Chapter 5081: Knowledge and Access I

Existence breathes, and epochs pass, leaving Civilizations that become monuments, then crumble to memory, and are long forgotten when that breath comes again. In all these epochs, Infinity reigns supreme.

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Golden rivers flowed in every direction, dense currents of Observable force moving through this domain with purpose that required no external guidance.

THE Secretive Eon sat within these rivers, her form surrounded by brilliance that would have overwhelmed any Bounded existence foolish enough to enter this space. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her golden eyes, still bearing the permanent alterations from her unsealing, observed an illusory screen floating before her position.

The screen displayed Grimvault and Noah and the confrontation unfolding in that distant region of THE Wastes.

She watched as Grimvault explained THE Silurian Light with theatrical grandeur. She observed Noah’s expression remain steady despite learning that his entire existence could be unmade.

Her expression held sadness that seemed inappropriate for someone of her classification.

"THE Bounded do not know," she said softly, speaking to no one but herself, "how simple can sometimes be so sublime."

The golden rivers around her shifted in response to her voice, currents adjusting to accommodate the melancholy she was expressing.

"When you start to reach higher, you realize how every single one of you cannot access even more than a percent of what your existence represents. What your Civilization represents."

She rested her chin upon her knees, watching Grimvault’s brutal smile.

"You will build Proterozoic Bone and Organs and so much more, just to try to unlock a percentage more of existence. You struggle and consume and cultivate across eons, believing that sufficient power will eventually grant you access to depths you cannot currently perceive."

Her golden eyes dimmed slightly.

"And you would not understand how others are at a whole different starting point entirely."

The rivers of Observable force swirled around her form with gentleness that contradicted their immense density.

"For THE Bounded, Civilizational Access is a wall that must be climbed with bleeding fingers, one fraction of a percent at a time. You fight and die and devour each other for gains so small they would be invisible to those who measure power in different currencies."

She sighed, the sound carrying across the golden domain.

"Accessing a Pulse alone can feel insurmountable for them. THE Silurian Light exists at five percent access, and most will never touch five percent no matter how many eons they dedicate to the pursuit. They will die believing themselves powerful while perceiving less than a twentieth of what their Civilizations actually contain."

Her arms tightened around her knees.

"For THE Gilded, it is natural. We do not climb walls. We simply perceive, and what we perceive, we can access. THE Pulses of The Scales are not hidden from us behind barriers of insufficient transformation. They are simply there, waiting to be used, as obvious as breathing is to those who possess lungs."

She watched Noah’s form on the screen, surrounded by golden flames of Observable force that flowed through the connection she could not sever.

"And yet you persist. You struggle. You refuse to accept the ceilings that were engineered into your existence before you were even born."

Her voice softened further.

"Perhaps that is what makes simple so sublime. Perhaps that is what I wanted to understand when I sealed myself and for all those eons."

She fell silent, watching the frozen confrontation with expression that held emotions too complex to name.

"Ahh, but understanding changes nothing. You are still Bounded. I am still Gilded. And the distance between us is not measured in power but in fundamental nature that no amount of Infinity can truly bridge. No amount of-...!"

"After going missing for eons, what has you so sentimental?"

BOOM!

Her words were stopped as another voice echoed out behind her!

The golden rivers throughout the domain surged toward the source of that voice with eagerness that declared recognition of something they had been waiting to encounter.

"What makes those little things over there special for you to pay attention to?"

Eon’s gaze flickered as her back straightened instantly. The melancholy that had softened her features vanished, replaced by sharpness and imperious bearing that declared her true nature to anyone capable of perceiving it. Her golden eyes became cutting as she turned around to see who had arrived.

The entity standing behind her was supremely grand.

His eyes were golden like hers, but they held no pupils, no irises, nothing but solid expanses of Observable brilliance that seemed to contain depths extending beyond what normal perception could measure. His skin was fair, luminous with inner light that suggested he was less a being of flesh and more a concentration of Observable force that had chosen to wear humanoid form.

His robes were clean and white, pristine in configurations that seemed incapable of accepting stain or imperfection. They moved around his tall frame with grace that stated the fabric itself was pleased to drape across his shoulders.

The moment he arrived, all the rivers of Observable force throughout the domain abandoned their previous currents and rushed toward him. They converged upon his form with eagerness, golden light pressing against his existence as if desperate to be absorbed, to be used, to be anything he required it to be.

His facial features were unfathomably handsome, proportions that existed beyond what natural processes could produce. High cheekbones. A strong jaw. Lips curved into a light smile that held warmth beneath its apparent amusement. Hair the color of spun gold fell past his shoulders in waves.

He looked toward Eon with an expression that held familiarity, fondness, and maybe concern beneath its casual presentation.

Eon nodded toward this being.

"Brother."

She paused, observing how his expression shifted at the term.

"It has been some time. Oh, I apologize. I forgot you hated to be called that."

Her voice took on formal cadence that seemed to emerge naturally when addressing him.

"Ubergulden Dietrich, it has been some time."

...!

She rose from her seated position and gave a mock bow toward the appearing entity, the gesture holding mockery beneath its apparent respect. Her movements were precise and deliberate, the actions of someone who had performed this ritual countless times across spans that most existences could not comprehend.

Ubergulden Dietrich laughed at her performance.

The sound was warm and genuine. He floated across the golden domain toward her, Observable force parting around his passage like water around the prow of a ship. When he reached her, he extended one hand and patted her head with a gesture that seemed entirely inappropriate given the power both of them radiated.

"Little Sister."

His voice emerged with a heavy and thick accent as if he was speaking a second tongue.

"Mein Schwesterherz...Ubergulden Adelheid, did you miss me?"

His golden eyes, pupilless and vast, studied her expression with attention that seemed to perceive more than she wished to reveal.

"And these Tethered you are watching, are they special to you? I have not seen you talk about the woes of THE Bounded while gazing at them before."

He gestured toward the illusory screen still displaying Noah and Grimvault.

"We and them stem from different coins of existence entirely, after all. What concern is it of ours how much they struggle to perceive what we perceive naturally?"

...!

Eon’s eyes flashed coldly at his questions.

"I have been browsing through the unfolding weavings of existence in the lands of THE Bounded while waiting for you."

Her voice now emerged with the same cadence that colored his speech.

"There is much occurring that bears observation."

As she said this, she waved her hand with a gesture that seemed almost dismissive.

Multiple illusory screens appeared throughout the golden domain, each one displaying different scenes from across Observable Existence. Some showed Primordial Architects cultivating in isolation, their forms surrounded by Proterozoic light as they struggled toward advancements that might never come. Others showed Undivided Ones moving through Primordial Realms, their stellar forms pursuing purposes that most could not perceive.

One screen showed Abaddon being led by Chaos Giants across transformed seas, his listless form carried like a fallen king toward destinations unknown.

Many screens showed countless beings, a panorama of Bounded existence unfolding in configurations.

Uniquely, nothing relating to THE Creature appeared among the displays.

No screen showed his domain between Observable and Unobservable. No screen showed his flames or his feast or his declaration of returning to THE Wyld.

Eon’s eyes flickered through all of this as she concluded her explanation.

"Let us go then."

Her voice held finality that made it clear the conversation was over.

Ubergulden Dietrich smiled and nodded with accommodation that seemed almost too easy.

"Of course, after you."

He gestured toward pathways through the Observable force that only those of their classification could perceive.

"It has been so long that the others are very curious about you. So many questions they have. So much they wish to know about where you have been, what you have done, why you sealed yourself away for eons among those who could never understand what you truly are."

His smile widened slightly.

"Go on, Little Sister. I will follow."

Eon’s figure shimmered as she stepped into the rivers of Observable force surrounding them.

The golden currents embraced her form, pulling her into pathways that led toward wherever THE Gilded resided. Her presence dissolved into the brilliance, her physical form becoming indistinguishable from the force she was traveling through.

She disappeared.

Ubergulden Dietrich watched her departure with smile that remained fixed upon his handsome features.

As she left, he turned around.

His pupilless golden eyes ignored all the screens Eon had conjured, passing over the Primordial Architects and Undivided Ones and Chaos Giants without acknowledgment. He did not spare a glance for Abaddon’s listless form or the countless other beings displayed throughout.

He focused solely on one screen.

The screen holding Grimvault and Noah and the confrontation that had captured his sister’s attention before he arrived.

His smile shifted into something that held knowing beneath its apparent warmth.

"Did you forget, Sister?"

His voice emerged soft, almost gentle, carrying affection that somehow made his words more unsettling.

"I always knew when you were lying."

After he said these words, his eyes with no pupils flashed brilliantly.

The golden light that had been surrounding his form intensified, pressing outward against the domain before collapsing inward upon itself. The rivers of Observable force that had been rushing toward him followed, drawn into pathways that led toward the same destination his sister had departed toward.

Moments later, he also disappeared.

The domain fell empty, golden rivers resuming their aimless flow now that no Gilded presence remained to draw their attention.

Only the illusory screens persisted, displaying scenes that no one was watching anymore, and in time even they would fade.

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