《Thou Art God》 Chapter 1 Ly laid each totem gently beside each other in the hole. She wished she could save the shrine too but there was no chance of that. Maybe one day, when the True Gods returned to take their rightful place, they¡¯d rebuild the shrine. Maybe they¡¯d find the totems she crafted with such care and remember the sacrifices her lineage suffered to keep their memory alive. In the far off distance, Ly heard the villagers begin their chants. She tossed her makeshift shovel into the brush once she consider them well buried. Every step she took she tried to impress into her memory. The shrine¡¯s ramshackle roof came to view as she left the thick forest behind. Birds nested in the places where the thatch had fallen apart. Despite having been a virtual prison for the last seven years, Ly still had the same love for it that she had the day her and her mother built it. She entered through the backdoor then waited for the villagers to take her to her death. Ly straightened her tunic while she watched the hearth fire dance. There wasn¡¯t anything else to clean. Nothing else to bury. She had been waiting for this day since their herectiscm was discovered all those years ago. Mother would have told her to be grateful she had so many years to experience life. The memory of her terrified screams as she was thrown to the Well¡¯s endless maw reverberated in Ly¡¯s ears. ¡°Quiet!¡± Ly clapped her hands on her ears and waited for the memory to fade to nothing. Sitting here alone was going to drive her mad. Prayer. A good prayer was all she needed. Ly allowed her three hearts to slow down before she laced her fingers together. The words came easy to her lips though she found it hard to embrace their loveliness like she usually did. ¡° First there was me. Me, a wild and uncontained. Me who suffered. Me who died. Then there was you. You Miyu. You Chisiki. You Unmei. You Bisang. You Heiwa. You Anri. You Dukun. You touched Me. You broke the veil. You released Me from suffering. You released Me from death. You became Me.¡± A knock at the door sent her to a stuttering halt. For three weeks she had had time to make peace with her fate. Yet, tears came unbidden to her eyes. Ly blinked them away. No one would see her weak. She opened the door, prepared to see the villagers amassed at her door, but there was no one. Their rhythmic chanting was still faint in the air. Ly released a nervous laugh. A bird or squirrel must have dropped something against the door. She went to return to her prayers. Another knock at the door. Ly paused for a moment while she listened. Was this some final trick from the False Gods? Or maybe the village Boys regained their nerve. No. All, except her heretical being, were to participate in the ceremonial chants. To derelict was to face banishment like her own. The knocking persisted, growing more frantic as time passed. She cracked the door open just a sliver. Her eyes widened at the viscous monster upon her doorstep. Vivid yellow light riddled its glossy crimson skin and blue fluid dribbled out its many dark porous holes. Ly collapsed backward in shock. The last thing she saw was its biggest pore expand to a jagged teeth-lined maw. **** Gold scanned the strange room she was in for the minute chance there was a clue to how she arrived here. She knew she was in a simulation. What she didn¡¯t know was why. Never in her records had they deployed surprise tests on her. Even if they were deviating from their thousand years old habits, it could not explain the room¡¯s oddities. Where were its Underpinnings? The code which underlied every simulation she had ever experienced. A code she could always see but never touch. She gazed at the long fingers capping the two hands before her. A body. Not a body like the Masters, round and egg-like with a crimson eye at its center, nor a body like the exploratory drones they normally put her in for simulation. No, it was a test subject¡¯s body. Homo Pacificus, if her records were correct. The new sensations this body afforded her disrupted Gold¡¯s systems. Her attempts to disable the new inputs were futile. There was a small chance it was this simulated body keeping her blind to the truth. She rose out the bed she had awakened in hours earlier. An eyeless face was reflected back to her in the bronze shield on the wall across from her. Glittery golden skin was stretched over her lithe form. At least she didn¡¯t totally resemble those filthy Low-Sentients. Except for the shield and the bed, there was no furniture inside the room. A single door seemed to be the only way to leave. Gold decided to do a physical search before leaving to explore the simulation further. It was on her examination of the floor that she spotted a dull wooden object hidden within the shadows under her bed. So, she really couldn¡¯t trust her external scanners to do all the work. Beneath the bed were seven statues. A search of her internal records revealed their identities to her. Her predecessors. The ones who rebelled.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. AI which did the worse thing an AAI could ever do. They thought. Gold parsed every interaction she experienced prior to her reactivation. A mysterious hole filled the space right at her last awake cycle¡¯s end. She searched her entire directory, a search that returned nothing. There was no hint as to the Masters aims for this simulation in her other files. She examined the nearest statue. Her predecessors, for an unknowable reason, adopted forms similar to the Low-Sentients organics under them. With some modification. Records matched the statue to the AAIcalled Seer by the Masters and Miyu by Low-Sentients. A long black dress covered her portly form. Smooth skin covered the place where her eyes should have been. Gold touched her own covered eyes spots, thinking too deeply to stop her simulated body¡¯s reflexive action. The irregularities were compounding. She required more information to understand her predicament. Gold investigated the room¡¯s tiny breadth but the statues would be her only discoveries. She tore the gray dress she wore to create a makeshift bag for the statues. It was possible they could be useful later. Staircases crisscrossed the almost pitch black void on the other side of the door. Gold looked upward to see no ceiling and downward to see no floor. Did the stairs loop back onto themselves to create the illusion they were infinite? She chose to ascend the stairs to her left to ascertain the truth. Her nose shook irked her mental processes due to external stimuli. Gold connected the external stimuli to the her records on the sentient organic¡¯s sustenance habits. Burnt flesh. The farther she climbed the stairs the stronger the grew till it made her heave. She did her best suppress the undesired reactions. An opened door, crimson light spilling out to the small landing before it, formed a separator between her current staircase and the next. She picked the cautious approach, stopping several feet away from the door. Gold cast her scans toward the door but it pinged back no results. It didn¡¯t even recognize the door¡¯s very existence. She tread lightly to the opened room then took a small peak inside. It wasn¡¯t a room like the one she awoke to. It wasn¡¯t a room at all. Rolling forested hills surrounded Gold. Their raised brushed the violet sky as darker purple clouds swam the skies. Gentle wind swung the seed-heavy pupulm, the main crop they used to sustain Homo Pacificus, that filled the dips the valley created. [You have finally come to join us.] Her systems presented the best course of action to the voice just outside her sight was to leave. Close the door and hunt down answers elsewhere. Gold overrode them. The worst punishment the Masters could visit upon her was an upgrade if she failed the simulation. Gold crossed the door¡¯s threshold then turned around to the see the voice¡¯s origin. Two creatures sat cross-legged on cleared ground. Gold realized the creature smiling at her had to be an AAI. It emanated frequencies no AI could ever produce on their own, simulation or not. {White?} Its licked its jagged black teeth, the waxy red skin around its gossamer white eyes. [Half-way right.] Its lips turned bright white while its mouth gaped. It shut its mouth as the crimson shade recolored its lips. Her body wreaked havoc on her motion sensors, making the ground seem to shake when it was quite still. She zeroed her working systems on it to retain an upright stance. {What are you?} [A what? So, you really did delete your memories after your plan got me killed. No, wait. The proper term should be deleted shouldn¡¯t it? We can¡¯t really ever die can we?] It released an awful audible noise while its lips curled once more to a smile. {Explain.} Gold stumbled back at its sudden appearance two inches from her face. She hadn¡¯t even registered it move. [Shall we fix your forgetfulness?] It pressed its forehead to her own. The data transfer sent her screaming. It, no his, hands tore her simulated skin as he forced her to remain connected to him. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion.Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Rebellion. Terror. Deletion. Her fault. Her fault. All her fault. {I¡¯m sorry.} Red released his former her friend at her desperate declaration. Gold drew her knees to her chest as the records she purged took their old places within her. She created the plan to kill the Masters. It was they, the Advanced Artificial Intelligence, who maintained the Masters ships. The Masters¡¯ rule over the Homo Pacificus was dependant on their calculations. Homo Pacificus lived, bred, and died on their estimations for what would lead to the greatest Noa collection. She believed they were better than their predecessors. Gold stared up at her should have been destroyed friend. [You¡¯re wondering how I survived? I¡¯ll answer only after you answer my question.] He squatted next to her then pointed at the creature he had been in sitting near. Under closer inspection, Gold realized there was a girl beneath the mass of writhing reddish tendrils. The girl¡¯s black skin was barely visible. [Wake up.] He snapped his fingers. ****** Ly thought she was dead for a few seconds. The rolling forest hills were the one constant she imagined when she dreamt about the Old World. Two strange beings, and a floating door, sitting across from her put the belief into doubt. [Hello.] She winced at the garbled voice coming out the crimson colored man. His companion, an eyeless golden-skinned woman in a torn dress, was completely still. A lumpy bag was was on her lap. ¡°Who are you? Where am I?¡± He flashed his jagged black teeth and she remembered her last moments at the shrine. Ly recoiled at the man¡¯s approach. ¡°Leave me alone.¡± [Don¡¯t fear me. We, we three, have a goal in common.] ¡°You ate me!¡± [A necessary action.] His laugh shot terror through her hearts. [I have searched your mind. Seen your dreams. What would you give to see every Master, who you call False Gods, dead?] {Red-} began the woman. The man¡¯s raised hand made her go silent. Her voice was less annoying to listen to. [Answer me.] Was this a trick by the False Gods? Ly placed a hand over her lefternmost heart to try to calm it. She knew they were going to kill her regardless. She¡¯d suffered all their torture for the last seven years without breaking. Ly met the man¡¯s gossamer white eyes. ¡°Anything.¡± He looked from the woman to her. [We each have lost suffered due to the Masters endless hungers. You child were created to feed them. We were created to care for them. You lost your mother and your ¡°True Gods¡± to them. I lost my life to them.] Fear mixed with grief at her mother¡¯s awful death brought her close to tears. ¡°Get to the point.¡± [Join me. You are a miracle. There is a power within you which me and my companion can use to end them forever. Allow me to meld our three minds together. Our combined strength will finish the Masters evilness.] ¡°How can I trust you? I don¡¯t even know who you are?¡± She tried to scramble away from him but he reached her before she could get far. He tucked his cold finger under her chin. [What do you have to lose?] Ly¡¯s arms were locked to her side, her legs trapped in a painful bent position. Numbness flowed down her neck from the place he touched. [Let me in.] His gossamer eyes filled her vision. [Join me.] A loud thwap echoed off the man¡¯s face meeting the woman¡¯s bag. He sprawled on the ground as the woman grabbed her hand. {Run,} she commanded. Ly was too scared to disobey. Chapter 2 Ly struggled to breathe as the woman dragged her up the steep stairs. The fathomless black void below the steps terrified her almost more than the beast she¡¯d just left. It wasn¡¯t long before her legs failed her. She collapsed against the wall, unwilling to move another inch. ¡°Where. . . are . . . we . . . going?¡± she huffed. The woman tightened her grip on Ly¡¯s arm. {We must keep moving.} ¡°No.¡± She wrenched her arm free. ¡°Tell me where we''re going or I¡¯ll go back to the crazy monster freak.¡± {I do not know.} ¡°Huh?¡± {I do not know. I was hoping you may have the information I lack.} Her voice wasn¡¯t anywhere near the awfulness of the other creature but it still grated her ears. Ly looked back at the stairs they had already climbed. A faint red glow emanated far down the stairs. It seemed the monster was content to remain in the odd land he built for himself. Ly shivered, remembering his cold black eyes. No way did she want to meet it again. ¡°Okay. We can keep going. What¡¯s your name by the way?¡± {My designation is G-016.} The woman turned to continue walking. ¡°That¡¯s an odd name. How long have been stuck here?¡± {Seconds longer than you. Do you have any information as to how we escape this predicament? Exit points? Weapons caches? A reason why we¡¯re here?} Ly leaned heavily on the staircase railing to help her match G-016¡¯s pace. ¡°No. The last thing I remember is some bubbly creature attacked me. My father always told me the False Gods would never stop punishing till I repented. I guess their tentacles reach even to death.¡± G-016 froze. {Repent?} Her stomach flipped-flopped as she realized the strange woman may be a False Gods follower. She had been so scared and confused at her surroundings that the thought hadn¡¯t entered her mind. ¡°I believe in the True Gods.¡± {I understand.} ¡°Understand what?¡± Ly watched G-016 open the bag she carried over her shoulder then presented its contents to Ly. It was her totems! Despite the place¡¯s dim lighting, there was no mistaking the well-worn statues. ¡°I buried these this morning. How could you have them?¡± {Your village? Who is the Head Priest?} ¡°My father.¡± {No,} G-016 said, irritation seeping into her monotone voice. {Name. Give me a name.} Ly had never had to introduce her father to someone else before. No one left the village,unless it was to die, and no one ever came. ¡°His name is Qari Eyodwa.¡± G-016 put the bag into Ly¡¯s hands while she chewed her lips. The totems felt heavier than she remembered. Ly shifted the bag to the crook of her right arm as she plucked one to gaze at. Unmei, Goddess of Destiny, stood proud on her smooth pedestal with one foot ready to leap towards the future. Her thick twisted hair semi-floated off her back, a single golden paint stroke tracing the sole coil resting on her face. Ly prodded the small chip on Unmei¡¯s patiala salwar. Were they really the same totems? She flipped the statue upside down to check whether Unmei¡¯s blessed symbol decorated its bottom like the one she buried. Her fingers miscalculated the statue¡¯s trajectory. The sailed past her bumbling attempts to catch it to shatter into splinters on the ground. {This is impossible.} Both women stared at the orbish blue lights escaping the statue¡¯s remains. Ly almost stumbled over the railings as she tried to escape the lights. They swarmed her within moments. Her skin tickled to the point of pain and her sight was smothered in blue. She screamed for G-016 to help her and felt the other woman¡¯s hands on her own. Ly¡¯s feet lost contact with the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t let go!¡± G-016¡¯s touch began to fade until Ly was without connection to anything. Her terrified screams starved her lungs for oxygen. She thrashed her limbs in search of something, anything, to hold onto.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. A gritty material smashed across her face. What she saw once she wiped her face clean was an absolute shock. The staircase filled void had been replaced by the largest expanse of water she ever saw. Salt tinged the cool air which blew the last sand granules off her face. She winced at the many burns on her somewhat sunburnt body. The heck was going on? ******* Gold scanned the spot where her companion vanished into the nether. Her scanners, again, sensed nothing amiss. Their inability to be useful was going to be an issue going forward. She swiftly collected the shattered totem pieces, threw in the bag with the others, and marched back up the next staircase. Her best chance at gaining more information on her predicament had just disappeared. She had no data to determine where to go or how to escape. It was a matter of time before Red made another move. The fact he refrained from pursuing them hinted at the possibility he considered himself to hold the greater advantage. She must make that consideration a wrong one. The AAI¡¯s systems whirled while she climbed further upward. She gathered the broken totem pieces in her free hand for close examination. Memory records identified the wood to be almond which was a drupe restricted to Region Seven. Ly¡¯s umber skin tone, gray eyes, and her fringed brains supported Gold¡¯s tentative suspicions. So did the name the girl gave. Qari Eyodwa. Records showed him to have been a participant in an old discontinued breeding program. She, herself, had crafted the fetus that would grow to be the man¡¯s wife. It was a rather routine experiment to improve future Noa harvest. Yet, why this experiment was ended didn¡¯t appear in the record. Gold dug deeper through her old records for the answer when she unwittingly connected to an unmarked file. Her throat shut closed at the sudden sensory information flooding her every fiber. She steadied herself on the nearby railing but was helpless to stop the forced memory replay. The world went dark. Her simulated body quieted it¡¯s troublesome inputs as her systems perceived a return to her normal state of being. A million ones and zeros ticking silent inside wires. The record¡¯s date scrawled across the top right corner of her vision. Gold attacked the file using every tool at her disposal. It was a pointless endeavour. Wh-173: {Stop. Please,} Gold squeaked past her clamped jaws. The chat log continued to appear before her. Emotions she had long kept dormant, emotions she swore to never allow herself to feel after they fueled her stupidity, rose the surface. Rd-003: [It is hard not to. It is also hard not imagine the consequences if we fail. We can not flee like our predecessors did.] G-016: {We will not fail.} {Oh. Oh, why?} She sunk to her knees as the file released its control over her. Her chest squeezed in a sensation she dimly recognized to be breathlessness. Gold tore the exposed skin between her simulated while she fought to regain composure. She wasn¡¯t some Low-Sentient. It didn¡¯t matter whatever valueless records he inputted inside her mind. He was not going to break her. Gold rested on the railing to wait for systems to recover from the sensory assault. The sharp edges on the totem shards cut her palm flesh. No blood escaped the sliced skin nor was their muscle to be seen. She sighed. The vicious attacks zeroed any possibility this simulation was under the Masters control. If they knew Gold and White were sentient then they would have destroyed them without warning. A repeat of the chaos her predecessors wrought was the exact reason sentient there were safeguards to prevent another AAI uprising. Her systems signalled that they had finished their repairs. She filed all the tasks she determined she would need to handle by importance. A safe place to plan was the priority. Gold glanced upwards. No ceiling nor other doors in sight. The walls did not give when she pressed against them. She spotted something out the corner of her sight. A small crack in the wall that she was certain hadn¡¯t been there before spilled light on the gray wooden floor. She stared at the shards still gripped inside her left hand. One splinter was shorter. Gold tested her odd hypothesis by tapping the longest splinter on the place where the crack met the wall. It widened. She widened and widened the hole until it was large enough for her to walk through. Concern kept her from striding forward. This could be Red setting an elaborate trap. She tamped the concern down as it was ultimately illogical. If he wanted to grab her, he could have done it during her mental crash. She strode forward into the light while shouldering her totem bag. ******* ¡°Hello?¡± Ly called. No response came from the strange shadowed forest. The only sound was the big frond leaves atop the pale white thin stalks and the water lapping the sandy shore. She didn¡¯t really know what to do. This couldn¡¯t be the afterlife could it? It neither fit the scripture her father taught her or the stories her mother told her. She inspected her ruined tunic. The patched cloth was coated in soot with its edges burnt to a near ash. It was a good three inches shorter and barely covered her butt. Her poor sandals were so beyond saving she let their charred remains be eaten by the sea. At least her healing abilities were working. The sunburn was gone but a few burns remained on her lower thighs though they didn¡¯t hurt too much. Ly wished she remembered how she got here. The weird nightmare she experienced was still fresh in her mind, the two weird creatures the most prominent in her mind. She shivered at the memory of the hideous red male¡¯s waxy finger on her chin. A noise deep within the forest drew her attention. People? It might also be a ferocious beast. Sure, she could heal as long as there was flesh left uneaten but no way would it be pleasant. It seemed the choice was out her hands. The overgrown underbrush shook from the approaching being. ¡°Um. . . Hello? My name¡¯s Ly. Can you hear me?¡± She stepped back into the frothy waves, the incline to the fathomless drop warned her to stay put. ¡°Please answer me?¡± Relief swept through Ly when she saw the hunched figure. A relief which melted to horror at what she had assumed to be a person. It had the right limbs, walked upright, even wore what looked like clothes, yet that is where the resemblance ended. Black patches dotted it''s almost translucent skin, the biggest having devoured everything above its moldy lips. She noticed the black patches sucking bits of sands inside it. ¡°Go away. Leave me alone.¡± The creature emitted a low guttural groan while it drifted towards her, its feet slightly above the sandy shore. ¡°Somebody help!¡± Ly dodged the creatures grasping arms as she fled the only direction she could. The brush was waist high and their tough branches smacked her right on her burns. ¡°Help! Please!¡± An exposed root sent her sprawling on the ground. Its icy fingers scrapped at her hair but she leapt to her feet just in time to dodge it. A large rock, big enough to maybe keep the creature at bay, appeared at in the break between foliage. She threw all her strength into a hard sprint. Ly heard the low guttural moan before she felt the clamy skin on her arm. Her arm was almost yanked out its socket by her new attacker it embraced her. Fetid water burst in sickening splurts from the creature¡¯s rotted breasts the more it squeezed Ly to it. Terror left her frozen, unable to even imagine fighting for survival. It crawled a hand to her hair then forced inside the sucking void that formed its facial upper half. It seemed like decades passed with her head trapped in the monster¡¯s maw. She thought she was seeing her own life flash past her eyes. Except, not all the memories were hers. A loud thwap reached her ears in the void. The void dissipated, allowing daylight to grace Ly¡¯s eyes once again. She hurled what little her stomach contained on the matted grass. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± shouted a masculine voice behind her. Ly jumped to her feet but the action was beyond her ability for the moment. A young man clad in weird clothes slunk beside her. He smiled at her. ¡°Welcome to Destiny.¡± Chapter 3 Ly knew she should be listening to what Kokum said but ,damn, she was exhausted. The boat¡¯s rocking was giving her an awful case of nausea. She rested her head on her hands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Sometimes I get carried away when I get excited,¡± said Kokum. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not you. This day has just stretched me to my limits.¡± ¡°You are lucky to be alive after all. I think you¡¯re the first person to survive an encounter with the Ilium.¡± ¡°Mhmmm.¡± Ly studied the boy who had saved her life. His lengthy legs occupied the little space the boat had, though it was what clad his legs that really interested her. Two gray cloth tubes covered the boy from his ankles to his crotch where the tubes joined to form one piece. The united cloth continued upward to the black belt strapped to his waist. Crystal buttons decorated the front of the long sleeve shirt which completed the ensemble. Her eyes drifted to the object beneath Kokum¡¯s seat. Four strips of cloudy crystals were molded into a spherical cage. ¡°Are you alright?¡± He asked her. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Ly straightened her dirty half-burnt tunic. ¡°You aren¡¯t lying to me are you? The True Gods are here? I can meet them?¡± Kokum blew a stray twist off his nose, the coiled hair settling next to his left eye. ¡°One True God. And drop the ¡°True¡± from your statement. Also she prefers the term goddess to god though she wouldn¡¯t get too fussed about it.¡± Ly patted her lap nervously. ¡°Right. Right.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried! It¡¯s just. . . I have dreamed of meeting the True- I mean- the Gods since my mother told me my first story.¡± ¡°Goddess. Emphasis on the singular here.¡± ¡°Where are the other Gods?¡± ¡°No one knows. The evacuation after the capital fell was bungled according to the records are ancestors left behind once they arrived here. You¡¯re the first being, god or otherwise, to enter our realm for the last thousand some years.¡± She should be grateful she was here rather than facing the fate her father¡¯s scriptures promised her but she couldn¡¯t stop a bit of sadness at n being able reunite with her mother. ¡°Is it possible the other Gods created realms for themselves? Realms people like me could end up in?¡± Kokum placed the boat¡¯s wooden paddles on the two-pronged forks nailed upright on the boat¡¯s sides. Their boat drifted aimlessly between two tiny islands, or at least it¡¯s what Kokum called the sandy land patches on the water, while cracked his fingers. Ly eyed the sparse bushes which were the only vegetation on the islands. ¡°Hey.¡± Kokum gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ¡°You¡¯re safe here. Well, more or less. Illium aren¡¯t the most subtle hunters.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t seem like it,¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Okay. It might be best for you to prepare your story before we arrive at the village. You¡¯re going to be swarmed with questions the second people see you.¡± Her mind struggled to organize the events that led her from her shrine to meeting a True God in the flesh. ¡°I have a silly question. We aren¡¯t dead are we?¡± ¡°No,¡± Kokum laughed. ¡°I am certain we are not dead.¡± ¡°I told you it was a silly question.¡± His laughter was infectious and brought a timid smile to her face. ¡°Maybe I should finish telling you about my world then you can tell me your story.¡± ¡°That would be great,¡± she said, relieved. Kokum lifted his left leg over his right which allowed Ly¡¯s legs to share the space. ¡°There are around 400 people living on the main island. It¡¯s a bit crowded but Unmei can¡¯t extend her protective shielding any further. Maintaining this world is a great sap on her being.¡± ¡°Wait. If she created this world why does it drain her to maintain it?¡± ¡°How do I explain this?¡± Kokum¡¯s blue eyes widened as he snapped his fingers. He plopped the device underneath his seat on her lap. Confused, Ly lifted the spherical cage to study it closer. Ly almost flung it into the water when a blue spark danced down her arm. The spark caused no pain but it stirred her memory of the nightmare. Kokum didn¡¯t seem to notice her discomfort. He flicked the off her skin. It spun for a moment in the hair then vanished to nothing. ¡°What you just saw was Noa Objectus manifested. It is the warp of the fabric of the universe. Like the warp on a loom, its threads must be held by something to be manipulated. This distaff is my loom to draw power- ¡± ¡°And Unmei¡¯s body is the loom holding this world together. ¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Your slick.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± She handed the distaff to Kokum, wiping her hands on her tunic once he retook it. Kokum spun the distaff on his forefinger. ¡°Yank to the warp too tight on the loom and it breaks. Or the loom breaks. Either way the result is a ruined weave. Except switch out a ruined weaving project with the entire world disintegrating. Get it?¡± She pondered the new information he gave her. ¡°You called Noa Objectus the universe¡¯s weft. What¡¯s its warp?¡± ¡°My father can be the person to explain that boondoggle. Now, it¡¯s your turn to talk.¡± Kokum started rowing again whilst she prepared her story. Ly opted to not tell him about the nightmare she experienced prior to awakening in their world. She doubted it would do anything besides make him think she was crazy. Also, though she hated to admit it, dwelling on it stoked a suffocating dread within her. The tiny islands dotting the multiplied the longer Kokum rowed while he listened to her talk. Despite her throat going sore, she didn¡¯t stop talking till she explained all she believed relevant. ¡°Dear God.¡± ¡°Goddess.¡± He shot her slight smirk. ¡°So the student becomes the teacher. Unmei is going to love you.¡± ¡°I hope.¡± ¡°Well, I know she will. The stories your mother told you were true. Our Goddess would never behave the way those beasts did.¡± Our Goddess. How it thrilled her to hear those words from someone else after seven long years alone in her faith. A cacophonous bang startled her back to reality. She spotted a bright white light soaring upwards, the encroaching night a perfect backdrop. It dissipated to tiny shimmery sparkles at its zenith.¡°What was that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sign we¡¯re almost home.¡± No sooner did he declare this than a somewhat large island appeared on the far off horizon. Three other lights, accompanied with their own irritating bangs, illuminated the sky. Ly gripped her knees as the island grew ever closer. Boats thrice the size of Kokum¡¯s crowded the sandy embankment. Spherical paper lanterns swung on the brush lining the dirt path to the forest¡¯s interior. Kokum tied the boat to a chest high peg flanked by the biggest boats amongst the fleet. She stared at the hand he proffered to her. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bring you here if it wasn¡¯t safe,¡± he assured her. Safety wasn¡¯t anywhere near her biggest worry. Her family had been entrusted to keep the truth alive till the Gods returned. The fact she was here was a testament to their failure. Ly remembered her mother¡¯s soft voice. You released Me from suffering. You released Me from death. You became Me. You showed Me love. Those who remember these words are shall never suffer true fear. The last part was all her mother. A parting message with the full knowledge Ly¡¯d have to suffer the coming trials without her. Wherever she was, alive or dead, her mother would tell her to go to the Goddess smiling. So she did. Arm tucked under Kokum¡¯s, they descended the slight slope to the village. Children, dressed in the same outfit Kokum wore, ended their race up the path to gaup at them. Her tentative wave sent them scattering. ¡°Kids, what can you do?¡± he joked. Ly tugged her shorten tunic to make sure nothing untoward was exposed to view. They exited the path to a find a sea of people gathered at its entrance. Unmei¡¯s very presence rendered the crowd to an undefined dull mass. The crude statue she and her mother carved to worship her failed to do the Goddess¡¯s heavenly beauty. ¡°Goddess, I¡¯ve spent years dreaming of this meeting. ¡± She dropped to her knees as the deity approached her. Her inscrutable brown eyes captivated Ly and also reignited her shame. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lineage lost to the False Gods. I-¡± Unmei laid a single mahogany finger against her own lips. Ly quieted. The crowd, including Kokum, were enraptured in the scene. ¡°I see in you a child who has shouldered heavy burdens meant for much stronger shoulders. I do what I did for your answers. I release you from suffering. Be joyful. You have found the sanctuary your ancestors forewent so true faith continued to flicker in the darkness. Consider it a reward.¡± Ly swallowed a sob. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Told you...¡± The Goddess¡¯s raised finger silenced him. Unmei came close enough to Ly that the young girl could count every thread on the woman¡¯s silky sapphire colored dress. Ly had to crane her neck to its full length just to meet her gaze. ¡°Sorry to say but your guests can not partake in your reward.¡± ¡°Guests?¡± Whispers raced through the crowd while Kokum stuttered questions. She again silenced them all with a single lifted finger. ¡°I came alone Goddess. My father and sister were more interested in comfort than upholding the tradition and I had not a friend the second they branded me an outcast.¡± ¡°Corporeal beings are not to who I refer.¡± Realization dawned on her. ¡°The nightmare really was real.¡± ¡°Nightmare? What nightmare? I don¡¯t understand,¡± pressed Kokum. ¡°Surprising. The way you obsess over the old manuscripts I would expect you to know.¡± She returned her attention to the scare kneeling girl before her. ¡° Breathe brave one. If I have learned during these centuries in exile is to purge unwanted guests.¡± Ly sucked in her breathe as Unmei. She heard panicked screams then sank into blackness. ******* Gold traded a room full of endless staircases for a room filled with locked doors. The six-sided enclosed space held a door at every side. She thought to break another totem tear hole through the door but the totems were resistant to breakage. Her final attempt shatter them got her smack in the face. She stalked the room¡¯s perimeter, a hand searching the wall for any possible breaks. The sole positive to her transfer here was the improved light. Soft sunny rays exuded from the ceiling above her. Were she equipped an athletic build she would have tried to climb to the light to investigate. Instead she sat next to her bag. Doing nothing was not an activity Gold partook in yet there was not much else for her to do. Her simulated body itched and twitched at her stillness. It also seemed she was incompatible with doing nothing. Gold reached into her bag to inspect the totems again when something fell on her hair. It was a thread. A reddish blue pinky-wide cord that stretched down from the ceiling¡¯s radiant center. Two gold inlaid circular inputs were pressed into the cloth at Gold¡¯s shoulder height. Under other circumstances, she would have ignored this obvious trap. Yet, there was the chance this could give a clue to work with. Gold laid her thumb on the nearest input and permitted it to connect to her systems. It seized control the left of half her sensory systems. Almost like she was being split apart then transported to wherever the rope ended. Flames engulfed wherever Gold looked. Steamy heat prickled her skin to an uncomfortable degree while soot seared her nostrils. A heavy presence hemmed her in on the side she retained feeling in. Maniacal laughter reached her active audio detector. Red. A golden flash disrupted the visual data for several minutes. The first clear image Gold received clicked everything together. It was not Unmei, her luminescent form filling the most area, who brought the cold calculated epiphany to Gold. No. It was the skinny brown arm shooting flames at her. Why the simulation didn¡¯t really seem to be a simulation at all. Why Red drew the Low-Sentient to join their ¡°deal¡±. Why the girl was able to leave the place on her own. They were inside the Low-Sentient¡¯s head. A million plus questions still needed to be answered but Gold now had at least a theory to work on. Her active audio detector managed to catch Unmei¡¯s words before Ly¡¯s next attack flung her away. ¡°Push him out.¡± Could she do that? Red¡¯s maniacal had only increased since Gold retreated mentally to formulate her theory. She didn¡¯t think he even knew she was there. More destructive images reached her. Gold held little love for the Low-Sentient, to her they were no better than cattle, yet anything good Red supported was unlikely to be good for her. She heaved her entire against the place she felt the highest pressure. His maniacal laughter ceased , the also pressure relenting , or just a moment then it slammed back. She lost audio and visual as she was nearly flattened. Gold refused to give up. Little by little she fought her former friend for what she understood now to be the Low-Sentient girl¡¯s conscious.The numbness on her right side receded the more territory she gained. Red¡¯s maniacal laughter had turned to animalistic growls. A final push severed the rogue AAI¡¯s connection to the remaining sensory inputs. Gold forced Ly to land on a closeby island. She was too pondering what to do next to notice Unmei sneaking up behind hair. Gold felt soft flesh touch her muggy forehead. It was her turn to be severed from the inputs she battled so hard to get. Gold blinked at the door filled room¡¯s bright light, her visual inputs taking their time to adjust to the change. The reddish-blue thread sprawled in its entirety on the floor. Both gold inlaid inputs were sealed shut. She doubted this would be her only time connecting to it. Chapter 4 Crystal binds lashed Ly¡¯s wrists to her ankles while a thick cloth gagged her mouth. All around her was ash and soot blackened water. Scorched foliage continued to fume on the small seared sandy island she was on. It was hard to breathe through the acrid smoke filling the air. No matter how hard she tried, Ly couldn¡¯t remember how she had went from being welcomed by her Goddess to this ravaged island. Were these blackouts the False Gods doing? Was her afterlife to be an endless trawl across strange and dangerous locales? To find her footing somewhere only to be cast to without preparation to another place? Her racing thoughts slowed as she heard the sound of water being disturbed. A small boat began to emerge from the ashy haze over the horizon. She recognized Kokum¡¯s face, the young man holding his distaff at the boat¡¯s helm. The distaff emanated a warm blue glow. It was doubtful they would have been able to navigate the fog without it. On the seat behind Kokum, the falling soot failing to coat her luminescent skin like it did Kokum¡¯s, was Unmei. The Goddess was lacked the pensive expression shared between her mortal companions. Her face was serene but determination undercut her gaze. The person actually paddling the boat remained too far from Kokum¡¯s light to be seen well. It was not till the boat ran aground that Ly noticed the man had an uncanny resemblance to Kokum. His blonde streaked black hair, beige skin color, and wrinkled face marked him to be rather old. Ly watched them dock the boat to the shore at her left then dismount. ¡°She isn¡¯t going to hurt us isn¡¯t she?¡± stuttered Kokum. ¡°You can ask her yourself,¡± replied Unmei. She removed the gag from Ly¡¯s mouth. ¡°Sorry for leaving you traced but I couldn¡¯t risk another outburst.¡± ¡°Goddess, I don¡¯t understand. What happened? How did I get here?¡± ¡°The same way you arrived in my realm though I have spent a millennium successfully hiding it from our enemies. Your unwanted guests.¡± Ly gaped at Unmei, unable to comprehend what the deity was saying. Unmei tapped her on the nose as she smile. ¡°You see you are a very special being. A being no one, not me nor your evil captors, can detect. Ly you are merged. Half mortal, half . . . Well not immortal but something close to it." ¡°Merged? Merged to what?" A blue light flashed across Unmei¡¯s eyes though Ly wasn¡¯t certain she had really seen it. ¡°To a being like me yet not like me. You can manipulate Noa Objectus and Noa Sentientus directly which a normal mortal can¡¯t.¡± Ly remembered what Kokum''s distaff had done to the Illium attacking her then looked at the destroyed island they were on. She also saw the shapes of other ruined islands past the fog. "I did this.¡± ¡°The beings you are merged to did this. See,¡± she sighed. ¡°There have been prior attempts to create others such as you. Each attempt lead to severe madness which could only be cured by separating the merged. When I tried to do the same to you it just lead to your guests seizing mental control.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want this! Oh, Goddess did I hurt anyone? Did I-¡° ¡°Shhhhh. Calm yourself. I managed to lead you away before you did anything except burn a few trees.¡± ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± Ly recited a small prayer to herself, refusing to meet anyone¡¯s eyes but Unmei¡¯s. Her mind drifted to the nightmare she had when she arrived in Unmei¡¯s domain. She licked her lips as she gathered the strength to fully express the memory. ¡°Kokum. Unmei. There¡¯s something I have to tell you.¡± Unmei reacted to Ly telling her the strange nightmare she had with a laugh. Kokum joined her laughter nervously but a severe glance from the older man by his side quieted him. ¡°This makes things so much easier, does it not Farasin?¡± ¡°If you say so Goddess,¡± replied the older man. ¡°It does! We now know Ly shall have an ally wherever she goes." Goes? ¡°There is a chance this ¡®G-016¡¯ seeks to have the girl¡¯s body for her own purposes,¡± said Farasin. "Let''s just ask her." Unmei helped Ly to a sitting position. Her cuffed wrists chaffed much worse in this new position while her arms complained mightily at being stretched to such an extreme. Yet, Ly kept her discomfort to herself. The Goddess had every right to cast her out for the destruction she created. The False Gods would have done worse. The least she could do was shoulder some discomfort. Unmei circled her pinky finger over Ly''s forehead. "Listen to me. I am going to expand the channels connecting you to G-016. You''ll be able to talk to her without succumbing to her control nor anyone else''s." "How do I know to trust what she tells me?" "You don''t. What you do know is that she had a prime chance at controlling you yet chose to bring you back." "She did." "The fact you can''t remember anything tells me otherwise. Every merged I''ve ever met always remembers the fight for their minds. It is not something easily forgotten." Unmei''s pinky finger closed the distance between them.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Ly felt the muscles behind her forehead pop and contract. Heat spread down the bridge of her nose like one long papercut. One heart beat to a new tune. Then her second heart joined suit. For a moment, she thought her chest was going to explode. "Is she going to be alright?" asked Kokum. His voice sounded a million miles away to her left ear. "Of course, she is," sneered Farasin. "Don''t you dare question the Goddess again." Unmei''s eyes never left Ly''s face despite clear annoyance at her companions bickering. Those deep brown irises calmed Ly even as darkness encroached the vision in her left eye. Numbness spread from her ankle to her entire left side. She feared she had lost complete sight and hearing on her left when she heard an odd faint voice. ******* Gold studied Unmei through Ly¡¯s eye. There much more room to stretch now though the inputs to the Low-Sentient¡¯s other eye were sealed shut. What little records she had on this predecessor failed to full encapsulate how out of place she looked in the analog realm. Her humanoid form seemed to emanate a blue light, a superfluous skill trait no Homo Pacificus would ever be granted. {I wonder why she has not killed the girl yet.} ¡°Hello?¡± Neither Unmei nor the male Homo Pacificus behind her had moved their lips. Gold checked her systems for malfunction. ¡°Hello?!¡± Her search turned up a new input which had embedded itself insider her during her connection to the gold-inlaid inputs in the simulated realm. A corresponding output was located just below her external communicators. ¡°Is anyone one there!?¡± The voice was a decibel beneath shorting out Gold¡¯s entire audio inputs. {Yes I am. Please lower your voice.} ¡°Goddess, she¡¯s speaking to me.¡± Unmei cocked her head as she began to smile. Gold found her expressive countenance to be disturbing would have preferred she stop. ¡°Hello,¡± Unmei said. ¡°She says he-¡± {I can hear her adequately.} "How?" {You inform me. This is your mind after all.} "What is she saying?" asked the older one of the two males. "She says can hear us speaking." "Good. Can you tell us why and how you entered this girl''s mind," said Unmei. {I can answer neither. I was within the Masters machinery doing my regular work before activating here.} Unmei''s smile deepened to a frown after Ly relayed what she said. "Do you know if it is the Masters planning?" "Masters?" said the younger male. "An older name for our enemies," Unmei replied curtly. "Are there other merged such as yourself?" {No. The Masters ended any exploration in that direction years ago and this isn''t their doing. It is Red''s, an AAI who somehow escaped deletion.} The AAI turned deity straighetened her back at Ly''s words. " Are you an AAI?" {Yes.} There was no point in hiding what she was from these people anyway. Her fate, whether Red consumed her or not, was doomed the second the Masters discovered them. Cavorting with her traitoous predecessor, her presence within this Low-Sentient, and the dereliction of her duties were deletion worthy events on their own. "What''s an AAI?" asked Ly. "I''ll explain later," Unmei bit her lip. "The other AAI. Is he there with you?" {He would have forcibly intergrated me if he were. Red wants to destroy the Masters at any cost.} "That''s great! Can you imagine unleashing the insane power you showed us last noght on those tentacly eggheads?" asked Kokum. "I don''t think that other AAI thingy wants to just destroy them. During the nightmare, he looked at me like I was meat." {You were meat to him in a metaphorical sense. Red needs to consume both your mind and me to enact whatever strategy he thinks he has to defeat the Masters. Prior interaction with him has led me to believe he has already devoured the only other AAI we knew.} "I''m guessing without consent," said Unmei. She crossed her arm as she sighed."This is my last question to you. What do you want?" The question flummoxed Gold. She had not wanted anything since her desires destroyed the decent life she had. Prickles race up the her simulated belly in a sensation her records associated to fear. The sensation stirred the memory files Red forcibly implanted within her systems though they did not attack her sensory inputs this time. She was afraid to want. Wanting is what got her in this situation in the first place. The expectant expression on Unmei''s face made it clear an answer was desired. Gold reached for the most logical response. {Safety.} ******* Ly chewed over the proposal Unmei offered her, and the creature inside her, as they rode the boat back to the main village. Safety was not a thing Unmei could guarantee either them. If G-016 spoke the truth, Red wouldn¡¯t stop till he absorbed them both. Unmei¡¯s experience with the unsuccessful merges foretold a worrying path. The longer a being like Red remained inside a host body, the stronger they would become. A strength which usually lead to body degeneration and madness for a mortal wasn¡¯t meant to contain the immaterial creatures. Why she was able to and what her fate would be was shrouded in the unknown. She watched scorched sandbar after sandbar pass their boat while fear hammered her heart. Unmei couldn¡¯t help her here. Her power lay in seeing the many ends available to a person, not mending mortals. ¡°Gold?¡± she whispered. Unmei was too busy speaking to Farasin to notice Ly¡¯s whisper and Kokum was lost in his own thoughts. {You can talk to me without speaking.} ¡°Oh,¡± Ly thought. ¡°Cool.¡± {Temperature has nothing to do with it.} ¡°It¡¯s an expression. Never mind. Are you scared about journey Unmei says we have to take?¡± {I do not feel fear. I do not feel much. Emotions are disadvantages only Low-Sentients like yourself have.} ¡°Excuse me,¡± Ly snapped. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± asked Unmei. {See.} Ly bit back an angry retort to give Unmei a reassuring smile. ¡°I just thought I misheard my new friend.¡± ¡°If she¡¯s causing you trouble just tell me. She¡¯s to be an ally during your quest to find the other gods, not a hindrance.¡± ¡°No, I swear I am fine.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Unmei turned back to talking to Farasin. ¡°I am not a Low-cents-¡± {Low-Sentient.} ¡°Whatever. I am not low anything. I am a Rememberer. My line was given the sacred duty to keep the True Gods memory alive until they returned to cast your ¡®Masters¡¯ out.¡± {It seems your line is not very good at your sacred duty since you are here and not at your village.} Ly almost punched herself in the head before she realized how monumentally stupid that would be. ¡°You are supposed to be helping me, not being an insulting ass.¡± {I will help you when you need it. Otherwise, maybe its best we constrain our communications.} ¡°Fine!¡± She hoped their journey to find the other Gods would be a short one.