The Clone turned to Joshua, "We must speak of the hybrid Essence entity and the risks involved in your continued interaction with it."
"Hybrid Essence whattity? Risks?"
The Clone leaned back and rubbed its glittering eyes. "Yes, Joshua, the being you think of as the ‘battle mech.’ It is one of three organisms with otherwise unique qualities, created by... an old friend who has—for his own motivations, eschewed Transcendence to remain in the mortal realms."
Josh thinned his lids but otherwise remained silent. The Clone was volunteering information, a sign of wonder attributable only to divine power—AKA: a miracle.
As the Gambler once said, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em... and know when to shut the hell up!" Josh would kick himself if his mouth shut down the Clone's free-speaking mood.
A wry smile curved half of the Clone's luminescent face, and he spied Josh out of the corner of his eyes. "Joshua Elias Tanner! Will wonders never cease around you? I hadn't thought this level of conscious wisdom was even a possibility in your perpetually adolescent-slanted thought patterns. I'm actually impressed."
"Thanks..." Josh mumbled dryly.
"But you are correct. It is time to share information that would, as your iteration says, normally be 'way above your pay grade.'
"Since your Bond with Senyak formed in that back alley on this iteration's Earth, the paths of Karma have been opening up before you both."
The Clone waved his hand, and two miniature silhouettes appeared before him. One was three inches tall and carried a briefcase with a necktie that flapped over its shoulder when it ran. The other was even shorter with a top knotted ponytail that shifted when the mini-Sen moved his head. In front of them, rich blue lines spread out and vectored in all directions from a central point. The Clone cocked an eyebrow, and Josh nodded that he understood the image.
"While this provides the sui generis gift of allowing you all possible outcomes from your choices, the truth is that the termination point for the vast, vast majority of Karmic Trajectories ahead is violence, pain, and an ugly end for you both." He gestured around, taking in their current circumstances and Josh’s earlier… condition. "Witness exhibit A—or rather in your case, exhibit two-hundred and seventeen B.
The Clone closed his fist, and the lines were cut off at various lengths from their origin. Much less than 5 percent of them continued without interruption. Josh swallowed shallowly without changing the expression on his face, and the Clone went on.
"Against all probabilities, through stubborn refusal to fail and sheer dumb luck, you have navigated around these pitfalls of potential."
The mini-Josh and Sen ran down a blue-light path. Sen swinging his swords much like he did in real life, Josh carrying his old briefcase. A round node popped up on their line, and images of a chimera and Cronus appeared. Both eyed the figures as they sprinted through and jumped to a branching light vector to continue their run. Next, mini-images of the matriarchal parasite and Alysa with a tiny Sophie on her shoulders sprang up. The matriarch fell away decapitated, and mini-Alysa/Sophie joined the Josh and Sen silhouettes as they hopped to one of an ever-shrinking number of remaining blue-light road options and ran together.
The Clone continued, and Josh looked back at him. "I have learned not to question the purpose Reality serves in orchestrating such occurrences for you."
The Clone smirked and shrugged his shoulders as if in surrender. Josh turned back to the ongoing display, and the mini silhouette crew now included Ishan with his mini shoulder Gatlin and Lobo. They were slightly more transparent than the first four. A mini-Kyon Shi was detonated into blue motes and fell away. All six jumped to one of a handful of continuing blue avenues, and the image idled. The figures shifted their weight and checked their pockets as if standing on the corner waiting for a bus.
"But I do choose to warn you at this time. Should you and Senyak become involved in the hybrid Essence Entity's quest for reunification with his siblings against Dod Stal, the three's created nemesis... There will be... " The Clone leaned in and spoke in a slightly quieter but much more serious tone, "...minimal paths available for you and Senyak to escape expungement. In fact, there would be almost zero probabilities of continued survival."
An image of the giant battle mech appeared before the group of six minis. Two shorter and slimmer mechs rose from the blue light of the path to stand at its flanks. The three joined the six, and all branches on the way they ran withered away.
The nine minis ran for several paces and were confronted by a limping, human-shaped AI mechanical with its right hand raised in obstruction. The image idled again with them facing off against each other, limbering up to fight. Josh could tell there were no branching roads from the line they ran down. The nearest light vectors were a very long jump from where they stood.
Not an easy path...
"Why are you telling me this? Why not tell Sen too?"
The Clone rolled his eyes at Josh. "So much for praising your wisdom... In answer to your second question. I'm not bothering to tell Senyak because telling either of you is telling both. Moreover, Senyak would follow you into the cold wasteland of a cuboid's fragmenting end, should you ever feel the need to go. His fate is now—and has long been, in your hands."
Josh stared hard at the Clone. Everything it had said was true, and not just what he said about Sen. He knew that intuitively, but it still hurt in a strangely indefensible way that if Sen died, it could—without question, be laid at Josh's feet. Feeling a mix of shame and guilt, Josh couldn't meet the Clone's eyes.
"We're only going to talk with the... the hybrid entity.” Josh mumbled. “No decisions will be made until we know more. Somehow, it knows Sophie, and she showed it to me inside of her soul space. I need to understand how it's involved with her."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The Clone pursed his lips, and Josh knew there was more to the story. There always was with the Clone.
"The answer to your first question bears on this point. There is a greater than 70 percent probability that the Sofie Tanner of this iteration will be used as a game piece by nefarious forces in the struggle between the hybrid Essence Entities and their Nemesis."
A second mini-Sophie appeared on the display. Only this time, she was bound, sagging from her fetters in the confronting human-shaped AI mechanical's grasp.
"You need to understand that this is not your Sophie Tanner." The mini-Sophie on Alysa's shoulders brightened, and she actually waved to Josh. "Your daughter is eight iterations away from here, and by all predictions, your actions in this iteration will have no bearing concerning her fate. Unless, of course... your existence is expunged. Your involvement in this Sophie Tanner's fate here could well end in the death of you and Senyak, should you try to save her."
Josh could feel his face harden automatically at the thought of Sophie, any Sophie, being hurt with him standing by on the sidelines. He knew Sen would feel the same. There was no way he could let that happen. Not in his iteration! Not in this iteration! Not in any iteration of the multiverse!
The Clone stood by silently, letting his words sink in. If he was reading Josh's thoughts, which Josh knew it absolutely could, he gave no indication.
After a few brief moments, the Clone spoke again. "Review your newly amplified status. When Senyak has completed his advancement, apply your new Attunements to extricate yourselves from...” The Clone's radiant blue face looked around as if for the first time and took on a sneer of dissatisfaction. “...your situation."
Josh blinked once, and Bright Blue was gone.
He had honestly expected more guidance. Following their previous Attunements, the Clone always had a task for them to perform, along with a few snide comments on how Josh could only properly apply the new Attunement with his wisdom. Josh hadn't expected, well... Nothing. Maybe the Clone felt that he and Sen were all grown up now? Doubtful. Regardless, it was okay with Josh. He was getting tired of their conversation and sick of having to look down to avoid having his eyes water. He and Sen had come a long way from that dirty alley. Last Attunement, they had achieved physical bodies as dense as uranium, including their eyes, but Josh had never been able to look straight at the Clone in close confines for long without his eyes hurting from its UV rads, Immortal juju, or whatever. It was no different after this Attunement either. It probably would only change once they somehow Transcended into the Immortal realms. If even, then.
For now, though, the Clone was right. It was time to check his status.
Body
Earth Attunement:
100% probability of increasing your Health Status by 1500% → 4500%.
100% probability of increasing the molecular density of your skin by 2020% → 5900%.
Weapon Enhancement: Invest 200 units of Earth Attuned Essence into a weapon for 100% probability to increase the weapon’s durability by 1000% and its damage rating by 1500%. → 4500%. Duration dependent on use.
Earthen Shield. Chanel 100 Earth Attuned Essence per second to form an isolated microenvironment to serve as an external layer of protection. Shield strength increases with increased channeling of Essence per second.
Further increase your health status, connective tissue density, and Earth Attuned Skills by increasing your level and Cultivation.
Psyche
Mind Attunement:
A 100% probability of increasing your Core and Free Essence capacity by 1000% → 3000%.
A 100% probability of increasing the propagation of Essence utilization rate by 1000% → 3000%
An increased probability of being able to manipulate Psychic Essence outside of your Meridians.
Further increase your Essence capacity, propagation rate, and externalization of Attunement Skills by increasing your level and Cultivation.
Spirit
Spherical Cultivation Level 0% to stage 4/7
Weapon: Simitar Cutlass
Skill Level: Jr. Student (1% → 9%)
Damage: Cultivation Low
Quality: Essence Channeling: Average
Allows interface guidance for optimal usage.
100% Probability of 20,300% Hand-to-hand Damage
Armor: None
3rd Spherical Attunement: Earth Resilience.
Physical Health Status:
15000 → 45000
Spherical Cultivation Units
Free Essence:
40500 → 123500
Spherical Cultivation Units
There wasn't a window in his status screen specifically for the Spacetime Attunement. That really wasn't a surprise. There wasn't one for his Earth or Mind Attunements, either. It was just that, respectively, those Attunements impacted his body and psyche states directly.
Spacetime isn't any less critical than the others. Josh was sure of that. For one thing, his Interface had made it clear that the Stellar Atlas given by Kotei Stuado absolutely needed it to work, which was an interesting point.
Maybe all the other Attunements have specific places that they would... Interface...with um... the Interface. That was cool to think about, and Josh couldn't wait to see what they might be... But it's not helpful at present.
Refocusing, Josh noted the increases in his health and free Essence. The change was massive... It appeared to be the same percentage jump that he had gotten from his Earth and Mind Attunement when they hadn't directly impacted the statistic. Apparently, 300 percent growth was what he got from an 'ancillary' Attunement... The increases were nothing short of unbelievable. He had already seen the rate his healing had jumped to. He was healing a notch or two faster than Wolverine had in the Last Stand.
Like the part at the end when the Dark Phoenix had been rearranging his molecules to erase him. Not bad!
Josh had also seen a jump in his Essence propagation and utilization. When he'd taken over 'avalanche duty,' he had flat-out burst Sen's shield and pulverized the overlying rocks just getting his barrier into place. There were all kinds of… very messy applications he could think of attempting with that function should the need arise, but best not to dwell on them now.
He had also tripled his free Essence. Josh had thought that the rate of Attunement growth would drop off at some point. This was mainly because the more advanced Cultivators they had faced weren't three to nine times stronger than them. Apparently, Josh's thoughts on diminishing returns were not shared by Reality. In fact, his density had just about tripled from his previous level!
Along these lines, there was likely a physiologic and genetic growth potential limit that governed how much power an Attunement could instill in a Cultivator. Josh and Sen's potential had been maximized when Zenyak had given them the boon of perfect physiology. Were they at the pinnacle of what was possible? Josh was really just guessing. Maybe he was wrong. Perhaps every Cultivator could get this strong, and they had just been lucky enough to go up against the less capable runts of the litter. It wasn't like he could ask any of them. Only he and Sen had the benefit of Cultivation-quantification via their Interfaces—
I’m getting sidetracked—Again!
What Josh really needed was to focus on the second reason why Spacetime Attunement was as crucial as Earth and Mind.
Its translocation skills.
He needed to figure out how to convert him and Sen into Essence and teleport them from under this giant pile of rocks. How hard could it be?