Microstory 721: The Outcome

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After years of suffering pain, darkness, and death, the only thing that kept us going through most of it was our hope for a better future. Though we appreciated the taikon themselves, I think most of us can agree that we were most excited for a paradigm-shifting outcome. The original final set of taikon in the Book of Light promised this to us, but the Book of Anseluka was shockingly noncommittal to what could happen if we achieved the predictions correctly. The Book of Darkness, which is now our new primary divine book of teachings, has now had time to be read thoroughly by many. What we have learned is that there is no climax, no solution, no grand finale. It teaches us that no single event can effectively sum up everything we’ve endured up to this point. That’s what this has been all about; that suffering and darkness are a part of life, and they can never fully be destroyed. No heaven, in mithgarther or elsewhere, could satisfy our lofty beliefs in some intangible and impossibly perfect paradise. This is it. This is all we have, and we must learn to not only accept this, but to revel in it. Nature has given us everything we need to be happy, and it’s our job to use these tools responsibly, and morally. Everything we’ve been through since infamous atheist, Dedebe Seirsen began his own personal odyssey towards devotion to the Light has contributed to the kinds of people we are now. This is a true example of the idea that life is about the journey, not the destination. The original final taikon said we would know whether we were worthy of the Light by the appearance of one of two divine manifests; The Liar, or The Loyalist. But this is not true, for we all have the capacity to lie, and we all have the capacity for honesty. It is up to each and every one of us to make that decision, every single second of every single day. Lots have people have questioned what’s to come of our great galaxy now that the taikon are finished...what is on the horizon for Fostea, and the rest of the universe? Well, that’s the beauty of it...we do not know. Is that exciting?

Microstory 720: Celebrate the Book of Darkness

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Fosteans, especially Lightseers, have been filled with such anger for having been betrayed by our founders. We are grateful for the Force of Love, and the other two Forces of Virtue, which affect us with subtler intensity than before, but which have never gone away. But this alone would not be enough. Fortunately, even in all this depression, and despite the uncertainty of the Book of Anseluka’s new taikon, there is still some hope. The penultimate taikon foresees the emergence of a new divine book; one that would change our entire perspective on the universe. The new era is to be marked by the 14 conventions in the Consociation Credo: coordination, collaboration, cooperation, cordiality, congruence, communication, constructiveness, cohesion, commitment, congeniality, collegiality, consensus, compromise, courtesy. A married couple, who met at a study group for hyperobservant people, and who now work together at a small research startup, noticed a complex pattern in the passage text that others seemed to not see. They analyzed these words, and it eventually led them to uncovering an unindexed network file that would never have been found just by searching keywords. This file contained the manuscript for the Book of Darkness. Through an only cursory glance, experts see that this is the divine book that we have been looking for. It does not diminish the teachings in the Book of Light. Nor does it condemn Sotiren and Ivanka for their treachery. It will, however, prove an invaluable resource in braving this new universe, centered upon this idea of the 14 Consociation Credo conventions. The Book of Darkness teaches us that the Light is nothing without the Darkness. Without the latter, it’s just this blinding force that doesn’t allow you to actually see what you’re doing, or where you’re going. Darkness gives life meaning, and we must acknowledge that truth, and appreciate this balance. We still have much to learn from our new proof text, but it is already being distributed to all who wish to read it, completely free of charge. And now it is time to prepare for the outcome of all our work. We still believe in the taikon, even if they were first conceived by the Grand Deceivers, and we know that we have not been through all of this for nothing. The end is near...and so is the beginning.

Microstory 719: Force of Love

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The votes are in. For having misled an entire galaxy of loyal denizens, and a host of faithful followers, Former Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir, and his cohort, Eido Ivanka, were overwhelmingly voted to be put to death. It took about a week of votes, revotes, and control votes, but the results have all come to the same conclusion: Fosteans are ubiquitously outraged by the deceit that has run for the last several centuries. Zahir’s crimes are apparent, now that analysts have had time to review the data found of the Ring of Culture, but they are nothing compared to what Ivanka has done. After an in-depth investigation, we have learned that she has been alive this entire time. She has been traveling the planets, covertly maintaining loyalty to Lightseed through various psychologically manipulative means. She is particularly adept at gleaning people’s weaknesses, and exploiting them to use against her targets, ensuring no significant threat to the reign of Zahir got off the ground. Ivanka bolstered the reputations of candidates on many worlds, sometimes fabricating their histories, and lording her leverage over them to preserve her own power. She even colluded with our enemies, striking deals that only acted to support the sham regime. She is truly the face of evil, and deserves no less than a painful plex radiation death. Fortunately for the both of them, this is not going to happen. After the last vote was counted, the third and final Force of Virtue spontaneously appeared all over the galaxy, reaching every breathing human simultaneously. Immediately, people requested recalls for their votes, hoping to prevent the deaths of their newly discovered insidious aggressors. We call it the Force of Love, and since it affected everyone all at once, there was no one around to argue this decision. And so Profane Antagonist, Sotiren Zahir, and High Perversion, Ivanka will live out their lives, however short they may be without the luxury of life extension technologies. They have not been forgiven, but we have been reminded of the power of love, and its capacity to abstain from violence, even in the face of such terrible malice at the hands of those we once trusted.

Microstory 718: Burn the Book of Ivanka

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A rather recent taikon called for the retirement of the Book of Light. This involved three stages of ceremony meant to establish a deep reverence for its words, allowing us to move forward, while remembering the past for what it is. Upon discovering the Ring of Culture, and beginning to learn its secrets, we now understand the lies Sotiren Zahir and Eido Ivanka told us. We have placed both the latter, and the resurrection of the former in exile on a private jarl world that was long ago abandoned. We still don’t know what we’re going to do with them, though Highlightseers and galaxy leaders are weighing our options. Their exact location remains unknown to most, for their safety, and for everyone else’s. Unlike the retirement of a divine book, the taikon calls simply for the Book of Ivanka to be burned. Now that we know how terrible of a person Ivanka is, and always was, we realize we cannot do what we did with the Book of Light. A retirement still allows those words to be read and taught. This we cannot allow when it comes to the Book of Ivanka, which was written out of hate, and a thirst for power. We need something permanent...irreversible. One suggestion was to round up every hard copy of the book, and destroy it, while ordering all who own the book to delete it from their virtual readers. This would be impractical, of course, and we could never really know whether every copy was gone. Others suggested we disseminate a virus to destroy the virtual copies, but that still doesn’t account for the hard copies, nor would it work for any device removed from the data network. No, the only way to do this would be to use powerful technology we’ve never been able to control before. For the last eight years, scientists have been studying quantum phenomena, like the quantum darkness, and the Forces of Virtue, of which there is still one left. An elite team of researchers believe that they have come up with a satisfying solution. We will spread a virus across the galaxy to destroy Ivanka’s words. But unlike a computer virus, it will be able to reach every single copy—in any form—whether connected to the network or not. Hard copies will even dissolve until the pages are illegible. Hard copies will even dissolve until the pages are illegible. Virtual formats will be corrupted, and completely unsalvageable. The time of the eidos is done. We are moving on to greater, and more rewarding, things, in a universe of equality and community.

Microstory 717: Find the Ring of Culture

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Like the other four Primary Rings, the Ring of Culture has always been a mystery. It was worn by Eido Ivanka when she was first in power during the founding of this galaxy. It is said that she hid it deliberately in order to either protect it from people, or people from it. The original final taikon in the Book of Light did not list its rediscovery as part of the prophecy. Instead, the one hundred and seventeenth was meant to establish Ivanka—or her replacement, had one been appointed—as ultimate successor to Sotiren Zahir, should the Sacred Savior die a second time. Ivanka was the principal actor against the introduction of the Book of Anseluka. Even today, she rejects its teachings, and is adamant about retaining our tradition through the original divine books. She has gone to great lengths pushing her own divine book, despite the new taikon’s prediction that it must soon be destroyed. Presumably fearing that we would find the Ring of Culture, Ivanka was caught trying to retrieve it from its original hiding place (which we would have never uncovered, by the way), and trying to destroy it. As it turned out, The Ring was full of damning evidence that the history of our galaxy is not what we believed. Analysts are still looking over the data, but we’ve learned the truth about a few things already. Sotiren did not ride the Light of Prospect to the “land of light”. He gained access to a repository of knowledge which had already completed extensive study of the Fostean galaxy, long before our ancestors had so much as thought of breaking away from the communists. Some evidence even suggests these surveys were done far deeper in the past, possibly before Lactea was seeded with life in the first place. We currently do not know how comprehensive this conspiracy goes, or whether any of the other eidos had any clue about it; though Andrea certainly knew something. Certain remarks by Peter Fireblood, and other detractors, now make more sense. Perhaps we all knew a little bit of the truth behind our faith, which we now realize to be little more than a bastardization of an old religion on Earth called Christianity. Maybe we are lucky this information did not come to light until now, though. We are already in the middle of reimagining our faith into something healthier, and more productive. We would never have been able to reach this point had we been so profoundly made foolish by Sotiren and Ivanka’s lies. Now we understand why the new taikon demand we burn the Book of Ivanka. While we doubted the point of this before, we now understand, and we cannot wait.

Microstory 716: Life at Full Glory

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In the original list of final taikon, we were taught that the predictions would start ramping up to a climax of some kind. It was a little vague about how things would end, mostly because part of the idea is that it’s meant to be our choice. One thing we knew was that life would start getting more and more intense until events reached critical mass, and an inevitable conclusion came bursting into the galaxy. These new taikon from the Book of Anseluka have taken the opposite route, especially when matched with the actual turnout of events. Life in the galaxy is more stable than it ever has been, even before the Light Wars. We have opened negotiations with other civilizations for trade and general communication. Our relationship with Lactea as a whole is stronger than we ever thought possible, especially considering just a few years ago, we were completely hidden from them. At home, our population is thriving. Immortality is available to all now, and we are on our way towards near ubiquitous defeat of death. There are still subcultures who choose to remain standard human, and they are allowed to do so, of course. Planets have been rebuilt to former glory following years of quantum darkness where only hardened life could survive. Some worlds, however, have been abandoned entirely. Many have chosen to consolidate, not just out of necessity, but also because of a deeper sense of community and culture than we could appreciate before. Overall, Fostea is much different than it has been for the last several centuries; different than our founders had planned on us being. Whereas before we considered ours to be the greatest galaxy in the universe, we are quickly proving this to outsiders by accepting new ideas, and reevaluating our methods in good faith. There are only five taikon left, but whatever comes, we know we’ll be okay, because we are a strong and proud people. Bring it on, as the Earthans say.

Microstory 715: Closing Earthquake

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When the seven Heroes were finished with their jobs, they left the universe, one by one, utilizing the magical doors that would appear out of nowhere.  By now, it has been almost exactly eight years since The Light Wars began. Though we have yet to declare their end, we are now in a period of peace. As if to mark this occasion, on December 21, 2012 Earth Common Era, an earthquake erupted off the coast of an Earthquake island nation called Vanuatu. This was significantly smaller than the inciting quake in 2004 ECE, but the epicenters were not too far from each other. The later one has largely been considered the final breath of a dying world, the destruction of which began following the first quake. Out of this event came an interesting development. The Lactean irritants who once plagued Fostea—and disappeared after their unique contribution to the first Light War battle–resurfaced. They return to a changed universe, marked by the embers of reconciliation between the cluster’s greatest two cultures. In fact, an intergalactic council has formed of present informality. While we are working on solidifying this joint effort, the ad hoc members currently seated at the table are planning the observation of a holiday that can be enjoyed by us all. The working title is Ember Day. At the same time, Lightseers are continuing to evolve the faith, taking into consideration a sense of community never felt before. We look forward to the oncoming remaining taikon as well, now with fresh perspective on the endeavor. Though the Light of Truth was always meant to shine on all things, we now recognize that this happens across a broader spectrum. What we once perceived as darkness may, in fact, be nothing worse than a different shade of the Light. We have always appreciated diversity, but now we know what that truly means. Furthermore, we see the value in darkness, for it is what gives light meaning. This is what the taikon have been trying to show us the whole time, and we are grateful for this lesson. And what luck it is that our budding relationships with our neighbors have begun now, for we are in the midst of recovery from the quantum darkness, and the Light Wars. The galaxy is nearing comparable levels of habitability to where they were before this all started...better, even.

Microstory 714: Seven Signals Sound

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The Book of Anseluka outlines seven final battles, each one led by one of the seven Heroes that appeared from their respective seven universes, to be signaled seven unique sounds. As soon as they arrived in Universe Prime, we believed our troubles to be near over. We assumed the Heroes would want to get to work right away so that they would be able to return home. Out of all of them, The Warrior was really the only one with any slight level of interest in helping us. This may have been because he spends his days suddenly fighting against new enemies, so this didn’t seem abnormal to him. The rest expressed their reservations, for they did not know who we were, or why they should help us fight the Thuriamen. This is understandable, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to convince them with our words alone. They would need to understand the severity of our situation, as told from multiple perspectives. Highlightseers, galaxy leaders, and other respected Fostean citizens held a new summit; the first of its kind. We met with leaders from The Core, Exile, other Lactean systems, and even Earth, on a neutral planet in a random uninhabited galaxy. There we were able to help the Heroes understand just how important it is that we snuff out the Thuriamen threat once and for all. But we also made great strides in our relationship with the Lacteans. Our ties to the communists in the Core are still flimsy, at best, but we have made new friends in the Exiles, who were able to convey to us a desire for traditional capitalistic trade in the open market. We have ignited a new Light of Comradery. In the end, all of the Heroes agreed to help us, for the sake of the greater community. Theirs is a story for a different book, but thanks to them the war was finally ended, complete with a groundbreaking peace deal made between Thuriama, and the rest of us.

Microstory 713: Seven Heroes Appear

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While Luvras Seldasic, Loctener to Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir, was in the middle of his third song in the Haplen Magnus Building, a door appeared out of nowhere. At first, nothing happened, but then it opened, and out came a group of people. They were all dressed differently, and regarded their new surroundings with varying levels of surprise and intrigue. By now, a sizeable audience had formed to listen to Seldasic’s recital, and most probably believed this to be part of it. A few, however, made the connection between there being exactly seven of them, and there being seven Heroes foretold in the Book of Anseluka. Seldasic had the urge to continue his performance, so his assistant escorted the visitors to the nearest Nexus, where they were transported to Hiereus so that they could be verified by Seamus’ Ring of Law. They easily passed the test, supported by the independent studies experts, who had no doubt that these are the seven predicted Heroes that would appear to help win the war against the Thuriamen. Though the door from which they came mysteriously disappeared before anyone could investigate, those who know their history will recognize that as a special portal to other universes, like the one where Eido Mateo originated. We do not yet know how the Heroes will help us in our efforts, but we do know a little bit about who they are, and what they’ve been through, and that they’re all from some version of Earth.

The first to walk through the door provided us with no proper name, requesting we refer to him simply as The Warrior. He was born in the past, in a land with little technology, during a time of war. He was badly injured on the battlefield when a sword randomly appeared to him, allowing him to defeat his foe, and survive. As it turns out, though we more often associate the weapon with Eido Mateo, the Sword of Assimilation actually belongs to the Warrior. He’s been using it to travel through time for years. The second Hero is named Honor Beringer. She was born to a world at war as well, but in a more general sense, with civilization having slowly crumbled and died. She was forced upon a generation ship when she was little, by a group of people hoping to save the human race from extinction by sending a fraction of them to another world. Matilda Förstner’s life was filled with less danger. She chose to enter military service when she was an adult, and is now a heavily dedicated war hero. Before arriving in our universe, she was living comfortably with a safe office job, in a position of great leadership. Joshua Bacon was unable to serve in the military due to having been born blind. He has studied his world’s military history, and is already proving to be a brilliant tactician. Though he may not be able to fight physically, he will prove to be an invaluable resource for our strategy in ending the Light Wars. Shiloh Kingsley is not a fighter, per se, but was known for his bravery in the face of danger on his world. In fact, he belongs to a class of humans who do not usually go by their given names, instead being addressed by unique titles. His callsign is Courage. Amaranti Houston is experienced in martial arts, using her skills and custom technology domestically to protect people, and fight against evil. And finally we have Ariel Grant. She has spoken very little since arriving. We know her to have her own experiences in battle, but she has not gotten into detail about it. We believe her to have worked in law enforcement more recently. We are fortunate to have seven valiant champions. The Light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, is now shining brightly upon our faces.

Microstory 712: A Jaded Man Made Curious

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The discovery the Book of Anseluka was not the happiest time in our galaxy’s history. We had gathered so many more followers of the Light than we had ever had before, that it was a particularly nasty blow when we learned our faith would have to change. Had the revelation that we would one day have to retire the Book of Light come sooner, it might not have been so bad for our interstellar economy. But with nearly everyone now on board, it was just too much. Fortunately for these people—new followers, and old loyalists, alike—their luck would soon change. A quantum field known as the Force of Hope began affecting everyone, on every planet, nearly simultaneously. We grew more optimistic, possibly even more so than we were before the war against Thuriama started. This caused a reaffirmation of our obligation and dedication to spreading the Light of Truth across the universe. We were more determined to win the Light Wars, and we were more capable of it. There was one, however, who somehow never experienced this reinvigoration. Luvras Seldasic has maintained his faith in the Light throughout his tenure as the Loctener, just as he has his entire life. The Force of Hope, however, never managed to shine the soul within him. His closest officials have described him as numb, or on a sort of automatic pilot mode. He would do as he was asked by the resurrected Sotiren, and he always acted upon the needs of Fosteans and Lightseers, but he had no passion. One might even say that he had become jaded. Luckily for him, this would not last forever. As predicted by Anseluka, the Force of Hope suddenly awakened inside of him, like a light switch being flipped. One moment, he was his usual hardened and immovable self, and then the next, his heart was filled with wonder and curiosity. With no provocation, he started singing in the Great Hall of the Magnus Building on Haplen. He looked at everything around him with renewed interest, as if he hadn’t ever seen an object before. Doctors would call this phenomenon jamais vu, but we know it as something else: the fulfillment of a taikon. Now we have a true Loctener, and nothing will stop us from salvation.

Microstory 711: New Faction Martyred

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We are nearing the end of these one hundred and twenty-one taikon, and the Fostean galaxy is in a monumentally different place now than it was when these first started. We thought we had it all figured out. We had hundreds of years to perfect our economy and sociopolitical culture, so surely nothing could be better than what we had come up with. But this was foolish, for our predecessors in the Lactean galaxy had several times that many years to perfect their own way of life, and they still managed to get it wrong. But maybe they were onto something here. Maybe there are some things they can teach us, just like there is much we can teach them. Far from the leaders that once ruled our civilizations, there are those who feel this to be the truth. They are already in discussions with the Core, hoping to form some sort of amicable relationship. Lacteans have expressed a willingness to trade resources, while at the same time providing military strength against our common enemy in the Thuriamen. Throughout these changes, a faction of Lightseers have begun adopting new rituals and practices. It is still a form of Lightseed, to be sure, but they are more passionately in favor of the new taikon discovered in the Book of Anseluka. They value predominantly a community-oriented economy, believing that everyone has their own contribution to make, and that no man is more important than any other. They help each other hone their natural skills, and find their place in the universe, rather than simply encouraging each member to find their own way. The majority of those on the outside of this new faction are accepting of them, and willing to let them carry on in peace. Others, however, feel differently. They are staunch traditionalists, believing the Sacred Savior’s original words in the Book of Light to be flawless. This despite the fact that Sotiren Zahir admits within the text of the Book of Light that if change is necessary, it should not be resisted. These conservatives felt their ideals were being threatened by the presence of a rival faction, even though sects are no longer considered in competition. They misinterpreted the text of the new taikon, thinking they were the foretold martyrs of their faith. They struck first, massacring the majority of the community-based faction, which actually acted to martyr them instead. The attackers’ faction was immediately disbanded, with all violent members being sent to jail to await judgment, and likely incarceration. A memorial to the progressive martyrs is planned for construction on Lakre, not too far from the memorial already being erected in remembrance of those lost in the Hydra Support Network.

Microstory 709: Death of the Firstborn

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For the few years, ever since the revelation that we will now be working through a new taikon path, parents have been worried over this one. The Death of the Firstborn seemed like a pretty clear warning. Though, the passage on it in the Book of Anseluka speaks about family as a more general concept, rather than literal genetic links. We should have, therefore predicted what would happen. As far as we know, no parents have recently lost their firstborn children, at least not beyond casualties of our war with Thuriama. Those deaths have been happening since the Light Wars began, and no recent losses could be characterized as being different, or more exceptional, than the others. No, this was not what the taikon was referring to. Ileana Ulaire, the replacement for Eido Andrea was the only notable death since what we consider to be the accomplishment of the taikon before. She was the first eido replacement since the taikon began, and was actually appointed before Sotiren Zahir was even resurrected, as was Seamus. After millennia of progress, we have developed safeguards, and technology capable of curing nearly all diseases, and of treating just about ever injury imaginable. Still, there are some freak accidents that even we cannot fix. Even if we could, those who discovered Ileana’s body quickly realized this to be the fulfillment of a taikon, and would have been forbidden from saving her. As explained, a group of Irritants, which mysteriously disappeared from the galaxy years ago, came upon Fostea before the taikon started, looking to cause trouble. They ended up gifting the Belt of Andrea to Ileana, however, evidently seeing their constant meddling to be inappropriate. Ironically, we have now adopted some of those people’s principles, as some of them originated on Earth. We do not believe their gift to be a tool for deadly subterfuge, but that does not make Ileana Ulaire any less dead. She was one day using it to pass through walls, as her predecessor would do casually, when it experienced a literal catastrophic failure. Something in the device became corrupted, and disengaged while Ileana was in the middle of a cement wall. Only the front part of her body managed to exit the other side before this error, or loss of power. We know there to have been preventative redundancies in the design, so we don’t know how this could have happened,  but experts do not suspect foul play. Many have attributed this event to the New Light itself, but the resurrected Sacred Savior sees it differently. It has caused him to fly into a rage.

Microstory 708: Satisfaction With Little

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This was probably our greatest challenge, even against the trickier ones. We’ve spent our entire history, and then some, valuing the accumulation of wealth. To us, this has always been each and everyone of our respective goals. We believe every civilization needs some kind of metric, if not more than one, to determine who has been successful, and who hasn’t. Otherwise, how will we know who to trust in positions of leadership? How can anyone live a fulfilling life if they can have everything they need just from having been born in the first place? These are questions we’ve not had any experience asking, and in fact, haven’t so much as considered. Wealth as a metric is so ingrained in our culture that our brains never though to ask such things. Honestly, we’ve all needed time to think over our notions and behavior, and reexamine our choices. Fortunately, each taikon is not sprung upon us after the previous one is complete. We were able to read ahead, with these last ones being laid out for us in the Book of Anseluka. Ever since encountering these new taikon, we’ve been working on transitioning the galaxy towards more inclusive values. We have deepened our connection with the various of cultures of Earth, cementing our plans to become a more traditional capitalistic society. We see now that we were blinded by the Light of Ignorance, which prevented us from seeing beyond our own way, or the way of our ancient communist ancestors. We now understand that there are many ways to run an economy, rather than simply the two extremes. The dirty communists from whence we came value success just as much as we always did. Their problem is that they believe everyone should share in this success, rather than finding ways of improvement. We still think this way to be wrong, and strongly believe in the Earthan method. Life is all a balance, so why shouldn’t a civilization be the same? You still have to earn what you have, but we now recognize that there are those who are born under such poor circumstances that self-improvement is practically impossible. How foolish we had been claiming to ourselves that anyone in Fostea can have what they want if only they had a strong enough work ethic. That is not how it works now, nor was it ever. Not all men are created equal, but we’re all born with a capacity for charity and compassion. Likewise, we’re all capable of surviving on very little. The New Light teaches us that acceptance in one’s misfortunes does not preclude the perseverance against them.

Microstory 705: Avail Immortality

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This is a surprising entry in the new list of taikon found in the Book of Anseluka, but we have no choice but to accept it. Immortality, in many forms, has been available for as long as many of us can remember, but not everyone is successful enough to obtain it. Many techniques are prohibitively expensive for the more impoverished in our civilization. Up until now, this has been okay with us. Our whole economy and culture is built on the idea of working hard for what you want. If you’ve not found a way to afford immortality, then you must not be good enough for it. Only recently are we doubting this sentiment, which is something we never thought we would. The Book of Anseluka includes more than just the directions for the new taikon. It also presents new ideas about how we should run Fostea, and some changes the unknown author believes we should implement. He does not suggest we return to the ways of the dirty communists of our past, but we should continue to follow the model of Earth. How an ancient writer could have any idea that we would begin modeling Earthans out of necessity, or what that model would end up being, we may never known. We still don’t know who Anseluka was, or whether he’s still alive today. He does not write about himself at all, and most haven’t had time to seriously question this. We have to trust the leadership of our true savior, Sotiren Zahir, who has made it clear that the Book of Anseluka is just as divine as our previous books. In the Core of Lactea, immortality is available to all who want it. Few of them reject immortality, because most of those have already left to strike new worlds on far away orbitals. Since immortality doesn’t exist on Earth, the Core Lacteans are the only ones we can look to when figuring out how to avail it to every denizen of our galaxy. As much as it pains us, this is what we have done. Now that it is open to all, we will have to adjust our plans for a future with unlimited population.

Microstory 693: Quantum Darkness Survives and Spreads

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When the quantum darkness first plagued our galaxy, shrouding the stars like giant cosmic blackout curtains, we were horrified. We were ecstatic when it was somehow destroyed in only one day. The Book of Light never said that it would be destroyed completely that quickly, but it also never said exactly what it would look like in between the first time we were to be saved by it, and its final death. It certainly never said that it would travel to other galaxies to cover their stars as well. When this happened, we were afraid for the Earthan humans, who are too primitive at this point in their history to explain such a thing. Luckily, Earth is also incapable of detecting objects, communicating, or traveling using faster-than-light methods. They have given their closest neighbor the name of Proxima, and are currently only hopeful to one day reach it. At best, according to their calculations, this couldn’t happen any sooner than just over four of their years (closer to three and a half standard years). This means they have no idea that all stars in their galaxy of Lactea are presently invisible. They won’t know for another four years that anything is wrong, and it’ll be even longer before enough of their stars blink out for them to start seeing a trend. This doesn’t mean that we have that long to figure out how to stop the darkness, but it does give us a little breathing room. Many scientists have set aside their projects in order to research this catastrophe, and find a way to turn the stars back on. They also need to find some means of creating a massive illusion so that, when the last remaining Proxima light reaches the Earthans, they perceive no change. We don’t know how long this will take, but even with all this darkness, one thing is becoming clear: the taikon are going to take much longer than our past experiences with them have led us to believe.

Microstory 692: Discover Perjury

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While a small group of Fosteans were investigating the Amadesin threat from Earth, and the elites were discussing what we were going to do about it, the rest of the people in the galaxy were going about their day. In a sort of mundane, but still important, taikon prediction, we were charged with uncovering the truth about a court case. We had to find a witness, in apparently any Circuit of Truth, who had perjured themselves. These kind of incidents happen all the time in a galaxy of hundreds of billions of people. Though lying is not at all illegal, if discovered, it can delegitimize the ruling of a court case, so it’s important that they be found. For the last few days, lawyers, judges, and other impacted field representatives were searching for a case of perjury that might be worthy of being deemed the one foretold in the Book of Light. As the prior taikon were being rapidly realized, it was decided by the Highlightseers that they really just needed to accept whichever one came next. To this end, a group of arbitrators settled on a relatively recent case involving the theft, abduction, murder, and arson. A witness provided testimony claiming to have spotted one of the defendants purchasing the necessary fire accelerants and equipment at a supply shop located on the moon orbiting the planet where the offense took place. Though this defendant was proven to have participated in the other three offenses in question, the circuit had no choice but to free him from sentence of servitude, and return him to general society. Verifiers were unsure if this could be trusted as the true fulfillment of the ninety-second taikon, but before the were able to test it using the Ring of Law, they found their proof. As soon as bars of the released convict’s pending cell closed behind him, the stars in Fostea succumbed to the quantum darkness for a second time. But that was the least of our worries, for the darkness had secretly spread to other galaxies, moving completely undetected. Out of all stars in the Lactean galaxy, only Earth’s was spared this new quantum darkness, but that wouldn’t last. If we did not find a way to destroy this once and for all, every star in the Earthan sky would disappear with no explanation.

Microstory 691: Replace Eido Kimena

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The Saw of Kimena was little more than a symbol. Sure, Eido Kimena occasionally used it as a weapon, or as a tool for threats, but it did not possess any special properties. Some believe that Kimena kept it with her after noticing the other eidos carrying with them signature objects. As stated, she was the primary driving force in favor of seizing control of the sunken island of Atlantis, and ended up losing her saw there. One member of the group of mercenaries who went in to retrieve it was a man named Harvin Adricks, who was likely trying to prove himself worthy of being selected as the new eido. He’s not unlike Kimena, with a thirst for conquest, and a temper to match it. He was, shall we say, rather zealous while within the confines of the undersea civilization, and started breaking protocol to gain intelligence. Though against the mission, he was an unofficial leader in the merc team, trusted and loved by many of his teammates. He was able to convince them to try to gather information on how Atlantis operates, in case Fostea runs into issues with them later. They learned very little about the island nation, however, for in the attempt, they discovered a secret the Atlantians had only recently discovered themselves. Lactean representatives had been sent to Earth in a series of missions, ultimately finding out that the ancient Amadesins were still alive. Amadesis is an evil religion predicated upon control, servitude, and pure inequality. Though both Amadesis and Lightseed are founded on the concept of a cleansing light, the Amadesins use this light as a form of manipulation, determining who has the right to it, and who deserves to remain in darkness. If anything is the antithesis of Lightseed, Amadesis is most certainly it, and we would have been fiercely against them if we had existed during the same time periods. Well, as it turns out, that’s exactly what we are, for despite reports they the religion died out centuries ago, millions of them have been reported to be living in higher dimensions that can be accessed by Earth. Adricks was hastily named as new eido so that he could begin using his skills for what may be the greatest fight of any Lightseer’s life. All signs point to the logical speculation that Fostea is headed for intergalactic war.

Microstory 690: Sneak Into Atlantis

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Millennia before our ancestors arrived at their waypoint, Earth, our ancestors’ ancestors came first. The first of them were sent there in an ancient science experiment that went wrong, but they would not be the only ones. Over the years, more of them arrived, along with people from more distant planets. Meanwhile, the outsider population continued their species, and grew on their own. Even after recreating the technology to return to their homeworlds, many chose not to, because Earth was now their home. There is a literally universal mandate that states no non-Earthan may interfere with an Earthan. Lactea has had a history of disparate cultures encountering each other, and sharing their knowledge. This is not allowed when it comes to the Earthan humans, and as much as we detest the galaxy of Lactea’s way of life, it is a rule that we respect as well. We found temporary ways of protecting our presence on Earth from its natives, but our predecessors came up with a more permanent solution. They sunk the island they had settled on into the sea, keeping the waters at bay using telekinesis. Though rumors of their conspiracy remain, people on modern day Earth typically believe either that these Atlantians have died out, or simply never existed in the first place. When our people showed up on the planet, they uncovered the location of Atlantis, and made contact. Their island, though not the largest by any means, was also not particularly small. It would have taken some doing, but our then population could have fit entirely within the confines of Atlantis. And some of us wanted just that. Of course now we realize how ridiculous and idea that was, because of how our numbers have increased since then. Why, we would have needed to live in artificial dimensions, and even then, we probably couldn’t all live there without alerting Earthans to our presence. Still, Eido Kimena felt differently, and she fought against the native Atlantians, urging them to either share their undersea kingdom, or leave. Though she ultimately came to Fostea in an exodus ship, she spent more time in Atlantis than anyone. Before she left, an Atlantian—or possibly a group of them—stole from her what we now call The Saw of Kimena. A brave group of mercenaries were sent to infiltrate Atlantis, and retrieve the artifact so it can later be bequested to Eido Kimena’s replacement. They did this with very little pushback. Apparently, even though the Atlantians were keeping the saw in a museum, they did not care all that much about it being stolen back. What the mercenary thieves found while there, however, was something more terrible than any of us could have imagined...

Microstory 689: Recognition of the Resurrection

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The new force of Faith could not have come at a more opportune time. A special subsection of the verifiers were tasked with determining whether the resurrected Sacred Savior was truly what he was purported to be. They have been working on this ever since he first returned. They held discussions—some private, some with audiences. They consulted with scientists and other experts. They referred back to the Book of Light, Sotiren Zahir’s personal memoirs, and other related literature, like the Book of Ivanka. They interviewed the resurrected one several times, and monitored how he behaved under uncontrolled conditions. Though they kept the details secret, they did recently reveal to the public that they were only marginally closer to an answer than they were when they first began. A few of today’s recent events started turning the tables on their progress, however. Firstly, we learned that the resurrected one traveled from a planet called Shalda, to a planet called Mubhir, during the darkness. The star that Shalda orbits was the first to be cleansed of the quantum darkness, and Mubhir’s was the last. Though we still have no real idea how it is that the darkness was abated, we take this as a divine signal that we should fully trust him. While the Ring of Law seems generally incapable of verifying taikon which have already been accepted as canon, it tested positive upon exposure to the resurrected. This seems like pretty conclusive evidence that we have not somehow been tricked by the Darkness, or some other opposing force. Furthermore, the special council of verifiers sort of laid out a tentative time limit for themselves, expecting to have an answer by this very day. It would seem like nothing could stop the resurrected from being officially recognized as the true Sacred Savior, but it was the Book of Marsali that really sold it to the verifiers, the Highlighters, the Lucidares, and common Lightseers across the galaxy. Marsali reminded us that faith is still faith, and that no amount of proof is strong enough to tear it down. Though the Book of Light warns us of trusting false idols, we must also remember the guidance of the Light of Truth. We must rely on the belief that it will protect us against evil. So this is what we have done. The verifiers released a statement today, confirming that the man we thought to be the Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir, was exactly what he appears to be: our hope.

Microstory 688: Force of Faith

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While the quantum darkness was a perilous and depressing time for Lightseers, we returned from it stronger than ever before. We saw an uptick in conversions, of course, as people now had definitive proof of the Light’s power. There were changes for preexisting Lightseers, though. After careful study, experts now strongly believe this to be a attributed to a nonmaterial, but measureable, force. As vague as it may sound, we call it the Force of Faith, and it is sort of a cousin of the Light of Truth. It cannot be seen, as the Light can, but it is just as divine. While the quantum darkness can permeate vast distances for insidious and malevolent purposes, the Force of Faith does so to strengthen belief. While probably nothing is capable of precluding crises of faith altogether, this new force is a mighty enemy against it; a ward, a wall, a shield. Scientists are still trying to understand and codify this new physical phenomenon, and are unsure why it has not been detected before. The obvious answer is that it did not exist before; that it was somehow created out of necessity, and is responsible for the salvation from the darkness that preceded it. The truth is that we still do not know, but that’s the point of faith, isn’t it? If we knew things to be true with undeniable evidence, then it wouldn’t be faith at all; it would just be a standard fact. Perhaps religion thrives in the face of adversity, and requires the opposition of those who do not believe in it. If everyone believed, no one would be special, and the Light wouldn’t matter so much anymore. Perhaps. Whatever the truth, we believe in this, never more staunchly than now.