I open the plain, white door and is immediately showered in intense light. I squint my eyes and groan.
“So tiresome… “
I walk through the door and enter a massive, grand room filled to the brim with eccentricities. The door closes behind me and disappears, leaving me to witness the unbelievable sights in the room. On the walls are shifting pieces of art and clockwork, moving in perpetual motion, with impossible, monochromatic murals that defy the eyes and appear more real than reality itself. Above me, there appears to be no ceiling, instead showing more pieces of art and even floating statues before light diffusion blocks my vision past a certain point. There are various displays placed around the room for close up viewing too.
I walk past massive crystalline structures that seem to sparkle with combinations of colors that transcend imagination. I see a massive black cube next to me, that, upon closer inspection, reveal whole worlds of detail, limited only by the resolution of my eyes. Literally entire buildings, people, grasses, clouds. I walk up to a mysterious floating fractal structure, looking at the infinite detail within itself. The whole entire room emits an aura of exclusivity and wonder. The exhibits here seem less about art and more about incredible feats of work and skill or structures that make me question my understanding of the universe.
I nod after inspecting the fractal. It’s a novel sight, but I care more about my purpose within this place. I was expecting to get an evolution to some shady class of monster, but now I’m in some sort of museum or something.
Seriously, why am I here.
I look at one of the murals that cover the walls of this place. Out of curiosity, I use identify, and to my surprise, it works.
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Collapsing Star, Aenium’s Nova – By Alfamerian Kazima
“… and so, the Eternium has brought us here. The end result of madness.”
“You were truly the best of them. I regret your loss.”
“Don’t make me laugh. If you really did felt any regret, you’d shut down that machine and end your life right here.”
“I do what is necessary to ensure to the existence of my species, no matter what that cost may be. If you want me to off myself right here then I’ll do so, but the course has already been set in stone, and your end is inevitable.”
“My end? An action like this will only lead to more destruction. Even the most deplorable existence in the cosmos wouldn’t be ruthless enough to do something like this. You and your kind will be targeted until not even one of your queens remain.”
“Then we’ll just have to do the same to them. All for my people.”
“You and everyone behind you are insane, and you don’t even realize it.”
“The void kind beckons. We must continue our growth. Otherwise, our death is inevitable.”
“… and you’d sterilize an entire solar system to do so?”
----------------------------------------
I continue to read a little more with interest, before moving on to something else. It was pretty good, I’ll admit. The person who drew this has an incredible art style, and it’s good to know that identify still works even here for some reason, even if it won’t do me any good besides explaining what all of the pictures mean. Somehow.
I continue to look at the exhibits with mild interest while pondering my purpose, when suddenly, I see a blue speck of light in the corner of my vision. I look at it, and it moves through the air until it stops before me. It shakes up and down for a little, trying to get my attention, and then moves ahead of me. I follow it, having nothing else better to do.
The blue spark leads me to an area with gray platforms with weird engravings on them. It pauses a bit before one of them, before floating inside and disappearing in a beam of light. Is it like some sort of teleporter then? I follow inside, not particularly interested in where it’d leave me.
I step inside, and light engulfs me as I feel a whizzing sensation within my head. After less than a second, I see that I’m in a different room than before. It’s similar to when I was in the expense of white like before, but this time, it’s black and has gridlines on it. I walk off the gray teleporter and identify it.
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Teleporter (A12)
One of many teleporters, with this one being assigned its own unique tag. It connects to teleporters B3-
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The teleporter vanishes, and with it, the rest of the information. There goes anyway of exiting this place then.
Ah. So you have arrived.
A disembodied voice speaks to me. Hello, can you read minds?
I wait for a moment and nothing happens.
So you’re one of the silent types then?
The voice speaks in a jovial manner. It’s not exactly what I’d expected to be honest.
“No, I can speak. Just getting my bearings here.”, I say while looking around the place.
The voice laughs. It’s a weird sensation, having a laugh echo inside of your head.
An interesting response! I expected something much different from you.
“I can say the same thing to you.”
Really now? What did you expect?
“You called the system’s attempt to negate your actions pathetic. In bold.”
I try and sit down on the floor, only for a chair to materialize out of nowhere. It’s quite comfortable.
Suddenly, a figure materializes in front of me. Light forms and crystallizes in the air. In front of me is a sparkly, brilliant figure in the vague shape of a human. It chromatic figure makes him hard to look at. After a while, the light dies down and reveals a figure as if someone has roughly sculpted the figure of a human in stone. It has a lack of face, nose, and everything. The figure laughs, its body emulating the gestures in a surreal way.
It’s just entertaining to make fun of lesser existences, I guess.
Lesser existences?
Though I suppose it’s not really the system’s fault, but rather the one who made its rudimentary intelligence. Besides that though, I’m sure you’re wondering exactly why you’re here. Did you enjoy my little museum by the way?
What a strange being. So carefree and relaxed. I wonder what’s his situation like for him to act like this.
“It was nice. And I actually would like to know the reason why I am here.”
I rest my head on my palm, which is propped up by my arm on the chair. I let out a little yawn, ready to just leave.
The crystal gestures in the air. It’s uncanny how lifelike it moves.
Ah, come on. Aren’t you the least bit curious about the situation? I’m sure the situation must be very weird on your end. I mean, to have your panels hijacked and been forcefully transported to a strange yet oddly stylish room. Must be quite a lot I’m sure.
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I look at the crystal being. I’m not sure if it even counts as eye contact because it doesn’t really have eyes.
“I...” I begin, unsure of my own words and emotions. “I just want to… I don’t know. Just sleep, maybe. I dislike all of this fantasy stuff and what it has brought with it.”
You mean you hate how it showed you of your incapacity to be better.
“It’s… uh… not fun.”
My emotions get heavier as I think back to the mirage wolf. God I sucked back there. The figure, however, snaps his fingers. The next moment later, a table appeared in front of me, with a teapot and steaming hot cookies on top of it. The stranger summons a chair and sits down across from me. He pours himself a cup and lifts it up to his face. Right before he actually pours, he looks and it and then throws it behind him, moving his arms in a carefree way.
I actually don’t really care for your melodramatic workings. I mean seriously, I don’t know exactly how you lesser existences think but I say you should really just get over it.
The voice sounds annoyingly jovial. A flash of anger appears inside me, which then calms down as I seriously consider his words. It isn’t really that easy… is it really?
It’s useless to think of things that don’t matter anyways.
I take a deep breath. My thoughts have cleared, and I remain impassioned expression wise. I look down at the open teapot. It swirls beautifully in a way. Everything here all seems so luxurious. I’m not drinking that though.
The stranger looks towards me, or at least his head is faced at me. He looks away, somehow looking disinterested.
Whatever, the snacks are just formalities anyways. I’m really just here for one thing anyways.
“And what’s that? To change me into an apostle of the end?”
That’s just a means to an end. The end.
This man right here is being intentionally obtuse right now. It’s kinda annoying, but I really don’t have anything better to do except for dying in that cave. I continue to talk to pass the time.
“What end?”
Why, the end of the world!
The man gestures grandly in his seat while still looking at me.
“E-excuse…?”
Okay then. So he’s just crazy. I remain inexpressive – I literally cannot take this man seriously anymore.
I take a deep breath, and pick up my teacup on the table. The crystal man makes some gestures with his fingers and the teapot levitates to pour me some tea. Its golden liquid comes out steaming, like ambrosia. One would even hesitate to call it tea at that point – it has transcended into something else. I swirl it around for a moment, sniffing its sweet aroma. I bring it close to my face, ready to drink the sweet, sweet amber. Then, I throw it behind me.
“Please elaborate.”
Hehe, you’re an interesting one, aren’t you? I am a creature of the Void, or veil, whatever you want to call it really.
The crystal man looks at me, trying to gauge a response. I remain passive and inexpressive. He then just continues like nothing has happened.
That means that I really want to destroy things. In that, I mean worlds, life, history, all that type of good stuff. And as for why? Well, for one thing, it’s fun to do and it provides a challenge. The main reason, however, is actually because these worlds are the creation and source of power for the gods, and us veiled. Well, we really despise the gods.
“So you just thrash their stuff?”
The crystal figure shrugs.
With power on this level, rules get bent and things get weird. There are forces out there that ensure that things don’t get… risky… and because of that, among other reasons, the only way us veiled and gods and fight are through proxies. They have worlds that empower them and produce beings that can fight us. We have monsters that we can summon into worlds to overrun them. Some worlds get left behind by both god and veiled, some worlds have one side wins, most are in a constant deadlock that doesn’t progress in either direction. If they win, they have a machine that pumps out champions and heroes and the like. If we win, they lose their world and a majority of their power and we can kill them without things getting risky.
I nod in comprehension. I already see where this is heading towards.
It’s a pretty unconventional way to battle to the death but the reasons for it are actu-
“I’m not gonna help you.”
It just sounds like too much work. And I’d rather not take orders from people if I can help it.
The voice just chuckles, the figure moving to suggest the same thing. This man really needs some eyes. And the rest of his face.
Ah. But I haven’t gotten to it yet.
“Gotten to what?”
Isn’t it a thing in your world too? Like how companies get their lesser organisms to work for them?
“… With high pay and a safe work environment?”
No. I was talking about employee benefits.
“Oh. Sure then. I’m listening.”
Yikes.
Well, you’ll get power for one thing. I think in the class description that my friend put there it said that it gives massive increases to all of your stats, but more on that can be explained if you join. Oh yeah, you won’t be just under me, but him as well, and let me warn you, he be quite a doozy to some. He was actually the one to write the status panels for you.
Is being weird a common trait of your kind?
If you’re not satisfied with that, then we can give you the ability to take control of this world and rule it, but only as a veiled. If world building isn’t your thing, then you also have the option to go back.
“Go back?”
The scenery around me changes. All of a sudden, I’m surrounded by skyscrapers and cars. The air smells much less fresh than the cave, but all too familiar.
I’m here.
Earth.
Well, what do ya think?
It’s so familiar, but feels distant at the same time. I see all of the busybodies around me, honking their cars loudly in traffic. I smell that same delicious scent of pizza in the air. There’s the occasional plastic bag in the wind.
Magnificent.
“It’s what I’ve remembered it to be, for sure.”
Yeah… isn’t it… nice?? I mean, you like what you like but this seems awfully mundane.
It’s not a bad idea, really. Although this world really is magical, it’s also a lot more dangerous and lethal. I’m sure that anyone would agree if their arm was bitten like mine, or if they saw those high leveled monsters. I also get to enjoy the various amenities of my old life, like the internet.
It’s quite nostalgic. I let out a yawn.
“Send me back, please.”
Don’t like it? There are other options too you know.
“I’d think so. Still, I’d rather not help you destroy the world. These gods made me too you know.”
Made you? They abandoned you and left your kind to develop by themselves. All alone in solitude. Look what that has done to you.
He’s right. The gods might as well never existed in the first place and I wouldn’t have cared. But one thing that does exist though is life. I dislike mine, both of them actually, but not even I would have the heart to want the death of others because of it. Not without a good enough reason.
Will he kill me because of this? I don’t know, but I have already made my mind.
“I don’t want to destroy the world.”
Look, kid. I know that you think that the gods are good people probably because of what your kind is saying, but they’re much worse than you can imagine. For every world they have created, another world is destroyed. Do you think that they care about people like us?
“Perhaps they don’t. But this isn’t about the gods.”
YES IT IS. This has EVERYTHING to do with the gods. Do you want to know what happens when a god wants to build a new world? They destroy the old one, completely and utterly. Everything in that world starts to fade away, until nothing is left, just to conserve their energy. They go to other gods and burn their worlds too, and then EXILE them into the Void, where they are meant to die a slow, slow death. Some survive though, and we come back for fiery vengeance. So which option do you want then? Perish as you watch others die alongside you, or join us and kick some divine ass? Hasn’t this world been cruel to you? Don’t you just want to watch this world burn in a fiery inferno?
“...I’m sorry, that must be really tough for you. But for me, I still can’t join your fight.”
And why is that?
Because killing worlds is not the solution. Because it’s to much work. Because people deserve a longer life to live. Because I’m afraid.
So many options, so many reasons. It’s hard to choose which mask to hide behind. Really, though, my true reason is much more different.
Whatever I choose now, I’ll be stuck with it. But still…
There you go again. Typical Aaron, letting his emotions cloud his decisions. You never really change do you?
I take a deep breath. Why don’t I want to join him?
“Because I know what it’s like to burn.”