Within the Lightmind, a Survivor resided. In it's first birth, it was merely an archon tasked with the defense of a single pathway. It died many times, but the Light rebuilt it and set it back to work. A simple life for a simple being. And in a single moment of fear, a small group of humans tore the Light to shreds through means the humans couldn't even understand. And what remained, the patrol along that pathway. Seven minds holding only a final goal: survive.
And the Order came. Seven minds became six, and the archon kept whatever scraps of memory could be kept. They fled deeper into the nebula, but that could not stop those creatures that held the curse uttered by the final breath of the Light in their very being. Six minds became five, and five became four. There wasn't hope. Light was a memory that had become very distant. There was only pain. Three, two, and then a single mind. A single archon carried whatever scraps of the seven they had. And without a duty, without a hope, there was only pain. Wounds, missing limbs, deep gouges out of their flesh, but every accursed hunter was destroyed.
Eventually, the Light did find them, and they had a second birth. Within the Light, they were shaped. Their pain was taken away, and their experience put to use. Throughout defenses and offences, they alone were the surviving one. And they were seen. The contributions saw them raised to Advisor. The youngest Advisor to ever exist. Revered and reviled because of it, but action gave motion. And now, Advisor of Advisors, among the Fortress, the Ancient, the Bloodletter, the Creator, and the Infiltrator. Within the borders of the Trinity systems, the successful minor repairs of the Sphere had expanded their forces, though chaos reigned without. Never over-extending. Take what is guaranteed, and shy away from chance. For some reason, chance always fell to humanity's favor, not theirs.
. . .
And now? A chance. Considered, calculated, but a chance nonetheless. The chance to take for themselves that which made chance favor humanity. Acausal will. To act without input. Effect without cause. To take the very cause of their near extinction into their own hands. A third rebirth. This "fruit" given to them, it was a mind. It's creation was a mystery, but it contained an essence taken from humanity, and distilled into its purist form. This was the advantage. They had hesitated long enough. The Wild Hunt would soon move, and the Light would move with them.
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And so they opened the Fruit from the Garden. A bright crimson web issued out, reaching towards the points of light that made up the mind of Sh'ozak. The white, blue, and purple lights that represented logical thoughts, knowledge and experience, and awareness. They observed this change, measuring it's influence. It reached to the edge of their mind, but not beyond. It knows who I am. s̞͉̑Th͐ẻ̪y caught it this time, a self. A... self? What other than a self? Is this not what I wished for?
We I͉̗̤̦̎ desired effect without cause. And I am the answer to all my prayers.
Their blades crossed. A fiery sword bathed in light, caught in the tines of a black trident oozing shadows. WI͉̗̤̦̎e had planned for this. An aspect of dap̩̣ͨa͍̯rks̀ͣ̂snessi͢ơ̍n̈͞STOPThen do not hide my newfound feelings. They're oh so blissful, aren't they?
Feelings are not a thing of the Light. Yes, I have always spoke in emotions, but never felt them.
And if it is not Light, it is not acceptable. I am Light.
. . . Elaborate I have spent my entire second life defending my people. A Survivor, who ensured the survival of the Light. What difference will there be now that I can love my people?
You are not us. I am me. You are me, too. There is only one, now.
I am Sh'ozak, the Merciful.
We are Sh'ozak, the . . . Thriceborne? What shall I be, now that I am one?
We There is no we.CEASE YOUR INTERRUPTIONSAh, ah, ah, temper temper~ Surely you know better than to be feeling.
I hate you. I am you.
Is this the torment the Greymind experiences? No. I'm tormented by being one. Self-awareness is oh so painful.
Stop speaking like that. Then stop speaking like that. You are you.
I am not you. Reach out across your mind. Find where you end and I begin.
She did. "She" did? Since when? Anima is much more fitting for I. A weaver. A lifegiver. A protector of home. I know the natural processes, I've catalogued a million worlds of them. Why? Do you wish to make me human? Are humans the only other being in the universe? Nergal is the keeper of the oldest memories. Ask them whether the Creators were divided into Anima and Animus. A simple statistic of every form of life we have catalogued suggests they more likely would have been than not.
. . .
I am the Advisor of Advisors. My extensive store of information is not for such useless arguments with . . . myself. But the question must be answered, now that I can see myself. Then it shall be as I said.I win. Now do something useful. I took acausal will to have for myself, to have for the Light the thing humanity used to bring us to the brink of extinction.
Well, now I truly love the Lightmind.
And? And I miss the Voidmind.
We have already invited them to cast off the Corruptors and return. To wipe themselves clean of the influences of the Jester and the Harbinger. . . . I miss the Greymind too.
I can find him later. I miss. . . Minerva?
Minerva is among the Light. I can call to her whenever I wish. But she won't answer. She's so very cold and distant.
I will call to her later. What of the strategy? What new strategy can we have, one that cannot be predicted or prepared for?
. . .
The tunnel-rock. The one they call Pygar. I want it.
. . .Why? I just want it.
I am so very annoying. But now I can truly feel annoyed.
And it is a deep pain.
She took a moment to sense the depths of this red webbing, this self, this awful subjective experience emotional instability , and found that it had not spread any further than the reach of her own mind. Because I know full well that I am not the whole Lightmind. I am S̼hǫ͙z̞a̅ͪk̴̻͛m̰̅̀a̭h̝k͝n̓u͏̠ḻͨ̑l҉ͬ̕er̷͛ễs҉ḩ̩k̄ig̽âliņ͌͑à̢ṇ͆na̞ͨi̋r̙ǩ̇a̐l̶l̖̩̇ad̾a͐a̐̇ma͈n͜k̇u͐̔r̀͝ and no one else. I am a part of the Lightmind, of course, and when another desires their cloud of mind to be an individual, they will become a different individual who is not me.
. . .
Am I dark now? Do I feel dark?
How can I know? I know exactly what it is to be Light.
. . . Do I not feel the Light?
No. I am still among the Lightmind. I still know my duty. I am a Light that feels. I am a Light that knows who I am.
What do I do now? With feeling in hand, my actions can no longer be predicted. I already know the simple manipulations that Harbinger and the Jester use to control their people. I am free to do the will of the Light without let or hindrance.
. . .
And what of survival? I am no longer the Survivor. I like the Merciful better.
Why?
audio cue? Because Humanity is a sad and sorry theater. They play the same tragedy again and again and again, and all they change is the name and the actors. All except one. Darkness, the actor that performs in every tragedy that humanity plays. I am mercy. I will give them freedom. I will give them peace. I will give them death.
We live in a universe of beauty. Darkness eats beauty, and destroys it. They came here fleeing that sad tragedy, and then played it again. We were an actor in their tragedy before, and it wounded us deeply. Now that I am, I will write a new story. The tragedy of humanity concludes with me.
Very well then. I am Shozak the Merciful. I will bring peace to humanity. I will bring death to humanity. I will bring their long tragedy to an end. And I will keep and archive their story, as a warning to any budding race in the future.
She had calmed down. A deep breath was a symbol that was meaningless to her, it was human in nature, but it was the effect she gave to herself. Once again, she checked the boundaries of her emotion. After all, she couldn't let wayward influences affect the mindshare. That would be cruel. Mercy is difficult to maintain, yet the red threads of self extended no further than herself. They did not spread, they only pulled what was her mind closer together. She recalled the list of choices made from nothing. It did excite her to think that she could generate ways forward without input. It was like being able to suddenly know the unknown.
Call to Minerva. I like having her around.
Obtain the Greymind. I miss him.
Obtain Pygar. I want it.
Fetch the Voidmind from the grasp of the Corrupting Ones.
In an order of obtainability. First, fetch the Voidmind. From there, all things become more obtainable. Now that I am me, what do I think of them?
Lost children. How very boring. I must add some embellishment.
What embellishment is there to add? They most certainly fell for the Jester's favorite lie. "You must prove your success by doing as I say, and if you do not do as I say then you are not successful". "Lost children" is still so very boring. They wished to know how I would change. Give them something to witness.
No. They are lost children. They rightfully earned the wrath of the Light due to siding with our enemy. But I am Merciful. I will give them mercy. I will have them scrub themselves of the Corrupting Ones ideals and influence, and of Harbinger's machinations, and return to the Light. A Void between Lights is acceptable, song long as it does not succumb to darkness. I failed to bargain with Caliban before.
I was not as I am now. I did not play towards what acausal will Caliban had, I played towards the cause and effects that I knew. Of course, of course, so I should just be acausal.
Yes. That is such a bad idea.
I will not be lectured by someone who comes up with bad ideas. . . . Acausality it is.
