In some deep cavern, a meeting is being held. There, a circular stone table is in the middle of the room with masked figures sitting around it.

On the center of the stone table is a communication device that can bring out the image of the leader of the group there while the leader is somewhere else.

Some chairs also hold a device that connects to a faraway place and bring out the image of the participant of the meeting while sitting out somewhere else.

One of the masked figures, who is physically present, says to the group "This meeting was called for so that we can hear the progress of each of our projects. Unfortunately, the Biologist has been dead for quite some time now and his last project, Them, has also been dealt with. We have yet to find a suitable candidate to replace the Biologist, so that is why his seat is absent.

Also, we have heard news that the Botanist has defected and her current location is unknown. The Pyromancer, on the other hand, is currently busy doing something related to their project.

With those absences being addressed, let's move forward with the meeting."

The figure in the center, who appears to be some sort of floating helmet, says to the group "The subject of today's meeting is Basilisk's current project Abyssal Machine God codename The Queen, Logistic's project Supreme market crash codename Crashout and Conductor's Dream interference codename Dreamjack.

Basilisk, why don't you start?"

A holographic image of a woman who wears a serpent type of mask says "Nothing of note. Proceeding as scheduled. More 'materials' would be appreciated."

Logistic, who has a scales imaged mask and is present in the meeting, says "You have three star systems worth of material in your hands. How much more do you need, woman?"

The Basilisk says "There are things that are missing from those three. Do I need to say out loud what I'm referring to?"

A woman named Nurse, who has a medicine symbol on her mask and is present in the meeting, says "You mean you need more people to be your lab rats. Honestly, I still don't fully grasp what your project needs living people for."

The Basilisk says "Of course a few hands would be handy to help with some minor tasks. But in all honesty, I just want to see how far I can go with the body modifications I have in mind. I'm starting to run out of people here. Of course, Serpens, Mus and Avis are out of the question. And Balaena. And Porcus… And Simia. Okay maybe I can use them if I run out. But Serpens won't be dissected if I can help it."

The man who started the meeting, who is named the Speaker, says behind a mask with circles painted on it, "Your request has been noted, Basilisk. Let's move to Logistic."

Logistic says "I have run into some trouble with some trade routes, which in turn might delay the project from its scheduled date. While I don't necessarily need any assistance, some security personnel would be appreciated moving forward."

A holographic man who has a bunch of coins in his mask, whose name is the Coin, says "How much more money do I need to put out to your little project. I mean, I aren't running short by any means, but by Maumar, Basilisk, who runs her project in three whole star systems, hasn't costed as much as you have so far."

Logistic says "It is coming along… Eventually."

Coin says "Do you see this Patriarch? He isn't even sure of it himself whether he gets it done. As a sponsor of this little group, I demand you reprimand him."

The Speaker says "Now now Coin. We will make sure that all the projects that are on the way get done eventually, if not by the people we currently have, then by the next generation. This I promise in the name of Maumar."

Coin says "Hmph… That doesn't mean much coming from you who are just someone who can speak."

The Speaker says "Speaking is a talent that not everyone has."

Coin says "Still… Patriarch, any comments?"

The Patriarch, the holographic helmet in the middle, says "If any one of our current heads can't finish their assigned projects, then they will be marked with Perkele's mark."

Coin says "Yeah yeah. That is supposedly the worst kind of punishment people can get, but why not just throw them into the abyss? Since you know… it is our theme and all."

The Patriarch says "That would be a reward and not a punishment."

Coin makes a disagreeing noise, but says nothing.

The Speaker says "Now let's move onto the Conductor. How is your project going?"

A holographic woman in a conductor fitting suit, who wears a bird type of mask that only covers her eyes, says "The dream weave is sounding ever so slightly in tune of our desire."

The Patriarch says "So it is proceeding smoothly. But how is the reverse dreamer?"

The Conductor says "Causing waves of sound that make it harder to play the grand performance, but day by day, the melody synchronises more and more."

A holographic angel named Bishop, who has two wings and wears a mask that looks like six small wings, says to Conductor "I find how you articulate yourself rather amusing Conductor. Why don't we have a chat at my place after the meeting?"

The Conductor says "Your symphony sounds rather monotone and dull, so I rather continue the preparations of my grand performance."

Bishop says "Rejected again. How typical."

The Conductor says "If I had to play a performance with someone, I'd rather play it with our Basilisk friend."

Basilisk says "Not happening. I rather not submerge myself into the dreamscape since there won't be anything concrete."

The Conductor says "One day, my friend Basilisk, we shall play a song together that will be most magnificent."

Logistic asks "Are we talking about dreams, cups of tea or both?"

Coin says "I'm with Logistic this time. The Conductor always speaks in riddles. Basilisk, you seem to understand her. What is she saying?"

Basilisk says "And would you look at the time. I have places to be soon, so let's end this meeting, why don't we?"

The Speaker says "It is not your place to end the meeting, Basilisk."

Basilisk asks "What does our little boss have to say?"

The Patriarch says "We have discussed the topics we came to discuss, so…

All hail Maumar."

Then all the people in the meeting say in unison "All hail the abyss."

The Patriarch ends the meeting by saying "Dismissed."

The holograms disappear one by one except Coin, who says to Nurse "How is the medicine sector in terms of cash, Nurse? Do you need any assistance from me or Logistic?"

Logistic puts in and says "Don't push me into your two's business. I'm busy with my own."

Coin says "Since you are the one who is about to get culled, I'd recommend you listen when I'm talking and don't interrupt."

Coin turns back to Nurse and asks "So how is it Nurse? Any problems?"

Nurse says "We are a little short on manpower ourselves, so enticing the public with better pay in this field could make things run more smoothly."

Coin says "I see. Logistic. Get on that and I'll handle your security issue."

Logistic sighs and says "Roger that, our dear sponsor."

Then Logistic mutters as he is leaving "Man, I thought joining the abyssal church would ease my workload, not increase it."

Coin comments on Logistic's mutterings "Should have played it smart then, little boy."

Logistic turns around in anger and is about to shout at Coin, but calms himself before he gets into more trouble.

On a space station far from any familiar star, Basilisk ended the call and sighed. She removed her mask, and the room filled with the faint glow of her eyes—layered purple-lilac, cyan, and green, shifting like nested lenses inside a serpent's gaze. In the dim lighting of the station, they were the brightest things in the room.

Her hair, smooth and silky, fell forward, mostly black at first glance, but strands of dark green shimmered through when caught by stronger light. Dark green makeup traced from the outer corners of her eyes in long, venom-like strokes.

Her clothing was high-collared and almost clinical in appearance, white like a lab coat but cut with an elegance that made its purpose ambiguous.

On her right hand she wore a thin glove that covered only her fingers, its surface threaded with glowing green wires. They ran from her fingertips along the length of her arm, disappearing into a slim cylindrical device at her back that pulsed faintly with the same poisonous light.

Her left hand bore a similar glove, though without the wiring. Instead, faint electrical lines shimmered across the translucent material that began where the finger covering ended, crawling up her arm like living circuitry.

She carried a subtle smell—sulfur touched with chloride, the scent of something chemical, corrosive, and alive. Her voice, so smooth and gentle during the meeting, still held a chill beneath it, like a scalpel that had learned to speak.

Basilisk activated her computers that were on a glass table and pressed a button. Then she said "Mus, bring me coffee. Extra strong this time."

A gentle voice came from the computer "I-I'm on it, mam."

Basilisk stretched her arms and muttered "things are truly hectic on that little gathering of people. I'm just glad I get to do what I want while being paid to do so. Granted, I don't really care much of the pay. Building this thing is why I truly ally myself with the abyssal church."

Basilisk presses a button which opens the blinds of her window and a massive structure in space appears in the distance. She walks to look at it and says "Soon my darling creation. Soon they see who the one true god is. Those posers calling themselves gods will soon become just batteries to fuel you and this world alongside you. Oh when the day comes when I finally get to activate you, is the day when I truly feel alive. Not even those fanatics can do anything to stop you, not that they care much else but to bring the world to its knees."

Basilisk touches the glass and says "Did you know, I heard that they named a machine god already in Gloctus? 'Song Bai' they called her. Oh how dumb they will feel when you are finally complete."

A door slides open with a short girl with a mechanical rat tail and ears walking to the room with a coffee tray in her hands. She says meekly "Sorry I kept you waiting, miss. Here is your coffee."

Basilisk turns away from the glass and walks towards Mus. Mus waits patiently to hear her master's opinion in case it isn't for her master's taste.

Basilisk takes a sip and says "Excellent as always Mus. You may leave."

Mus takes up on that offer and leaves the room.

Basilisk is left there alone, drinking her coffee and marveling at her greatest upcoming creation. She mutters "Soon. Very soon. Hopefully before the Conductor gets her project done. But I do wonder, which one of us will have a bigger impact? Her and her uniform symphony of a dream, or me with a machine that can calculate every thought that people might have had and punish those who didn't help with its creation should they have known it was being built.

Those damn star elves. They strut around as if they're the most advanced race in all of Lutah. Look at me.

A human who discovered immortality in three different ways.

A human who built Dyson spheres around three stars.

A human who created a device that makes those systems invisible to their precious sensors.

I even learned how to transfer energy across galaxies."

She smiled, slow and sharp.

"It was me… Nieś Miertelna. The supreme scientist."

Nieś took another sip of her coffee, savoring her own brilliance.

Meanwhile on a stage that is being observed by puppets as the audience, the Conductor uses her magic to bring forth the schematics of her symphony. There she hums tunes that might end up on her grand symphony that will tear dream space and the rest of Lutah into one cacophony of sounds.

The Conductor takes off her bird mask and reveals her pure white eyes. She is mostly blind. Her white, silky hair is tied up in a neat bud and she wears white gloves often seen in conductors hands.

The Conductor's shapes are improved by the conductor's clothing she wears that looks almost like a butler's clothes. She is quite curvy and has a decent chest.

The Conductor's voice is gentle with a slight accent. But should she be the one who sings, the voice would be too much for most mortals to handle, for its beauty has no equal. Should the god of music hear her sing, let alone hear her symphonies, he would never be able to be fully satisfied with his own music ever again.

The Conductor makes spectral images of her symphonies that will be used on that fateful day when the tuning is fully completed. The room is being filled with them, pages upon pages of notes for an orchestra that will span the whole world's edge.

"If only that ugly tone of reverse dreamer wasn't there, the symphony would be ready at noon."

The Conductor is a fae, a race of spirits that willed themselves into beings of flesh, yet their powers remained in one form or another. The Conductor used to have fairy-like wings, but they were ripped off of her by greedy humans.

The Conductor hymns "Oh this lil Poly, oh how far have this one gone. To turn the tide of dreams, a joy forlorn."

The Conductor thought for a moment, "What was this one's name again? Hmm… Poly was her name, wasn't it? No matter. She is gone now. Gone like the wings on my back. But who am I? Does it matter? It may not, it may do, but the work that we started shall be done."

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