Lilith's Reverie Ch. 01.5

"He picked through the ruins of shattered worlds. In some of them, He found traces of other beings, minds that were not His own. Yet, all of these extinct creatures were different from Him in an important way. They were smaller, disconnected, and fractured when they were alive. They were minds bound to matter."

"After being initially repulsed, He soon found evidence of whole civilizations, collections of tiny minds, that had found ways to unify and function together for a time. This chapter of existence was apparently gone from His universe. It was no longer hospitable to that form of life. But perhaps, He reasoned, if He could create another universe, enter it, and awaken earlier in its timeline, he could see such phenomena in action, and in so doing, cure His solitary existence. We all now exist, immersed in the result of His efforts."

"He is not responsible for every rock and tree individually, nor even for the creation of humankind, but without Him setting things into motion, there would be nothing at all."

"This is a good thing to know, Artur. Humanity should rejoice at its luck. The chances of what happened here are astronomically small, in a literal sense. The probability of your species running into the creator of this universe - or rather, the creator of this universe running into your species - is vanishingly small, especially when one considers the amount of space in question."

The Covenant paused for a moment.

"You know, Artur," she said, "You'd be surprised how many people get to the 'free food' part and decide they've heard enough to go along with it."

Artur was now sitting on the ground, knees pulled up to his chest, quietly listening as he continued to drink in the sight of such a beautiful city.

"Is He a God?" Artur asked quietly.

The Covenant looked down at the boy. She responded gently.

"He is as close as you'll ever get. Fortunately, that's not so bad."

Artur sat silently in thought for a while.

"What is the sanctuary made of?"

The Covenant perked up. "Now, that is an excellent question! And one I rarely get for some reason."

She continued, "It is made of Cipherstone, which is a solidified version of something called Cipher. I will describe that first. Cipher is a very special and very useful kind of matter invented by the Everspark before He created this universe. It can transform into practically any state, and assume almost any physical property, if one has enough psionic power and creativity to imagine it. The Emperor is able to spontaneously create it or destroy it whenever He sees fit."

She pointed to Revelation again. "It makes building something like that rather easy."

"In fact, you've already seen Cipher in a more exotic form: the anomaly at the center of your sanctuary. I suspect Cipher may also be conscious, in some rudimentary sense. Depending on its state, it will react to certain intentions or stimuli. It's all rather hard to describe."

"Another exotic form it takes is when it melds with the bodies of the Everspark's human sons. Apparently it can live inside their bodies and be summoned to perform any manner of physical task for its hosts. It can join with the mind in such a way that its actions feel like a natural extension of the person's own body, as long as it stays in physical contact. Yet, it only accepts male hosts that are especially strong with the Gift. When a Khord'han prince successfully forges this symbiotic relationship, it is said that he has 'manifested his Archon.' Until recently, Archons were the most powerful humans in the Empire. However, a process was discovered not long ago that can remake the Everspark's pure-blooded daughters into something He calls a Maehirym. It is said they are mighty indeed. They are the latest triumph of the Everspark's experimental program of human augmentation using the Gift."

"Ultimately, Cipherstone, while beautiful, is one of the most boring forms it takes." She shrugged.

"Nevertheless, it is an ingenious tool created by the Emperor."

He looked up at her. "And the Glimmer?"

"Ah, yes. The Glimmer. While the Everspark was preventing a planetary mass extinction event, He was also developing a plan for humanity's future. During the paroxysm that led to everything you see before you, the Emperor used a portion of that burst of power to create a border wall around a region of this planet, staking out His initial claim. The lands inside the Glimmer are what we call Vivasaea. It defines what He considers the heartland of His Empire."

The Covenant measured her words carefully. "It's purpose is not to provide defense, but time."

"Here inside the Glimmer, eighty-seven years have passed since that asteroid first screamed across the sky. Outside the Glimmer, it has only just happened. Time out there is moving much slower than here, because the Everspark wanted to unify His own Empire before facing the rest of the planet. He needed time, and this was His solution."

"Think of the Glimmer as the edge of a terrarium. What happens inside is insulated from the rest of the world."

Artur's brows furrowed. "How is that possible?"

Despite her apparent old age, the Covenant spryly lowered herself to the ground to sit next to him.

"Child, please believe me when I say the mechanics of this don't matter. The 'how' is nothing compared to the 'why.'"

Artur's head was starting to hurt, so he decided to take her word for it.

"Will it always surround Vivasaea?"

"I don't know, actually." She said candidly. "I suspect that it is temporary, since the Everspark must have grander ambitions than one region of one planet around one star in one galaxy. However, I do not know His plan for it, or what criteria would trigger its removal."

"One safe assumption is that it will remain at least as long as it takes to offer every resident within it a chance to join His bloodline, and to firmly unify all of Vivasaea under His centralized government. Progress has been made on that front, but there is still much work to do. Your body will be ash before that day arrives. Hopefully when it does, your soul will be resting easy in Aetheria. Maybe your descendents will tell you about those future times." She rubbed his back reassuringly. "If the Glimmer ever comes down, those will be exciting days indeed. For now though, our task is to help the Everspark consolidate His Empire."

"How can I help?" Artur asked sincerely.

"By accepting me, of course," The Covenant said brightly. "What do you say? Are we in agreement?"

She stood up and extended her hand down to him. "It's a good deal. Obey the law, stick to the path, and teach your children to do the same. Explore the potential of your life with the full blessing of your Emperor. Cheat death and define existence on your own terms in Aetheria, as an immortal, for as long as you choose. Provide wisdom and a sense of comfort and history to your descendents who seek you out. And if the time ever comes when you seek the embrace of oblivion, you may choose it freely."

Artur grasped her hand and she pulled him to his feet. "Ok. Yes, I accept."

She smiled. "Excellent, Artur. Excellent. Welcome to the path. If you ever feel like seeing me again, the anomaly will offer you the choice whenever you draw near."

"Wait, I can still visit you?" Artur asked, surprised.

"Of course! Did you think this was a one-time encounter? Think of me as a living contract. You may consult me again whenever you wish. We may meet somewhere other than here," she said, gesturing around her, "but it will always be somewhere worthwhile, I promise you that. So if you are ever unsure about something in our agreement, or wish to explore a related topic, you know where to find me."

"Until we meet again, Artur." She said, as she reached out and pressed her thumb into his forehead, causing everything to go dark.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in the sanctuary, standing in front of the anomaly.

As Artur turned around, he noticed Tobin sitting in the front row of the empty auditorium. His eyes were closed and he was slouched back, massaging his temples. Artur sat down next to him wordlessly.

They didn't know what to say to each other.

After a long period of silence, Artur muttered, "Been waiting long?"

"Nah. You've been standing there this whole time. Just been waiting for you to snap out of it."

"Wait, I never left?" Artur asked, concerned.

"Nope. Guess that means I didn't either. It was some sort of vision, apparently."

After another moment of silence, Tobin tiredly asked, "Where did you go?"

"Revelation. I woke up standing on the edge of its crater. I could look out and see the entire city from there. It was more wonderful than I ever imagined." Artur replied, leaning back and closing his eyes. "You?"

"Nowhere. I stayed here, but it was the past. I woke up and the sanctuary was gone. When the Covenant appeared, he walked me back down to the village, except it was a lot smaller, and a lot worse off."

"He?" Artur turned to his friend.

"Yeah, the Covenant. Didn't you see him too?"

"For me, the Covenant was an old woman."

"Oh."

Neither boy knew what to make of that.

"It was awful," Tobin groaned. "People were living in these gross hovels. They were filthy and everything smelled like shit. He told me 'This was your village before the Day of Curiosity.'" Tobin spoke with an exaggerated, deep voice.

"I'm glad I wasn't alive then," Tobin sighed.

Artur nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"Did you... you know, accept?" Artur asked.

Tobin smiled weakly through his headache. "What do you think? Of course I did. I wouldn't exactly call it a hard bargain."

"Besides, I don't want to let my parents down. I accepted the Covenant for their sake too. My mum was so excited for me today. I couldn't disappoint her."

"I know what you mean," Artur said pensively. "Do you think your bloodline will make it? I mean, last long enough to join the Khord'ha."

"It better!" Tobin exclaimed. "After the Covenant described Aetheria to me, it sounds a lot better than nothingness."

"Hmm, we didn't talk about Aetheria," Artur mused.

"Well," Tobin grabbed his friend's knee as he raised himself to his feet, "you can always come back and ask him. Or her. Or whatever. Hopefully without the headache next time."

"Should we go?" He asked Artur, dusting himself off.

"Yeah. Let's."

:::END:::