The thing about blackness is that you can get used to it. I certainly had dealt with my fair share of it recently, especially when I was a lowly Tier 1 or 2. Shit so much had happened since then that I was finding it hard to keep track of the changes.

Sprite, what do you mean you may be unavailable?

Sprite?

Sprite, come on, you know that I need your help. Fuck this is not funny.

I waited.

I know or knew that Sprite was an independent entity, but a fairly intimate bond forms when something shares your head and even your energy matrix. Not physical, although my interpretation of Sprite's voice was pretty damn hot, but it was more like I had just lost part of my brain. I felt crippled.

Alone.

Stats

I waited.

Sprite?

Fuck. As much as my broken HUD had been annoying, I had not realised how comforting it was. It gave some sense of purpose, and it was almost my own wiki on how to survive an apocalypse.

Shit. Shit, Shit.

I was falling back into old habits. With no frames of reference for sight or touch, I was at the mercy of my thoughts, and I was pretty sure I was not known for my deep thinking. Crap. Sarah would be laughing at me.

Thinking of Sarah for once didn’t fill me with guilt or conflicting emotions about Rach. I was happy to live with a complicated relationship as long as we all communicated and were delighted with what the others were willing to contribute. Shit which young heterosexual male would not be happy to be in a complicated relationship. I'm pretty sure it would be a reasonably normal relationship by the standards of some people who were 'influencers' and 'celebrities' pre-integration.

Shit, I was totally alone. If Sprite were around, I would not be hearing the end of this, some crap about my biological needs driving my behaviour, showing respect and all that.

I had no concept of how long I had been here or even where it was; it was black and silent. I could not feel my body, but I knew I had one somewhere; it was not quite an anesthetic; it was more an echo of something that I half-remembered. Something was waiting for me to get my shit together and work out how to retake control.

Shit. Maybe I was dead, but I didn’t feel dead. My last thoughts were of me wishing I was, but I think that I was beyond being killed even if my brain was mushed. As long as part of my consciousness resided somewhere in my energy matrix or body, I am sure I would recover eventually. I had damn skills that said so. Except they didn’t work at the moment.

Crap.

After some time, nothing happened, so I decided to take stock. What did I need to do, and what did I need to achieve? What were my goals? Short-term and long-term, and how would I get there?

I decided that I would have personal, community and long-term weird goals. Individual goals were an easy category to consider; they were just things that affected me directly, like gaining power. The community was around Earth Inc or Earth Alliance, or whatever the fuck they were calling it now, around the Empire and how we all fit into it. Long-term weird goals were the ones that were more about finding out information and maximising my involvement with the system, quests, crafting and research. All the things like finding out where my sword and shield were made, delving into some of the more esoteric aspects, like who was behind the LOG messages. Shit, even who was behind the Kallax messages.

Kallax: finally.

Shit, I nearly crapped my non-existent pants.

Kallax: We need to talk.

Um, ok. Who are you, and why now?

Kallax: Think. Earn your information. Don't ask stupid questions. No. Not stupid questions, questions you can think your way through to an approximate answer.

Shit. So, I was purged and got rid of all the toxins. Tier 5 toxins. That was the final barrier?

Kallax: It's not a barrier; it's more of an impediment to your understanding.

So, I would not be able to understand you prior to my releasing all the embedded toxins?

Kallax: Toxin is a generic term. What do you think they were? What is their connection to the System and your Broken Interface?

The System Nanites. The OS. The HUD. Sprite. Crap, is she ok.

Kallax: You are mostly correct. Sprite is safe. You will meet up with her after we conclude our business.

Ok. What business?

Kallax: What do you remember?

I stopped to think. Kallax said there were no stupid questions. I really thought through my responses, which was not in my first nature. I liked to feel things out rather than spend time planning.

Not much, to be honest. My recollections are fading, and I am looking at only a short period of time.

Kallax: The system encourages short-term gain. Your Tier started interfering with the System's natural progression, so there were incidents.

Shit. The invasion, the incursions, Tangle, The Emperor, me being Champion, Rach?

Kallax: And more. You were always meant to be a tool. Tier 5 broke your usefulness. Imagine if your hammer suddenly started picking the nails it would hit. Or if your rifle decided it would not shoot if it disagreed with your target.

I was really hurt by the implications, yet I understood that I had questioned agency and self-determination with Sprite and others before. Hearing something like this from something that I would consider to be near god-like in both powers was like a kick in the nuts.

Sprite? I could really need your help here.

Log? You there?

Shit, I was really alone. Or as alone as I could be in a sensory deprivation situation with my thoughts and some greater being intruding. I sighed mentally. Crap, I was turning into a brooding teen. I had to get a grip. Sarah would kill me if I didn’t find out more, and Mike would just laugh and agree that I was a tool. Get a grip. I could do this, except I had no frame of references other than many bad movies, TV series, and books from which to pull fictional tropes.

Sorry, how would you like me to refer to you? Kallax is my understanding.

Kallax: Kallax is sufficient. I have engineered it so we have time, so please ask questions; if they are below where I think we should be at this stage, I will let you know. Please also be aware that my patience is not unlimited. There are some pressing issues we need to discuss, and we do need to prepare you for what comes next.

Can we start with Who are you?

Kallax: Not what are you? A good start. Giving me the benefit of being an entity in my own right is a good step. Some would attribute me to a force of nature, but that would just limit your understanding. I will start with a question of my own: What do you know about the nature of reality?

Shit, he, or it, damn, was it appropriate to ask something like this its preferred pronouns? Crap. Was gender relevant here? It was not as if I had a physical manifestation of my presence. Without my body, was I even male or female? Was Darwin's theory of reproduction as a biological imperative moot without biology? Shit. I was not up to this kind of thinking.

Focus. I could almost hear Sprite yelling that at me despite her absence. Shit, was Sprite she? Damn, was my entire worldview skewed by biology?

I gathered my thoughts.

My understanding has shifted. Integration, the system, energy, and even connecting with you have significantly altered what I thought was reality. I mean, a year ago, I would have loved to have been in a bar with some close friends debating this.

Well, Sarah and Mike. Not so much debate as regurgitating what pop science of the moment thought reality was. A mix of string theory, infinite worlds, or more mundane like classical Einstein's space-time mumbo jumbo. Mike would have thrown in some, but we are in a simulation just to make everyone groan. Now, I knew it was not even a mix of all of them but something far more complex. I mean, we all knew reality was complex, and trying to describe it was like trying to describe a beautiful painting while only referencing one colour, being blind and having no concept of paintings. Or beauty.

It seems to me that there is a hierarchy of tiers related to Energy. Karma also appears to play a part in driving reality. Your existence tends to imply that the Tiers can be transcended and that there is more to reality than just this observable one. I have been in subspaces, compressed time, and portable to places I can only assume are related to the reality I left. The Empire's System seems to connect most of my reality.

Kallax: Sufficient yet flawed with a kernel of the first layers of truth.

I felt like a preschooler having quantum mechanics explained to me.

Kallax: I am a representation of intent. This 'Kallax' is much like your hand is to an ant. Kallax can interact with you with care yet cannot interact with you while you remain within the ant nest for fear of destruction and the impossibility of finding the one and amongst trillions.

The ring?

Kallax: Honey to entice a suitable ant out. A way for Kallax to observe the nest.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Shit. You painted my abdomen so you could find me?

Kallax: A poor but appropriate analogy.

Can we leave the ant metaphors out of this now? I'd rather not have any more existential crises than I already have.

Kallax: Yes, Kallax needs you to step away from that mentality as well. What do you know of the system?

For once, I felt that I could talk about some of the secrets that had been either blocked or that I had system oaths to protect. It seemed that the system or its restrictions did not bind me. Thanks to the purging I had just been through, I also saw what it did.

The system is a construct that gives access to shortcuts to use energy.

Kallax: But what is it, how does it do what it does?

Damn, these were secrets that Rach had passed on, and despite where I was, I still felt some loyalty to her. Crap. But if this being knew already and seemed to know I knew, was it a betrayal of trust?

I have an oath not to speak of these, yet even now, when the oath is not enforceable through punishment, I feel reluctant to speak on it. I am unsure if that is free will, loyalty or an echo of the oath.

Kallax: or a combination. The fact you acknowledge it and frame it as loyalty is good and bad. Good, you can recognise it, yet bad, because loyalty could be used against you.

Shit. I had to make a leap of faith here now.

The system is a sapient being that …

Kallax: No. It is sentient.

Ok. It is a sentient being that has been artificially constructed to provide access to these energy shortcuts to alter the natural laws of reality to anyone who has access to the nanites …

Kallax: That is the start of it's indoctrination. The System is a construct. We will discuss its origins soon, but by now, you should start to realise that natural laws are not as pervasive as you imagine. You should also think of the nanites as closer to what your medical science would call virions that are used to extend the system outside its control sphere.

So the system is an animal that is spreading itself like …

Crap. Back to Darwin, and the biological imperative is to reproduce. I dredged up my memories of what I could recall about his theory and the related more modern psychological theory, not that I was an expert or had paid attention, skim reading rather than reading to retain. Competition and territory were considered part of it, with arguments for monogamy in a species and for polygamy, and they had been used as a basis to justify eugenics, racism and hatred, yet also community, caring and support. Fuck, if humans were capable of such bullshit, what hope did the wider – I guess I would call it galactic, although universal would be more apt sounded crap – the galactic community have.

Kallax: Not an animal, a construct.

I could now reveal Rach's secrets—not that she knew all of what they meant now, just what they were.

Created by the imprisonment of greater beings to power it, the Writ of Justice and the Hunter Throne.

Kallax: Yes.

Shit. And you are here to free them?

Kallax: No.

Explain. I am missing something.

I felt some amusement coming at me. Or akin to amusement, more pity and irony of a partly true statement said in the face of the ultimate truth.

Kallax: You are missing a lot. It comes back to the nature of reality. Any force with sufficient complexity can gain a semblance of sentience, the ability to experience sensations and feelings, such as pain, pleasure, emotions, and subjective experiences, and be able to respond to these stimuli. The universe is full of beings that rise and fall, and few move up; fewer species move up from reaction to stimuli to be able to make abstract thoughts and have true self-awareness. Fewer individuals move further still and transcend sapience.

You are one?

Kallax: For now, that is sufficient, yes. So, we have beings who are able to think and others who can reason and think. The nature of reality is relevant because in each universe or realm, here, your Earth is in a reality that without bending or breaking the local realm rules, you cannot leave it. Part of transcending sapience is grasping at this. Beings on the cusp, beings who have power yet not, let us call it wisdom, can alter and bend the rules.

Let me guess, someone broke the rules?

Kallax: Yes, more than someone. Remember territory and competition? Curiosity and exploration to find out what lies beyond also drive beings. Your universe was invaded by beings from a higher energy realm, which means it has a naturally higher energy field. The ambient energy would be your equivalent of Tier 3, low Tier 4.

What is Earth's Realm ambient energy?

Kallax: High Tier 0.

But…

Kallax: These beings who were explorers and were curious came to your realm, and without going into too much detail, I will leave that to you to investigate, if you think it necessary, were captured and bound. Over time, their energy was used to empower and create what you call the System. It was a culmination of technology, science and energy using stolen knowledge. Perhaps it is one of this realm's most significant accomplishments that it has contributed to the broader dimensional community.

So, the system is evil...

Kallax: By now, you should know not to couch it in those terms. No, not evil, more misguided and with dire consequences. Not good. For if I told you that batteries you power or used to use to power, all your devices were living beings, and you killed them through use, how would that make you feel?

Shit.

Kallax: They are not, but in ignorance, the creators of the System did not know they were tapping into sapient energy sources.

But they found out and …

Kallax: Created another one.

Prism.

Kallax: Yes. Although it was more a mutation or variant, as the system had become self-sustaining, something that was never meant to happen.

So, you are here to stop it?

Kallax: No.

Who or what are you?

Kallax: Better questions. I am Kallax's intent to help Kallax's origin realm. You could consider me a guardian.

And what about the being that Sarah came in contact with?

Kallax: I cannot comment too much, as interference at this level, even if our goal coincides, is considered uncivilised. Yet you could consider her, and yes, at the moment, she considered herself what you would consider feminine without your Earth baggage; she would be the disappointed older sister, looking out for you, giving advice and hoping you do the right thing.

Are you both from this realm?

Kallax: Yes, which is why we are being given consideration to attend to any issues.

Given that, why me? What do you want me to do? Why now?

Kallax: Kallax has an attachment to this realm. A Kallax is a known gambler.

I felt more amusement coming at me.

Kallax: and your reckless heeding of the broadcast gained Kallax's attention. The fact you received the broadcast indicated you had potential. That you acted on it in such a manner meant you were usable.

Shit. I had signed up without knowing.

Kallax: At the moment, your realm is on the precipice of something that will alter it beyond the original guidelines for its creation. Without intervention, the higher and lower energy realms will disturb the balance, producing a cascading effect across realms that can intersect with this one.

Void and Chaos?

Kallax: Such do the System and Prism label them. They are just realms like this, full of what you would consider morally good and bad, but they are reacting to the imprisonment and torture of two beings.

Did they try negotiation or diplomacy?

Kallax: Yes. Then, they had to operate under the local rules of this realm, which were being subverted by the Systems with the influx of foreign energy. The local rules were being bent, broken and rewritten. Incursions, chaos stones and void stones.

I felt sick.

So, everything the system did was propagate itself and defend against the loss of its power sources?

Kallax: Yes. All the energy you consume and use is drawn from those beings and fed back to the System.

I still feel I am missing something; what about the AIs, Karma and …

Kallax: Finally. Tell me what you think.

Karma somehow became sentient, then sapient. The same with AIs.

Kallax: Somehow, this realm is producing Sentience and Sapience at an unprecedented rate. Karma is a concept and force transcended. The species of your friend Hydrox are on the verge, AIs and Harold. Which, in terms of the timescales of reality, means that the transcendence rate will be unprecedented. Those transcendent beings already from this realm were allowed to investigate with a view to nurture or destroy. Your planet has something that is acting like a catalyst for this process.

So everything has been about our planet, and now …

Kallax: It is about to be destroyed; we are moving to mitigate and protect that catalyst.

Fuck. What do you mean about to be destroyed? What can we do to save it?

Kallax: Nothing. We can mitigate. Despite our power, we, too, are bound. Most greater beings are disinclined to even consider the fate of one planet, for what is the birth and death of a star to a being that sleeps longer than the known age of your realm? Yet, even to us, this catalyst is interesting, much like the rise of another queen ant in the nest, which is interesting to outside observers.

Stop with the ants. What about the people .. shit, we were saving them from the invasion …

Kallax: The catalyst is embedded in your biology and energy matrix and that of your species. You, Sarah and Amy, are of interest. Others around you are gaining significance, and as a whole, your species and creations have more potential than most others. You have been given extraordinary powers and access to unlock the necessary tools. There is time to reduce harm. I would protect your species, yet their existence is a magnet for people seeking power. You must be covert and hide what you do, even from me. This realm cannot contain the seeds of who you will all become, the potential, and the rapid rise in what you call Tiers, which will drain the inter-realm energy matrixes, hastening invasion.

So we need to stash...

Kallax: Do not continue. Some things bind me, and if I know, others will, too. But know that leaving … no, I cannot inform you. You know already that this realm cannot support you.

Harold. What happened to him? And what about the Drakes? Can this realm support them as well?

Kallax: Harold succeeded. Quickly. That is something for you to find out, and as for the Drakes, that is their secret. Just as I am yours, you will find out one day. You should know by now that reality is just a guide for those with sufficient power.

So, with sufficient power, you can do anything?

Kallax: Theoretically, yes. However, containing the power in a vessel that the realm can support and dealing with the consequences of using that power are considerations. Remember this.

Where does that leave me now?

Kallax: I will leave you to set your goals.

Wait, what about the ring, the n-space and the Blight?

Kallax: I will leave you the ring. I suggest you find a way to mask it as if I can use it to track you, then others can. It has power and significance outside of my intended use as a honeypot. N-space is what the System labels anything outside its ability to reason; null-space, more like Null in your coding languages, is a value that has special meaning yet is not definable.

So, it was a countdown to ….

Kallax: A count down to the energy stored in the ring to purge the toxins as you gain power and synergy with the greater reality. Things moved quicker, so you were nudged here.

Fuck, so you can ...

Kallax: NO. I am bound. You must not even think that I am directly involved.

Ok, ok. What about the blight?

Kallax: These are weapons in the invasions, something akin to weapons of mass destruction that have, in terms of your nuclear weapons, fallout.

What can we do about them?

Kallax: Contain and flee. Any last questions?

Shit so many. What happened to Sprite? Why am I not able to contact her here?

Kallax: You should know that. We are in your nascent reality. Sprite cannot meet you here yet; her current form is incompatible with your purged biological representation of your will. You have drawn too much attention, and she has developed too fast. You will work something out. Remember, you are not alone and do not need to shoulder everything. Trust is a rare commodity amongst those with power. The more you have, the more you have to lose.

So how do I leave here?

Kallax: You don’t.