———————


    The Tower of Abomination, with various unknown critters and beasts parts glued together and still actively throbbing with their instinct for survival, continued to display the black screen with pixelated white words.


    </"This would suffice to stop his misanthropic hatred," you all must be thinking./>


    The boy, his feet anchored in camaraderie, did not tremble.


    The man, virtually drenched in the blood of guilt, did not flinch.


    And last but not least, the child, whose eyes showed no sign of fright, stood unshaken.


    </But why? Why do you cling to something so disgusting as life?/>


    Coughing and spitting blood from his mouth, the man remarked, his tone lacking the usual smugness, though it carried the same familiar jargon, "Even the word ''assiduous'' begins with ''ass''. But if you give up at the dirty part, how can you even learn the true meaning?"


    </Again, with some superstitious words that...! Tch! That is exactly why I abhor you all!/>


    Neither of them, nor any of us, knew how to put an end to this ridiculousness. No amount of contemplation yielded an answer.


    </Then I shall bring forth the devised end./>


    Horror. A few eyes widened, a few gasps filled the air, a few screams foreshadowed the terror, and no one was prepared for anything.


    But any amount of preparation would have failed… As it wasn''t any of the dreadful dreams he spoke of… As it was rather something simple.


    The throbbing tower gave one great pulse, disturbing the very hearts. The steady reverberation was accompanied by the crackling of the tower, with light escaping from its broken walls. And the second the echo stopped, light filled the space, hurling pieces of flesh everywhere.


    Let''s pause there and rewind a bit.


    The flesh stuck to my face began to roll back, the unidirectional light began to recede absurdly, the soft whirring of the air ringed our ears, and the Tower of Abomination stood still once again.


    Ah! Pause, pause! It would be better if we went back a little further. Probably ten or twenty minutes, or better, to the beginning of this irrationality.


    To the time when I, Sen Daikei, thought…


    ***


    Thank cosmos that I don''t have an anus.


    This wasn''t at all what I expected to read when I opened it. It''s turning out to be a real pain in the... well, another part I don''t have.


    That was the first thought that crossed my mind as I began to read the ominous words written simply in ink, almost as if they were staring at me with each line I read.


    I should have realized it the moment I saw a folded piece of paper instead of a scroll.


    Expressing the unease I''m feeling would make this much better, I mean, I wish I could sweat, but that is just another foreign characteristic I don''t relate to.


    In case—if—you are not wondering, let me elaborate.


    First of all, stop imagining me, as well as regarding me, as a human being.


    Sure, I do have a few characteristics, but I am not a biped filled with greed, unjust or fleeing emotions like those depicted in the scroll I''m holding in my other... hand(?).


    Long story short, I''m an interstellar being whose body is a mishmash of geometric triangular figures, and just to add to my uniqueness I should mention that my color is red(?).


    Is that how I radiate to the eyes that only perceive the visible spectrum? It''s so sad.


    Well, there you have it, this is what I look like, no skin, no ears, no brain to give me Alzheimer''s, no butt to constipate, no **** to ******* ****.


    I''ve heard that constipation is often considered one of the most uncomfortable experiences. That''s what the opening line meant. The essence being unpleasantness, rather than any superficial label that might sound close to it.


    Okay! Let''s move on to the scroll in my hand, rather than the folded piece of paper which should be of less concern.


    Now– Woah! What''s with these rumblings?! What in the Severance is going on?!


    Hm? Did ''Severance'' get your attention? It seems my situation is of more concern now. Before we get to the rumbling part, you need to know where it''s happening.


    Simply put, Severance is a fixed path in this gigantic cosmos, utilized for monitoring the Macrocosm while using the Terminal Nexus.


    Macrocosm aside, Terminal Nexus, eh? I know this is going to be a challenge, but picture a beautiful fortress made of spires of oddly positioned stairs and windows. Oh, you refer to that as Escher inspired architecture! That''s a load off my shoulder(?)!


    It''s a bit outdated? Well, guess who''s in space and free of viruses, tellurian? ...Looks like you can visualize it, and as for the Macrocosm– Oh my orbs! What the...!!!


    Explaining things as they are is a challenge enough, and now I have to put up with these absurdities? Yes, I know the narrative is all over the place, but believe me, I wouldn''t take this route unless I was forced to.


    ...Oops, I shouldn''t have mentioned that.


    Okay, let''s clap once and forget about it. Well, should we start anew with minimal details, knowing that neither of us had actually clapped?


    If we skim over the specifics, then we can consider...


    Macrocosm as a planet,


    Terminal Nexus as its natural satellite,


    Severance as that satellite''s orbit,


    and us unperceivable beings as inhabitants of that satellite.


    Even though this perspective is far from accurate, it should be enough for someone that hasn''t even achieved Type 1 civilization.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Now for the rumbling part, …I''m afraid I can''t provide an explanation. Like, not that I have no knowledge, rather it''s a subject that hasn''t been explored or theorized in depth.


    Think of it like the concept of life after death. You can debate about the existence of that phenomenon, but you can never prove it. There may be numerous studies and differing viewpoints, yet a conclusive answer remains out of reach.


    Ooo! Oh, no. Mr Know-It-All has turned into Mr Not-Know-It-All. …...My apologies, I thought it would be funny. So, shall we just have a talk about what''s happening?


    It was meant to be just another ordinary shift. I say one of the words that appears on my ''Box of Beginnings,'' and it pops open with dramatic effect. I grab the scroll, write the intended number of ''Avatar,'' and put it back in the box, and continue the cycle.


    I may have wished for it, but never would I have expected this event to happen.


    Today... As I was just about to utter, I... or should I presume, the entire Terminal... no, Severance... no, the very fabric of the cosmos we exist in, was hit by a surge of something I''ve never experienced before.


    But if I had to describe it, it could be something akin to a gravitational wave, but on a grander… magnificent scale.


    And what I never expected was for it to happen twice more.


    The first time, I did not try to assess the situation until I saw a folded piece of paper along with a scroll in the box, and as you can already guess I could not access the situation the next two times even if I tried.


    But let me just add what happened in those two instances. The second time, exterior aside, the interior was deeply cracked, and the third time, the walls collapsed, exposing me to the internal structure of this fortress.


    Ahhhh!!! That feels so good! Finally! Now we can pick up from here and–


    The reason I decided to stop wasn''t due to the fourth instance, but rather the aftermath that followed the third one.


    The collapse of the wall dominoed and reached the roof. Looks like my job—not the one that pays me, but the one I''m forced to do—has protected me from suffering any consequences.


    The dust soon settled, revealing– What the?!!! No, what in the–!!! Oh my–!!! Get away from her, T''jambi!!! What the f–?!!! What the F are you doing?!!!


    "Oh! Hi, Zen! I waz juzt wrappin'' my trunk aroun'' Amber''z waizt and uzin'' the tip to–"


    There is nothing just about what you are doing! I don''t want your courtesy and I definitely don''t want to hear about what you''re doing! All those exclamations unquestionably show that I, an extraterrestrial, saw something that undoubtedly needs no explanation! And put Junior down! Immediately!!!


    Bursztyn Amber exclaimed with a cheerful wave, "Cze??, Sen!" (Hi, Sen!)


    Cze??, Amber—I returned the greeting to the four foot tall doll made of amber, sculptured in traditional Polish clothing with a long cone almost half her height on her head.


    "Ah! Nothin'' wrong here. Zhe told me to zmell her azz," said a gray half-biped half-mastodon as tall as the roof, with a drowsy tone, draped in rugged garments that blended seamlessly with his skin tone.


    Wh-What?! H-Ho-How?! No, you shut up, T''jambi! Amber, chcesz wyja?ni?? (Care to explain?)


    Amber, still in T''jambi''s grasp, nonchalantly tried to address my concern by pointing towards a book she held in her other hand.


    "Znamy las, moja ksi??ka. Zgubi?em j?, gdy podczas jej czytania wydarzy? si? wstrz?s. Wi?c krzykn??em, ?Nie, Znamy las!” i dzi?ki jego szybkiej reakcji uda?o mi si? go odzyska? na czas. Czy mo?esz mu podzi?kowa? w moim imieniu?"


    (We Know the Forest, it''s a book. I lost it when the jolt-thing happened while I was reading it. So I shouted for it like, ''Nie, Znamy las!!!'' and thanks to his quick reaction I managed to get it back. Can you thank him for me?)


    She would like to thank you, T''jambi.


    "Eh?! Then tha'' meanz it''z ok to go on, righ''?" muttered T''jambi, his eyes sparkling with excitement.


    There''s no way that''s okay! Stop treating her like Pluto, dammit! You know she only speaks Polish, and I know you can only understand English, but how can you misunderstand ''Znamy las'' for ''Smell my–'' ugh, for whatever your worthless fantasy was.


    "I mean–"


    Your ''mean'' has no meaning! Just because they have the same amount of syllables and vowels, you just can''t assume whatever you want! Put her down already, for Nexus''s sake!


    T''jambi murmured softly as he gently set Amber down, "Hehe... You zounded like–"


    Shut up! Being made fun of by an interdimensional crime offender is the last thing on my list. And what in the cosmos does T''jambi mean?! It sounds like something even a foster parent wouldn''t name their least favorite of the adopted.


    "Oh! It''z Buddy Talk time''!" T''jambi exclaimed as he dusted himself off.


    Ain''t anyone is your ''Buddy'', idiot! And congratulations, that line just updated my list.


    "My real name waz Ozwald. But I change'' to T''jambi after Mama make fun of meh," he continued, turning a deaf ear to me.


    Wow! I''m really curious to find out what Mama said to hurt this clueless desperado!


    "You know knoc-knoc jokez? You be me and I be Mama! I will ztart now, OK!"


    Curious as I was, I just went with his flow and acted out his little skit.


    "Knoc Knoc"


    Who''s there?


    "Ozwald"


    Oswald who?


    "I zhould have zwallowe'' you!"


    Wooooooooow! Mama should have. So, how did you end up with the name T''jambi?


    "Oh, I take it from one of my good figurinez," he said softly.


    You are not helping much, do a little better, in fact do a lot better than that, because even I can''t think of anything like that.


    "No... Everyone knowz T''jambi. Know, those things that are actually lifeless yet instinctively seek refuge in the living," he remarked, holding out his name tag that read as ''Zombie''. I don''t think it''s necessary, but I feel like I should add that his voice had a certain steadiness to it by the end.


    I really like your sense of style, but in your case it''s more like the dead dragging the living into the oblivion of suffering.


    Amber, who quietly crept into our conversation, questioned, "Czy ?oblivion of suffering” co? znaczy?"


    (Does ''oblivion of suffering'' mean anything?)


    I don''t know, Amber. But how about you instead of stressing over my vocabulary, you stress on those English classes? How can you only understand and not speak, you piece of amber? Or rather, how can you—as a girl—put up with this wasted zygote?


    "Nie rozumiem, co mówisz, ale jestem ch?opcem," she said in response to my argument.


    (I can''t understand what you''re saying, but I''m a man)


    How hard is it to not– Wait, you are a man?


    "She''s a man?!" exclaimed T''jambi, his trunk wriggling with excitement.


    I''m not liking that enthusiasm, and I''m not going to look into it any further. And what are you looking at, Amber? Why are you looking at me like I''m a cluster of spite?


    "Ta rzecz–"


    English...


    "Hi, how eeez… aahh… are you, me is Amber…"


    Change classes, I will... You know what, your supervisor will pay you for the platinum classes. Wait, no. That sounds like the wrong kind of service. Still... upgrade your class, but pay for it yourself. For now, just say the words that come to mind.


    "Left... Scroll... Next... Dobra! (OK!)" she– he exclaimed, battling his way to the end.


    I would like to toast you, but one of them is still spelt in your blood. And what does that mean? ...Oh, Shi–! Wow! Thank you, Amber! Hey, Bipedmasto! Where is your ''Box of Constant''? I lost mine earlier.


    Without any shilly-shally, he pointed me to the debris that had come down with him. I undulated my way through the mess, and pulled it free from the wreckage. Wish my work here could have been over with a few simple steps, but that was not going to be the case.