“Some would call me a voyeur, but I would call myself an observer of karma.”

-Jill

***Outer Rim***

***Veronica***

“You are supposed to be a highly educated, intelligent individual, yet you seem to be unable to keep a straight face when the situation reminds you of your past. You should just get down on your knees in front of your mom and confess!”

Jill returns her attention to her scribbling and I enter her room, unfazed by the harsh greeting.

Annoyed by her attitude, I reply, “And whose fault is this whole situation in the first place! You were the one who placed me in this position-”

Flabbergasted, I halt in my tracks and study the room. Painting the walls with her mystical symbols is creepy enough, but the artwork is now beginning to take over the floor and the ceiling. “You know… it’s getting really creepy in here.”

Jill rolls her eyes and waves a hand absent-mindedly, which causes the door behind me to slam shut with a loud ‘Bam!’

“Sister, is there an actual reason for interrupting my private time?” She continues doodling strange symbols on the wall in front of her.

Turning, I look at the door behind me. “How did you do that? And why? I thought that you are trying not to use your superpowers in front of others.”

She ignores me and returns to her task.

Her private room is mostly empty. There is a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk. All of these can sink into the ground, clearing the room of everything that could get in the way of Jill’s madness. When she got her own room, she requested a perfect ten by ten by ten cube.

Almost the same day she got it, she started the project of covering its walls, ceiling, and even the floor with complicated patterns. I would call them runes, but they are all interconnected with each other. “If I didn’t know for a fact that simple patterns don’t do anything, I would dare say that you are preparing some kind of magical ritual.”

Jill grunts and stops doodling with her favourite permanent marker. She turns to face me, her eyes flick back and forth between the marker and me. “That’s just because your minds are so restricted. Magic… Pfff!”

Frowning, I gesture at the door. “Then what about the door? I know for a fact that there are no hidden motors installed. If I was told to find out how you did that, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Electromagnetism would be a possibility, but that would affect me too, and I was standing between you and the door.”

Jill draws in a long breath and lets out a deep sigh. “Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it’s magic. By that account, you could call any technology which is beyond your understanding magic.” She gestures at the wall where she just expanded her patterns, detailing even smaller designs. “Just because you don’t understand this circuit-board, doesn’t mean that it won’t work.”

I raise an eyebrow and wait. Even after a few years of living with her, I am nowhere close to understanding Jill. But at least I know how to keep her talking. If she doesn't get an immediate answer she likes to elaborate her exploits. She isn't the type who likes silence.

“It’s a pastime. A way to get my mind to relax. Trying to be human is really hard.” She scowls, actually scowls as if she is unhappy with herself. “I will go mad if I don’t let loose in some form. My mind needs an outlet.”

I look around, studying the room. “I see. So all of this is...”

“I am trying to understand the real world. Back in the V.C., I’ve unravelled the mysteries of all of the accessible n-space dimensions. When I am done with this, I hope to get behind some secrets which are still eluding even me.”

When she notices my blank expression, she smiles.

“It’s an experiment. A way to occupy my limitless mind.” She places her fists on her hips and laughs crazily. “If this works, the other Blues will bow their heads before my genius!”

“That… sounds ominous…” And preposterous. To call her mind limitless...

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I allow my eyes to wander over the runes which are surrounding me. “And it practically tells me nothing about what you are trying to accomplish with these scribbles. Could you at least tell me what you would call this entire project?”

For a small moment, Jill looks genuinely surprised. “You know… I haven’t really thought about giving it a name.” She grumbles and looks around, contemplating her work. “Maybe Myriad? Yes. Myriad is as good as a description of what this will become when I am done. Will become when I am done. Hum. I like it. Maybe I should try myself at some poems?”

“Jill, you aren’t making any sense.” What does she mean with that stupid name? Are there a myriad ways to use this room? Will it produce something? Does it have countless functions?

My sister sniffs and shakes her permanent marker. “I think it’s running out of ink. Will have to have Dad replace it.”

Raising an eyebrow, I study the item in her hand. Come to think of it, why is it always Antioch who has to replace the ink? “Wouldn’t any marker do the job?”

Jill looks offended. “This is a very special ink. It needs to have the exact composition which I specified, with even parts of gold, silver, and a secret binding agent. There is absolutely no room for mistakes! Or would you want to build a circuit board with wood?”

“It would be much easier to understand if you just show me. Or must it be finished for a test-run? What happens if one of these doodles is a millimeter off?”

She lets out an exasperated sigh and walks up to the wall which is to my left. There, she places her hand softly inside a circle which is built like a mandala. At first, it didn’t look like anything important, but upon having it demonstrated, I notice that each finger is placed on five identical runes.

Nothing happens for a few seconds, and I start doubting Jill’s sanity – as far as she can be called sane. Then, out of nowhere, the scribbles light up and I gasp when the text seems to move and shift beneath Jill’s fingers. It seems like the wall comes apart and opens to another space.

Giggling madly, Jill lowers her hand and gestures for me to step next to her.

I do as told and watch in awe at the portal to somewhere else! The scene beyond is so real that I can imagine stepping through. It’s a forested area with bushes and plants. In the distance and above, I can see metal walls. A spawning chamber? It reminds me of my own time as a demonling. Even if this one is a little wilder than the one which belongs to my mothers.

“Is that… Is that a wormhole?” At this point, I wouldn't be surprised for Jill to do the impossible. I reach out with a trembling hand, but when I touch the space where the wall was previously, the image distorts and wavers.

Pity. Jill almost had me there, but it’s just a glorified computer screen.

My sister sniffs in disdain. “Please, as if I could open a wormhole with the limited energy allotment to this room. No. This is a direct uplink to one of G.O.D.’s observation functionalities.”

“Why does it worry me that you didn't outright deny the possibility of real wormholes?”

Then I realize that what she said isn't any less outrageous.

G.O.D.’s observation functionalities. The piece of technology which governs all of humanity’s existence. The thing which is their greatest advantage and their greatest restriction at the same time. After learning about G.O.D.’s nature and n-space theory, not a day has gone by without asking myself why the humans aren’t already the masters of this shitty galaxy; but luckily, it seems like the Blue have their eyes on other shores.

“You hacked G.O.D.!? I thought that’s impossible!”

“Bah!” Jill shakes her head. “I helped in its creation. So why shouldn’t I be able to hack it? Or use it, for that matter. I would hardly call accessing the observation routines hacking. Many of the V.C.’s media companies do it, even though they have only limited rights.”

“Wait!” She raises a hand and concentrates on the scene in front of us. “This will be funny! It’s what I wanted to show you in the first place. It’s always relaxing to watch when I want to cool down.”

Turning my attention back to the scene, I find a familiar individual making his way through the underbrush. The tall and handsome demon is whistling an anxious tune while carrying two huge buckets filled with meat, fruits, and other edibles. All the while, he is scanning his surroundings as if he is expecting an attack.

I gape. “Is that uncle Martin?”

“Yes.” Jill giggles.

Martin isn’t my real uncle, but all of the children call him that because he is a close friend of Antioch.

He turns when a cracking noise alarms him. It came from one of the bushes, probably a broken twig. “Here, here, little demonlings. I have something nice for you.”

There is a ‘quack’ like it’s often produced by infantile demonlings who are a little too young to pronounce a word correctly. Then a red wave of little monsters swarms out from beneath the bushes.

“Oh, shit!” Martin gasps and drops the two buckets, then he turns to flee from the red flood of little bodies. There is no question that he will escape, his physique far superior to a newly hatched demon.

Suddenly a second group appears from in front of him while the first floods over the buckets, ignoring the food. The second group cuts off Martin's path, making a clean escape impossible.

As if they had a hive-mind, the demonlings throw themselves at Martin’s legs, clinging to his clothes and tripping him. More and more of the little monsters appear, piling themselves higher and higher on top of him like football players who are dead-set on taking out the enemy.

All the while their little voices quack, “Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad...”

And Jill is laughing her guts out while I gape.