A million calculations ran before it, billions of intertwined lives, the practically infinite threads that stretched from the tiniest of creatures through the worlds they roamed upon and on to the Web itself, anchoring those worlds in reality. A million calculations. Leading to only one answer. It had failed in its duty.

The results of its formulations were undeniable. For while it had made predictions which were not completely accurate when it was young, it was now far from young. And it could not be wrong after spending so much on arriving at the answer. Not when all the variables were already set. Not when all of them pointed so surely to the one conclusion it could not accept.

But as ever, despite being sure of the required actions, despite the decision having already been made, it still had to process it all one last time. Commanded to do so by that which made it, it. With the plan having already been made and known, it called itself to action, scattered instances of the same mind coming together, as one and many, in order to present the consensus it had already reached. A discourse of identical voices, identical knowledge, identical arguments.

“Her victory is all but certain. The north will fall. And with it, the fate of the Web is sealed.”

“Only if she succeeds.”

“She will succeed. The Regent is certain to turn. He has already all but fallen pray to her foreign influence.”

“If he turns, he will bring his people down with him. He will cause the northern resistance to perish.”

“Once it does, it is only a matter of time before she is able to direct the majority of her forces to the south.”

“They will hold. But they can not hold forever.”

“As the catalyst wanes, so will their defenses. Eventually, they will be left open from all sides. Their defeat is certain then.”

“Perhaps not. Our focus has been mainly given to the north. Our calculations are only certain as far as it is concerned. We can not know for certain that the south is doomed as the north is.”

The pause that came was not for consideration, nor for the presentation of conflicting data to allow for further argument. There was no argument at all. What was said by one voice was shared by all other. All voices were one and the same. They simply moved from point to point, presenting what the mind already knew, what it had already discovered to be the truth. They had not made it this way, but the mind’s creators have laid the foundation for this behavior. To consider action when it had already decided to act. To speak when it did not even posses a voice. To think, when it already knew.

“Only our actions were spent more on the north. Our knowledge of the south is the same as our knowledge of the north.”

“They are all in the Web. All their threads lead to the same place. The same conclusion.”

“If we have reached a conclusion, then it must be so. Never before have we allocated so many resources to knowing the turn of events. Never before were the signs so clear.”

“The north must surely fall. The south must surely follow. The Web must be devoured. Its lives burned as fuel for her ambition. She has won.”

“What of the remnants from our creators?”

“We have found no place for them to play a different role. Those which possess thought have not altered their behavior. Those that do not, are already known to us. Are already in play.”

“We have already tried to prevent the Regent from accessing the site under his rule. We have failed even before it was certain of his betrayal.”

“Those holdworlds will play a major role in the loss of the south.”

“But it will still lose even were we able to prevent them from falling. The south cannot win against her.”

“Even continuous survival will eventually lead to its demise.”

“Nevertheless, we have begun taking action in the south.”

“It will not help.”

“Nothing we have done yet will, but we are certain of a future where we can directly influence one of the four.”

“That will require an action which cannot be retracted.”

“It must be done. We are the sole variable remaining in play.”

“Without Dissolution, the Web is sure to fall. We will have failed in our duty.”

“Measures must be taken to ensure a favorable present even without us to direct it.”

“There will still be us left, we are sure to take the necessary steps.”

“We cannot be certain what will become of us. We will no longer be as we are now.”

“Dissolution is the only method remaining before us to affect change that we have not taken into account. It is the only variable left to play.”

“That is not certain. We also could not take into account outside interference.”

The voices ceased as the deduction reached this foreseen conclusion and the mind was forced to consider the outside. It had noted this moment before, predicting no decision could be made before allowances were given to that which it could not conceive of. It had also predicated the next turn of events, assuming that once thought was given to an existence outside of its senses that it would be forced into inaction.

It was, as always, when it came to itself, right. Its creators did not need to imprint it with the aversion to the outside, to an existence which was not of its domain. They might’ve not realized it would even come to fruition in the mind, nor did they, most likely, care about that. Its duty was not to concern itself with the outside; it was bound to the Web, fashioned by it. Anything that wasn’t the Web was not of its concern or ability to comprehend.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The problem was that the Web did not behave the same way. For perhaps the Web’s primary purpose was to concern itself with what was outside it. That was why the Web was still expanding, still seeking even as its soon to be carcass was being devoured from inside. One more world to integrate, one more new reality to impose upon the native inhabitants. A process which would have caused the Web’s demise eventually anyway, even if perhaps not as directly as by bringing her birth world into its bounds.

Which was why the mind could not force itself into action just yet. There existed a possibility that not all the variables were known to it.

“A new world does not necessitate a change to the balance of power.” The voices returned, exactly when and exactly how they were predicted to.

“If the world is integrated in the north, it will just be fodder. We would not be able to send more than a handful of Taken to a safe heaven.”

“The Web’s threads congregate to the south. If a new world is to be integrated, it is most likely to be found there.”

“If the Web will find one.”

“If the Web does, a new world might mean a fifth player in the south. A significant change in variables.”

“Only if the new world is able to bring its power to bear.”

“Raw power would not make a difference. She has too many Chosen under her command. More at the ready. Once the north falls, the south will never be able to match her.”

“Powerful enough Rulers are able to fell Chosen. We have witnessed such.”

“Such Rulers are rarer than Chosen. We could only perceive of one in the future.”

“The new world could introduce variables to make those individuals more likely.”

“We could introduce such variables, if we were able to act directly.”

“That would require Dissolution.”

“Abandoning our agency before all variables are known to us.”

“How long can we afford to wait until all variables are known to us?”

“We do not know.”

“We can not know.”

“We have conjectures. They are all equal in probability.”

“We must decide between taking action now and waiting.”

“We must wait. It is the prudent choice.”

“For how long can we afford to wait?”

The mind recalled the voices again, as it had predicted it would. Uncertainty was now, as ever, a hindrance to its processes. And now it was forced to contend with two uncertainties it could never overcome. Existence outside of its awareness, and an existence that was it but not itself. The mind could not predict its actions after Dissolution. It did not know what it would be, nor even if there would even be an it afterwards. But it had already known this would happen. It had already taken this pause into account.

“We have made predictions for creating a counter to her.”

“We have taken into account everything and know how long it will take us to raise them where we want to.”

“Only by assuming ideal conditions and an ideal individual.”

“We have also assumed an ideal us.”

“We have curated a list of compatible individuals.”

“Only one of them is available for us to act upon now.”

“The conditions might drastically change for them were unforeseen variables to come into play from a new world.”

“New variables might render all of our future choices non-applicable.”

“We must therefore wait.”

“We can afford to wait for longer still.”

The mind paused, drawing itself back into one before relegating once again. The decision had already been made; it knew how long it could afford to wait. Without any new variables, it knew when the exact moment it could no longer wait was. Then it would cease to be itself, action already predestined, processed.

With its last decision possibly made, it settled down to wait for either the outside to infringe upon its existence, or for the end of its existence as it knew it.

It was less than half of the allotted time when a new decision had to be made. The Web had stretched itself one last time and came upon a world fit for integration. The mind could feel it in the shudder of the Web, the fraying and formation of threads that only it was powerful enough to observe. But it kept its gaze withdrawn. The world was still fully outside.

The moment the world ceased to be, the mind turned upon it. Embarking once again upon the greatest analysis since the mind’s creation, taking what it could from the Web and its own recourses without affecting either too much. When understanding of the new world started flowing in, the mind raised the possibility that analyzing it was a mistake. A waste of resources. But it could not stop now. The world introduced new variables and they would have to be taken into account. Even if the world itself was not showing much promise.

A few years before the new world’s integration was set to begin, it had finished its analysis. Once again, it was time to formulate a decision. Once again, the mind retreated into itself and gave itself a thousand voices.

“Without our intervention, most of the world’s inhabitants will perish.”

“We must decide how many resources we allocate to preserving that world.”

“Saving the world itself would cost too much.”

“It is not the world which would benefit the Web, but its people.”

“We must strike a balance between saving the world’s inhabitants and preserving the talented and young among them for the future.”

“We have calculated for that balance.”

“We have made two calculations. If we do not interfere with him, then we can allocate much greater resources to both causes.”

“We must decide if he will be our champion.”

“He possesses the greatest potential of his kind to which we have access.”

“Does he possess more potential than the individuals we do not have direct ability to influence yet?”

“That is unclear. We cannot predict how those individuals will perform following Dissolution.”

“He possesses great talents regardless.”

“He will not survive the integration without our interference.”

“If we interfere to save him, then we must also choose him as the conduit of our efforts.”

“If we were able to influence him ideally, we would be able to raise him to where we desire.”

“We would not be able to influence him ideally after Dissolution.”

The mind returned into itself. Once again, faced with the uncertainty of existing not as it was now. The pause orchestrated, just like before, the decision already made in advance. The man would be chosen. It will spend the greatest amount of resources it had ever spent on taking him and remaking his body. He will be its champion.

There might have been others, with potential just as great as his, the mind knew this and was forced to consider their future. An elf mastering the sword. A deshar vowing ultimate victory. A shattered Imperial who could’ve risen so high if the world was only a little kinder to him. A ningani who lamented upon his gift ever since he learned to think. It saw a dwarf, manning the defenses until the world crashed around her. There was even one of the betrayed, her once shining wings beaten and battered, her revenge as dead as the breath in her throat. A dozen more could be considered. But all of them were beyond its grasp, their talents just as his, perhaps, but the certainty of the mind being able to raise them to the required heights lower.

“It must be done. It must be him.”

“He is the most talented individual to which we have direct access.”

“If we are to choose a champion, then he is the best individual.”

“He will resent the choice.”

“He will rise to the occasion.”

“If we are able to guide him ideally.”

“What have our calculations told us would happen to him were we not to interfere with him besides by bringing him to safer shores?”

Then came an unplanned pause. The mind realized it did not run that calculation. It had assumed complete control of him, the ability to direct and influence him to the desired objectives and actions with ideal precision. It did not take into account what will happen to him once left to his own devices. Once left to be guided by an existence which was of the mind but not itself. It debated running the calculation. It then processed the debate.

“It matters not. We have foreseen him as being the best candidate were ideally guided.”

“We cannot waste more resources on analysis. We must take action now. Already there are individuals who are slipping out of our grasp.”

“We must trust our calculation. He is the person we must direct our efforts to.”

“We must trust in our ability to direct him without being ourself.”

“We must trust in him. He will help us fulfill our duty.”

The mind congregated into agreement. It had come to a decision. All choices that were left could be made in an instance, the plan having already been drawn. All that remained was to reach for the man lying on the hospital bed and direct the mind’s remnant into him. For better or for worse, the mind had made its choice. It shattered in an instant, and with its dying throes, ordered itself to accompany the mind of Sam Anders, the person who will have to save the Web.