Глава 15

'Teekaz'. You were not part of the plan, but you became the species most affected by Originium. An accident.

I must applaud your courage for standing here.

An accident...? Is this how you summarize our fate?

You're certainly alike, Priestess.

You call the fates you toy with a gift of hope, millennia of suffering a necessary sacrifice.

But {@nickname} was honest, at least.

His sword pierces falsehood, but the space on the other side—

Nothing changed?

Theresis closes his eyes and raises his sword.

Your violence is meaningless.

If you didn't care whether this pathetic race of mine can seize its own fate, you should have eliminated me already.

You're still weak after awakening from a long dream, are you not, Presence?

He lunges without hesitation.

The sword-wave cuts through the figure, disappearing without a sound into the pale white wall in the distance.

I said, this is meaningless.

Another strike.

I've always wondered—what exactly is the difference between you, the self-proclaimed creators, and us?

Theresis holds nothing back. The white wall begins to crack.

You have not brought everything to a standstill.

You just wanted to buy more time, or simply to mock the struggles of a pathetic race...

Suit yourself, Priestess.

Once again, Theresis senses the surging tide of information, remnants of the broken tower that Theresa weaved.

Theresis swings again.

Golden seawater shatters the pale wall, rushing into this seemingly boundless white space.

The tide swallows all that it sees, but parts before the figure of Priestess...

Like a static comet, leaving behind a black tail of calm in the sea of surging fury.

Your connection to the Originium is weakening. You are fading away.

Continuing to process this disorganized data is a waste of energy.

The waves converge upon the last area, slowly submerging Priestess's figure.

They also close in upon Theresis.

Is this the end that you sought?

The Sarkaz data has corrupted part of the Assimilated Universe. The data has been deleted, but I do not have time right now to repair the rewritten structures.

You can 'survive' in the Assimilated Universe in another form.

Survive?

I came to pass judgment upon the gods.

The Sarkaz swings his sword at the creator one last time, before the torrent of information engulfs him.

Warning.

Unknown threat.

Identifying error code... identification failed.

Simulating path... simulation failed.

Rebooting bottom-level computing area...

Assessing danger level...

Repeat.

And there I was, thinking that all I had to do—after I find a successor—was hand out candies to the children.

You have never proclaimed such a revelation before.

(Unknown language) Incoming data... Originium...

(Unknown language) A warning, or yet another swan song of hope?

(Unknown language) Where are you, kindred? What have you encountered?

The wind brushes past the throne. The sovereign's gaze moves away from the depths of the void outside his domain.

This music exists outside of order. How did it invade my Pavillon, my Leithanien?

The traces of genesis?

Silence is broken.

Priestess's figure, shattered by the golden waves of information, disappears without a trace.

The sea of data dashes against Theresis even more furiously.

His mind grows crowded. His body begins to crack.

The waves of information take away the blood that flows from his wounds. Originium crystals multiply in every cell...

Theresis is completely inundated.

Blood-red seawater gushes from the bottomless abyss, melting into the golden sea.

The sea of data in the Assimilated Universe turns a dark red, like blood, the color of the Sarkaz.

Finally, a tiny figure rises from the sea.

We took control of Amnannam, Theresa.

I can feel the direction that the waves flow now, and the massive amounts of data that I cannot comprehend—

He wants to share his joy, but there is only the sound of the waves in the boundless void.

He can no longer hear even his own heartbeat. There is only him here.

There is no longer any meaning in staying here.

He will return alone to Terra, to the land that belongs to him—

The rhombus in the void grows faint and broken...

Priestess's consciousness once again falls into slumber.

The spread of Originium has been far slower than expected, and she has unexpectedly lost part of her control over it.

Two Terrans, a frail and overlooked race.

I'm starting to understand why you're so interested in them... {@nickname}.

As her consciousness fades into darkness, she turns her gaze to the land known as Terra...

She sees the one they call Doctor walking with the Cautus and AMa-10 into the dark passage that leads to the underground throne room—

She sees the city of Londinium cry out in pain in the fires of war—

...She sees death—

A disintegrating Cautus, whose information is melting into the Assimilated Universe's sea of data—

Then, she reaches out.

(Unknown language) And that was the last time you saw Priestess?

(Unknown language) Yes.

(Unknown language) I still have many unanswered questions. Time is no longer my major concern.

(Unknown language) Do you not miss your home, traveler?

'Miss.'

—The Cautus answered this question many times when she lived on the ship that housed the gods.

There is no future in the fragments of time reconstructed from information.

Her best friends soon forget her existence entirely.

She can know all there it is to them, but she will never truly be part of life here.

'I'm just a traveler lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the distant past.'

(Unknown language) I'm having another learning session with Presence.

(Unknown language) Are you sure you don't want to come and talk to her?

(Unknown language) You seem eager to resolve our conflict, Hierda, but I'm afraid I must decline.

They will not change.

They are simply recreations of data.

(Unknown language) Very well.

The Cautus looks out beyond the porthole and counts silently. When the count reaches thirty, life from the star will once again shine upon the surface of the broken planet.

It's breath-taking, no matter how many times I see it...

Life and death emerging at the same time—

A scene that she had never seen on that land. A scene that she does not wish her brethren to see.

'Farewell. I'm leaving.'

In the blink of an eye, the Cautus finds herself back on that pale soil.

Priestess welcomes her with a smile.