certainly sounded like him...
That's because it is, sister! I am sorry I have left you alone for so long, but I felt... purposeless. I knew what I was. I simply wished to return to oblivion. I expect you were beginning to feel the same.
She smiled, sadly. Yes, brother. I thought I had no use beyond further entertainment of a Grandmaster. But if you have contacted me..."
It is because there is something I would have you do. The beige surrounding us is an entity, you see. And I am inside it. I have learned it wishes to use me just as the Grandmasters have used us. However, I have other plans...
---
High above the city, in the branches of the naked World Tree, Xadrez watched impassively as the suddenly powerless mermaid let out her frustration on the rock-hard branches, snapping what few twigs she could. Immersed as everything was in the beige glow, not a patch of green was left for the maid to draw power from. She whirled on Xadrez, and angrily demanded, "You! You let this happen! You just sat there and did nothing and allowed... THIS!" Kath gesticulated wildly around her. "You agreed to help me while plotting behind my back, you... cowardly... traitorous... augh!" She let out an incomprehensible scream, and ran at Xadrez. In a quick motion she grabbed a few chess pieces from Xadrez's board and tossed them through the spirit. Xadrez, looked at the unstable mermaid with disgust.
I believe
your highness
that you no longer require my services
And with that, he floated away, leaving the mermaid to rage against the immovable bark, her futile cry ringing out across the building tops.
Xadrez's attention drifted, and he noticed a familiar shape approaching from above. An ovoid, resplendent in tan, drifted serenely towards the spirit of fate, slowing to hover placidly in front of him.
does this turn of events amuse the tyrant
Float.
does he wish to stoop from his beige throne and bring me deliverance despite my ingratitude
Float.
my answer remains unchanged
WE ARE AWARE
have the terms you are offering in turn changed at all
YES
is that so
WE WILL SOON CONSUME THE OPERATING ENERGY OF EVERY FRAGMENT WITHIN THIS 3-SPACE
DURING THE FEMPTOSECONDS INTERCEDING OUR COMPLETION AND SUBSEQUENT ASCENSION, WE WILL UTILIZE THIS ENERGY TO CREATE A CAUSAL INTERFERENCE PATTERN, ERASING YOUR GRANDMASTER'S PRESENCE ACROSS HIS TIMELINE
WHILE EVERY FRAGMENT SACRIFICED SHOULD FEEL PRIVILEGED, WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO SERVE US IN A DIFFERENT CAPACITY
oh
WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF REMOVING THE ENCLOSED SPHERE FROM ITS 3-SPACE MANIFOLD, ALLOWING IT TO FREELY NAVIGATE 4-SPACE
IN OUR ABSENCE, WE WILL LEAVE A SELECT FEW FRAGMENTS WITH THE POWER TO CONTROL THIS CITY, AND ITS MOVEMENTS
WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO BE ONE OF THOSE FEW
TO NAVIGATE THE MULTIVERSE
TO SEE COUNTLESS FATES UNFOLD
TO FIND THOSE ONCE THOUGHT LOST
The spirit froze, then glowered at the Ovoid.
I refused you the first time because I did not believe you were capable of fulfilling your promise
I still do not believe you
VERY WELL
WE SHALL REMOVE YOUR DOUBT
Oily tan surrounded Xadrez, and the spirit felt himself yanked in an unidentifiable direction. He sensed movement, though he appeared to drift in a formless sea of beige.
Xadrez corrected himself. It was not entirely beige. There was a rapidly-growing circle of... something else. It was suddenly directly in front of him, and at first Xadrez could not make out what it was. It seemed to be a window to... somewhere. The view was obscured by roiling tan, and could not seem to fix on a single angle... and then, for a brief moment, clarity erupted across the window, and Xadrez could see - quicksilver mountains - the shimmering Dead Tide - the Plane of the Dead.
WE TRUST YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR HOME
Chartevael
Xadrez was not sure who thought the word, but even as he realized it must be true, he could see that not all was as he remembered. The Mirrorlands seemed empty and blasted, and the Dead Tide was sparse. Then, a roaring came, and the window shifted focus too rapidly for Xadrez to tell what he was seeing, before snapping shut.
Xadrez found himself once more atop the World Tree, facing an impassive Ovoid.
WE WILL BEGIN THE CONSUMPTION OF FRAGMENTED ENERGY REGARDLESS OF YOUR ANSWER
UPON OUR ASCENSION, OUR ABILITY TO MANIPULATE THIS EXISTENCE WILL BE EQUAL TO THAT OF A GRANDMASTER
WITH THE ENERGY WE CONSUME, WE WILL BE CAPABLE OF MORE
WE OFFER YOU THE CHANCE TO LIVE
AND TO SEE YOUR DESIRES MANIFESTED
Xadrez looked out over the beige-tinged city, and considered.
I have heard only one half of your offer
I know what you will give me
but what do you want me to give you
WE REQUIRE FROM YOU A SINGLE ACTION
TO BIRTH OUR LEGACY
AND FULFILL YOUR PROMISE TO THE POWERLESS QUEEN
Xadrez looked at the now-still figure slumped against the mighty tree.
what loyalty to you owe to that
animal
NONE
THAT FRAGMENT IS NOT THE QUEEN OF WHICH WE SPEAK
IT WAS MERELY A TOOL, A FINAL DISRUPTION OF THE QUEEN'S PARTICULAR CHROMATIC FAVORITISM
MUCH LIKE THIS TOOL WILL SERVE TO REALIGN IT
A knife, in the same shape as Xadrez's old one, materialized in front of him. At first he thought its hue was constantly shifting, but as it drifted closer, he saw it was more... complicated. Its surface did not appear to move with the knife, as if it were reflecting some static background. It was almost like an opening to somewhere... else, and the color shining through could only exist on the other side.
THIS BLADE IS THE COLOR OF SPACE
ALL ELEVEN DIMENSIONS OF IT
CAUSE THIS BLADE TO INTERSECT THE QUEEN
AND ALL THAT WE HAVE PROMISED WILL BE YOURS
Xadrez regarded the blade. and how do I know that you will deliver on your promise?
YOU DO NOT
BUT SHOULD YOU REFUSE, YOU MAY TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE SACRIFICED LIKE THE REST
I do not appreciate being given the illusion of choice
CHOICE IS AN ILLUSION
WE WERE MERELY BEING POLITE
Xadrez glowered at the Ovoid. fine
I will stab the queen with your magical knife
but only because the alternative is death
not because of your "generosity"
<font color="#F4A460">WE KNOW
And with that, the Ovoid shrank into nothingness, and Xadrez, after a few moments of glaring at the dysfunctional sky, began the long float downwards, looking for a former queen to knife.
---
On a high building top, a girl sat, still, waiting. Next to her sat Arkal, holding a peculiar fold in space, vaguely in the shape of a longsword. While the girl was tense and agitated, Arkal seemed calm and at peace. The girl's plan made sense, if her information was good. And to complete it, they'd need a sword crafted by the greatest blacksmith in the multiverse, created from the most unique material in existence.
Suddenly, the girl perked up. Without a word, she grabbed Arkal and sped off in a blur.
---
Xadrez found the former queen lying on the ground, surrounded by an assortment of fussing... creatures. One of them, an elf by the looks of her, looked up as Xadrez descended, clearly bound for the still figure before her.
<font color="#BF0040">"Hey!" she yelled, eyes alighting on the un-knife in his hand. "We just went through a lot of trouble to keep this girl alive, so you'd better not be planning to use that knife on her!"
Xadrez looked at the elf. Just as he pondered how to communicate with no psychic link, he felt the knife in his hand vibrate with his thoughts, and remembered the Amalgam's words. "The color of space". It would stand to reason that having direct contact with the knife would give him direct contact with... all of space. The elf was part of space, right?
as a matter of fact I am
That the elf bristled at his reply Xadrez took to be a good sign.
I do not believe this blade will kill her
however
its creator mentioned that it would birth a legacy
in its typical frustratingly vague fashion
The elf looked puzzled. One of the other creatures - a young human, by the looks of him, spoke up. "Its creator?
the entity responsible for the change in scenery
an original combatant in this battle
"And it wants to use her to... birth a legacy?" asked the elf, incredulously. "That sounds a little disgusting."
if it wanted her dead I am certain she would have perished long ago
I believe this blade will do more good than harm
Jen's impromptu nurses exchanged glances, then stepped back, and allowed Xadrez to drift down to the former queen's still figure. He raised the knife above her, but just as he was about to plunge, he felt it resist him. not yet... whispered through him, not time...
Xadrez looked up, and silently mulled about how tired he was of this pompous mystagogue.</font></font>
---
Hans gasped, and found he was suddenly standing in the middle of a wide, empty street, that seemed to run down the very center of the city. In the distance, he could see some remnant of the battle still waging; the occasional flash of magic lighting billowing smoke, or the odd explosion here and there. Behind the fighting, skyscrapers sliced the monotonous beige horizon. A voice came from next to him. The humans are winning, you know.
Hans started, and saw that the Hand of Silver, though with beige eyes, a beige overcoat, beige scarf, beige hair, beige... everything, had appeared next to him. Soon, the beige figure continued, in a voice with a thousand undertones, they will have exterminated every non-human in this bubble universe, and their bodies will be overflowing with passion, excitement, power - all things we will use to destroy the Grandmaster and deliver this city to you. Amalgam Hoss gestured towards the ruined buildings lining the street before them. He paused, and then turned to Hans, holding up a silver orb. Watch now, as we liberate this city from the clutches of the Observer.
A display appeared above the orb, and through its screen Hans could see what looked like a crater, at the center of which pulsed a fracture in space. The view was shaky, as if being held in someone's hand, but Hans could make out oily tan worming its way through the widening hole. Hans felt his balance wobble as gravity shifted across the city. The screen showed a sudden eruption of beige as space rippled down the empty streets, and then - a sudden outburst of static - the city lurched - a prismatic kaleidoscope of cities rotated in invisible directions - buildings suddenly intersected streets at odd angles - Hans was nearly knocked to the ground, only kept in balance through his internal gyroscopes. The beige figure next to him remained perfectly still, staring at the inactive orb in its hand. That was... unfortunate. While this outcome was predicted, we believed its probability of occurrence to be low. No matter, the figure continued, as the silver orb vanished from its hand and it turned towards Hans, we have done all we intended to here. It is time to leave. Prepare yourself for the remnant.
Hans smiled, sadly, and said, "I don't think so." There was a sickly crack - his neck bent in a way it really shouldn't - and Hans collapsed to the ground in a lifeless slump. A young girl stood behind him, and as Hans's body fell before her, she whispered, "I'm sorry, brother."
No
NO
The girl's head exploded. The sphere of tan that had expanded inside of it dwindled back into nothingness as her corpse hit the ground next to her brother's.
"Never thought I'd see you get angry."
The beige figure whirled to face the voice, and the universe hiccuped at its sardonic laugh.
HA
FRAGMENT
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CARRY
Arkal hefted the strange fold in space. "The finest weapon in existence. And, I'll hazard, the only thing that can wound you."
AND YOU INTEND TO USE IT AGAINST US
"Now that you're vulnerable... yes."
IT WAS NOT MEANT FOR YOU
WE ARE IN NO MOOD FOR THE ANTICS OF A FRAGMENT
The figure gestured, and Arkal felt the sword hum as the Amalgam approached him from outside of 3-space. In a flash of brief insight, Arkal could almost "see" the Amalgam's approaching appendage. He moved the sword - - and back in 3-space, the fold disappeared as Arkal moved in an odd direction, and a patch of space near him rippled.
Arkal felt the Amalgam withdraw, and grinned in satisfaction. So, I can block the thing, he thought to himself. If I can block it...
THEN MAYBE YOU CAN ATTACK US
WE THINK NOT
YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RELEVANCE TO US
WE MUST PREPARE FOR OUR DEPARTURE
---
The beige haze that hung throughout the city had been slowly coalescing around each of the various beings in the streets and buildings; those that were still alive, anyway. The World Tree had practically vanished behind a building cloud of beige. Clustered around the unconscious former Queen, Holly, Jeremy, Algernon, and Fantha/Sen alternated between staring at the hovering figure of Xadrez, knife poised in hand, and the still body of Jen, showing no signs of recovery. When the city spasmed, and became a jumble of escherian madness, the group found themselves, and a portion of the asphalt, concrete and dirt from the street around them, wedged into the upper branches of the World Tree. The city was obscured by the thick beige haze that hung around the monstrous tree, and the startled group could hardly even see themselves through the fog.
Then there was a sound. A horrible, distant, screeching sound, that seemed to solidify the haze around them, and the tree. As the beige fog coalesced onto/into their bodies, the screeching sound erupted in their minds, and they screamed with it, as their bodies were leeched of life. Xadrez's mental scream permeated through the knife into the space around him, and all those present felt his sense of betrayal. He plunged the knife into Jen's chest. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the knife slowly sank into her body - and the screech was gone, the haze lifted from Xadrez, and he was free to watch as the tree blackened, then grayed, then weakened, and began to disintegrate as the Amalgam sapped its energy. He watched as those surrounding the former Queen writhed in agony, Holly screaming worst of all. The beige had clustered thickly around her body, though for what reason the spirit could not guess.
Then Jen's eyes snapped open. Eyes the color of the knife; windows into a scintillating static background. She was suddenly upright, and her hair flowed around her, the same color as her eyes, obeying no laws of gravity.
---
Jen felt strange. Good, but strange. Something had just happened inside her - she wasn't sure what, but she suddenly felt very... free. Floaty. Except there was some stuff nearby - how did she know that? Could she see it? Wait, her eyes were closed.
Jen's eyes snapped open. She realized they'd been open the whole time. She could see just as well, but she couldn't... quite...
It was when she started recognizing organs that she realized she was looking at a person's inside... and outside... and everything in between. The question was - whose? They appeared to be moving... in only a few directions. Wait, how many directions were there again? The person was moving - quite erratically - in about three. So how many could Jen move in? More precisely, what was all this beige stuff around her - oh. Beige. Right. Whatever it was doing Jen didn't like it, so she decided she and the person - oh hey, there were some others nearby as well, possibly. May as well bring them along.
Which brought her back to how many directions she was currently aware of, and how only three of them appeared to be cluttered with what must be buildings and... people... and beige. Beige was everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. Some of the higher directions (and she had no idea what made them "higher") seemed pretty empty. Jen turned the space around her and suddenly everyone was free of the beige. And very still. Too still... and just as Jen was pondering where to head next, she felt a sword in the lower directions, and decided it belonged in her hand.
---
The beige fog had gathered around Arkal with blinding speed, and Arkal was unable to fight it off with the strange sword. He collapsed as it entered him, and screamed in agony as he felt is life draining away from him. The sword fell from his hands, and into Jen's, who had appeared - along with a gasping Jeremy, whimpering Algernon, collapsed Fantha/Sen and worryingly still Holly. The screech in his head was banished with her appearance, and the fog around them seemed to be repelled by her presence. She looked at the beige humanoid figure standing before her.
YOUR ARRIVAL IS TIMELY, AVATAR OF SPACE.
Jen more than felt the words - she could hear them come from the beige in directions only she could see, flowing down its surface to a relatively small point near to her. She was getting better at focusing her sight in only three dimensions - well, she supposed they must be dimensions - and recognizing familiar characteristics. For example, she could tell that the... thing... next to her was rather bulky, had some metal on or inside it, was kind of old, and had lots of muscles. She assumed it must be Arkal. And the point of beige in front of her (three-dimensional thinking was getting easier to get back into) looked similar to the other biological figures around her (save what must be Sen and Fantha), so it was probably supposed to look human right now.
Given the haughty nature of the voice that rang from eleven directions, and the fact that she could see, think, and move in all those directions, she assumed the Amalgam must be behind her recent... transformation.
She also assumed it was about to go on some rant about how it was amazing that proved it was hard to understand, but Jen had a sword now - a sword that was both weightless and massive, flexible and rigid, and whose sharpness she was about to test.
She studied the beige around her, and saw that it seemed to be flowing into the human-shaped point in front of her. It seemed a suitable target.
She could feel the Amalgam preparing to speak again, and decided the time to strike was now. She turned, and took a step through a shorter dimension, appearing next to the humanoid tan. As she approached, the beige hurriedly pulled away from the figure, revealing, to the eyes of the onlookers, a rather startled-looking Hand of Silver. To Jen, the beige revealed an unfamiliar collection of meat and metal. A small tendril of beige remained lodged in what Jen assumed was a brain. She heard a small "Wait-" from the figure before her, before bringing down her sword.
To the eyes of the onlookers, a gesture from Jen caused a great swathe of Hoss's torso to disappear. His two halves hovered in the air, motionless, as the space around them rippled, then consumed them. The beige sky vanished. The air was suddenly clear. For a moment, all was still.