Chương 10: B1 Chapter 9

I looked down at my hands and truly saw them with my own eyes, unburdened by the glassy haze that had covered the world for most of my first life. They were far younger than they had any right to be. The fingers were straight, the knuckles smooth, and the skin held none of the darkened marks that years had once carved into it. These were the hands of a woman approaching the beginning of her life, though I had already lived long enough to watch worlds die. The new world had changed us all.

It had changed E'ru most of all. That stupid, brilliant, stupid, stupid boy. He had done impossible things simply because he was who he was, and he had never questioned whether they could be done. He believed. Maybe he should have questioned it. Maybe he should have questioned every lie I ever told him and every sweet dream I placed before him. Perhaps he should have looked more closely at the path I claimed the gods had chosen and asked whether I had ever truly known where it led. He never did.

My hands began to shake as I considered what his faith in me might cost him if he failed today. I curled them into fists and looked toward the sentinel standing before me. The creature was formed from glass and flesh in equal measure. Clear plates covered the living tissue beneath them, revealing muscles that flexed without blood and organs arranged in ways no natural body could have sustained. Light passed through its limbs and fractured across the walls in pale ribbons.

Beyond it, the chamber stretched in severe, silent symmetry. Its walls were made from a pale material that resembled stone, though no stone from my old world had ever been so flawless. There were no seams between the blocks, no marks left by tools, and no dust gathered in the corners. The floor sloped gently toward the center, where thin lines of silver formed a pattern I still did not understand. After all these years, there remained things I did not understand.

That frightened me more now than it had when I was young. The room had only one window. It was tall and narrow, set into the far wall like a wound cut into the chamber's perfect surface. There was no frame, no glass, and no visible barrier between the room and the emptiness beyond it. The opening looked directly down upon the white hole. I had seen stars collapse before. I had watched suns burn themselves hollow and witnessed the darkness left behind when entire systems were swallowed.

The white hole beneath us was nothing like those things. It was a wound in the universe turned inside out. A vast sphere of white radiance hung below the chamber, so bright that it should have blinded me, yet its light remained strangely soft. It did not shine outward like a star. Instead, it seemed to pour upward from some impossible depth, illuminating the underside of the place where we stood. Rivers of brilliance moved across its surface, folding into one another like clouds trapped beneath ice.

At its center, the light was almost colorless. A blankness so complete that my eyes refused to settle upon it. Far beyond the white hole, the world we had come from was nowhere to be seen. No familiar sun burned in the distance. No moon, no scattered planets, no faint trail of debris marked the route between this place and home. We were too far away for distance alone to explain the absence. The old world had not merely been left behind. It had been removed from every direction I could look.

Whatever this place was, it did not belong beneath the same sky. The sentinel remained motionless. It had delivered the summons, escorted me through corridors that seemed to extend farther than any structure could contain, and brought me to the chamber assigned to witnesses. Then it had taken its place near the doorway. Now it waited. Somewhere beyond it, beyond the corridors and the impossible architecture, E'ru stood before the Council.

I wanted to laugh, knowing that they were facing him, expecting him to cower, and learning that he wouldn't. I still couldn't believe that he was listed as strong as he was.

UNIVERSAL INTEGRATION LADDER Current Cycle — Leading Contenders E'ru Origin: Earth Totem of the Sloth Kevoahomroae Kopaorda Origin: Kharos Totem of the Infernal Peerless Dragon Noma-Who-Waits-Below Origin: Othalla Totem of the Starved Leviathan Zokodo Mookoda Origin: Keshet Totem of the Nine-Jawed Mantis Third Shell Takk Origin: Ulun Totem of the Worldback Tortoise Puuritze Mahono Seven-Blue Origin: Marrakai Totem of the Black-Sun Scarab Roopniard Origin: Hollow Vey Totem of the Hollow-Moon Serpent Phataomon Aeezamanaeea Origin: Taruun Totem of the Thunder Antler Tipo Two-Hearts Origin: Esra Totem of the Iron-Orchard Ape The Warrior Known as Who Origin: Nacre Totem of the Cinderwing Moth My fingers tightened until my nails pressed crescents into my palms.

The first time the gods had placed words before me, I had believed I understood them. I had been partially wrong. It would have been easier had I understood nothing. Now I understood enough to become dangerous. I closed my eyes. For a moment, the white light vanished. In its place came purple and blue. I remembered the first time the gods spoke clearly enough for me to read.

I had never been completely blind. The others simply believed I was and it made life simpler to let them. Blindness was a word people understood. It excused the cane in my hand, the way I turned my head to hear someone better, and the occasional bruise upon my hip when a stool had been moved from where I expected it. The truth required explanations nobody needed. I could see light. On good days I could distinguish the place where a doorway interrupted a darker wall.

Fire appeared as a yellow wound surrounded by orange haze. A person passing between me and the sun became a moving shadow, although I could not have told whether that shadow belonged to Yanrah or one of the children. Faces had disappeared first. Then came fingers and the edges of everything else. By the time E'ru threw himself from the tree to save me, the world had become a collection of shapes that refused to hold still long enough for me to trust them. I had not seen the snake beside my foot.

I had heard E'ru shout and not understand why. Then heard his body strike the ground. Those sounds had remained clearer than anything my eyes showed me afterward. Years later, when the sky broke, I saw the color before anyone came to tell me about it. Purple filled the gaps in the walls of my hut and blue followed. The colors were enormous. I saw light spilling through woven palm in shades that did not belong to moon, fire, or dawn. I sat upon my mat and listened. The village had begun shouting outside.

Feet struck packed earth, dogs barked, and I could hear a child cry. Someone called for an elder, and another voice answered that the elders knew no more than anyone else. I remained where I was. People would come to me soon. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. They always did when something happened that frightened them enough. I reached for the small bowl beside my mat and found the stones inside it. There were seven. I knew each one by touch.

The first was smooth from the river. One had a shallow groove across its center. Another had broken years earlier and carried an edge sharp enough that I had cut my thumb upon it more times than I cared to remember. I scattered them over the woven mat, listening to them as they landed softly. I passed my fingers across them, feeling where each had fallen. The answer meant nothing. I gathered them again.

"Very helpful," I muttered. The gods had always expected too much effort from those of us asked to speak for them. The purple light became brighter so I turned toward it. Something appeared in front of me. At first, I assumed another opening had formed in the wall. Then the shape moved when I moved my head. I stopped moving and so did they. I leaned to one side and the light followed. There were marks inside it. Words. I knew they were words before I understood what they said. That alone felt impossible.

I had not seen written marks clearly in more years than most of the young hunters had been alive. I lifted one trembling hand toward them and the words remained, their edges did not blur. They did not dissolve into one another, every mark possessed a beginning and an end. I could see the space separating one from the next. For a moment, I forgot to read. I simply stared. I had forgotten that the world could contain edges. Tears filled my eyes, yet even those changed nothing.

The words remained perfectly clear behind them. I looked toward the wall and saw a purple haze. I still could no longer distinguish the hanging charms from the palm fibers behind them. I glanced back before me and saw the perfect words again. My hands began to shake.

"The gods." My voice sounded very small and I lowered my head immediately. Then I stopped. I was not a young child or other tribal member I was the prophet. If words belonged to the gods, then my entire life had been spent learning when I was permitted to receive them. I had interpreted carvings others were forbidden to touch. I had memorized prayers until the old words remained in my head even after my eyes could no longer distinguish them.

I had been entrusted with signs, rites, deaths, births, seasons, and warnings. If the gods chose to place words directly before me, refusing to read them would not have been humility. It would have been cowardice. I raised my face. The first words I had truly seen in decades waited for me.

[PLANETARY INTEGRATION COMPLETE] [Universal System access unlocked] [Qualifying entity identified: Eyowon] [Individual interface established] [Severe visual impairment detected] [Standard visual interface unsuitable] [Cognitive interface enabled] [Foundational assessment initiated] I read them twice, blinking as I did. Universal. I did not know the word as the System intended it, yet meaning accompanied it. Not merely our forest, the river, or even every place beneath the sky. Everything.

The gods had changed everything. A laugh escaped me. Those words vanished and others replaced them.

[FOUNDATIONAL ASSESSMENT COMPLETE] Entity: Eyowon Species: Human Evolution: 0 — Mortal Age: 67 Physical status: Declining Permanent conditions identified: Progressive Visual Impairment Age-Related Muscular Decline Joint Degradation Behavioral functions recognized: Community guidance Ritual leadership Medical knowledge Oral knowledge preservation Conflict mediation Youth instruction Survival planning Primary Totem selection unlocked.

I frowned at the word declining.

"That's rude." The gods did not apologize. More words appeared.

[PRIMARY TOTEM SELECTION] SEER A path centered upon perceiving hidden information, recognizing danger, identifying patterns, and developing limited predictive awareness. HEALER A path centered upon preservation of life, treatment of injury and illness, recovery, and biological understanding. LOREKEEPER A path centered upon knowledge, identification, memory, teaching, and preservation.

GUIDE A path centered upon communal survival, leadership support, threat recognition, and directing dependent populations toward viable paths. [Awaiting selection.] I read every word carefully. Seer tempted me. I will admit that now. I had spent most of my life pretending that the gods showed me more than they did. Sometimes they sent signs. Occasionally dreams seemed meaningful. Sometimes smoke moved strangely enough that an interpretation came easily.

Most of the time, people were frightened and needed someone older than themselves to sound certain. Seer offered certainty, or something close enough to resemble it. Healer tempted me for different reasons.

I had held too many children while fever took them. I listened to mothers ask why one child lived while another did not. Sometimes I had pressed herbs into wounds knowing that there was nothing beneath my hands except hope and the appearance of usefulness. Lorekeeper belonged to everything I had already become. I understood that immediately. But Guide? I read it again. A path centered upon communal survival. Not my survival. The tribes. The choice required little thought after that. I reached toward the word.

My finger passed through the light without resistance.

[Selection registered] [Primary Totem: GUIDE] [Existing social function recognized: PROPHET] [Totem-role compatibility: Exceptional] [Calling identified: KEEPER OF THE PEOPLE] Heat radiated inside my chest. My body felt as old as it always had yet something had changed anyway. I could feel the village. Not the way a person felt another body beside them. It was less precise than that. It was more of the sensation of what they were experiencing right now. Like their needs, or their fears.

Some felt hungry and others were confused. The sensation touched the edge of my awareness and retreated. Then the System spoke again.

[Totem Ability acquired: PATH OF SURVIVAL I] When a population recognized as being under the Guide's care faces significant danger, viable objectives may be identified. Completion improves projected survival. Note. Objectives do not guarantee survival. Failure carries no imposed System penalty. Natural consequences remain.

I disliked those final words immediately.

"Natural consequences," I whispered. That was the gods finding a polite way to say death. The next window appeared before I finished speaking.

[Dependent population detected] [Settlement classification: Unregistered Mortal Settlement] [Recognized population: 143] [Environmental Integration underway] [Projected settlement survival: CRITICAL] [PATH OF SURVIVAL activated] My mouth went dry. I shouldn't have been surprised that the System had counted everyone in the tribe. There were one hundred and forty-three of us. I knew every one of them, even if not equally. Some children still confused me when they ran past too quickly for their voices to separate.

There were men whose breathing I recognized before their names and women who wore the same seed oil in their hair. But they were mine. What really scared me was the word in capital letters. Critical.

[QUEST RECEIVED: SURVIVE THE FIRST CHANGE] The environment surrounding the recognized settlement has begun rapid Integration. Current deficiencies identified: No secured territory Insufficient System-trained defenders No established System Provider No altered-fauna knowledge No altered-flora knowledge No recognized settlement defenses Objectives: Identify one viable Provider. Identify changes occurring within local fauna. Identify changes occurring within local flora. Establish a defensible settlement boundary.

Secure food sufficient for the initial transition. Prepare the settlement for first hostile altered-fauna contact. Reward: Settlement Recognition Guide advancement Survival-resource identification Failure: No direct penalty. Natural consequences will apply.

I hated the gods a little for those last two lines. Outside, someone shouted that the sky was on fire. Another person shouted back that fire produced heat and whatever hung above us did not. They began arguing and I almost went outside. Yet I couldn't help but read the first objective again. Identify one viable Provider. We had providers. Every hunter provided. Yanrah had fed the village through seasons when lesser men returned empty-handed.

Makua was young, but his strength already rivaled hunters older than he was. Joa thought before he struck. Timoteo understood animals. Hokan could carry more meat than most men could kill. I touched the objective and the System responded.

[Designate one Primary Protector] I touched that line and the words changed again.

[Primary Protector] Designate the strongest available individual capable of defending the recognized population during the initial transition. Guide judgement required. Selection cannot be automated.

I realized how important this decision must be if the System couldn't choose who the Protector should be. I considered the different names of those who might best fill that role. Yanrah, Timoteo, Joa, and others. Even Makua might be a quality candidate. There were a handful of warriors I considered worthy of the possible title. Yet knowing that they would be the one responsible for keeping our tribe safe in what was coming made me pause.

"How should I choose the one who will protect us?"

[GUIDANCE AVAILABLE] Integration may alter local plants, animals and individuals. Possible changes include: Increased physical ability. Altered body structures Skill acquisition Material transformation Specialized organ development Recommeneded action: Acquire and identify material from altered local fauna or flora.

"Acquire how?" I waited for what felt like a dozen seconds and no other words came. Apparently the gods expected me to find a way on my own. As I waited the noise outside began to grow more frantic. Listening I could hear several people moving through the village quickly, causing a commotion. I touched the System window and discovered, after several attempts, how to dismiss it. The perfect words disappeared and the hut became darkness again. Not true darkness, my darkness.

Purple and blue still leaked through the walls. The doorway was a brighter rectangle beyond several indistinct shapes. My own hand became nothing more than shadow wrapped around the serpent's head. For a moment, losing the words felt like going blind all over again. I hated it enough that I almost summoned them back. Instead, I listened to what was happening on the other side of those walls. Several people were approaching my hut quickly. One set of footsteps landed heavier than the rest, regular and powerful.

Makua. I knew his rhythm. Others moved with him. Someone carried something heavy enough that their footsteps struck the earth unevenly. Then I heard a voice. E'ru. I stood too quickly. Pain spread through my knees, and I caught the serpent-headed cane beside my mat while dizziness moved through my head. Outside, E'ru said something I could not distinguish, yet others laughed. I crossed the hut and lifted the flap, purple and blue light flooded my world. I stopped.

The village had become a collection of shadows beneath a broken sky. Huts existed as darker shapes against the brilliance. People moved between them as blurred bodies. Fires glowed yellow near the ground. I knew where Yanrah stood because I heard his voice among the elders. I stared at the people and could not see their faces. I could not see Makua, Joa, Hokan, or Timoteo clearly enough to separate them from one another. Then I saw E'ru, not his face or his body, but him.

Purple and blue light filled the space where he stood. For a moment, I believed I had mistaken a piece of the broken sky for a person. Then the light moved. It moved how E'ru moved, his step and stride different from the rest of them. Makua was an empty space next to him, no light surrounding him. Quickly I scanned the rest of those gathered and realized that none had the same light that E'ru did, not even his father Yanrah.

Purple moved through him like a slow stream, gathering at his chest before running out to his limbs. Blue light followed occasionally, sometimes brighter in different places. As I stood there, the words came back once more.

[Designate one Primary Protector] That was all the gods had given me. Standing here, gazing out through my broken eyes, I wanted to laugh. I wondered if anyone else saw what I did but knew that they must not. Only one stood before me, changed as the gods had said they might be. E'ru. Setting myself, I knew what I needed to do for our tribe. I would place our future in the boy who shone like the sky in our midst. Even if I was the only one who realized it.