Eternal Recurrence?
She was the daughter of the Goddess Umbra, though she looked nothing like her mother. Her mother with her Velvet black hair, smoke-grey eyes, and a smile that could melt anyone's heart. If Mom wasn’t angry with you, then she’d just rip it out. She smiled. Her mother had a temper, though she was pretty sure she’d inherited it from her father. Unlike her mother, she was blessed with bright red hair and a complexion that radiated warmth, although she could also take on a form similar to her mother’s umbral dragon form. Still, the Multiverse was changing which required her to talk to her father.
For want of a better description, she teleported into her father’s living room. It wasn’t teleportation in the sense that the 20th Century earthlings would define it as instantaneous travel between two points within what they termed the Universe. No, the power she utilized to travel from where she’d been to where she was now crossed vast distances between more than seven dimensions and three universes. It also helped that her father allowed her access to this place, or she wouldn’t have even been able to enter his Domain.
She looked around for a moment and then felt her father out on the balcony overlooking the desert below. This was the place she found him almost every time she visited. It was one of his historical homes up in the Rocky Mountains in North America, circa twenty twenty-something. She remembered the white sands off in the distance and the city below, though he’d long ago removed the people he’d allowed to live there. They’d moved out into the Multiverse, lived, and died a long time ago. Her Father’s Domain was empty except for sunlight or starlight, the wind, and the rain if he allowed it. She didn’t think he even allowed insects in this place, though she couldn’t be sure.
Her Father turned from his contemplations on his balcony and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She knew he would have thought of it as imitating a long-dead actor from the 20th century. Then again, that actor could exist again, couldn’t he; she wasn’t sure.
“Yes,” her father asked.
“An Eternal Recurrence has happened?”
“Already? Has it been that long?
“I have your memory and abilities, Father. I know you know exactly how much time has passed, and I know you remember.”
“I do,” he said with a gentle smile.
“This one is different, though.”
“It would be,” he agreed.
“But aren’t Eternal Recurrences supposed to be an exact copy of what happened before?”
“Chaos and change, dear, there are always changes. Besides, you know the SYSTEM you grew up in has undergone changes as well. The ones I instituted and even more over the eons and millennia that have passed. Also, if change wasn’t part of the process, we would have run into copies of ourselves when this all started.”
“As I remember, from your memories, you did,” she pointed out.
“Doesn’t count; those were alternate realities, not Eternal Recurrences. A copy is just that: a copy. Something that spontaneously reappears because the electrons and protons happen to line up, for lack of a better description, not the same thing.”
“Still, Dad, with what you told me, an Eternal Recurrence couldn’t have happened. Each iteration started after everything had been wiped from before. Actual infinity without entropic cycles was not possible back then,” she pointed out.
“Very true. Especially since we both know the Universe in which we originated has expanded and contracted as quantum events have occurred within its domain repeatedly for a long time now.”
“This Eternal Recurrence is not within our SYSTEM. It’s in one of the newer ones. It is also trying to expand into the various SYSTEMs we already know about and probably some others we haven’t discovered yet,” she said.
“Is the Eternal Recurrence spontaneous or Artificial?”
“Spontaneous, as far as I can determine. There is no hint of anyone creating the Universe where the Eternal Recurrence emerged.”
“Interesting,” her Father said as he looked thoughtful before he asked, “If you are bringing this to me…did Earth return?”
“Yes.”
“Primore?”
“No.”
“A shame,” her father said. “Already changes in the tapestry are evident.”
“Are you showing an interest?” She asked. It had been so long since he showed interest in anything.
“I am curious,” he said with the hint of a smile.
“Order dominates Chaos within that SYSTEM,” she explained.
“Order has begun to dominate all the SYSTEMs, you know this,” her Father pointed out.
“Will you intervene?”
“No, not yet, maybe never; let’s see what happens.” When he noticed that she really wanted him to intervene because she thought the forces of Order were overstepping their authority, he continued, “What was the quote, ‘The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers,’ or, in this case, Universes.”
“Dad, that’s so outdated, and I’m not even sure if that movie exists on this new Recurrence of Earth yet. Wait! You believe it will self-correct?” she said thoughtfully. “So you are interested.”
“Just call it Earth; if it has spontaneously reappeared, the planet has earned its name. Also, I’ll agree that I am moderately curious.”
Her father hadn’t shown much interest in anything, as far as she could tell. Maybe this Eternal Recurrence would pull him out of this self-imposed exile.
“It was good seeing you, Dad, but I need to go talk to Mom. She just sent out a request for contact just before I came to see you.”
Her father smiled, “Please let her know I might come by later.”
Her father must have noticed her look of surprise because he laughed at her reaction: “I do not plan to stay in this place forever, dear.”
“Okay, Dad, I’ll let her know,” the shock in her voice that he might actually venture out of his domain was evident in her voice.
She gave her dad a hug and then returned to her Domain. Neither her father nor herself were classified as deities by any SYSTEM, which wasn’t to say that they were just as, if not more powerful than, the most powerful deity within any SYSTEM they’d encountered. They had come across hints of others like themselves over the eons, but none had sought either of them out. The changes that were occurring could be a change in the status quo, though.
As she walked up to her estate, her mother’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “You could have asked him to join us?”
“He said he might stop by to talk to you later. That would be better than him sitting in that domain and sulking,” she said.
“Actually, he doesn’t, but that’s his secret to tell,” her mother stated with a sly grin.
“What?”
“How many Replicants do you have out in the Multiverse?” her mother, The SYSTEM’s designated replacement for the Goddess Umbra, asked.
“A lot,” she admitted.
“Your father can do everything you can do, including change his form and mimic any person or class because of his class and abilities. Even with the changes the SYSTEM has undergone over the eons, you two reside outside its authority and ignore its mandates.”
“I know this mom.”
“I know you do. I wonder when you forget that he had Replicants also?”
“I haven’t seen him anywhere but in his Domain in hundreds of millions of thousands of Earth years."
“Exactly. Now, be a darling and join me for some tea. We have much to discuss.”
As her mother created the table, chairs, and tea they’d share with a wave of her hand, she admonished herself: When had she forgotten what her father was capable of?
***
Eternal Recurrence, also called Eternal Return, is a philosophical concept which states that time repeats itself in an infinite loop, and that exactly the same events will continue to occur in exactly the same way, over and over again, for eternity.
Connor looked up from his Wikipedia page as Professor McDonald began speaking
“Why did Friedrich Nietzsche consider this a valid theory?” Professor McDonald asked. When no one spoke up, he pointed to Elizabeth Henley. Elizabeth was the one girl in this college that everyone wanted to know. She was beautiful beyond description, nineteen, and every jock's target for awkward conversations. Connor didn’t even think he had a chance to talk to someone who was most obviously a 10, yet somehow, since the class started a month ago, they had talked, in class at least. He still didn’t approach her outside the classroom, which had more to do with his studies and how busy he was than anything else.
Elizabeth gathered her thoughts and then answered the Professor's question, “I don’t know if he thought it was a valid theory, professor, but there is evidence in the material you had us review stating that the theory may have originated in part with Pythagoras. I would think that if Nietzsche knew this, it would cause him to think of the theory as at least partially valid.”
“Very good, Miss Henley. I do appreciate it when our students take the time to read the material and think about it. Yes! There was evidence in the material I assigned you…”
Connor tuned the professor out. The idea that events would repeat themselves endlessly on a personal, world, or even universal scale was utterly preposterous. That would mean all the political crap that had been going on for years would repeat. Or that Stalin would kill between 700,000 and 1.75 million people. All the wars would be repeated, and everyone here was just a copy of someone who had come before. That was just dumb.
Professor McDonald must have seen the look on his face because he turned to Connor and asked, “Something to add, Mr. Nash?”
“Nothing important. I was thinking about what you said, Professor.”
“I bet. Just remember, that’s why it’s called philosophy. These ideas are supposed to get you thinking.”
“Yes, Professor,” the class intoned just as the bell went off.
“And with that, our time is up. Read Chapter 13. Next time, we get to discuss logical thinking.”
Conner stood as the Professor called out the assignment and made his way out of the auditorium where the lecture had been held. For some reason, Introduction to Philosophy had a lot of students and a much bigger class size than most of his other courses. Now that the class was over, he was almost free for the weekend. He had one more thing he had to accomplish for his biology course, but it was a relatively easy task. He needed to go on a hike in the local area and find and document specific plant and animal life if he could find it. Once he was done with that, then he’d be free for the weekend. He’d decided that a hike up to Mt. Kimball would be a great way to accomplish the task. A picture from the peak should allow him to prove to his professor that he’d actually done as required instead of just looking up the information online.
Mt. Kimball was on the north side of Tucson, Arizona. He would hike up to the peak from the trail that started at the Finger Rock Trailhead at the end of North Alvermon Road. There is even a small parking area where he can park his car and a couple of rest areas along the path. What made this trail ideal was that it was only seven and a half miles from the University.
At two o’clock in the afternoon on a Thursday, it only took him fifteen minutes to get to the parking area, put on his hiking boots, and pull out his pack, which had everything he’d need to survive for a day if he had an accident or became delayed. His mom knew he was going up the mountain and expected him back around 8 p.m. for dinner. If he was more than an hour late, without calling, she knew to send help.
The Finger Rock Trail was about five miles long. He’d walked it before and knew that it should take him about two hours each way, with an hour set aside to enjoy the view.
He’d asked Elizabeth to join him for a “nature” hike, but she’d declined. She worked at the local mall in one of those designer outfit outlets in the mall. Was it Express or Forever 21? He wasn’t sure, nor had he visited her there; that would have made it seem like he was trying too hard. He liked her, but he wasn’t going to stalk her. If she were interested, she’d ask him. In what universe? A small part of himself whispered in his mind. He told that part of his mind to shut the hell up.
The hike up the mountain was uneventful. He did come across three other hikers, one man and a couple, who were headed down the trail back to the trailhead. He said his hellos and then returned to cataloging the plants and animals he was observing. He found some Desert Willow, Saguaro Cactus, and even a Velvet Mesquite that someone had planted near the base of the trail. Of course, there were also Creosote bushes and Palo Verde shrubs, which were both familiar to the area.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
His Professor had said to watch for Juniper, Oak, and Sagebrush, and if he found them, to make sure to be able to describe where he found them accurately for bonus points on this task. He didn’t see any of the plants he was looking for near the start of the trail, but as he neared the top, a footpath led off around an outcropping and remained level while the trail to the mountain peak continued up the side of the mountain. He followed the footpath north along the ridge.
As he came around the outcropping, he found a small oak. It hadn’t been planted too long ago, but it looked like it was thriving. He considered the placement and realized that the Oak would receive a good deal of sunlight in the morning but would become shielded by the outcropping in the late afternoon. In Arizona's desert environment, the shade from the outcropping would make all the difference for plants that didn’t normally grow in such environments. Connor pulled out his phone to get the coordinates when he felt like he was being watched. He heard movement off to his left above and behind him on the outcropping. Just as he looked over and up, a coyote jumped at his face.
Years of fencing kicked in, and the walking stick that he had in his right hand came up to block and knocked the coyote’s attack off to the left as he stepped to the right. Simultaneously, he also heard a crack as if something had shaken the whole world. He heard the crack of what he thought was thunder but stayed focused on the Coyote.
He put the sound out of his mind and followed the coyote with his eyes as it continued out over the edge of the drop-off. It was such a quick and devastating strike that the Coyote flew past the safety of the footpath, and while it wasn’t a steep drop-off, the Coyote sailed through the air at least a hundred feet before it slammed into a huge rock further down the mountainside. It did not get up. From Connor’s vantage point, he could see blood pooling around the Coyote’s body. If it wasn’t dead, it soon would be.
Just then, the world around him went dark. There was a moment of silence and darkness. The change lasted for only a moment before everything returned. The air around him shimmered as if he were looking at the pavement during the middle of a summer day in July. As he looked through the haze, he noticed that nothing was moving. Nor could he hear the wind. A quick check of his surroundings verified that the haze surrounded him and that there were no other animals, especially coyotes, nearby.
As he considered what was happening, he noticed that even the noise of the city below had stopped. He looked toward the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and was shocked to see one of the military C-17s, a cargo aircraft, frozen in the act of taking off from the runway. Nothing was moving except for him. Before he could even consider an explanation for what was happening, a pane of energy that looked a lot like the blue screen on his home computer appeared within the bubble of haze he found himself in directly in front of him. Words in English began to scroll down the screen like an old DOS based computer as it booted up.
SYSTEM Integration Commencing.
Identification and Cataloging Commencing.
WARNING! Non-SYSTEM entity detected.
Subject: Connor Orion Nash is receiving active updates.
Subject: Connor Orion Nash should not be receiving updates, elevating.
Working
Connor Orion Nash is responsible for the death of a rapid Coyote .897 seconds after the moment of SYSTEM Initialization on the world designated as Earth.
Working
Herald Protocol requirements met.
The blue screen disappeared as his vision flickered. The words resumed scrolling through his vision. He didn’t know how he knew that the blue screen was no longer physically visible in front of him but he knew that if others were around they wouldn’t see what he was seeing.
Welcome to the SYSTEM:
While the residents of your world are not scheduled to be inducted for 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds, you have been awarded an early opportunity.
SYSTEM Integration Begins, Now!
Congratulations!
You have gained the Title:
Herald of the Apocalypse.
You have seen that which you should not have seen. You have witnessed that which should not have been witnessed.
All Base Attributes +10.
Passive Skill Gained. Uncanny Perception
This is a unique skill that fills your initial racial skill slot.
Uncanny Perception. You perceive that which should remain hidden. You now have a chance to detect invisible creatures and objects as well as notice camouflaged creatures and items effortlessly. This skill may be upgraded.
World First!
You are the first to kill a creature designated as a monster upon SYSTEM Integration.
Congratulations!
You have gained the following Titles: Head of the Line
By being the first, You have proven that you have what it takes to leap to the front of the line, even if you don’t know why you're doing so
All Base Attributes +10
Experience Award and Reward are doubled for your initial kill.
Congratulations!
You have gained the following Titles: Deflector
With no thought and very little training, you were able to deflect a rabid monster with a death blow during your first SYSTEM-registered combat.
Agility and Dexterity +10
Passive Skill Gained – Enhanced Dodge
This is a class skill and will automatically be slotted after you have chosen your class. +10 to Dodge.
Experience Award and Reward are doubled again for your initial kill.
Congratulations!
You have gained the following Titles: It’s Not the Fall that kills you. It’s the Sudden Stop.
Coyotes can’t fly. You, however, decided to test this the moment the SYSTEM integration began.
Color me impressed.
You may now safely fall up to 100 feet without taking damage. Falls from a higher distance have All Falling Damage reduced by half.
Experience Award and Reward are doubled again for your initial kill.
World First
Congratulations! You have killed the first Master rarity Monster.
You have gained the following Title:
Big Game Hunter
If earned correctly, the recipient of this Title is the first to kill a monster of the appropriate category in a newly integrated world. These Titles are one-time awards per level and garner +10 to all attributes per rarity category.
You gain +50 for all attributes.
Experience Award and Reward are doubled again for your initial kill.
Uncanny Perception has been activated. SYSTEM Notes Available.
Subject: Connor Orion Nash killed a non-SYSTEM Registered Rapid Coyote before it could be classified within the SYSTEM.
NOTE: Newly integrated SYSTEM Worlds can generate Common monsters anywhere between levels 1 and 100. As zero is not a legitimate level to garner an Experience Point award, the creature’s level is determined randomly
Subjects adjusted Luck rating of 118 will adjust this randomization.
Luck Result: Any result above 100 will increase the effective rarity of the kill.
Randomizing a value between 1 and 100.
Result is 23
23 is being adjusted in accordance with title adjustments.
Result 23 will be doubled four times.
New value: 368
What the hell was that? Did he get to read the process the SYSTEM used to enforce its SYSTEM rules on him? It looks like he did.
Congratulations, you Have killed the equivalent of a Level 368 Epic Rapid Coyote.
Uncanny Perception has activated
Common creatures range from levels 1 to 100. They are worth 10 XP per monster level.
Uncommon Creatures range from levels 101 to 200. They are worth 100 XP per monster level.
Rare Creatures range from level 201 to 300. They are worth 1,000 XP per monster Level.
Epic Creatures range from levels 301 to 400. They are worth 10,000 XP per monster level
Base Experience Award: 3,680,000 XP (368 x 10,000 XP)
Base Award Doubled, Doubled Again, Doubled again, and Doubled a final fourth time.
Total XP Award: 58,800,000 XP
Common Core Not Detected
XP Banked until the Class is chosen.
His Uncanny Perception let him get a feel for what was going on in the background. It sure was helpful. Though, It seemed to have turned off for now, though. Connor went back to reading his Notifications.
Treasure Gained:
Ten Common Core Crystals.
Ten Uncommon Core Crystals
Ten Rare Core Crystals
Ten Epic Core Crystals
Ten Master Core Crystals
Inventory, Uncommon.
You have been granted a dimensional storage area that may hold up to 100 slots worth of equipment.
Each slot may hold up to 5 pounds of a single hand-sized item. Multiple Slots may be required for larger items. The number of slots required for any specific item is based on its weight.
Items summoned from your Inventory will appear either in your hand or on the ground in front of you, as you desire.
Regardless of the weight of the items you carry, they do not increase your weight.
Named Common Longsword: Fang
Fang
+1 to Hit, +1 to Damage against all targets.
This magical blade is incredibly durable and can cut through most non-magical metals.
This weapon is Soul-Bound to Connor Orion Nash. If dropped or removed from you, it will automatically return to storage within your Tattoo at the beginning of the next day.
You have been Marked. A tattoo has appeared on your chest. Fang may be called into either hand or stored within the tattoo with a thought. This does not take an inventory slot in any magical storage devices you might acquire.
As a named weapon, this sword will develop a will of its own.
This Sword is a semi-intelligent Growth Item. As Core rarity increases, so to will this sword.
This weapon has a durability rating of 100 and recovers one durability every hour.
You have acquired enough Core Upgrade Crystals to improve your core to Master rarity. Would you like to do so now, Yes or No?
Conner thought about it. As far as he could tell, he was in a temporal bubble with everyone frozen in time outside of it. There was no one around as far as the eye could see. If he wasn’t losing his mind and these crystals were like essences in that one series he’d read, then there was a good chance his body would expel some gunk if he accepted this process. If all this was really happening
Time to test what was real then.
Connor willed his backpack into his inventory and was pleasantly surprised when it disappeared from his shoulders. Next, he tried to view his inventory and the contents of his backpack. A list of contents and the slots they occupied appeared in his Mind’s Eye. It also listed everything within the backpack, which took up two slots.
As he was playing with the inventory functionality, he noted that his inventory had a wardrobe function. He assigned a t-shirt and shorts to a wardrobe slot. The slot didn’t list a maximum number, so it looked like he could create another wardrobe slot if needed.
Conner quickly created another wardrobe slot for what he was wearing and swapped wardrobes so that he could wear his shorts and his t-shirt. One moment, he had on jeans, underwear, and a long-sleeved shirt. The next moment, he was in shorts and a T-shirt. It had happened so fast that he almost couldn’t tell. The two sets of clothes had just exchanged. He didn’t think he’d even been nude for a moment; it happened so fast.
Conner then willed his Cane into his inventory. When he did so he noticed the 50 Core Crystals, which took up five of his inventory slots, one slot for each rarity, but he didn’t see his sword. As soon as he thought about the sword, it appeared in his hand. When he dismissed it, it vanished. He opened his shirt. Sure enough, there was the tip of a sword tattoo sitting over his right breast. He couldn’t see the whole tattoo because of the angle and where it was on his chest, but it looked like it had been there for a while. When Mom saw it, she was going to lose her mind. She didn’t like tattoos.
As ready as he could be, Conner opened the prompt again and selected “Yes.”
He thought he’d be okay for a moment when all 50 core crystals appeared around him and began circling him faster and faster. Suddenly, ten of the crystals plunged into him. The pain wasn’t that bad when the first ten crystals dove into him. When the second set of ten dived into him a moment later, there was a spike of pain as the world faded to black.