-----
[Jace, this is urgent.]
[I think Xera is playing us.]
[Think about it; she’s been manipulating all of us to do her bidding. She’s got everyone we care about in a single location. She has the backup bodies of all our significant others – except Quinn’s parents, but I bet that’s just a matter of time.]
[Think about what you did on Earth and how quickly you got over killing factory workers just providing for their families. I don’t think you’re that heartless – maybe you are, but I doubt it. You talked a little bit about it in the APC and just…got over it. That’s not normal, man.]
[I think she’s fucking with your brain. You mentioned something about being ‘in tune’ with the Cosmic System because of some Skill. Cosmic Infusion? Shit. I have that at (Rank 10), too. Is she manipulating all our minds?]
[Fuck, man…just be careful. Okay?]
-----
Jace read the message that scrolled across his vision as he arrived at the portal to The Cosmic Corridor. Greg’s message was concerning…and he pulled to a stop.
“Why are we stopping?” Ollie asked as he swam in circles around Jace’s head.
Jace tapped his head, “You didn’t read that? I figured you’d be reading all my messages.”
Ollie’s eyes glimmered for a moment before he went perfectly still, and Jace saw his fur go pale white. “Oh…oh, that is not good.”
His eyes went black, and Xera’s voice came through Ollie’s mouth. “I didn’t think I had to monitor my own Signers communication…and yet here we are.”
Jace got off the hoverbike and grabbed Ollie by the scruff of the neck, repositioning him so that he was looking right into the Wayfinder’s – and, he assumed, Xera’s – eyes. “What is going on, Xera?”
“You…This would be better to do in-person. Just go through the portal and come to Khrox. I’ll warp you to my tower.”
Jace remounted the hoverbike and drove it through the portal. As soon as he saw the vastness of The Cosmic Corridor, he was warped and stood in Xera’s building. He was in some type of command center, where he saw hundreds of monitors being taken care of by dozens of jelly-like Wayfinders with multiple tentacles.
Xera turned to Jace, one pair of arms clasped behind her back, the other in front of her. “Please, let’s sit down.”
Turn off Cosmic Infusion, Jace thought as he willed the Skill to fade. He felt the world speed up slightly as his perception was altered to his species’ baseline, minus the magic-prosthetic eyes. He felt less…healthy, and glancing down, saw the swirls of Cosmic energy that had normally traced patterns along his skin was gone. He put his back to the wall as Xera walked past him and led them to the room with the windows looking out upon Khrox. She sat down on a cushion and pointed at the one across from her.
Jace took the seat, and Ollie floated just above his shoulder – not touching him or perched on him, since the Cosmic Infusion was disabled. “You’ve been controlling me,” Jace stated. “Right?”
Xera shook her head, “No. And yes. I have manipulated you. Your brain chemistry, your body’s physiology, and even your choices of Class, Cosmic Power, Advanced Class, and Ascended Power. Everything I have done is for the good of The Cosmic System.”
Jace felt that anger flare up in him once more, and he stood up, near-shouting at her. “I killed hundreds of thousands! And you convinced me that it was okay! All in the name of this ‘greater good’. What the fuck is this greater good?”
Xera adjusted her glasses, “My grand design. Sit down and I will explain.”
Jace did, begrudgingly. “No lies. No holding back. You tell me the whole fucking truth, or I’m done as your Signer. I’ll take Shhiv, figure out a way to cancel your mind-body backup, and leave. I’ll join the Star Council and make my own way to Tier 10.”
I’m not going to get betrayed by someone who I trust again. I’m not having a repeat of what happened with my mother. Fuck that.
He watched her for any trace of emotion. Any trace of some type of guilt, remorse – some read he could get on her. He knew how to read people, and her face was close enough to a human’s, and he’d been interacting with her enough…he saw a flash of regret play across her visage before hardening once more.
She cleared her throat, and her voice came out in a curt and…almost emotion-filled tone. “The Cosmic System has flaws. My people…No, that’s not right. My brother and I did not make it perfectly. We did not account for one key factor…Souls. What happens when people die?”
She sighed and drummed her fingers on the armrest of the couch. “We know they got sucked into Oblivion and then went through that ‘funnel’ within the singularity before going deeper. The whole point of The Architect’s journey was to go beyond the Astral Verge, go deeper in our reality; through the Nethershift, the Soul Realm-”
“But they haven’t come back,” Jace said. “And that’s another lie. You said they were going to a personal universe they made.”
“I did lie about their destination, yes.” He saw a few tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes that she quickly wiped away. “The last part of The Cosmic System they were going to research – conquering death forever. Yes, through mind-storage and re-skinning of the mind into a new body via technology, through death-conquering magics…one could be effectively immortal. But things need to live and die. If not…then situations can become…tricky.”
“Explain,” Jace demanded.
Xera sighed, “When things do not die and persist forever through untoward means…they slowly lose all rationality and go insane.” She stared into his eyes, and Jace saw a deep fear there. “I stave this off by compressing memories using technology…but I feel less and less like myself the longer I live, transfer to a new cloned body, and continue to…persist.”
“That makes sense,” Jace replied. “Now, continue. Where The Architects went to.”
“The theory we were working with was that every single Afterlife below the Soul Realm is intrinsically ‘tied’ to a specific universe. The Architects giving ourselves a means to return should we die, or choose to die-”
Understanding rapidly dawned on Jace as he put together the various clues, hints, and explanations of the past few months. “You want to make a path. From the singularity at the center of our universe, through these layers of reality, and into our universe’s afterlife. Without the dangers of the Astral Verge and those Astral Demons that use Souls for their ancient System. So that you can die and immediately come back.”
Xera nodded, “You might not have book smarts, but you are quick on your feet. Another reason I chose you as a Signer.” Jace noticed she had tensed her shoulders as she had spoken, and her hands were clutched into fists. “The Architects never returned from their journey. Perhaps they did, and Troxanir is simply plugging the way in. Perhaps they failed. I cannot send probes out until he is gone.” She stood up and walked over to Jace.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Jace tensed up and pulled his hand away as she made to put hers on top of his. She shrank back a little and nodded. “Those hundreds of thousands that you killed; the billions that I have had to kill because of Astral Incursions and the need to blow up worlds to stop the event from spreading…” A look of sorrow crossed her face. “You think you’ve committed atrocities?” She walked over to the window and put one of her hands on it as she leaned against the pane. “I’ve done things you could not possibly imagine. All for the sake of this grand design. I’ve destroyed worlds, whole civilizations…” She trailed off and he could hear the light sniffles of held-back sorrow.
Jace stood up and faced her back. The idea that this woman was responsible for an almost incomprehensible number of deaths was not striking to him. What was is that he could see her reflection in the window…and she was crying. Hiding it from him as best she could, but he could see in that image a broken woman who looked to truly care about what she was doing and hated making these horrible decisions.
She could be tricking me. She can control other people’s minds…why not her own? For all I know she’s just flipped a switch and is turning on the waterworks to convince me. He glanced over at Ollie. The otter was frowning. He’s just a part of the System; he could be fully under Xera’s control.
Jace was not a paranoid person but given everything that had happened…he felt like it was warranted. And yet, Xera had absolutely come through for him in a pinch. If he wanted to achieve Tier 10, defeat Troxanir and get Chroma back… his best chance was allied with Xera. He cleared his throat, “I don’t know if I can fully trust you. You’ve lied to me, manipulated me, for all I know you’re manipulating Ollie as well.”
Ollie looked over at Jace and flew in front of him with a shocked look, “How could you think that Jace? I am me! She is not controlling me! Heck, she cannot even contro-”
Xera turned and glared at Ollie, the sorrow vanished from her face and replaced with a resolute expression as she interrupted the Wayfinder. “I am not a System administrator. I am the tech support of The Cosmic System. The Wayfinders are beyond my influence. Yes, I can command them – but they can ignore those commands. Ollie, I command you to destroy yourself.”
The otter gasped and shook his head, “No way!”
“Personal redirect. Access Code E56745-XY-5R3.”
Ollie’s face went blank, and his voice went monotone. “Calculating…ERROR, malfunction detected – Access Code denied. Self-preservation matrix 06731V-BGU8 enabled.” Ollie shook his head, and his face screwed up into one of anger as he flew in front of Xera, “Never do that again!”
Xera looked at Jace, “See? Even with my override Access Code, I cannot force Wayfinders to do things they do not want to do. An example: I ordered them to abandon all Black Hole Conclave Signers, and they did so because they saw the danger the faction poses to The Cosmic System, and therefore their own well-being.” She looked back to Ollie, “I’m sorry, but I had to make a point.”
Ollie flew back over to Jace and tried to wrap himself around Jace’s neck – his usual spot – and phased through him. He made a mix of a whimper and whine noise. “I could use a hug.” He sounded so, so sad, and Jace wanted to cuddle him right then and there and reassure him.
But he held off reactivating his Cosmic Infusion. Jace glanced down at him, “In a minute. I have to be sure.” He looked up at Xera. “Pull up a contract like you did with Quinn. I want it in irrevocable terms.”
Xera snapped her fingers, and Quinn appeared in the room. She was on the couch, in her pajamas, eating a bag of chips. “Wha-”
Xera cut her off, “Use your Broker’s Contract. Between Jace and myself.”
Quinn looked at Jace, “What’s going on.”
Ollie flew over to Quinn and whispered in his ear. Jace could hear a bit of what he said, but he was talking extremely quickly and Jace assumed that her bionic brain was keeping up with the auditory processing. Quinn’s face paled, and she looked at Xera, “Holy shit…a tunnel from an afterlife back up to our universe?”
“Correct. Jace wants a guarantee of…non-manipulation. Make the contract as simple as possible.”
Ollie cleared his throat, “I will do the terms, to show my trustworthiness.” His voice filled with a slight bit of pride, and he glanced at Jace, and a message scrolled across Jace’s vision.
-----
[I am with you from now until the end. You are my Aspirant and will be my Ascendant. I value you above all else – even above Xera, despite all she does behind the scenes.]
[I will be your best friend until the end of everything and beyond. I swear, I will never, ever, ever betray you or work against you in any way.]
-----
Ollie turned to Quinn and began discussing a few items as a phantom, golden screen appeared in front of Quinn, and she began changing some terms around. Jace looked at Xera and tried to read her face. There was some genuine remorse there, but also a look of finality and he got the sense that she was resolved yet upset.
“Done!” Ollie flew over to Jace as Quinn stood up and walked over. “The contract is straightforward.”
Quinn nodded and added, “I made it very simple. You and Xera will not be able to lie to each other or obfuscate the truth in any way when talking to each other. We’ll have to renew the contract every few months. There is also the standard non-disclosure clause to prevent any present here from sharing the details of the contract. Additionally, any type of physiological manipulation of your being must be explicitly explained and then approved.”
“There is one exception,” Ollie added. “When you are using Verge Protocol, and you are directly ordering me to make changes. Like what you did to empower Wrath’s Embrace against the Astral Demon.”
But I’m in control of it, Jace thought. He nodded, “I agree to the terms.” He put his hand up to the floating panel and signed it. Xera walked forward and signed as well. The contract vanished in a glimmer of gold. Jace looked back at Quinn, “What happens if either of us breaks it?”
“You cannot,” Quinn replied. “Try lying to Xera.”
Jace looked at the woman, and tried to say, “I hate lemonade,” but the words caught in his throat and he could not say them. Okay…interesting. Next, he tried to send it as a message through the System, but the text box remained empty despite him thinking it. To test, he opened up a message to Quinn and tried the same lie – and saw that it did fill in the text box. Last, he tried messaging both Xera and Quinn at the same time in a group message – and the words would not appear. Okay, so I literally cannot lie. Which means Xera cannot either.
Xera looked at Jace, “I care for your like I would care for any of my Signers. More than the rest; even Quinn despite her value. You are my Jace. My Flicker. I’m here for you.” She smiled softly, “I know you never had a real mother figure, and I do not mind filling that role for you. I do apologize for my manipulations…but it is all for the greater good. If what I envision comes to pass and you can help me establish this pipeline from our universe to the afterlife…all who have died will be able to return.” Tears returned to her face and slowly cascaded down her resolute visage, “Every world I’ve destroyed…every species I’ve annihilated…you can help me bring them all back.”
Jace felt a mix of emotions roil within him. Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10) [Innervating]. His skin began to flow with the power of the System, his senses sharpened, and he felt stronger; more invigorated. He reached out to Ollie and pulled the Wayfinder to his chest, petting his fur and finding comfort in the action. Jace took in a deep breath, “Thank you for being honest.”
Xera nodded, “I’ll send you back to your apartment for a day or two. If an Astral Incursion happens, I will be sending Priam, Greg, and Dee. You take a few days with Shhiv…and then Poltor Six awaits.” She snapped her fingers, and Jace found himself on the ground floor of the apartment.
Quinn was standing next to him. She looked at him with a glance and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, “You good?”
Jace nodded, “I’ll be okay. I’m happy she owned up to what she was doing, and knowing there’s a deeper plan in the works that…fixes my mistakes.”
He went quiet and retreated into his thoughts. I might have killed a lot of people…but at least it sounds like there’s a way to bring them back. Give them another chance that I ripped away from them.
Jace walked to the elevator with Quinn and just held Ollie close to his chest.
Xera went to her bedroom and laid down, letting out a groan into the pillows as she let out the emotions she normally kept so well-tied up and under control. She had been fully and completely honest with Jace, not holding anything back. Something she was afraid of doing, for fear that he would abandon her cause.
But…telling the truth was liberating as well. Now he knows the grand design, she thought as she buried her face into the pillows and inhaled the sweet fragrance of the perfumed surface. He knows now that if I succeed, he can reverse the casualties he caused. And I can finally have the perfect universe. Where death is only temporary, and we may travel freely between here and whatever is in our afterlife.
The thought that all her trillions of years of existence, and countless lives she had to sacrifice for the good of The Cosmic System being ameliorated was the only force pushing her onwards. Without that…she would have long-since wiped her own mind save for her knowledge and just began with a clean slate.
I have to do this, she thought. For Xero. Her brother and the co-founder of The Cosmic System. I’ll do what we set out to do. Our universe will be the envy of all the others. No other progenitor species from other universes will hold a candle to us. Our universe will be unstoppable. And no one will try to invade.
We can finally live in peace. And I can finally rest.
