The Universe

Everywhere…Nowhere…

The beings present, for lack of a better word, discussed and debated the latest matter. They didn’t use words, emotions, or other concepts the human mind could properly comprehend. Their interactions were more…impressions and intent. A sense of what was, what had been, what will be. To these beings, the concepts were abstract, and yet objective. Events were not precise, and time was not linear, but they could be perceived in such an order for the purposes of existence.

These beings had existence before anything else, and would exist long after. Their singular purpose, to observe, to assess, and to adjust. They observe everything, assess it for natural order, and where appropriate, adjust the path. They do not change the natural order, but they often find need to interfere with sentient or sapient species to correct unnatural paths.

The beings rarely find need to correct most species, however there are a select few who seem incapable of avoiding disorderly and unnatural paths. Most frequently topping that select few is a species that refer to themselves as humans. A species who far too often will slip down the dark path. Historically they have done terrible things to members of their own species, with reasons ranging from the petty greed of a single individual to the tyrannical overflow of “the greater good.” No other species has required adjustment nearly so much as humans. Though, on occasion they do self-correct before action is required.

Unfortunately, this is not one of those occasions. The beings are well past the debate stage of whether they can avoid adjustment, and have moved onto discussing how to adjust. If time for the beings equalled that of humans, this stage will have taken place for millennia. Fortunately for humanity, this stage has only taken the barest flicker of time by any measurement of the abstract concept.

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Previously, as such things exist for those in a linear time dimension, the beings would adjust humanity in subtle ways. A whisper into the mind of a man who would be traitor, a suggestive influence to encourage two empires to clash. These methods worked far better when humanity only worshipped their deities. Now though, the beings were considering a more direct approach. Choosing a champion. Not to be mistaken for a hero. Heroes existed for an ideology. Ideologies inevitably corrupted, or disappointed, their followers. A champion, however, need only understand intrinsic order versus enforced order.

The beings transitioned the discussion. They determined a direct approach to be unavoidable, and so they moved to determining a suitable champion. A difficult feat, as the nature of human lifespans meant searching through those who lived during the time relevant to the current issue they sought to correct. Variables were considered, including the capabilities of the individual, their mental and psychological state at critical points in their life, the ability to defend themselves until they could fully come into their own. Selections were assessed and discarded at a rate that no human computer could match for at least another thousand of their years.

Finally, it was narrowed down to three potential candidates. A human male, living in a continental region referred to as East Asia, the year 1981. A human male, living in the continental region known as North America, the year 2031. A human female, living in the continental region known as Europe, the year 2089.

All three had the potential to be a champion. The beings used a form of intent-based temporal logic to review their possible futures. Of the three candidates, the human female had the greatest raw potential, however the time period in which they would be ready occurs too late for proper adjustment. The human male from the East Asian region offers the ideal timeline to adjust early, however their future shows potential for abuse of power and eventual decline of intrinsic order.

The third candidate’s likelihood of abusing the power is reasonably low, and their potential is above average, however there will be a smaller window for them to acclimate and start adjusting or the risk to humanity’s future could remain grave.

The decision was made, agreed upon by all but one of the beings, who did not explicitly disagree with the decision, but could not find harmony with the decision. With that, the Chaos Engine was set in motion.