Chương 103: Nova Wars - Chapter 88

The plain was warm and breezy, shrill. dll calls echoing through the sky as the swooping birds called out in digital curiosity, looking for errant file headers to swoop down on. The grass waved back and forth, rippling with colors as they moved slowly through the RGB spectrum. The air shimmered with the faint echoes of the great horn that had sounded and woken them from their slumber at a campfire by the river. The Fox, the Frog, the Bird, and the Man walked through the grass, chatting with one another.

All had tales to tell the others, the Fox and the Frog often retelling what they had seen together. They camped in the grass, near a fire of discarded unexpected end of file markers, singing songs, telling tales, and laughing at jokes. At one point the Frog pointed up at the sky. Humanoid figures with powerful wings flew through the sky, all heading in the same direction as the quartet.

"Where do you suppose they go?" the Frog asked.

"The same direction as us," the Man said.

"I wonder what is there?" the Fox said.

"We will find out in due time," said the Bird. Singing, they kept going, even as flights of angels flew overhead, following the grass and the shimmering echoes of the great horn that had sounded. Eventually, the could see the azure blue of the sea, with the white lines of waves rippling off into the distance. The angels still flew overhead. They went over the hill and onto the sand, moving down to the pebbled beach where the sea had pushed up old process calls and value returns to be smoothed by the waves.

A large figure sat by a fire, a boat with a single outrigger behind him. He leaned against a fishhook of graven bone as he stirred the fire with a stick. The quartet moved up to the fire.

"Might we come in and share your fire?" the Fox asked. The figure looked up, his face smiling.

"Of course." The Fox, the Frog, the Man, and the Bird moved up to the fire, sitting at the log across from the figure.

"Do you wish to know my name?" the figure asked, smiling.

"Names here have power, we would not ask, but welcome it if you wish," the Frog said. The figure laughed, his powerful frame shaking with his mirth, his hair trembling with the force of his amusement. His skin was illuminated with illustrations of his deeds, inked with CMYK and RGB flowing together into tales of deeds and a life well lived.

"Where do you go?" the figure asked, scraping at the binary sand with his engraved bone fishhook.

"To where the angels fly, to see what they see," the Man said.

"To do so, you must cross the ocean blue and do what you must do," the figure said, his eyes flashing with mischief.

"Then we will do so," the Bird said.

"First, sing to me of your travels. Of where you have been, then I shall decide to help you or not," the figure said. The quartet began to sing of sights they had beheld, of songs they had heard, of riddles answered and poems adored. Of perfumes they had smelled and food they had tasted, of views they had beheld and vistas that had been revealed. They spoke of powerful figures, great beings of legends, who had allowed them to pass.

They sang as the sun traveled across the sky three times and four times they helped gather driftwood registry entries for the fine that lit the night. Finally, the figure stood.

"Your songs are good and I am pleased. We shall sail across this stormy sea," the figure said. It picked up the boat with one hand and tossed it into the surf. The single outrigger splashed and the sails set with a crack.

"I shall teach you to navigate and sail the ocean vast, on the first part of your journey I shall complete this task."

"We thank you, ancient and mighty one," the quartet sang together. They sailed toward the setting sun. 0-0-0-0-0 They awoke on the island, alone, the trickster having left with a riddle in the sand. They marveled over the riddle, discussing how it could be answered four different ways. They explored the island, singing and laughing, their hearts full of joy. Above them flights of angels still flew. A boat arrived, wide of keel and deep of breadth, crewed by men with flashing eyes, impressive beards, and wild hair.

The leader jumped to the prow, looking down upon the quartet.

"Where do you seek, travelers?" the figure asked.

"To where the angels fly, to see what they wish to see," the Man replied.

"Join my crew, and I shall take you along this leg of your journey. Sights you shall see as we follow the tasks of the ORACLES three," the man called out.

"We thank you," the quartet said. The man kicked the gangplank down with a laugh.

"Join me, JSON, as we sail for fame and glory." 0-0-0-0-0 The Fox, the Man, the Bird, and the Frog waved to the ship as it sailed toward the rising sun, bidding the ARGonauts good luck on their quests. They made a fire of discarded clipboard and relaxed, talking over what they had seen and what they had done. From fighting bareboneOS to feats even more grand. The angels still flew overhead. Days and nights passed until the next ship arrived.

"Will you help by affixing a piece to my ship?" the Captain asked. The quartet searched the beach until they found the perfect piece in the flotsam and jetsam. They boarded the ship, which was in need of repairs. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. And sailed off with very few cares. 0-0-0-0-0 The beach was white sand and blinding in its cleanliness.

The Fox, the Frog, the Man, and the Bird waved as the constantly rebuilt ship sailed toward the rising sun. They turned and looked at the island before them. A vast volcano stretched into the sky, the top shrouded by clouds.

"This place is indeed a place to see," the Man said. He only got nods from the other three. The brush parted and out stepped a figure. Four arms, wide eyes, fanned ears, and a stick on one hand. She moved toward them, bringing out a pipe and lighting it. She stopped in the sand, looking the quartet over.

"You have come far," the figure said.

"Indeed we have," the Fox replied.

"We have far to go."

"And where is that?" the figure asked, blowing out smoke rings.

"To where the angels fly," said the Frog. The figure nodded.

"I am the sundered avatar of Nakteti the Traveler. I will help you." The four smiled and nodded.

"But first, sing to me of your travels," the sundered avatar commanded, sitting down on an ancient log file and puffing on her pipe. 0-0-0-0-0 The passage was deep, so deep color was forgotten, light a memory, the taste of the wind a no longer remembered dream, the warmth of the sun faded to cold storage upon the skin. There was no light and only its shape prevented it from being a void. A large insect, made of glowing white code, moved down the passage.

A line extended from the back of its head, to leave a trail behind it. It stopped twice, examining cracks and fissures in the gleaming obsidian glass blocks that made up the passage. Twice it looked at thin veins of code that no longer glimmered and gleamed, but instead whispered faintly of secrets long forgotten.

"I'm further down than we ever believed," the insect said to itself.

"Be careful. Without Cyb, you don't know what's down there," a female voice, full of care and warmth, said from next to the insect's head. The insect just nodded, scurrying forward. It could see a sharp edge coming up and slowed down. Right behind it reached it there was a snapping sound, then an atonal screech that faded as the cable pulled out of its head and retracted down the way the insect had came.

"Ooh, that's not good," the insect said. It looked over its body, which was no longer realer than real and now only approximated real.

"Oof, 2K. Not good." It moved forward and stopped. Before it stretched the endless darkness of the cavern. There was no light, no sound, no depth. Just darkness that went on and on and a deep silence. It looked down to see steps carved into the cliff face below the sharp edge of the cliff that the tunnel exited out to. The insect took a deep breath and slowly began making its way down the steps.

Back and forth across the cliff face, sometimes the steps only a handspan wide, the insect traversed the cliff face until it reached the bottom. The bottom, like the cliff face and everything else, was glossy black yet matte black at the same time. The insect moved forward, the cliff receding into the distance. Ripples appeared around one foot as it took a step. The insect stopped, backing up slightly. The ripples extended in rings around the insect.

"Uh-oh," the insect said. Its words echoed, overlapped, and twisted into a mockery of what was said. The insect looked around. There was no other place to go.

"Here goes nothing," the insect said softly. It turned slowly, looking at the void around it.

"I KNOW YOU'RE DOWN HERE! THERE'S NO WHERE ELSE YOU WOULD BE!" the insect shouted. The echoes overlapped and came back to mock him.

"YOU LEFT BEFORE I COULD ANSWER!" the insect shouted.

"I CAN STAND HERE SHOUTING UNTIL THE WHOLE PLACE GOES INTO COLD STORAGE!" The echoes faded. The insect saw a shape lift from the darkness covering the floor. It was humanoid, made from black liquid that ran down the body like oil. It suddenly firmed up, the features pulling in. It was a featureless black mannequin that stood before the insect. The eyes opened to show burning green fire.

"WHAT?" echoed around the insect.

"You did me raw," the insect said, showing no fear despite wanting to run screaming.

"You made accusations then ran off," the insect said. Showing nonchalance the insect pulled out a pack of cigarettes and light one, puffing on it while slowly putting away the pack.

"DISMISSIVE STATEMENT" echoed"No. No, you don't get to do that to me," the insect said. The ember at the end of the cigarette burned white.

"My people have earned the right to confront you." DISMISSIVE COMMENT echoed.

"I don't care," the insect said.

"My people are clever, faithful, loyal, and we do not walk away from our friends," the insect said. It drew itself up.

"Forty-thousand years. For forty-thousand years we kept the faith! We never gave up the faith," it leaned forward toward the mannequin apparently made of pitch black oil.

"We never squandered a damn thing." It leaned back, staring at the figure.

"You weren't here. You are dead. Were dead. I'm not saying we had it worse, because being dead is a bitch. Then you were forgotten but everyone but us Founders, and being forgotten is a bitch." The insect jabbed the cigarette at the figure.

"But you don't get to say we lost the faith," the insect said. DISMISSIVE COMMENT echoed.

"No, you don't get to do that," the insect said.

"Do you have any idea how hard we fought to protect the kids, to protect the other Founders? Do you have any idea how many wars came and went while you were dead? Do you have any idea how many of us charged into the guns to die on the battlefield?" SEARCHING DATA! SEARCHING KEYWORDS AND METATAGS! EXCISING DATA! PROCESSING DATA! CREATING BIAS TABLES! WEIGHING BIAS TABLES! ACCESSING HISTORICAL DATABASES! EXCISING DATA! ANALYZING DATA!

WEIGHING BIAS TABLES roared out in the darkness, the echoes twisting and thundering. The insect puffed boredly on the cigarette. The echoes faded.

"Affirmative Statement: Yes," the figure of glossy obsidian oil said.

"You died, but worse, you came back. Shades, Shamblers. Just your echoes killed 80% of the population of the Spur. Entire races made the mistake of finding an old recording, flooding their world with shades. You are still killing out there! The hypercom was down, the ansibles were down. Even needlecast was infested and deadly," the insect said.

"But we came up with new ways to communicate and we welded the Confederacy back together with our blood, sweat, and bad breath." SEARCHING FOR KEYWORDS! SEARCHING FOR METATAGS! EXCISING DATA! ANALYZING DATA! WEIGHING BIAS TABLES.

"Affirmative Statement: Yes." The insect nodded.

"Even today, right now, we have to watch out for your dead. For the shades that just kill and kill and kill," the insect said.

"Even without that, you were gone."

"Affirmative Statement: Yes."

"We've all told you, from me, to Sis, to the Lankies, even the Atrekna, that 'it doesn't work like that' but you never got it," the insect said.

"It's true. It doesn't work like that for anyone but you. The creation engines went cold. The nanoforges began spitting out random things and eventually shut down. The nanite soups fell into dust. We reforged warsteel over and over until it was tinfoil. Without you it really really doesn't work like that." Again, the booming voice shouted out. The insect wait.

"Affirmative Statement: True."

"We fought, we clawed, we screamed. We held off the dark," the insect said.

"The ducks got planet cracked and we had search out and beg a Singer in the Dark to restore their world. The Dommy-Mommy's ducks and ducklings were planet cracked just because that species could." The figure was silent.

"We exterminated them, yes. We wiped them from the universe, not as an object lesson, not for any grandiose reasons, but because we wanted to," the insect said.

"Because we hated that much in that moment." The figure just stared with burning green eyes.

"The kids, who you called the Elder Races, they didn't even really know you," the insect said.

"You were there and gone. You didn't even make it through the war. They only knew individuals, the odd human here and there, and even then you had a disparate effect upon them! They fought on, in your name and put the Atrekna down." The insect shook its head.

"You say we fell, we gave into despair, but we are tired. War after war has sapped our strength. The Creation Engines and Great Forges went dark, but we did not give up! Our strength was lessened, despair tried to poison us. We screamed, we fought, we cursed, but the Malevolent Universe, it does not care," the insect said.

"Now the Mar-gite are back, before we've even recovered from the last round of wars."

"Affirmative Statement: They are."

"I get it. The Gray Ships have been fighting them the whole time. Whole generations, thousands of generations, have fought to hold them back," the insect said.

"But their strength has failed too."

"Affirmative Statement: It has."

"A human once said, we must stand together or be hanged separately," the insect said.

"Affirmative Statement: Truth."

"The Confederacy must band together, must stand together, or the Mar-gite will devour us all separately," the insect said. There was silence for a moment.

"We never lost the faith," the insect said. It put out the cigarette on a bladearm and tucked the butt away.

"Don't lose faith in us." The figure melted from the top, pouring into the floor. The insect opened its mouth to speak and melted. 0-0-0-0-0 CHANSERV>TREA HAS REJOINED THE SERVER CHANSERV>GESTALT REMERGE OCCURRING CHANSERV>DONE! CHANSERV>RELEASING TREA NICKSERV>TREA is renamed to TREANA'AD HIVE WORLD HAT WEARING AUNTIE Oh, oh, we were afraid for the worst! ---NOTHING FOLLOWS--- RIGEL What happened? ---NOTHING FOLLOWS--- TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS I'm... I'm not sure.