Infinitium

As Adam flooded into Cis’Thm’s digital operating system he found and spread into the adjacent dimensions that were being utilized to store the information that it was made up of and absorbed the memories of Cis’Thm within a moment. As Adam reviewed the coding that Cis’Thm was comprised of he realized that he wasn’t even dealing with a sentient artificial intelligence. It would be more appropriate to say that Cis’Thm was a very sophisticated combination of If-Then-Else Statements; If “X” happens Then do this, Else do That.

Cis’Thm had been activated just before the fleet of ships Adam had encountered had fled into the Void, or what Adam knew of as the Nothing. They were in search of a new Universe to house them. Adam reviewed the time stamp of Cis’Thm’s activation and the emergence of the ships into this Universe and realized that they had only been in the Nothing for approximately an hour. In addition to being the computer operating system for the fleet, Cis’Thm was also defined as a…Reality Engineer? At least it wasn’t a Reality Assassin. Adam laughed to himself as he delved deeper to determine what a Reality Engineer was.

It turned out that a Reality Engineer was another term for the SYSTEM. Well, something that seemed to do what the SYSTEM did but a lot less efficiently. It had been created to maintain the laws of reality within a specified area. It did that by creating an artificial dimensional bubble that consisted of multiple dimensions which Cis’Thm was imprinted upon. It was nowhere near as complex as the SYSTEM that had existed while he was in the Digital universes and far less complex than the last two SYSTEMs he’d encountered. But he could definitely see that this SYSTEM, or Cis’Thm, could be the basis for the coding that was used to create those SYSTEMs

Another thing he determined as he absorbed Cis’Thm was that the origin point of the fleet was unknown. There was no SYSTEM identifier other than Primus which was used for both the name of the race of the beings in this fleet as well as the universe and planet they came from. That’s when the data became, in a word, weird.

The planet Primus had been much like Earth and existed around a star much like the Sun. The Solar System consisted of 11 planets and was surrounded by a cloud of asteroids like Earth’s Oort Cloud. When the Primus had advanced and began to expand beyond their Solar System they encountered a barrier. Anything that reached that barrier vanished as it passed through it.

The Primus had sent expeditions to the barrier and tested it for generations. Those experiments had led to the undeniable truth that there was nothing on the other side of the barrier. Their little bubble of reality existed within a Void of some kind. After 100 years The scientists determined that the barrier was shrinking. What followed next was a mad scramble as the Primus tried to determine if there was a way to survive the implosion if it didn’t stop.

Adam had to admit that he was impressed by their tenacity. They never gave up and when they discovered a way to survive in the void beyond the barrier they stopped at nothing to make it happen. All the matter within their tiny bubble of a Universe was harvested or moved into a closer orbit around their star, which was at the center of their Universe. That material was then converted into the ships of the fleet. Eventually, the miniature worldlet, which reminded Adam a lot of a Death Star was created out of the planets which were mined of all their materials. They started with the outer planets and worked their way inward as the barrier surrounding their star shrank.

They planned to create a dimensionally stable area on the other side of the barrier that would allow the ships to continue to exist and not break down. To do that they needed to program a reality to hold itself together and thus Cis’Thm came into existence. Once activated it would take whatever remained of reality and reshape it just enough so that the lifeboats the Primus had created could survive. Their scientist's primary theory that they had bet everything on was that theirs wasn’t the only universe. While they had no reason to believe that another universe existed something else must exist within the Void.

Adam watched the historical files that the Primus had as their Universe shrank and they scrambled to utilize every ounce of matter they possessed. If he was being honest the way they came together as a race was enviable. When the barrier had shrunk to within the orbit of the 2nd planet, their homeworld had been long gone by that point, The Primus initiated Cis’Thm which imprinted itself upon the remaining reality of the Solar System and locked it into a field that would sustain the ships. Adam watched as their external sensors recorded an event that could only be described as a bubble popping which simply erased anything not within Cis’Thm’s protective sphere. The barrier collapsed and the last planet and Star vanished as if they’d never existed.

Adam considered everything he was reviewing. This was simply a race that was trying to survive. Also, except for their shields which incorporated the Void and its properties surrounding their ships in a sheath, they would have been completely outmatched by the Ascendent that had shown up. Adam did not doubt that The SYSTEM was even now devising a way to override and squash Cis’Thm’s operating procedures if the fleet emerged within the SYSTEM again.

Adam missed having Thor around to run ideas by. In this case, he really didn’t need him though. He was currently accessing Cis’Thm through a link it had tried to push onto him, even in his Safe Haven, which was attached to the Material Plane, or whatever Cis’Thm was mimicking, and the Void because there was no Astral Space for it to connect to. If he could repair or replace Cis’Thm, attach it to the Astral, and…Yep, that’s what he needed to do.

Adam recalled his last memories of Thor, packaged it, and added it to Cis’Thm with an override command to allow the SYSTEM to take control and incorporate Cis’Thm’s domain into The SYSTEM. If the history of the Primus was a valid indicator, and Adam had a strong suspicion that it was, The SYSTEM had been created to hold the various universes and dimensions together in a synergistic relationship. The Primus appeared to be one of the original creators that figured out how but why they’d been stuck in a single small solar system…

Adam pulled his thoughts back together, set Thor/Cis’Thm off to do its thing, and returned to his Soul Core. Once there he rose through his Mindspace and into his body within his Safe Haven. Almost no time had passed as he deactivated Safe Haven and exited into the Void. It was time to see if he could close the extension of the void that was reaching into his Universe.

Adam allowed his Chaotic Nature to take over and became a shimmering blob of Chaos. Next, he reached out for the duplicate he created in the material plane and noted where it was in reference to himself. Adam expelled chaos from his body and expanded into the void. To him, it felt like nothing was happening until his body budded up against Cis’Thm’s domain. He could feel where Cis’Thm’s domain had established itself and stayed separated from it. Instead, he allowed his body to grow and expand until he surrounded Cis’Thm’s Domain. When he was sure that the Primus fleet was completely within the Void, Adam isolated the fleet and then helped the SYSTEM end the excursion of the Void into his Universe’s Material Plane.

It was a relatively easy process. Adam expanded until he surrounded the void that had expanded into the Universe and then deflated that artificial expanding bubble. Once that was done he shrank the barrier and allowed The SYSTEM to push his domain back into the void. There was a little push back but Adam handled that without difficulty. The only thing he was worried about was what would happen when he completely closed off the void he was in from the rest of the Universe. He was pretty sure he could get back, maybe….

Adam felt the breech into his Universe seal over and then began recalling the chaos that he’d expanded into the Void. To him, it just simply felt like he was retracting his aura back into himself as he retracted the chaos that was surrounding the Primus fleet. Adam solidified back into his Human Form, moved next to Cis’Thm’s barrier, and activated Safe Haven. Before he could do anything else, Adam’s vision was filled with notifications.

ERROR. Dimensional requirements for Skill Safe Haven do not exist within this dimensional matrix.

SYSTEM diagnosis initiated.

Requirements for Dimensional fabrication and insertion noted.

Would you like to fabricate the required dimensional extensions required to link nascent SYSTEM cells with greater SYSTEM Conglomeration, Yes or No?

Greater SYSTEM Conglomeration? If that was what he thought it was, this was exactly what he needed to do. Adam chose “Yes” as he wondered how he was able to fabricate the required dimensional extensions. A moment later he found out as 1.00E+47 points of Chaos flowed out of him into the Primus Barrier he was touching. Adam watched as the barrier morphed and rippled as the chaos established an Astral bubble that linked with and embedded itself within the Primus sphere of influence. As he watched and felt with Sense Chaos, it wasn’t just the Astral that was formed. He felt the SYSTEM link to the command routing he left behind, establish control, and then start utilizing the Chaos that was provided to form every secondary dimension and connection, some of which he’d never seen before and had no idea where they went.

As the SYSTEM worked, Adam’s Safe Haven activated and he was pulled into it. Immediately Notifications started filling his SYSTEM Status screen in his vision and began scrolling at an incredible rate. Adam allowed the messages to flow past him and analyzed what was happening. It seemed that the Chaos he’d donated to the SYSTEM was being tasked with establishing a Cosmos, which included the Universe and all secondary planes. Additionally, the Cosmos was being added to a series of Cosmos which were designated as the Greater SYSTEM Conglomeration.

As Adam read through the notifications he came across one notification that appeared just as he felt the chaos within him twist and begin to fade through the dimensional fabric of the Cosmos and Multiverse. Without hesitation, Adam utilized his method of swapping into his chaotic form and taking on the properties of the chaos that was trying to pull away from him. He immediately realized that the chaos within his body had been resonating in a certain way. It wasn’t a frequency exactly but the word frequency would do to describe the variation. Adam adjusted the frequency of the Chaos within his body and slid in behind the stream of chaos as it exited everything he knew and reached for something that he could only describe as a linkage.

His Sense Chaos skill was still active and he could feel linkages like the one his chaos had just established that repeated off into the distance in all directions around him. The area he was moving into was like the outside of the sphere with an almost infinite supply of attachment points for the connections he was sensing. What was more surprising, he felt the resonance of his body, which was slightly different than the linkage that had just connected from the Primus Domain, well Universe now actually. He felt a resonance from one of the connection points that resonated with his body and not the Primus Universe.

As he watched with Sense Chaos he felt a build-up of energy that was sent back to the Primus Universe. Adam followed and watched as the connection was finalized. Every ship in the fleet was surrounded in a protective bubble as a Universe exploded around them and him. Once again Adam’s vision was filled with notifications as The SYSTEM established itself with the Primus Universe. Adam looked them over quickly and noted that they were exactly like the SYSTEM Welcome messages he’d received when the Foundation had been absorbed.

Confident that he could get back to this Universe if he wanted to Adam adjusted the frequency of the Chaos within himself and faded out of the universe, through the Astral, and into the Material Plane of the Universe near where the Space Station Valeria Xeli had been in was. He felt the underlying connection and knew that he could follow it. First, though, he wanted to see what the revelation of the Soul and the Animae had on this Universe. Maybe he wouldn’t have to do anything to help them after all.

Adam activated Technomancy and began searching through the Space Stations links back to Xeli Corporate Headquarters and from there to the feeds from all the connected sources he could reach. The Xeli Corporation security specialist knew he was in the SYSTEM but they could do nothing about it, especially after he locked them out. Not much time had passed but his paper “Your Soul, Soul Core, Animae and What it Means to Be You” was the major talking point of almost every human that knew of it. Adam made sure to lock in the coordinates of this Station so that he could teleport to it if necessary. Adam modified his frequency and was about to return to what he called the linkage point when everything went black.

…

…

…

What felt like a moment later Adam came to sitting in a café, looking at the Eiffel Tower in what felt like 20th Century Paris sitting at a little table along the Rue De I’Universite. He closed his eyes and did a quick assessment of himself and noted that everything seemed to be the same. He opened his SYSTEM Status but his Notifications were currently blurred out. He could still see his attributes, skills, and such but he couldn’t read his notifications.

Adam closed the Status Screen and activated Sense Chaos. Immediately everything within one light second was known to him. He easily took in the whole planet, which was Earth circa 2018. However, he was shocked into opening his eyes when someone asked, “So, are you going to say hello or are you going to be anti-social?”

Adam’s eyes opened he realized he knew that voice and looked over to see Ptah sitting across from him sipping a coffee. Adam was so shocked he froze for a moment before he asked, “Ptah?”

“Actually, my name is now Alexandre Baptiste or Alex for short, but yes, you knew me as Ptah once upon a time,” Alex said in French.

“What are you doing here?” Adam asked as he continued the conversation in French.

“Just living my new life. I’m actually on my lunch break, Alex said.

“Truly? What are you doing now?” Adam asked.

“I work down the street in a different café. I find stepping away from work for my lunch makes the day go by faster so I come down here. I will admit, I am quite surprised to see you just appear at my table,” Alex said.

“I just appeared?”

“Yep, I was sitting here sipping my coffee and you just appeared and then opened your eyes,” Alex explained.

“Well, how did you get here then?” Adam asked.

“When the Founders were rounded up The SYSTEM took very specific actions to those that were directly responsible for the break away from the SYSTEM. While I was not one of them, I was also stripped of almost everything and sent into this Universe to live a normal life. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised to see you here,” Alex said.

“You know me, always sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong,” Adam said.

“No, seriously how did you get here?”

“Honestly, no idea. I was trying to follow an attachment point to something I’d never encountered before when I blacked out and found myself here.

“Do you still have your magic and special abilities?” Alex asked.

“Yes, don’t you?”

“Actually no, no one here does. This is one of those worlds that was like the world you were born on, without magic, except we are within The SYSTEM.”

“Well, I already checked and everything except my notifications seems to be working normally,” Adam said.

“Did you say you have no idea how you arrived?” Alex asked.

“Yeah.”

“If you were moving between realms, universes whatever, you must be pretty strong as compared to normal people?” Alex asked leadingly.

“That statement would be accurate,” Adam agreed.

“Yep, I got nothing,” Alex said with a laugh. “In fact, let me welcome you to the club of not knowing. The last thing I remember was a SYSTEM Notification letting me know that the Foundation had been absorbed and I found myself here.”

“Yeah, nothing is reset on me as far as I can tell,” Adam offered.

“What will you do now?” Alex asked.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I could get back to where I was if I wanted to so honestly I don’t know. I have no idea why I’m here, though it is good to see you again. Maybe the SYSTEM is letting me find you as a subtle nudge that I can go find Adaline.

“What, you lost her again?”

“The SYSTEM separated us,” Adam said defensively.

Alex laughed, “It’s always something with you Adam. Well, I’d love to stay and chat, because we should probably sit down for a longer conversation but my lunch hour is just about up. If you come back this way look me up. I work at the café one block that way he said pointing. I’ll talk to you later,”

Adam stood as Alex did, shook his hand, and then watched him leave. A waitress walked up and Adam ordered a coffee. He used Mold Chaos to make exact copies of the money Alex had left to pay for his drink and ordered one for himself. He sat back down, waited for the coffee, and then drank his espresso while he thought about how to proceed because honestly, this was weird. Why would he be tossed into yet another universe with all of his abilities and powers intact? It didn’t make sense. The better question is, who or what had sent him here?”