Shades Of Forever

I'm frozen in some sort of paralysis. Everyone else around me is too. For some reason, I can't draw my attention away from the overwhelming presence taking up the hole in reality. It feels like the air just before a thunderstorm hits.

A tendril of something pokes experimentally through the hole, waving around almost curiously. It withdraws, and then an obsidian glass arm pulls itself the wrong way through, shoulder stump emerging first, then elbow, then hand. The motion is so wrong I want to vomit, and pressure starts building behind my eyes. A head inverts itself into existence, made of that same glossy black material and bearing a perfectly blank expression. A body scuttles through next, faceted outer ribs acting like legs until they fold away like they were always inside it.

Another arm. A leg. Another leg. Everything is together and it's never been separate.

A ten meter tall woman made entirely of obsidian glass stands like a statue in the middle of the base, and still no one moves. Her head is now facing every direction at once, a blurring cloud of features drifting across and within the polished material. I can feel blood leaking from my ears. Her arms are now raised, no motion in between changes of state, and the distorted gray nothingness surrounding us vanishes.

A threat zone, so lurid as to be almost blinding, blankets the entire area. Up above, the stars warp and twist, a whirlpool lens funneling a diamond spear that grows larger and larger as it descends. Screaming choirs dance along its brilliant flanks, but their light stays confined within the thrusting pillar.

I want to move. I can't move. I want to breathe. I can't breathe.

The obsidian woman takes a step without stepping. Her body unfolds into an infinite flower, then collapses back in on itself. Her size doubles.

She takes another step. Another unfolding. Another doubling. The diamond spear shudders against the sky, but its motion doesn't take it anywhere. Distance is a concept it no longer possesses.

Another step. Another.

The sound of her unseen footfall is beyond deafening. I want to collapse to my knees. I can't move.

I'm staring at a titan striding the earth. Her body rises into the sky so far it fades into the night, visible only where it occludes the stars, but the stars are still there, they're just inside her. Another diamond lance appears, and another, but they fail to find their way down, and stick next to the first. A hand larger than the mountain we stand on reaches down and digs into the earth in a quaking tremble. Rock screams, and then she pulls the mountain skyward, tearing it in half, Fishhook's curved peak poking out above her fist.

The ground jumps back and forth beneath me, a violent earthquake that's completely still. Two-thirds of the Marauder base is gone, engulfed in that mammoth grip, the empty night air hovering bare meters away from my feet but I still can't move. I can't think. I can't exist, but somehow I am.

Midnight fingers squeeze the sundered earth like clay, molding Fishhook into its namesake. Another hand reaches for the diamond pillars. When it returns, it's holding an endless coil of glittering line. Fishhook is threaded.

Fishhook is cast.

Fishhook bites deep.

The glittering line drags something down from the stars, twitching and jerking as whatever's on the other end bucks and thrashes. It feels like no time has passed. It feels like days have passed, my mind witnessing the sun rising and falling thrice over. I'm dying of thirst. No time has passed at all.

Suddenly, a massive wedge of grey and black is hovering kilometers above us, the mountain peak impaled through its front third. Blazing energy flares from its rear, but it's pinned to the sky in defiance of everything real. The obsidian woman swings her right hand at it, glacially slow, like someone swatting a fly over the course of a week. Just before the hand makes contact, a wrenching twist of purple force from the side of the wedge unfolds it into its fractal flower shape, and when the hand collapses back, three fingers are missing.

The obsidian woman screams, the universe starts up again, and just like that, I can move.

Chaos erupts.

SKY RUN NOW!

"I know!" I shout at Box, dashing away from the crumbling cliff edge two meters away from my feet and growing closer by the second. With the non-causal violation's weird stasis gone, reality is reasserting the normal rules, including gravity. The Hellhound tips over the edge with a shriek of tortured metal, followed quickly by a billowing fireball rising from the growing abyss. "Where am I running to?"

Anywhere that's not here! We have to get off the mountain! It's going to collapse!

I thought I had sworn off headlong rushes down mountainsides, but here we are. I leap from splitting rock to rock, dashing when able, avoiding the deep fissures spreading underfoot. A swarm of other figures have the same idea, Corporate Marauders desperately fleeing their ruined base, our conflict momentarily forgotten in the ongoing apocalypse. One by one, they fall into the yawning chasms. Some scream. Most don't.

Up above, a series of thunderous explosions bracket the obsidian woman's head, strange colors flickering in their depths, momentarily lighting up the sky with a false dawn. Gouts of inky smoke spurt from the obsidian woman's eyes in response, a rain of black mist. Box twitches my eye muscles to briefly zoom in, and the mist gains resolution - each droplet a non-causal violation like the ones I fought earlier, squirming in their eagerness to reach the ground below.

I find a way to run even faster.

"Box, what are we going to do?"

We're going to run, Sky! I was expecting a couple anchors to come through the breach, but that's an Entity! There's nothing in the tutorial about facing down Entities! Level 50s don't want to face down Entities!

The oily rain draws nearer, wretched shapes now visible without magnification. My rifle starts firing as I run, but it's like trying to stop a flood with a straw. A boulder the size of one of the elder trees smashes into the ground in front of me and I dash through it with an involuntary scream. The sky is filled with madness, and it's getting closer.

"What's an Entity? Why is there an Entity? Did we cause this?"

...it's not entirely our fault. We poked a hole in the universe, but it was only supposed to be a small one. Two, three anchors max. Enough to confuse the Marauders and allow us to escape. There must have been another source of non-causal energy nearby. A big one. My bet is the cruiser was running its engines hot. That, coupled with your energy jack, well...

More explosions overhead, the energy from the rear of the hooked ship flaring even brighter as it shakes against the mountain impaling its front end. Small pieces rain off, debris joining the rest of the maelstrom, but the vessel is stuck fast. I keep running.

As far as the Entity, well, it's bad. Extremely bad. Entities are parts of reality with a purpose.

The obsidian woman's mouth suddenly opens, a thicket of wetly pink tendrils slithering out towards the cruiser. Lances of dazzling white blast forth from all over the ship, slicing through the grotesque extrusions, but twice as many emerge from the split stumps, like a vomit of worms. They latch onto the rear of the ship, pulling it closer to the gaping mouth, the front end vibrating madly against Fishhook. Explosions rip through the air, a desperate flurry of destruction embracing the titanic form. Pits and craters appear over the woman's glossy surface, and then-

CRACK

Like a tug-of-war rope worn too thin, the cruiser snaps in two. The front third hangs limply from Fishhook as the bulk of the ship accelerates towards the mouth now taking up the entirety of the Entity's head, held fast with thousands of fleshy ropes. I stumble to a halt at the foot of what's left of the mountain, dumbfounded.

...Entities hunt... non-causal... energy... like... overloaded ship engines...

The staccato snaps of my rifle draw me out of my daze. A horde of lesser violations are pouring across the hillsides, swarming everywhere. I gulp.

"So then... it'll go away when it gets the 'engines?' We'll be safe?"

...it might... it might not... we're non-causal... energy too... and sometimes... they like to... stick around... take in the sights... along with... everything else...

A blinding flash splits the sky, a brief sun washing away the dark. The spots clear from my eyes almost instantly, my attention drawn upward. A scene of terrifying glory meets my gaze.

Half the Entity's head has vanished, along with the rear third of the ship, the middle part slowly tumbling earthward, spilling its guts as it falls. A glowing orange hole runs straight through the obsidian chest, flower-fractal shards withering at the edges like delicate blooms exposed to a wildfire. Drawing nearer is a rectangular box, strange energies playing along its edges, its path lined up perfectly with the scorching wound. The Entity screams once more, shaking the ground with a liquid jump, then turns and reaches for the descending object, but black-glass fingers close just behind it in a heavy crunch, its bulk somehow stuck to the remnant of ship hanging from Fishhook and preventing it from reaching further.

The box grows larger as it falls, a trick of perspective against the Entity's incomprehensible mass finally resolving it into a gigantic shape on its own, nearly two hundred meters long and half that again wide and tall. Scorch marks streak its battered sides, along with vicious rents, like something was clawing at it. The box continues its hurtling descent, then plows into the ground four hundred meters away, causing the earth to jump once more and sending up a giant spray of dirt as it slides to a halt, crushing a vast swathe of violations back into non-existence. The rest, except for those immediately surrounding me, turn and rush towards it from all directions.

...popped... the engine core... clever...

...calculating...

...might work... if they're still... alive... Sky... head for... the box...

I spring into action. There's no other choice but to trust Box to keep us alive from the terrors assaulting us. I have no idea what's happening anymore. My kukri swings vicious arcs across their endless ranks, my rifle clearing more distant shapes, but I'm still in danger of being overwhelmed.

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

Gleaming smiles herald a host of stabbing blades, each one striking true and disappearing another violation.

Current Energy: 20/160

I dash past another knot, kukri flicking out and claiming its bounty, then I'm briefly in the clear, halfway towards the seething knot of violations surrounding the crashed structure. My rifle fires behind me in monotone cracks, keeping pursuers from closing too quickly.

"What's the plan, Box?"

...hope that... whoever popped the core... is still alive... and high enough level... to overload the engines...

"And what's that going to accomplish?" I shout, sprinting into the outer layers of violations and sending them back into unreality. "Isn't that how we got into this mess to begin with?" More serpent-slick bodies fall around me, and I swear I can hear the clang of something metal in the distance.

...sympathetic... resonance... we punch another... hole in the universe... reality leaves... sucks the Entity... back out...

"And that'll work?"

The clanging sound grows louder, joined by furious roars. I wipe out another knot of violations with a flex of mental muscle.

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

Current Energy: 6/160

WARNING: Insufficient energy for non-causal expressions

...theoretically...

I burst through another layer of horrors onto a small mound briefly free of attackers. The side of the giant structure towers overhead, but with the slight elevation I can make out something nearby. Almost all of the violations are clustered around an opening now visible in its side, and I stare at it with wild eyes. A hulking woman in tattered coveralls is standing in front of the doorway, some sort of long metal tool held in her bloodied right hand, roaring as she dispatches violation after violation with heavy blows. Next to her, a young man bearing a rictus expression of terror is doing the same, utilizing two of the same tools and any body part he can bring to bear. I wince as he headbutts a monster, but it dissipates nonetheless.

...must be... engineers... link up... don't fight...

I wade back into the melee, kukri slashing down horror after horror, dashing when I can. It makes the fight I had in the hollow feel like a pleasant stroll along Watchers Hill.

Current Life: 237/450

WARNING: Biomass depleted

Stabbing off the creature latched to my right shoulder, I stumble into the tiny clear area created by the two engineers, panting heavily. My body feels fine, but mentally and emotionally I'm exhausted. A threat zone suddenly appears and I dash past the young man's incoming boot, making sure not to engage my kukri against him. Almost instantly, the broad-shouldered woman is in front of me, metal tool raised threateningly. Battle fury blazes in her dark eyes.

"And who the fuck are you, then?"

"I'm not here to fight! I'm Sky."

I hold my hands up, my rifle limb still busy picking off targets. She nonchalantly bashes in the head of another violation leaping at her back without looking, and narrows her eyes at my limbs.

"I don't remember any combat variants on the crew over level twenty, and we certainly didn't have anyone named 'Sky.'"

"I don't know what that means," I reply honestly. "Box told me to help you. Are you the engineer?"

"They're closing in, Chief," the young man shouts, driving a solid knee into one before spinning and laying out another. "My Life's getting low!"

"That's why we use the one-quarter, young master Huckens," she bellows back, eyes not leaving my own. "So we can use our energy!"

She briefly vanishes, and the sensation of a universe filled with metal tools engulfs the area, an eternity of thudding impacts. When my senses catch back up with my brain, the area is clear for a thirty meter semi-circle. Up above, the Entity screams again, and the woman reappears next to me.

"I'm the Chief Engineer, Sky whoever you are, and now I need to know the why of you asking."

...perfect... at least... level 90... tell her... the plan...

"Box says we need to overload the engines," I say nervously. Just how strong is she?

She crosses her arms over her chest, muscles flexing dangerously.

"And why would we be doing that to my mates?"

"Uhm, Box says something called 'sympathetic resonance' is the only way to get rid of the Entity."

She grimaces.

"Yup, that would do it, alright. Still doesn't explain why I should sacrifice my mates. I've spent the last three days keeping that fucker from dragging them back into reality."

I frown. The Entity's only been here for less than half an hour.

...temporal... violations... common with... Entities...

"They're coming back, Chief," the young man, Huckens, declares nervously. I look past the Chief Engineer at another inky tide flowing over the hillside.

"Please. This is my home, and I don't want to die. I can't kill that thing on my own."

She looks at me oddly.

"You know about a sympathetic resonance but you don't know what it actually does? You're an odd one, Sky whoever you are."

"I'm just trying to keep my village safe. Please."

She lifts one hand to rub her face, smearing grease and blood across her already grimy features, and I suddenly notice how exhausted she looks. Her eyes are sunken, cheeks hollow, and Huckens doesn't look any better. When she lets her hand fall, her perfect white teeth are bared in a grin.

"Aye, fuck it then. Was planning on going down with the ship, but the Old Man went and took that away from us, eh Huckens? At least we can give this bugger the boot on our way out."

"I pre-pre-prefer being alive, Chief," he stammers. "Even if it's only for a little bit lo- lo- longer."

"Ahh, you'll never be a space dog with an attitude like that, lad. Going down with the ship and glorious last stands amongst the engines are time-honored traditions for idiots like us."

"You're Idiots too?" I ask curiously. "I thought I was a Memoriam, but it turned out I'm an Idiot. Do you have an Archive?"

They both stare at me strangely.

...Sky... stop... talking...

The Chief Engineer abruptly laughs.

"Looks like we're all idiots then. You," she points at me, "you hold this doorway until you fall over dead, and then you keep fighting. Can't let them inside the engine room or we're all proper fucked. Lad," she bellows, "with me! It's time for you to learn how to perform a final adjustment!"

They disappear through the doorway and I set myself a pace in front of it, watching the incoming horde draw closer.

"Box. What did she mean about keep fighting even after I'm dead?"

My rifle begins its metronome CRACK once again.

...it's what... combat variants... do... I pilot... your body...

"...oh. Like when you brought me home last night?"

...yes... but if... we stay and fight... here... we will probably... die... permanently...

...I cannot... secure the room... and also extract... you... if it fails... not enough... energy...

"But if we do this... it'll work? The village will be safe?"

...it should... but Sky... it might... not...

I set my shoulders.

"Then keep fighting, Box. Even if I die. Every Idiot finds their melty rock eventually."

...understood...

And then there's no more time to talk, the distant swarm of violations up close and in my face in the blink of an eye. I weave back and forth, Box cutting down monsters by the tens, and then the hundreds, but there's no end to them. Up above, another scream rends the sky.

Current Life: 198/450

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

Current Energy: 0/160

My world is nothing but flashing blades, rifle snaps, gnashing teeth, and twisting flesh seeking my own. I can't hold out. I must hold out.

Current Life: 143/450

The inexplicable sounds of conversation echo from the room behind me, some trick of sound or reality.

"I said the one-sixteenth, you little donkeydick! Do you want to end up somewhere you're nothing but exposed nerve endings?"

"...sorry Chief."

"Sorry's for losers, young master Huckens. A space dog gets in and gets the job done. Pass me the five-eighths."

"...here."

"Good! You got it right that time. Now we give this bit a crank-"

Current Energy: ∞/160

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

Executing 360NoScope.exe

Current cooldown rate: 900%

"-and that'll synchronize the local reality with the engine output. You paying attention?"

"...yes, Chief."

Current Life: 87/450

An obsidian glass figure is suddenly towering overhead, blank eyes fixing me in an implacable stare. Whatever kept it attached to the remnants of the ship seems to have worn off. It slowly bends forward, pink tendril filled mouth descending in an unstoppable meteor dive.

"Now we yank this piece through the manifold and give it a good twist."

"...how'd you do that, Chief?"

"Experience, lad. You'll need at least ten levels in Unreal Structural Engineering before you can even think about pulling off something like that. Don't try it before then, unless you want to swap your eyeballs with your femurs."

The entirety of the sky above is wriggling wrongness, collapsing everything down and trying to physically crush me into the torn soil. I fight against it with gritted teeth, dashing back and forth to keep the doorway free, firing off non-causal expressions non-stop, but still the horde presses in closer.

"...one... last... hnghhh... and done. Now, lad, hand me the three-quarter spanner."

"...what's that one for, Chief MacWillie?"

The fleshy strands, each one as wide around as my entire body, have overtaken the violations, absorbing them in squelching pops, but it makes things even worse. They're bare centimeters away from me, bare centimeters away from the engine room, condensing the entire universe into this last tiny pocket of reality as they writhe in every conceivable direction. Just as they're about to close on me, the engine room thrums, and its walls vanish, replaced by a transparent layer of coruscating light. A forest of strangely organic pillars is barely visible within the mist inside, and bruised purple illumination that casts no shadows builds along their forms. Two figures come running out of their depths.

"Quickly lad! The three-quarters!"

The violet incandescence brightens, fiercer and fiercer, freezing the Entity in place. One of the rushing figures throws a long metal object to the other, and they barrel through the doorway with panting wheezes.

"Good work, Sky whatever you are," Chief Engineer MacWillie gasps, "now get out of the way." She shoves me gently to one side, her and Huckens on the other, leaving the doorway open, and readies her tool in a two-handed grip. Inside the engine room, reality thins, then snaps apart with a slight ting. The engines go somewhere else.

All around us the tapestry of horrible meat screams, then starts funneling through the doorway, an impossibly dense rope of sinew and muscle shifting frantically to fractal-flowers along its length but getting sucked through nonetheless. A patch of normal night sky becomes visible overhead, and then the process accelerates, more and more of the Entity dragged back into whatever corner of reality it normally inhabits. It tries to manifest one last obsidian hand, clutching frantically at the coruscating light surrounding the absence of meaning, and then the Chief Engineer steps forward and takes a mighty swing.

"AND THIS IS WHAT THE THREE QUARTERS IS FOR, YOUNG MASTER HUCKENS! UNWANTED GUESTS WHO DON'T KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE!"

The obsidian glass hand shatters, sucked into the rift, and then the coruscating light collapses inward, hiding the hole in our universe from sight with a blinding glare. When it fades, the Entity is gone, along with the engine room, the night sky is back to normal, and Chief Engineer MacWillie is swaying on her feet. She lets the metal tool drop with a heavy thud. It's smoking gently.

"...lad. Pass me the Bumsnirphle's."

"...we ran out two days ago, Chief."

"Ahh. So we did. Very well, then."

The Chief Engineer slumps bonelessly to the ground, heavy snores ripping through the night air a second later. Huckens and I share a look, then follow suit.