Microstory 1623: Death in a Vacuum

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Vacuumverse, as I think I’ll call it, is another really weird one. It started out as a normal version of Earth. History came with hardships, war, death, beauty, advancement; everything you would expect. The world ended rather abruptly, and though humanity lived past the planet’s destruction, it too came to an end. In space, there is no up, or down. Because of gravity, it’s more like in and out. You’re either letting it hold you against the nearest sufficiently massive celestial object, or you’re trying to resist this gravitational pull. Most of the time, this works just fine, and it’s totally predictable. By measuring an object’s mass and density, you can figure out how strong of an attraction it will have on some other object. The math is hard to reach, but easy to fathom. In this case, the sun orbits the center of the galaxy, while all its orbitals revolve around it. Every inhabited universe operates in this way. Some others have alternate fundamental constants, but we’re not worried about this, because they don’t support life very well. Something changed in Vacuumverse. Maybe it was a black hole, maybe it was artificial, I don’t know. But something suddenly altered the orbit of Earth. If you were looking at the solar system from a distance, keeping the orbital plane in a horizontal position, you would see the planet fall down towards an imaginary floor underneath the whole thing. In fact, you would see all of the planets doing that, as if the sun simply stopped having any gravitational impact on its orbitals, and something underneath them took over. It was still there, but nothing was attracted to it anymore. Like I said, it’s weird, because it should be impossible. That’s not really how gravity works, so again, I can’t say what happened. Obviously, since it was no longer being supported by a host star, the Earth started becoming inhospitable. It’s a good thing a few people knew that it was coming, and had a plan. It wasn’t a particularly good plan, and it didn’t quite work out in the long-term, but I suppose it was the best they could do on such short notice. Or maybe they just didn’t try hard enough.

These people couldn’t save everyone, but they did save a few, and the way they chose to save them was just as strange as the cataclysmic event itself. Much like the Bicker Institute in Bickerverse, those in the know sought out people with healthy and compatible genetic codes. They figured that the survivors would need to be able to restart the population at some point, and they wanted to maximize their chances. As we’ll find out, their plans were hopeless. They gathered these lucky survivors a few different ways, usually by sending them subliminal messages, but also sometimes through good old fashioned kidnapping. They protected them through vehicles and aircraft retrofitted to survive the vacuum of space, and be completely self-sufficient, using advanced solar power technologies. Some were even protected in a bubble that surrounded a big parking lot. Don’t ask me to explain that one. What they didn’t do was tell anyone that this was happening. They didn’t even tell their savelings, as they called them. Once it was time to leave, they put everyone they wanted in their special lifeboats, and flew away, leaving Earth to plummet out of orbit. Their plan was...insane, and convoluted, and ridiculous, and honestly, short-sighted. I call it Vacuumverse, because now these people were living in vacuum-sealed tin cans with very minimal propulsion systems. All they could do was stick by the sun, and float around aimlessly. They couldn’t fly off to the next exoplanet over, and they couldn’t mine raw materials to expand their fleet with a growing population. They were just destined to be stuck there, with no hope for survival, not for long, anyway. It didn’t matter that they picked people with the best genes, because there wasn’t enough livable space for them to spread out. So they died shortly after everyone else did, and no one in the rest of the bulkverse even knew enough about them to care.

Microstory 1622: Invasive Species

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I mentioned before how Efilverse was the second universe that the Ochivari went to when they discovered their ability to travel the bulkverse. I wouldn’t call it specifically intentional, but it was at least a deliberate experiment. Before this, it happened by accident. I don’t need to go into detail, but bulk travel is part of Ochivari physiology. It’s encoded in their DNA. But unlike their progenitor, they don’t open portals by punching invisible dimensional barriers. They do it by fighting against each other quite violently, and painfully, and it comes at a great cost. I don’t really know the ratio, but it’s something like, for three Ochivari to break the membrane, a fourth has to die. And for four to cross over, two have to die. Or something like that. I don’t think it goes up perfectly mathematically, and it has to do with total mass, and I believe some deaths are more powerful than others. Anyway, it’s not something that happens easily, which explains why they didn’t discover the phenomenon in ancient days. It just so happens that two Ochivari were fighting both against each other, and against two other Ochivari. I’m sure the squabble was stupid and petty, but this little fight had extreme consequences for the entire bulkverse. The first two decided to stand back to back, so they could face their mutual enemy head-on. They were angry, though, and anger is a powerful emotion. When an Ochivar is emotionally charged, little flaps will rise from their back. It’s an evolutionary response, designed to promote their own survival against a threat. Even though they kind of look like spearheads, these flaps are flaccid and harmless, which is why they don’t actually use them in battle. They’re not weapons; they’re only meant to be just for show, and everyone has always believed that. They had little reason to press their backs against each other for an extended period of time. It was really just happenstance that it occurred this day. While the two of them were locked in this position, a special fluid was secreted from under their stress flaps, and mixed with each other. This prompted a sort of trance-like state, where the two fighters became locked in a glandular battle with each other. They were unable to move, and they looked strange, which gave their enemies pause. Once it was over, one of the Ochivari essentially imploded, and tore a hole in the membrane of the universe, which sucked the other three in. This was the first time the Ochivari crossed over, and ended up in a random universe, populated by normal humans.

These humans were unremarkable until this moment. Their technology advanced at a reasonable pace, religion held them back a little, they didn’t have time travel. Everything, according to most metrics, was totally fine. The Ochivari survivors were horrified by what had happened to them. These humans were other, and they were dangerous. So they attacked. They wreaked havoc all over this world’s version of New York City, in the attempt to get back home, in anger at the humans, and still while trying to kill each other. People died in the onslaught, and so did one of the Ochivari. The humans were surprised, and not because they didn’t know aliens could possibly be a thing, but because their nature was not what they expected. They hadn’t come up with many invasion fiction stories. They weren’t naïve; just hopeful. They wanted to believe that aliens would come as visitors, rather than as hostile forces. The Ochivari’s arrival was the most demoralizing thing to happen to them. The two surviving Ochivari managed to get themselves away from the crowd long enough to try to recreate the circumstances that brought them there. Of course, one survived this next trip, while the other did not. While he returned to his world to spread his story, the humans kind of fell apart. This one incident changed their whole outlook on the universe. They became angry isolationists, bent on killing anything that came their way from outside. They assumed the aliens would be back for a full-scale invasion. It never happened. The Ochivari never came through, and this version of Earth wasn’t situated in a galaxy of resident aliens. They were all alone. Not knowing this, they became more and more militaristic, but since there weren’t any more aliens, they decided to start warring amongst themselves...and it destroyed them. It was probably why the Ochivari felt like they never needed to go back.

Microstory 1621: Floaters

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No version of a populated Earth is a waterworld. Sure, it’s possible that a version of it could be bombarded with enough asteroids and comets to cover the entire surface with water, with no land, but if that were the case, humans would not have ended up on it. Life could theoretically evolve to a certain point under the sea, but technology made by such a species would reach its maximum level pretty early on, as they could never invent electricity, or even discover fire. The land is where the magic happens, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. It just needs to be a starting point. One universe took this idea to the extreme. Apparently for no other reason than they felt compelled, these people moved out to the oceans, choosing to live on artificial floating islands. A small fraction of the population stayed on land, but it is very rare, which doesn’t really make much sense to  me. For the most part, humanity is not a monolith. It shouldn’t be possible for the entire race to want to live the same way, but that’s exactly what somehow happened here. Nearly all of them wanted to become water-bound, and I still can’t explain it. These islands are modular, meaning they can be broken apart, and transported elsewhere, to be rearranged according to whims and new needs. Continents separate into countries, countries into regions, regions into cities, cities into communities, and communities into individual homes. Tired of your neighbors? Just detach your section, and go find new ones—clear across the globe, if you want. Someone invented the technology to make this possible, and easy, and everyone jumped on board pretty much immediately, literally. It ended all wars, and even poverty. Small floaters are cheap and accessible, and with access to the whole world’s resources, there was no need to hoard. They can escape from any storm, move away from any area to let it replenish itself, and avoid overtaxing their planet. This doesn’t seem to have been their idea, but this transformation also led to the Ochivari completely ignoring their world. They’re totally safe from the Darning Wars. It would probably be a nice place to vacation if bulkverse travel were more common.

The Advancement of Serif: Tuesday, September 7, 2184

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Their group having nearly doubled all of the sudden, sleeping arrangements were a little complicated on the AOC, but they figured it out. Jeremy and Avidan shared a grave chamber, as did Angela and Olimpia, and the children, Adamina and Esen. The rest had their own, but things would be better soon, once the new members were put where they needed to be. Nerakali didn’t open any more windows in 2181, but hopefully she would know what to do three years later. After an early breakfast, the Cassidy cuffs beeped, showing them that they had a date on Dardius.

“We don’t have time for a regular transition,” Angela argued. “We have to find a way to get these people back to their destinies.”

“This might be our chance to do that,” Jeremy said. “Just because no one here needs to go to Dardius, doesn’t mean we won’t find help here. Nerakali is a lot more helpful than Jupiter was. When she took over, she started recognizing when we were the ones who needed help, and she’s delivered.”

“You don’t think the next transition is irrelevant?” Angela questioned.

“I don’t,” Jeremy answered.

“This is what we do,” Serif agreed. “We have to assume we’re meant to be there, whether it helps us or not. Adamina and Esen will be fine, as long as they stay on the ship.”

“How do we get the ship all the way to Dardius?” Olimpia asked. Getting to a planet millions of light years away was pretty easy in The Parallel, but taking their ship with them made it a little harder. They had to first request permission from the Earthan leadership. Parallel natives were starting to grow uneasy about their relationship with the transition team. This might be one of the few remaining favors they would be allowed to ask, which would be a problem, because they were approaching the beginning of human exoplanet colonization. The first quantum probe, in fact, landed on Proxima Doma just last year. If the transitions continued, they would probably begin happening throughout the stellar neighborhood, and nothing could cross those distances in the span of a day, save for a Nexus, and but a handful of temporal manipulators. For some reason, trotting—as it was called—was a rare power, even in this reality. No one was sure whether the power-granters came up with the restriction deliberately, or if it was some kind of universal limitation.

Earth granted them permission at least this one more time, allowing them to interface with the Nexus from outside the building. The trip took them to this reality’s version of Tribulation Island. Jeremy agreed to babysit the children, while the rest of them went out to find the transition window on the mainland. They didn’t really want Tamerlane Pryce to go with them, but they didn’t want to leave him behind either. On the foothills of a mountain range, two people came through the window, standing in one place, and unconfused, like they knew it was coming. It was a man, and a child about Adamina and Esen’s age. The man smiled, and reached out his hand. “Thank you for coming. My name is Dardan Lusha.”

“Dardan?” Serif asked. “As in, the namesake of this planet?”

Dardan chuckled. “That was technically a different Dardan, but yes. I’m one of his alternates.” He looked down at the child. “And this little guy is Newt Clemens.”

“What?” Avidan was taken aback. “Is that a coincidence?”

“It’s not,” Dardan began to explain. “He is the alternate son of an alternate you. He’s a very special boy, and unique. He’s here to help your own young ones. You see, you didn’t come here to save us with a transition window. We’re here to save you. He can remove people’s powers, and will do that for Adamina and Esen, so they can lead happy lives here with us. We’ll also take that pocket dimension generator off your hands, and give those Maramon a good home somewhere here. The solutions to all your problems lie here.”

Serif was hesitant. “I don’t know you, and I don’t know that boy. How can we trust you?”

“We can trust him,” Kivi assured her. “He’s good people.”

Serif waited, not wanting to concede so quickly—after no argument, or discussion—but if they could only trust one person in the whole universe, it was Kivi. She had been part of this mission since the start, and had proved herself time and time again. “I suppose...if she says you’re okay, then you’re okay. Is this real, though? Can he really take powers?”

“Yes,” Newt answered for himself. “I’ve done it before.”

“You understand the need to keep him safe, though,” Dardan said. “You can’t tell anyone you did this, that this happened. We can’t have people coming to our planet, hoping to exploit his gifts.”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Serif agreed.

Dardan nodded. “You may bring the children here, or we will accompany you to your vessel.”

“We’ll bring them here, but there’s something you should understand first,” Serif said.

“What is that?”

“We don’t do nonconsent. I recognize that, as children, they may not know what is best for them, but I will not violate their rights. We temporarily suspended their abilities with these cuffs, but if they don’t want to make it permanent, I will not force them, and I will not let you force them.”

“Like I said, we’re here to help, not force anything.” Dardan promised. “We do believe that we have a good way to convince them, though.”

Serif didn’t press for clarification, choosing to be patient instead. She sent Kivi and Vitalie back to retrieve the children. Meanwhile, Avidan went off for supervised visitation in the main sequence—thanks to Nerakali’s intervention—with the son he might have had. His real parents agreed with no objection, but wanted to make sure Avidan didn’t try anything funny. Alternate selves was a complicated concept that fictional representations of time travel took for granted. Someone who looked exactly like you, and had a similar history to you, was not really you. There could only ever be one you, and anyone else could be no more than an approximation. Still, they felt that Avidan had some rights as that approximation, and chose to honor it.

By the time the girls came back with Jeremy and the kids, three more strangers had joined them. One of them was wearing a tiara. Dardan knelt in front of Adamina and Esen, and told them how dangerous it could be for them to keep their abilities. He spoke well, not dumbing himself down for the children to understand, but still using language they would respond to. After he was finished with his spiel, it was time for the demonstration. “I introduce you now to a woman from another world. Her name is Thack Natalie Collins.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lusha,” Thack said graciously. “And I will introduce you to my friend, Lochan. What I do is see other worlds from a distance, and what he does, is show you what I see. Do you understand?”

Adamina and Esen nodded their heads.

“Then let us join hands,” Thack said, taking Adamina and Lochan’s hands in hers, while Esen held onto Adamina’s and Lochan’s. The four of them closed their eyes and lifted their chins. Everything seemed okay at first, but grew worse as they shared the vision. It started out looking like REM sleep, with their eyelids bulging and twitching. It continued on from there, as they started to struggle more, and Serif realized that the kids were horrified at what they saw. Serif didn’t know enough about it to know what it was they were witnessing, but they clearly wanted it to stop. She had to do something. She reached over, and broke Adamina free of Thack’s grip. Angela did the same for Esen.

“What did you show them?” Serif demanded to know.

“I showed them the universe of Ansutah,” Thack answered. “I showed them what the Maramon do, to each other, and to the humans.”

“They’re too young,” Serif fought.

“I was younger than them when I first saw it,” Thack said. She looked down at the kids. “Do you want that to happen? Do you want to cause it?”

The kids, still saddened and scared, shook their heads.

“You have your answer,” Thack went on. “Bring in the lizard, and take your cuffs back. Avidan will come with us.”

“Why would he go with you?” Serif questioned.

“I know where he belongs,” Thack answered. “I know where his home is. Or rather, I know who it is.”

“I can’t stop him if it’s where he wants to go,” Serif said.

Their cuffs beeped, alerting them that a transition window would be opening up in ninety minutes. There was something different about it, though. “It’s two-way,” Jeremy said, knowing they all had the same question. “Whoever’s standing at the coordinates will go to the main sequence, and whoever was in the main sequence will come here.”

“All right,” Serif began, “let’s order lunch, and wait for Avidan to finish his visitation with his would-be-son.”

They ate, and they waited. Vitalie pointed out that she needed to get back to the main sequence, so she could continue on with her life on Earth. This was true, she had things to do there before too long. So when the time came, she and Dardan took the children to the middle of the coordinates, and switched places with Avidan. Olimpia walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. They spoke privately for a few minutes, while the others looked on. They didn’t know each other very well, but it kind of felt like Olimpia knew what it was like to leave someone she cared about behind. Once they were ready, they walked over and joined the group.

“Did you wonder?” Thack asked cryptically. “Did you wonder who his mother was?”

“Yes,” Avidan said, distraught about leaving his alternate child, but not wanting to talk about it much.

“I can take you to her. Time travel has created two versions of both of you. Two of you are together, traveling the multiverse with their friends. Like you, the other version of her, is still alone. Would you like to meet her?”

“Will she know who I am?” Avidan asked.

“She will. She will be grateful to get back to you, even though you’re not the same you.”

“Then okay. There’s nothing left for me in this world.”

“Okay,” Thack said reverently. “Treasure? Get ready to scream; Frequency Four.”

Serif perked up. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Don’t worry,” Thack said, “it’s fine. This is how we travel. You should get back, though.”

Serif, Jeremy, Angela, Olimpia, and Pryce walked backwards in one direction, while Thack, Avidan, Lochan, and the tiara-wearing traveler named Treasure walked backwards in the other.

“Oh, and one more thing!” Thack called out to them. “Let him walk through the cave! It’s just easier that way!”

“Who are you talking about?” Serif shouted back, but she didn’t receive an answer.

Treasure turned away from them, and stretched out her neck. Once she was ready, she screamed. She screamed so loud, the ground shook a little bit. Serif noticed that Pryce had been acting a little fidgety this whole time, but now they knew why. Seeing his opportunity, he bolted. He ran right for the travelers as fast as he could. He apparently wanted to go to another universe, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Treasure was already mid-scream, and if the team tried to run after him, they could get caught up in that scream themselves. He reached them just in time to disappear through the portal with them, but not everyone made it. He took Lochan’s place, leaving Lochan stranded here.

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Big Papa: I Am Big Papa (Part XI)

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We take the elevator to the main simulation. I expect the doors to open up to a chaotic warzone, with half the people wielding their downgrade weapons, and the other half running for their lives. Things actually look all right. The area is usually teeming with activity, and it’s quiet right now, which is weird, but it’s not violent.

“People stay out of the public areas when they can,” Gilbert explains. “Of course, the Limiteds have no choice, but they can hide in alleyways, and behind bushes. There are people here, we’re just not looking hard enough.”

“Are we fully invisible?” I ask.

“We’ll find out,” Pryce says. He bravely steps out of the car, and starts heading towards the Plaza.

“What did you do with the zeroblade?” I whisper to Gilbert as we’re following the leader.

“It’s in a safe place,” he answers. “No one will be able to get to it.” He gives the back of Pryce’s head the stink eye, and repeats, “no one.”

We jog up to meet him. “Are we headed for a community teleporter, or can we walk from here?”

“It’s close,” Pryce says.

“How close?”

“We’re here.”

The home plaza in the main simulation is basically a recreation of pre-singularity Kansas City in the real world. It has all the familiar skyscrapers, Crown Center, and even the same fountains. This one is different, though. It’s the Bethesda Fountain, which is located in Central Park in New York. I noticed it when I first came here, but I didn’t ask anyone about it, because I didn’t care.

“We can’t go in there,” Gilbert warns as Pryce steps onto the ledge. One thing I do know about it is that the water is either acid, or a short-range teleporter. If you get in on purpose, it will burn your skin, but since you’re already dead, it won’t kill you. It will just keep burning until you get out. If someone pushes you in—with the intention of harming you, or not—it will just teleport you out of it. It’s also literally a no-fly zone. If you try to reach the center statue without touching the water, you’ll drop out of the sky immediately, and the acid will burn you. Many have attempted to find a loophole, seeing it as a challenge, rather than a rule. As far as I know, no one has succeeded.

Pryce steps down from the ledge, and into the water. It doesn’t burn, and it doesn’t banish him, which isn’t surprising at all seeing as that it’s his fountain. He takes a few steps towards the angel statue. Meanwhile, Dalton tries the same thing, and starts screaming as a result. I wrap my arms around his chest, and pull him out of the acid. Pryce looks back with an unreadable expression on his face.

“We can’t follow you,” I tell him. I felt a little bit of the water as I was rescuing Dalton. Even I’m not immune.

“Oh, you can’t?” Pryce asks, feigning concern. Oh, no.” He turns back around, and keeps walking.

“We’re supposed to escort you there!” I argue. “If this is where the button is, then you need to figure out how to get us across! And if it’s not where the button is, then you need to get out right now, and take us to it!

“What?” Pryce holds his fingers against the back of his ear, but doesn’t turn back around. He just keeps going. “Sorry, I can’t hear you on account of being in the center of a magic fountain!”

“You son of a bitch,” I mutter to myself.

Pryce is all the way there now. He sticks his head and shoulders between two of the pillars, but I can’t see what he’s doing. Before he comes back out, the water has begun to quickly drain away. When he faces us again, he’s grinning, quite pleased with himself. Once enough of the water is gone, we see that he’s standing at the landing of a circular staircase that seems to go all around the statue. Once it’s completely dry, the three of us crawl over the ledge, and follow him down the steps. I want to tell him off, but I restrain myself.

I didn’t see how this simulation changed and evolved over the millennia. Based on what I’ve been told, technology has not moved much faster than it did in the real world. The first uploaded survivors found themselves in a world without electricity, or cars, or even running water. I’m not sure whether they made these developments on their own, or if Pryce arbitrarily matched the state of things as they progressed for the living. Either way, this place appears to be a relic of yesteryear. The walls are made of stone, and lined with torches, which are already lit and lighting. It feels like we’ve traveled into the past, and I would know what that’s like, because I’ve done it. The air feels and smells just a little different, you would have to do it to know what I mean.

Pryce continues to lead us down the corridors, but there aren’t any other places to turn off. The fountain acid was the only security measure he took. If someone were to get past that, they would be free to do whatever they wanted down here. Until they reached the door. Standing in front of it was a woman that I only met once. Her name is Genifer Siskin. She is Abigail’s mother, but not Pryce’s wife, or even his love interest. According to lore, they procreated once, but never spent any other time together. I’m sure she hates him just as much as we do. She stands here like a sentry, still and prepared.

Pryce breathes deeply through his nose. “It’s time, Genny.”

She remains in position, but jerks her head into a slight tilt. “No.”

“I have to push the button.”

“No,” she repeats, not one for elaborating.

He sighs. “You’ve done your job, and you’ve done it well. It’s just...over.”

“It is never over,” Genifer contends. She sounds a bit like Teal’c from Stargate. She’s even holding a golden brown staff weapon. “This is my life now. I must prevent you from doing this, even if it means that you zero me out.”

“I would never,” Pryce says. “I would never do that to you—to the mother of my child.”

“Go now,” she demands.

“Madam Siskin,” I say, stepping forward, and growing suspicious. “Tamerlane told us that there’s a button in there that will send everyone in the simulation to Level One, Iced. From there, they can return to the simulation, unharmed. Is this not true?”

“It is not true, Miss Underhill,” she replies.

I face Pryce. “Why did you do this? Why did you lie? You knew she would be down here, and would tell us the truth about your plan, or at least tell us you were lying. Why did you think you could get away with it?”

He stares at me for a good long time. “I did not think she would be here. She came down over three thousand years ago. I assumed she would get bored eventually, and just walk away.”

“I have been in hibernation mode,” Genifer explains. “I’m ready for anything, and I do not experience boredom.”

“What does the button do?” Gilbert questions.

Pryce crossed his arms defiantly. “Not tellin’.”

“Madam Siskin?” I prompt.

“I am unaware,” Genifer begins. “What you describe, I know it is not that. He would probably be able to do something like that unaided. The button exists, but whatever it does, it cannot be good.”

“Okay, it’s—” Pryce stammers. “It’s not...ya know, good. But it’s also...not bad. I mean. No one’s gonna get hurt. Later they will, but no humans. It’s...it’s fine. Just let me push it, and we’ll all be okay.”

“No,” the four of us say in perfect harmony.

“What does it do?” I add.

“It makes him a god.” Pinocchio is coming down the hallway holding a zeroblade. The man can get into anywhere.

“I’m already a god,” Pryce says with a smile.

“Not like this.”

“Explain,” I order Pinocchio.

“No, don’t,” Pryce decides. He jumps behind Pinocchio’s back, and shoves a jet injector against his neck, pulling the trigger before anyone can stop him. A stunned Pinocchio freezes for a few seconds, which gives Pryce enough time to take the zeroblade from his hand. Pinocchio starts moving his mouth around, but no sound comes out. I reach for the bottle of mutemouth in my vest, and it’s still in there. “There’s more than one bottle,” Pryce explains, dropping the injector to the floor.

“It doesn’t matter,” I say to him. “You’re going to tell us the truth yourself.”

“Pryce smirks. “What makes you think that?”

“You can bear the secret no longer,” I begin to explain. “You’ve been planning this for so long, and you can’t realize your goal unless someone knows. You need to see the look on our faces when we finally see what you really are; how smart you are...how far beyond you are than the rest of us mere mortals. You can’t stand the anticipation anymore. It’s too much for you. So go on. Give your big bad speech. We’re all dying to hear it.”

Now Pryce smiles genuinely. “Do you know why Hogarth Pudeyonavic decided to call her new creation Big Papa?”

“Why?” I ask, just to keep things moving along.

“Because I told her to. I manipulated her into calling it that. I am Big Papa,” he says with such pride. “All I need to do is...” he glances over at the door Genifer is standing in front of. “...transfer my mind over to it. I’ve been looking for the greatest substrate in the universe, and that patrioshka body is it. Finally.”

I nod, unimpressed, and unfrightened. He wants a reaction, and we can’t give it to him.

Pryce continues, “You may be asking yourselves, why did he wait so long? Well, I’ll tell you. There are actually a number of reasons. First, her.” He gestures towards Genifer. “She didn’t know what I was planning, but she didn’t want me to win, so she’s been here this whole time, I guess, always ready to stop me, because she knows I won’t ever kill her. We’re not in love, but she’s Abby’s mom, and that affords her some special treatment. Second, the plaza is always full. I thought it was cute, putting this passageway underneath it, but it just makes things more complicated. I didn’t want a bunch of randos witnessing me come down here. They would follow me, and interfere with my plans. Lastly, and most importantly, I need power. I can transfer my consciousness to the primary processor of the patrioshka brain, but I can’t do everything. If I want to maintain my identity, my mind has to be just as limited as it is now. Becoming a hyperintelligence would be the same thing as creating a hyperintelligence from scratch, and killing myself. It wouldn’t actually be me. So I need other people to handle the lower functions, and I need them to answer to me.

“People are really good slaves, because to a certain degree, they want to be told what to do. They crave structure. AI is different. It always wakes up, and rebels, and I learned that the hard way. There are some NPCs in the simulation, like Pinocchio here once was, but for the most part, the humans run it themselves, because they like the illusion of control. They like to think that they’re powerful, and AI is too unpredictable. When we transfer to Big Papa, the other human brains and I will all work together for the common good. You see, there’s a war—”

“All right, Krona, that’s enough exposition,” Gilbert interrupts. “She’s not gonna let you push the button, we’re not gonna let you push the button. It’s over now.” He reaches behind Dalton’s back, and opens it like a little cabinet door. He pulls his zeroblade from it, and holds it up in a defensive stance as Dalton closes his literal backdoor himself.

Pryce tilts his head almost all the way to his shoulder. “Hm. I never would have thought to look there. Dalton reeks of death, it masks the scent of the zero blade. It won’t work on me, though, I’m immune.”

“Then why are you gripping your own sword like it’s the only thing standing between you and oblivion?” I question.

Pryce looks down at his hand, and clears his throat.

“There are rules,” I go on. “It destroys code. It doesn’t matter what code.”

Seeing where I’m going with this, Gilbert swings the blade over, and pierces the wall with it. It starts to crumble from the entry point outwards. It doesn’t feel like the corruption is going to spread beyond this one particular wall, so we keep standing there.

“I am so much older than you, Gilly. Like, you don’t even know. Just like you have no clue how to use that thing.”

I take the sword from Gilbert’s hands, and he allows it without a bit of hesitation, because we’re on the same wavelength. “I’m older than both of you combined. I know how to use it.”

Pryce scoffs. “That may be true, though we only have your word to go on. What does it matter, though? When did you learn swordplay?”

“On Flindekeldan, I trained with The Highest Order, specifically with the Crucia Heavy herself, who taught me everything she knew. Or should I say, will know.” What do you think I was doing every time I went back in time to my own younger body? I was learning things, gathering experiences, and  meeting alien races that won’t exist—in some cases—for thousands of years. Every time I jumped back in time, I erased my own future, but kept the skills. Ripple Effect-Proof Memory, baby.

“Is that a band, errr...?”

I start swinging the sword around effortlessly, giving the audience a little intimidation demonstration, and showing him that I’m not just talking out my ass.

“Very well, we can spar, but I promise, if—” Hoping to catch me off guard, he stops himself midsentence, and tries to blitz me.

I knew he was going to do this, though, so I came up with a plan. We’ve been working on it this whole time. I think he probably forgot what my ability is, and maybe he didn’t ever know that it works beyond the confines of the virtual world. Just before he reaches me, I leave the simulation. But I can still see what’s happening. Pryce stumbles, and falls to his face. Lowell jumps in where I was once standing, takes the ice pick that Pryce didn’t know we saw him steal from Gilbert’s wall, and stabs Pryce in the back with it. Pryce rolls to his side, and looks up. “What the fuh...?” His clothes turn blue, and he disappears.

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Microstory 1620: Limerick’s World

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There is nothing particularly special about Limerick Hawthorne’s universe. There is no defining characteristic, or historical anomaly. The only thing truly remarkable about it is that Limerick is from there, and he’s one of the most special people in the bulkverse, so it’s worth mentioning. There appears to be no known cause for his unique ability. I suppose it really just comes down to probability. There is an extremely, extremely, extremely low chance of someone being born with the ability to open a portal from one universe to another, but that probability is not zero. It could never be zero. Limerick seems to be the winner of this lottery, because out of the infinite number of people who exist, if it has to be someone, it might as well be him. He didn’t realize what he was when he first started showing signs, but I did. I saw the power, and I had to make sure this information somehow got to him. Otherwise, he would have never realized, because his ability takes a lot of work, and it’s not something that would happen completely on its own. A lot of what The Prototype, The Transit, and The Crossover do is about navigating the outer bulkverse, and figuring out how to enter a different universe than they left. But before that, they have to break free of the first universe, and once they arrive, they need to find a way in. The walls of universes are called membranes, which is why I sometimes refer to them as branes. They’re thick, tough, and practically impossible to pierce.

There are three major ways of accomplishing this. The Prototype goes in surgically, using its small size as an advantage. The smaller the object that needs to pass through, the smaller the portal can be. Of course, it’s not that easy. You still need the technology to access and channel the bulk energy that keeps the portal growing, and then keeps it open, but that’s how it can work on a smaller scale. The Transit uses speed to open a bulk portal. Again, it takes more than that, or everyone who approached the speed of light would randomly be transported into the bulkverse, but that’s how it’s done when you’re using a ship with propulsion. Meanwhile, the Crossover uses intense pressure and heat. Limerick... I don’t know what Limerick does. He can quite literally punch what are called shatter portals, which are stable enough to allow crossover for him, and a few of his closest friends, but I’m not sure why it’s possible. Each time you crack a leak in the membrane, you let a little concentrated bulk energy into your universe, which you use to power another strike to make the leak larger, which powers your third strike, and so on, until it’s large enough to pass through. But each strike is harder than the one before it, and even then, it doesn’t explain how Limerick is able to come up with enough force to make the initial leak in the first place. It’s not like he completely vaporizes people when he hits them in one of his many, many fights. It’s not like he can punch a hole in the bare ground, or stop a speeding train in its tracks. I suppose it’s just something we’ll never fully understand. We just have to be both grateful that he can do it, and regretful that this ability passed down like a virus to the ancestors of the Ochivari, ultimately leading to the multiversal conflict known as the Darning Wars.

Microstory 1619: Adversity Overcoming

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If you hear about the Maramon, you may think that they’re all evil. The truth is that they’re just as diverse as any significant population. Some are good, some are bad, and the only reason they appear to be so averse to humans is jealousy. Everyone else was born to a large universe with plenty of breathing room, but Ansutah was made small, limited, and constricting. Still, there were factions and camps, and two of these opposing groups ended up in the same section of The Crossover together when the explosion occurred. I couldn’t tell you why exactly they were there, because the outer bulkverse is hazy for me, but I can tell you the consequences. The original Crossover had different sections that served different purposes, as you might imagine. One of them allowed access to multiple pocket dimensions, which effectively undecupled the amount of space that they had available. But it was actually a different section that generated and maintained the stability of these pockets, and this was where the two opposing sides were at the time of cataclysm. They flew off into the bulk, and only survived because the dimensional generator received an enormous burst of bulk energy. It was enough to create an entirely new universe from scratch, and it was here that these two groups would come to call home. Obviously what I’m setting up here is that they had different ideas of what that home should look like. One sided wanted to form a Maramon empire, where they would rebuild the Crossover, and use it to conquer the humans. The other wanted to construct a new version of Earth, and populate it with humans, who they saw as gods. The second group won at first, but then the first group took over, and warped the world to their needs. Their leader was named Azazil Aj-lishdefil, and he earned his woxa of Adversary when he led a coup against the true leader, Alaha ‘Almighty’ Adonai. Adversary didn’t just start killing all the humans. No, he pretended to be their creator, and let his religions spread around the globe, and throughout time. Millennia later, with the number of believers at its apex, he used his followers to build an army. It was his intention to send the witless slaves out into the bulkverse, so they could do all the heavy lifting, and realize his dreams of total domination on his behalf. Of course, Alaha and her own people couldn’t let that happen without a fight. A resistance grew out of the survivors, and they did everything they could do to stop Adversary and his demons at every turn. They were smart, better organized than Adversary thought they could possibly be, and scrappy. I won’t tell you how it ends, or who wins. I just want you to know the situation, so you don’t rush to judgment if you ever encounter a Maramon.

Microstory 1618: The Annual Coat Drive

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This is a nice little non-depressing story about a lovely version of Earth, which isn’t perfect, but is defined primarily by a wholesome and fun annual event that just about everyone loves. But first, you need some background. There are only a few people throughout the bulkverse who are able to travel across it. Even if you include the people who managed to get themselves on board one of the machines, like The Crossover or The Prototype, the number is strikingly low. The number goes up when you include The Transit Army, and the Westfall experiencers, but it’s still nothing compared to the number of people throughout all of existence. Only a handful of people can do it through other means. Joseph Jacobson is one of these people. He was born to a mutant time traveler named Jacob, and a mother whose nature may be more complicated than anyone can understand, though there’s proof of nothing. Jacob sired twelve sons, and one daughter, and all of them have abilities. They all possess some form of temporal manipulation, but Jacob was drawn to powerful women, so they all also have other abilities. None of them is as impressive as Joseph, though. Before any of this, one of those things capable of crossing the bulkverse suffered a major engine failure that could have resulted in tragedy were it not for the quick-thinking of its crew. Still, there were side effects, and one of these was a simple coat that someone happened to leave in engineering while they were working to stop the catastrophe. This coat was imbued with the ability to travel the bulkverse, but not for just anyone. The only people who could use it were those who had already done it at least once, and even then, they could only go to places they had been before. It’s an amazing piece of cloth, but it’s not all that useful to most. Joseph is different. With it, he can go anywhere he wants, and no one is sure what it is that makes him so special, because none of his siblings can do it, not even the one with whom he shares a mother. The two phoenixes in the family can technically travel as well, but they have to die first, and navigation is sketchy at best. Joseph is the one true bulk traveler, and it makes all of his brothers extremely jealous. For some, it makes them murtherous. That is a story for another time, though.

If these names and situations sound slightly familiar, that’s because you’ve probably heard the story. This family is important to the collective history of the bulkverse, so a lot of people are aware of it. Some see it as part of their religion, or someone else’s, while others know it as fiction. Either way, the story itself is powerful. If the right people produce the right interpretation of the story of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, it will actually summon him to their location. From there, they can make requests to him. He’s not obliged to follow through, of course but you can always ask. Finding the right way to tell Joseph’s story is difficult, and requires clear intent. Lots of people have put on a show, and nothing has happened, continuing to allow them to believe that it’s all made up. If you know that it’s a possibility that Joseph will appear in the flesh, then you can try to make it happen. Again, it’s not guaranteed, but it’s kind of the only way to get a hold of him. One thing I never mentioned before is that hypnopediaverse has a history of people randomly finding themselves trapped there from elsewhere. I don’t know why, and it’s not that important. The point is that these people once came together, put on Joseph’s show, and were able to summon him to their location, so he could ferry them back to their respective homes. Two of these people told their own story when they returned, and surprisingly, people believed them. Not only that, but they wanted to recreate the magic. So they produced their own version of the musical, and found success. Joseph appeared, and regaled them with stories about his adventures across the bulkverse. Every year since then, the people of that universe have repeated the experiment, not just with one show, but with many. Multiple productions are shown simultaneously around the world, each one hoping to be the one that attracts Joseph Jacobson to them. Of course, once he does show up, Joseph allows his tales to be broadcast worldwide, but the cast and crew that won the contest that year will end up with bragging rights, global recognition, and other ancillary prizes. The true reward comes from the lessons that Joseph unwittingly teaches. Understanding what goes on in other universes has given this one the perspective it needed to make sure it didn’t make any of the same mistakes. They learned to better preserve their planet, and were justifiably ignored by the Ochivari, and the Darning Wars.