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In the beginning, there was something. None-Euclidian and formless yet all-encompassing and indescribable. It was the very thing from which all concepts originate, barely residing between the limbo of reality and none-existence.

And in its awakening, conception was born, bringing with it the material world known to us all as CREATION, opposite of OBLIVION, and the first precursor. Called forth by the Abyss, our universe was born.

Second, came OBLIVION, whose purpose was to signal CREATION's start and end. Not inherently evil, it created the first of many defining rules of our reality. With all life comes death.

One shan’t fall victim to their hubris no matter their fortune, for they too will find their end in time.

- Thud

Noah let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding onto.

Shakily, he readjusted his spectacles with one hand while tracing his religious doctrine's spine.

“The holy Esther...”

Saying aloud the title of this book did little to alleviate the rising anxiety that often plagued him while reading the holy scripture.

Noah had an instinctual knack for knowing the truth ever since he was young. With similar feelings of discomfort cropping up around those untoward and dishonest. However, speaking out against the holy doctrine was akin to blasphemy, leading Noah to internalize his unpleasant thoughts and feelings on the matter.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

However, today was uniquely different, as when he finished the last verse of Origins, the feeling of unease that plagued his mind grew fervent and disorderly. Thoughts and feelings intertwined, overwhelming his senses, and a migraine beyond any before forced Noah to his knees.

“Nngh.”

Head in hands, Noah began to squeeze while weathering out the rising pressure in his chest while it began harder and harder to breathe. Suddenly reality shifted, and the pain took a back step not far yet deceptively distant. A dubious sensation reminded Noah of an old top-down RPG he played in his younger years. Everything within the four walls of his room took up his senses, an unquestionable understanding of all that went on around him permeated his mind.

“What the fuck,” a voice resounded from what felt like another room but un-mistakenly came from the form he was observing. “This is so fucking weird,” Noah said aloud, lips moving while his voice still sounded muffled and distant as if coming from inside an enclosure.

“Intriguing… yes, I have a good feeling about this one.” Another voice, more transparent, breathily tickled Noah’s ear, causing his heart to leap forward. A trembling shudder made its way up Noah’s goose bump-laden spine. His instincts howled at him, warnings of the unknown telling how far he was out of depth.

“Be not afraid, little one, for witnessing my ethereal visage might flay thy MANIFOLD-MIND; I’ve taken it upon myself to grace you with my voice instead… you’ll thank me later.”

Noah wanted to yell out, to grab his head and scream. His senses were beyond overwhelmed, and this strange voice reverberated throughout his head. All of this combined was enough to overwhelm anyone, and Noah was no exception.

To make matters worse, his body and mind were trapped, and it wasn't long before Noah was forced to calm down. Eventually, the strange voice reached out again.

"Good, now that you're done self deteriorating, I've come here to impart you with everything. Consider yourself lucky; the statistical probability of existing everywhere and nowhere is nigh improbable. Yet here you are."

The being fell silent for a few seconds, and an ethereal hand materialized, appearing in Noah's mind and the physical world. Slowly it reached out to Noah's being, the core of his existence. A sense of calm took over; something about the hand felt grounded and absolute. As if its existence was the embodiment of tranquility.

"Now open thyn Manifold-Mind."

The hand gently tapped Noah like a water droplet hitting still water.

Suddenly the world folded in on itself, centering into nothingness, then exploding out into fractalled spirals. Cracks began to form in the fabric of reality, and in between it all, Noah's mind split.

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

*CRA-*

The sound of my mind splitting like an excess weight on a winter pond. Thoughts like water spilling through broken fissures. Except these fissures were metaphysical holes in our reality branching across various existences. Various... versions of me. Thoughts I will have, am having flooded in like a broken dam, overwhelming my senses until, gradually, they petered out into near-nothingness.

Finally, a single thought broke the quiet, spanning multiple realities shared between all of my minds.

"Fuck."