The arachnid campaign is a powerful case study on protected beast class predation, done right. Arachnid control over reality-bending Daos nearly crippled our zone 4 intelligence network. In as little as two centuries, our assets were feeding us solely arachnid misinformation. It’s with great luck that the arachnid king’s arrogance was as unequaled as his species' intelligence capability. Without a truly powerful backer, their petty attempts at conquest landed them in a system lockout across the greater Cazoran region. To think, they relied on a JE protocol in the 400s and wished to conquer Cazoran in open conflict. With a Primal-linked army no less! The sheer hubris! It is only a shame that the system would not allow us to wipe out the scourge by the roots.

Isolate, contain, then aggravate.

– Pendulum didactic, Elimination of a Species

Chapter 15 – Webs

Her command cut through the thick atmosphere, reaching Edgar just as he glanced up, his large, expressive eyes widening. With a haste born of surprise and unyielding trust, he drew mana towards the chain. The confluence of their combined powers powered the enchantment and Kristina froze, her advance stymied by the binding of the seal.

The chamber trembled faintly as Toki and Edgar beheld the ensnared form of Kristina. The chain, inscribed with their new enchantment, writhed like serpents around the arachnid. Kristina's eyes, eight pools mirroring the void itself, widened with an emotion that bordered on incredulity. The immediate aftermath of her entrapment painted her features with bewilderment.

The spider now found herself caught in an unexpected web of mortal make.

"Speak, spider," Toki demanded. “Your illusions, your lurking—what’re you after?" A blend of fear and curiosity bubbled in her tone. Despite the intrusion, Kristina DID help us with our enchantment. For freedom perhaps? But... why is she bound in the first place? And why trick us?

Edgar’s bright plumage dimmed in the oppressive atmosphere as Kristina’s enchantment suddenly switched off. He shifted uncomfortably beside Toki. His normally vibrant demeanor retreated behind a veil of timidity. “What!? Where did that come from!?” He reached for the safety of his katana but did not draw, following Toki’s lead.

The intensity of the moment hung.

Kristina's countenance softened.

With measured grace Kristina probed with telepathy, her voice an echo of something archaic, "Your audacity intrigues me. You step into my home, seal me in my foyer, and accuse me of deception?”

“Who chains themselves within their own house?” Toki replied.

“You have a point, love. Though, to escape my illusion and bind one such as I, you have indeed proven yourselves... resourceful… to say the least. But you are intruders here, nonetheless."

Kristina's chitin limbs, entwined in the chain, performed a slow ballet of acceptance as her form relaxed into the enchantment's embrace. She’s not worried. I bet she could break this if she wanted. The enchantment is only half-done.

"Though bravery or folly… it matters little." Kristina mused. "To broker peace with a beast speaks of a courage that is rare… No weapons drawn, naiveté, perhaps… but commendable. You may prove yourself yet." A shimmering array of colors danced across the spider’s chitin, casting prismatic shadows on the surroundings. In this moment of confinement, she seemed less a prisoner and more a queen presiding over an audience of two.

Toki noted the subtle tilt of the spider's head, an almost imperceptible nod of respect, but also the way her many eyes gleamed with a darkness not entirely born of this world.

"Who are you? There won’t be peace if you don’t give us answers." Toki demanded. I don’t think I can defeat her. Hells, I doubt Dutch Eternal could’ve.

"Ah. I’ve already told you… no? I am Kristina. I am an existence as boundless as your color gods," she intoned, "I am simultaneously the artisan, the thread, and the amphitheater. I am a scholar skirting amongst the stars, my soul scattered across innumerable arachnid, each a fragment of my greater canvas."

A chill crept along Toki's spine, her mind grappling with the magnitude of the entity before her. She sensed the enormity of Kristina's wisdom that dwarfed her own mortal life. It’s the truth. The wisp of aura emanating from the spider now could dwarf even Golgheim. And he’s a fucking planet.

"Why are you here? Why care about us?" Toki's voice was a whisper, barely audible over the thrumming energy that pulsed from Kristina's confined figure.

"Hmmm… my story is a sad one. I will not labor you with my melancholy. I walk the path of sentience and I seek inspiration. I care more about your own… story."

Kristina continued, "To comprehend the myriad forms of consciousness is to create objective from the subjective. You, love, like many, are but a single fascination in my grand design. I, too, am but a single thought of the true Kristina. No… you would not understand. Not yet."

“I grow weary of this place… it has become rather lonely here without him. Among these books I have learned of your people," Kristina began. "As I leave, I search for someone who can shoulder the karma once more."

Toki, still reeling from the revelation of Kristina's celestial origin, struggled to piece together the fragmented puzzle before her. The system message—the kill order complicates things further. Why does the system want her dead?

The philosopher-spider's motives, cloaked in lofty gibberish, grated against Toki's understanding. When you start dealing with cosmic entities, do they start piling on? Is this what karma means?

Toki interrupted, her frustration seeping through her words. "You claim to search for the truth, yet you ensnared us in webs of deceit. How can you justify such lies?"

Kristina's galaxy-swirled eyes narrowed, not in anger, but as if homing in on the core of Toki's turmoil. "You ask an arachnid to not spin a web? I may be the last of my kind, but even still, my people are not so long forgotten." Kristina replied, her tone even. "Sometimes, to protect, one must first obscure. To reveal all would be to invite chaos upon both the seeker and… the guardian."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Chaos… is just what I need," Toki remarked, voice sarcastic. There was cunning in the spider's words, a depth that both terrified and enthralled. Inspired and tempted. Yet beneath the awe, suspicion coiled tightly within Toki's chest. "You’re speaking in riddles," Toki pressed, "how about you speak plainly."

Kristina regarded Toki with a strange gaze. Her form remained still and solemn. And then, ever so slightly, she inclined her head, acknowledging the challenge laid bare by Toki's demand for clarity.

"I will not. Truth is the most precious commodity," Kristina whispered, "and I am its keeper. In you, perhaps, lies the potential for a new chapter in its safeguarding. But potential is fickle. Like your Twice flame—it must be tested, tempered, and trusted."

“You know of my flame?”

“How could I not, young wielder?”

The words hung between them. Toki felt herself drawn into the orbit of Kristina’s profound sense of purpose, a pull as undeniable as gravity, yet fraught with the unknown.

[Law Cats have filed an injunction on behalf of Tokyo Twice. All non-Aris entities have been refused entry to Aris]

[System has acknowledged injunction]

Good news! Do I even need to be here anymore? This means Marsha did it! It’s even better than Golgheim expected!

“We don’t have time for riddles. We need to find the dragon’s beast core!” Edgar jumped in.

“You cannot handle this karma, avian. Leave us.”

Toki motioned Edgar behind her. Edgar, she knows about my flame.

“And you suppose I can? Hold this karma?”

“Whether we are fated or not… I do not know, love.”

“Why would I want your help. You tried to attack Edgar.”

“Your fear rules you, child.”

“I am not naïve. And I am not a child.”

“Are you skittish then? Paranoid?”

I should be paranoid. You’re a giant-ass spider.

Kristina continued, “Paranoia is an easy excuse. Do you fear the stars in the sky? Purple or Red? The depths of enchanting?” She leaned in towards Toki. “I am but another unknown, masked by the hair on my thorax, with fangs and eyes and arms abound. You fear me?”

Toki considered. “Don’t twist the truth. What is reality? If all we perceive is a subjective reflection, how do we trust anything?" Perhaps I can talk our way out. She seems like she won’t snap.

Kristina smiled… or at least what Toki thought was a smile. "Each of us drinks from the stream that tastes most familiar, yet can none claim to know the fullness of its source?"

"I haven’t drawn my weapon, but you have. I know to trust that falsehoods presented as truths are wrong." Toki's words were laced with skepticism.

"Consider the library around us," Kristina proposed, gesturing to the endless rows of books. "Every tome holds a world unto itself—a perspective, crafted by the mind of its author. Can you claim one narrative reigns supreme over another?"

Toki pondered.

"No... but surely there must be a line between fact and fiction?"

"Lines are drawn by those who wield the quill. There is truth. But what is truth at one moment, can be false the next… with power, that is." Kristina said, her voice a harmony. “Your mind is not ready for further truth, much less your avian friend.”

“Now. I have introduced myself. Care to share the courtesy.”

“Tokyo Twice.”

The spider nodded.

“Edgar Featherstone.”

The spider ignored.

"Balance, dear Tokyo, is everything. For if I create imbalance for you, you will not be able to shoulder the consequences." Kristina's form shimmered, casting prismatic light across the stone floor. "Karma is the cosmic arbiter, impartial yet relentless, balancing the scales of existence. It ensures that for every deception, I can instill a revelation. For every ignorance, enlightenment. For how could I justify the boon of helping you enchant, without deceiving you first?"

"Isn’t that absurd? You have your own will.”

"Deception is my nature, as the stars are to the night, I will it so," Kristina confessed, her voice softening. "But it is also my charge to illuminate the darkness. In each soul I encounter, I seek to instill a quest for understanding, to kindle the flame of curiosity that might one day outshine their singular ignorance."

"An admirable goal, perhaps," Toki conceded to the confusing monologue, her tone softening, "but fraught with peril, I’m sure. Nothing in it for you, huh?"

"Indeed, all great quests are.” Kristina paused, then continued. “In seeking to understand others, I unravel the enigma of my own path. So, I ask you, Tokyo, will you accept my trial?"

[The Primes of Aris have been notified of a bounty request for Tokyo Twice from the Kathoric Dynasty.]

[As there is contractual conflict resulting in the refusal of entry to members of the Kathoric Dynasty, pending trade contracts have been frozen. Priority given to user with highest protocol privilege.]

[Prime Speaker has called upon the Primes of Aris for a meld – agree?]

[Timer: 10 minutes]

Why now! We were so close.

Toki's gaze drifted to the enigmatic figure of Kristina, her thoughts spiraling. Was it you? How’s this possible? I’m a prime, I can decline their bounty, right?

“What do you say, love?”

Toki considered. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

In frustration, Toki launched into anecdote. "Beyond the reach of this world lies the galactic center. This was a place where artisans create the impossible. Flying insects and buildings that scrape the sky. It’s a place of profound innovation."

“I know of these worlds.” Kristina replied.

"Within this heartland," Toki continued, "exists society so advanced, their creations defy the limitations of what I know to be true. Cities pulse with more powerful mana constructions than our greatest thinkers have even imagined."

"To think," she whispered, her eyes gleaming with an inner fire, "a world of enlightenment, millennia more prosperous than our own, where even the darkest secrets of the universe are puzzles."

Kristina chittered.

"Should I recount such wonders to the people of Allie Ring," she mused aloud, "they would cast their doubt upon my words as surely as your stars are to the night. But the truth of my journey isn't diminished by their disbelief."

She turned her head, locking eyes with Edgar, who had been silent, absorbed in the gravity of her storytelling, incredulous. In that moment, Toki knew that the truth was a chameleon, ever-changing based on the eyes that beheld it.

"Perception molds our reality," and reality molds our perception, Toki concluded, her tone laced with a newfound sense of certainty. "Our beliefs carve the path we walk. Kristina, you mold our perceptions so freely. So, no. I will not accept your trial. I will not accept your path."

Kristina smiled.

“But I am not a slaver. I am not Red. Edgar, release her.” I’m not Red.

Toki's monologue dissipated into the hallowed silence of the chamber alongside the mana lighting up the chain. Edgar released his own without question.

She turned to Edgar, her gaze softening. In it, there was trust—a silent communion in the face of the unfathomable. Her hands found solace in the folds of her robe as she regarded Edgar with gratitude.

It was then that Edgar's feathers bristled, a sudden shift in his demeanor breaking the solemnity. "But what about Dutch Eternal?" he asked, his voice now edged with a sense of immediacy. "Where are we going to find that beast core?"

Toki looked at Kristina, but the spider remained silent. Smile fixed on her head.

“Can we trust you?”

“I think you’ve found your own answer to that, no?”

“She won’t attack us?” Edgar chimed in.

“No. No, she won’t.”

[Quest corrupted: parity conditions have exceeded tolerated karmic balance.]

Kristina's smile grew larger.

[Toki has been granted a Dao-Seed: Path of Sentience]

[5/5 Primes have agreed to council]

[You are being summoned by Prime Speaker of Aris. Prepare for meld in 5 seconds.]