The Clone appeared, floating before Intelligence—its endless cascade of azure radiance wavering in and out of the visible spectrum of most humanoid organisms. Intelligence was chatting on the bridge with Amnaki Wakai, the Brigantine's least senior helmsman.

Socialization between Intelligence and the Brigantine's crew was a necessary endeavor. While they were experienced void sailors, the Kaizuko had never worked with an AI entity like Intelligence. And Intelligence knew its avatar's continued presence was required to build crew cohesion and dedication. Statistically speaking, an average of 0.47 standard solar rotations of direct contact with the avatar was needed for the crew's perceptions and reactions to equal what they would when led by an organic organism. So, the bridge was where Intelligence would leave the avatar until all the crewmen stationed there had their obligatory exposure.

Glancing up at the Clone, Intelligence's critical processes reminded it that this was not just a clone but an exact and functioning copy of its maker, Zenyak. Well, not an exact copy. That would be impossible for even one of the Three. Even if it was significantly less potent than the original, the differences for mortals, including Intelligence, were negligible. There were no deviations in the Clone's mannerisms, predicted actions, sentence structure, or anticipated instructions compared to Intelligence's established models for Zenyak. While all mortal clones, even at the Icosahedron Cultivation level—the pinnacle of mortal Cultivation, tended to deviate in minor but increasing ways from their progenitor within days of separation. The impact of new experiences and a small contribution from micro-damage to the structure of such clones' pseudo-mentation organs caused by charged particles and other forms of radiation were the primary causes. But not so for the Lord Clone. This was an Immortal's Clone—and not just any Immortal. It would maintain true fidelity to its purpose, if not indefinitely... for a very long time. Its constant involuting refraction fractals would remain an effective shield to preserve Zenyak’s kernel of Immortal Ka. In truth, the Clone would be a more accurate copy of Zenyak from the moment of its separation than the original would be due to its adaptations to continued new experiences. The original Zenyak, after all, would be immersed in much greater matters than his Clone would find among the Mortal Iterations.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Intelligence knew it was the only entity aboard the Brigantine that could detect the Clone's presence. But it still assessed the vitals and facial responses of the bridge crew through the Brigantine's upgraded internal monitoring system. No reactions or micro-responses to the sudden appearance of the infinitely powerful ultraviolet Clone could be seen on any of the fourteen crew beings present. Zenyak desired a private meeting then...

Welcome back, old friend. What did you find?

Greetings, young one. It is confirmed. As with the nest of internally gestating parasites infesting Epsilon 97 that the Karmically Bonded destroyed, the undead Kyon Shi has begun to be expunged from this cuboid's iterations. I even confirmed that at the present point in this time-stream, the matriarchal parasite has been removed from two extra-cuboidal iterations as well. I anticipate the same will ultimately be the case with Kyon Shi. On a long enough timeline, he will eventually be expunged in all iterations.

It's true, then... When the four act in singular purpose, they are ‘Agents of Karma’ and overflow majority is not required for their accomplished actions to perpetuate in other iterations– In essence, the events they perform do not merely affect the iteration they are in, but send reorganizational threads of Reality throughout the multiverse regardless of the present cuboidal composition or power structure... It is a potent effect to be sure, and—due to the overarching impact of Balance—likely a double-edged sword. Should they ever fail… that result, too, would propagate across the multiverse… Intelligence trailed off as its primary processors in this avatar were insufficient to calculate the final impact of a metaphysical process this massive in its implications. The avatar nodded silently in apology. Forgiveness. This copy of myself lacks the necessary computation power to assess the ramifications of this development... How does this impact our mission?

The Clone paused and considered its response, then answered its oldest friend.

It means that they will be coming for the four of them much sooner than later...