Chapter 4243: The Loom II

Valkyrie smiled and nodded, her form lifting from the ground as she floated towards the very center of this light-year-wide expanse.

There, nine massive crimson thrones, each carved from a single, solidified concept of command, were arranged in a circle.

From each throne, crimson-gold lines of pure, informational light shot out, connecting to the myriad of massive, elemental trees.

She drifted towards one of the empty thrones, her gaze sweeping over the other eight Early Creatures who were already seated.

Some were lost in deep cultivation, the faint, shimmering light of one or even multiple Principles surrounding them like halos of impossible power.

Each of them, like her, wore a crimson robe, and each of them radiated a power that was well in excess of 2000 Quadrillion!

"Any changes today?" she asked, her voice a quiet question to the empty air.

The same disembodied, monotone voice replied.

"No, Commander. Just like all the eons before. No changes."

Valkyrie hummed and nodded, a familiar, almost weary, ritual. She settled into her throne, and as she did, illusory crimson-gold screens rose before her, displaying a cascade of information.

She scanned the data, her eyes taking in the endless stream of reports. Everything was green. Every system was nominal. Every projection was stable.

"Give me the daily report," she said.

"Daily Report: Everythings harvested in the last cycle: 1.9 Million Units. All monitored zones continue to be oversaturated with a surplus of Everythings. Distribution protocols are operating at 30% capacity to avoid systemic overload."

Valkyrie nodded with a faint, satisfied smile.

The system worked. The great engine they had built was not just stable; it was overwhelmingly successful. But at this moment, shockingly...

BZZT!

An alarm!

A shrill, discordant sound that had no place in this realm of perfect, unchanging order.

It was a sound none of them had heard in their lifetimes. Valkyrie and the other eight Commanders were jolted from their serene contemplation, their eyes snapping open, their expressions a mixture of confusion and dawning alarm.

Valkyrie’s hands flew across her screens, her fingers a blur as she pulled up the system overview.

It was a vast, holographic chart showing hundreds of glowing green nodes of light.

And there, in a distant, almost forgotten sector, was one node that was not green. It was cracked, and it was shining with a frantic, angry red.

Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. "It seems," she murmured, her voice a low, disbelieving whisper, "something managed to get near a Lodestone and even interrupt its functions. Its Corruption of Collapse has already been triggered..."

The other Commanders were stirring, their calm facades cracking. "This...has not happened before, has it?" one of them commented, his voice a low rumble.

Another nodded, his form a shimmering mirage of heat and power. "No. When such a thing occurs, the protocol is to let those above us know and to initiate the Closure Protocols. We begin closing the Doorways designated for us to monitor. We have collections of hundreds of times the Everythings we expected, anyway. Far exceeding any parameters."

Valkyrie nodded, a strange, melancholic sadness in her eyes. "I will pass the word on. It is just... sad."

A burly, muscular Early Creature, seated on a throne to her right laughed with a harsh, grating sound.

"Why is it sad, Valkyrie? Because the existence who triggered the Lodestone has been collapsed? The Corruption of Collapse cannot be evaded, not even by those like us. That poor existence who reached that far will have the very code of their being rewritten before they even realize it. Quick, merciful, and easy."

HUUM!

His words were spoken with a casual, brutal ease.

Valkyrie remained silent for a moment before she asked, "Who do you think it was? A Living Existence? An Early Creature? A Fold Dweller...?"

The burly Commander looked at her, then at the others, a flicker of impatience in his eyes.

"Commander Valkyrie, does it really matter? Come on, let us report this. This is one of the few signals we have received in the last few years. Having the collapse of a Lodestone now means that things are happening soon, after all these eons."

He stood, his massive frame radiating a new energy.

"We have to share this information with the other Early Living Sectors. And as always... we do what we do for the sake of Civilization."

At his words, Valkyrie’s expression shifted, her personal sadness giving way to a shared, ancient purpose.

She nodded. "All for the sake of Civilization."

One by one, the others rose, their voices a chorus of profound, unwavering reverence.

"All for the sake of Civilization."

A blinking, collapsed Lodestone.

A single, red light in a sea of green. It was a sign of change, a harbinger of the end of their long, silent vigil.

The thing they had been preparing for, the thing they had sacrificed much to escape, was finally, after all these eons, arriving.

The Fallout!

—

Organizations for the greater good...humanity’s most successful group delusion.

"We’re doing this for everyone," they say, while usually doing it for about twelve people in a seat of power.

It’s the equivalent of "this will hurt me more than it hurts you" while the person that was saying this...was holding a very large stick.

But what if someone actually meant it? What if the greater good was genuine belief? The conviction required would be either inspiring or terrifying, possibly both!

In the Earliest Folds, there was a time when THE Creature sat in a domain that defied conventional description.

Millions of Inevitabilities swirled around it like a whirlpool of hunger made manifest!

THE Creature smiled at them...not the condescending smile of superiority but the genuine warmth of greeting old friends.

Occasionally, it would reach out and touch their writhing tendrils with the casual affection one might show to passing cats.

An unknown Fold Dweller sat across from THE Creature, trying very hard not to think about how many ways they could cease to exist in this place!

They had come with the ultimate question, the one that had driven them across impossible distances to ask the one being that might actually know the answer.

"What is the truth about Existence? How...should one experience existence to the fullest?"

...!

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