Somewhere in Deep Space
Third Person POV
Far beyond the borders of the Inner Sphere and the Periphery, beyond any region regularly traveled by humanity, something ancient drifted silently through the darkness between the stars.
There were no inhabited worlds nearby, no JumpShips, DropShips, or communication stations. There was nothing except an endless ocean of blackness illuminated by distant stars.
Within that darkness floated a BattleMech.
A Marauder, or at least something that had once been one.
Its armor was pitch black from head to toe, so dark that even the distant light of nearby stars seemed unwilling to reflect from its surface. The machine showed signs of countless battles, with scratches covering its armor and deep scars crossing its torso. Some sections appeared burned, twisted, or partially melted, yet somehow the machine continued functioning despite damage that should have crippled any ordinary BattleMech centuries ago.
There was no visible DropShip supporting it, no JumpShip nearby, and no pilot could be detected.
Yet the Black Marauder was very much alive.
Something existed within the machine, something that had long ago ceased resembling anything human. Madness, hatred, pain, and suffering twisted together inside it until separating one emotion from another had become impossible.
Memories remained buried deep within the machine as well. Some belonged to people who had died screaming, while others belonged to those unfortunate enough to encounter the Black Marauder and somehow survive.
Beneath those memories existed something older and far more patient, an entity that had learned long ago how enjoyable human suffering could become.
The Marauder drifted through the void without any obvious direction, though perhaps it simply had a destination no mortal mind could understand.
Then the darkness changed.
A small point of golden light appeared several kilometers away, immediately drawing the attention of the Black Marauder. The golden point rapidly expanded, becoming brighter and more intense as space itself seemed to distort around it.
The Marauder's autocannon slowly shifted toward the disturbance, followed shortly afterward by its particle cannons.
Then the golden light abruptly collapsed inward.
Something now stood where there had previously been nothing.
It was absurdly small compared with the towering Marauder, taking the shape of a little golden toy soldier. Its body resembled a strangely simplistic children's figurine, almost comical when placed against the horrifying machine floating before it.
Appearances, however, meant nothing here.
The creature was not a toy, and the Black Marauder knew exactly what stood before it.
The golden figure slowly floated closer before speaking in a calm, polite voice that almost sounded friendly.
Being X: Greetings, Black. It has been some time since last we spoke.
Nothing happened at first.
The Marauder simply stared at him.
Then the machine began to tremble, not from mechanical failure or fear, but because something inside it was moving.
Grinding metal echoed through the empty void despite there being no atmosphere to carry the sound. A low growl emerged from somewhere deep within the Marauder, something that should have been impossible without an open communication channel or functioning external speakers.
Yet the growl existed regardless.
The golden soldier remained perfectly still as the sound became louder.
Then came a shaky, broken voice filled with such hatred that the words themselves almost seemed poisonous.
Black Marauder: Gold… be gone from here. You trespass.
Being X showed no concern. If anything, the little golden figure seemed amused.
Being X: Trespass?
The Black Marauder's autocannon slowly aligned directly with him.
Black Marauder: Leave.
Being X tilted his head.
Being X: Still unpleasant, I see.
The Marauder growled again as something shifted beneath its black armor. For the briefest instant, one of the damaged openings along its torso seemed to contain something other than wiring and machinery.
Something wet and dark moved inside before disappearing again.
Black Marauder: You come without invitation.
Being X: I have never required one.
The Marauder's particle cannons began accumulating energy, their barrels glowing as golden light reflected across their surfaces.
Being X merely looked toward them.
Being X: Are we truly going to repeat this little performance? You know perfectly well those cannot harm me.
Black remained silent.
The golden entity floated closer until only a short distance separated him from the Marauder's cockpit.
Being X: Besides, I did not come here to fight you.
The Marauder's cockpit glass remained completely black. Nothing could be seen inside, but Being X could feel the attention focused upon him with suspicion, hostility, and hunger.
Black Marauder: Then speak.
Being X clasped his tiny golden hands behind his back.
Being X: Something interesting has happened. Humanity has produced another anomaly.
That earned a reaction as the Marauder's head shifted slightly toward him.
Before Being X could continue, however, another presence entered the void.
This time there was no golden radiance.
Instead, a pure blue light appeared off to the side, spreading silently across the darkness until it formed a tall, indistinct humanoid shape. The figure possessed no visible face, clothing, or recognizable features. It was simply blue from head to toe, as though someone had carved a person out of living sapphire light.
The Black Marauder turned slightly toward the newcomer.
Being X did not.
He already knew who had arrived.
Blue: Gold.
Being X sighed.
Being X: Blue.
The blue entity remained motionless.
Blue: You were warned about interfering with multiverses outside your own jurisdiction.
Being X finally looked toward her.
Being X: And yet here you are interfering with me.
Blue: Observing is not interfering.
Being X: Convenient distinction.
Before Blue could answer, space distorted for a third time.
There was no flash and no brilliant light.
Instead, several objects simply appeared.
Dice.
Dozens of them.
Small gray dice floated together in the darkness, each one completely uniform in color. Some had six sides, others twelve, twenty, or shapes that did not correspond to any normal human game.
They slowly rotated around one another before forming a loose humanoid silhouette.
Gray.
The moment Gray appeared, Gold's expression changed.
The amusement disappeared.
His golden eyes hardened.
Being X: You.
The gray dice continued rotating.
Gray: Me.
Blue shifted her attention between them.
Blue: This is exactly what I was referring to. You are not permitted to meddle in multiverses that do not belong to you.
Gold turned toward Gray.
Being X: It became my business the moment one of my souls was taken from me.
Gray's dice slowed.
Gray: Taken is an inaccurate description.
Gold's golden light brightened.
Being X: Do not play games with me. You know exactly who I mean.
Gray remained calm.
Gray: The blonde soldier?
Gold's expression hardened completely.
Being X: My favorite blonde soldier.
Blue said nothing.
Even the Black Marauder seemed content to watch the disagreement unfold.
Several of Gray's dice separated from the main formation before slowly circling back into place.
Gray: I am well within my rights and within the limits of everything we all agreed upon.
Being X: She was mine.
Gray: She was not.
Gold's light flared sharply.
Being X: I had plans for her.
Gray: That does not constitute ownership.
Being X: She belonged within my world.
Gray: Tanya died in your world.
That caused Gold to go completely still.
Gray continued in the same calm tone.
Gray: Her soul was no longer bound to a living body. More importantly, I did not deliberately take her.
Gold stared at him.
Being X: Your champion's ability did.
Gray's dice shifted slightly.
Gray: Correct.
Blue turned toward Gray.
Blue: Explain.
Gold folded his arms.
Being X: Yes. Explain it again. Perhaps hearing it aloud will make it sound less ridiculous.
Gray ignored him.
Gray: The ability I granted my champion contains several interconnected functions. One of those functions developed an unexpected metaphysical side effect.
Blue: Soul acquisition.
Gray: More accurately, subconscious soul attraction.
The Black Marauder's head shifted slightly.
Gray continued.
Gray: When compatible souls from other realities die, there is a possibility that my champion's ability unconsciously draws them toward his universe. He does not consciously select them, nor does he even realize the process is occurring.
Gold's glow brightened again.
Being X: And one of those souls happened to be Tanya.
Gray: Correct.
Being X: My Tanya.
Gray: Again, not yours.
Gold pointed directly toward him.
Being X: You created the ability.
Gray: I created the power. I did not choose Tanya. Silas did not choose Tanya. The ability itself reached across the boundary and pulled her after her death.
Blue remained quiet for several moments.
Blue: Did you know the ability would do this when you gave it to him?
Gray: No.
Gold immediately pointed toward Gray again.
Being X: There!
Gray's dice rotated faster.
Gray: That still does not mean I stole anyone.
Being X: It happened because of you.
Gray: That means the side effect originates from my power. It does not mean I deliberately stole your favorite soldier.
Gold remained silent.
Gray's dice rearranged themselves briefly before returning to their humanoid shape.
Gray: So you agree I did not steal your favorite soldier.
Gold's face tightened.
Blue's glow softened slightly.
Blue: He does have a point.
Gold immediately looked toward her.
Being X: Do not encourage him.
Gray: I will accept that as agreement.
Being X: I agreed to nothing.
Gray: You just acknowledged that the transfer occurred through an unintended subconscious effect rather than deliberate action on my part.
Gold stared at him.
Gray: Therefore, I did not steal Tanya.
A long silence followed.
The Black Marauder finally released a low metallic growl.
Black Marauder: Petty.
Gold turned toward him.
Being X: No one asked you.
Black Marauder: Still petty.
Blue appeared almost amused.
Gold looked between all three of them before throwing his hands outward.
Being X: Fine. He did not technically steal her.
Gray's dice stopped.
Gray: Thank you.
Gold immediately pointed at him.
Being X: I still blame you.
Gray: You are free to be incorrect.
Blue's light pulsed once.
Blue: This is precisely why the agreements exist. Powers can have consequences none of us fully predict. That does not automatically make those consequences violations.
Gold's expression changed.
The irritation remained, but now amusement returned as well.
Being X: Interesting choice of words.
Blue immediately became suspicious.
Blue: Gold.
Being X: What?
Blue: Whatever thought just entered your head, don't.
Gold smiled.
Being X: Too late.
He turned toward the Black Marauder.
Being X: Since Gray enjoys using frustrating little loopholes for his many games, I thought perhaps I should take inspiration from him.
Gray's dice slowed.
Gray: That is rarely a reassuring statement.
Being X: I have something for Black.
Blue's glow intensified.
Blue: Gold, this is unnecessary.
Being X: So was losing Tanya.
Gray: We just established that I did not steal her.
Being X: Technically.
Gray remained silent for several seconds.
Gray: I dislike the way you said that.
Gold smiled more broadly.
Being X: Good.
He raised one small golden hand.
Being X: Besides, this is merely something I borrowed from Orange.
Blue immediately looked toward him.
Blue: Borrowed?
Gray's dice shifted.
Gray: Does Orange know you borrowed it?
Gold remained silent for just long enough to answer the question without saying anything.
Gray: Gold.
Being X: He will get it back eventually.
Blue: That was not an answer.
Gold ignored her.
A brilliant flash of golden light erupted through the darkness.
Space distorted violently around a single point as something enormous began forcing its way into reality. The golden radiance briefly overwhelmed even the distant stars before gradually fading away.
Something gigantic now floated before the four entities.
A machine unlike anything native to the BattleTech universe.
Its systems were completely powered down.
Its eyes were dark.
Its armor remained cold.
Yet even dormant, there was something deeply unnatural about it.
The designation existed somewhere within whatever impossible knowledge Gold had used to bring it here.
JDG-00X Devil Gundam.
The Devil Gundam stood motionless before them.
Black stared at it.
For several long seconds, even the entity inside the Marauder remained completely silent.
The machine before it followed entirely different engineering principles from any BattleMech. Its proportions were strange, its armor unfamiliar, and deep within its dormant frame waited technologies that should never have existed within this universe.
More importantly, something about it felt familiar to Black.
Not familiar in design.
Familiar in purpose.
Adaptation.
Regeneration.
Corruption.
Growth.
Consumption.
Gold slowly floated between the Black Marauder and the Devil Gundam.
Being X: Well?
Black's cockpit remained fixed upon the machine.
Black Marauder: What is it?
Gold's smile widened.
Being X: Something that should suit your tastes quite well.
Blue moved closer.
Blue: You cannot seriously intend to leave that here.
Being X: I absolutely do.
Gray: That machine was not created for this universe.
Being X: Neither was Tanya.
Gray's dice accelerated.
Gray: That is not equivalent.
Being X: It is close enough for my purposes.
Gold gestured toward the dormant Gundam.
Being X: Adaptation. Regeneration. Self-improvement. And quite an impressive capacity for making living things considerably worse than they were before.
The Black Marauder's growling stopped completely.
That alone told Gold he had Black's full attention.
Being X: I thought immediately of you.
The Black Marauder drifted closer to the dormant Devil Gundam.
For several moments, nothing happened.
Then the darkness inside the Marauder moved.
Not the machine itself.
Something deeper.
Something that had been hiding behind metal, wiring, and ruined armor for far too long.
Blackness spilled outward from the Marauder like smoke moving through water. It crossed empty space despite having no physical medium to carry it, stretching toward the Devil Gundam in long twisting tendrils.
Blue reacted immediately.
Blue: Black.
The entity ignored her.
The darkness touched the Devil Gundam.
For a single instant, the machine remained unchanged.
Then its armor began to darken.
White disappeared beneath spreading black.
Red dulled.
Yellow faded.
The corruption crawled across the Gundam's frame piece by piece until the entire machine became as dark as the Marauder beside it.
Something inside the Devil Gundam activated.
Not according to any recognizable startup sequence.
The machine shuddered violently as Black poured itself into the new body.
The Marauder went still.
The Devil Gundam moved.
Its fingers twitched first, followed by one arm.
Its head slowly lifted.
The eyes that had previously remained dark suddenly burned with a faint, unnatural glow.
Black had possessed it.
Just as it had possessed the Marauder.
The newly blackened Devil Gundam floated silently before the others.
Gold watched with obvious satisfaction.
Being X: Much better.
Blue's glow intensified sharply.
Blue: This is unnecessary.
Gold turned toward her.
Being X: Unnecessary?
Blue: Entirely. You introduced a foreign machine into this universe for no reason beyond provoking events.
Gold's expression hardened slightly.
Being X: It was also unnecessary for Gray's champion to end up pulling Tanya away from my world.
Gray immediately responded.
Gray: We have already established that was an unintended side effect.
Being X: And I am simply using the same loopholes you enjoy using so much.
Gray: You are stretching the definition considerably.
Gold gestured toward the blackened Devil Gundam.
Being X: Am I? I introduced an object. Black chose to possess it himself. I did not force him. I did not alter his mind. I did not command him to do anything.
Gray remained silent.
Gold smiled.
Being X: Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Several of Gray's dice stopped rotating.
Gray: Superficially.
Being X: Technically is all that matters, according to you.
Blue moved slightly between them.
Blue: This is childish.
Gold looked toward her.
Being X: You dislike it because you're accustomed to your own worlds.
Blue's tone sharpened.
Blue: Explain.
Gold pointed casually toward her.
Being X: Hope.
Blue became still.
Being X: Your worlds always produce so much of it. Heroes rise when they're needed. People survive impossible circumstances. Civilizations rebuild after disasters that should have destroyed them. You prefer universes where suffering eventually means something because someone stands up and refuses to accept it.
Blue said nothing.
Gold's smile widened.
Being X: Of course you hate something like Black.
The possessed Devil Gundam slowly turned its head toward Blue.
She ignored it.
Blue: What I dislike is instability created purely for entertainment.
Being X: And yet you tolerate champions.
Blue answered immediately.
Blue: Champions are different.
Gold laughed quietly.
Being X: Naturally.
Blue's glow strengthened.
Blue: Champions are unique to all of us. Every one of us has chosen champions before. We have granted abilities, altered circumstances, moved individuals into worlds where they were never born, and allowed them opportunities ordinary inhabitants would never possess.
Gold folded his arms.
Blue: That has always been permitted as long as what we give them does not fundamentally break the universe they are sent into.
Gray's dice rotated in agreement.
Gray: Correct.
Blue: A champion can be exceptional. They can possess abilities unavailable to everyone else. They can alter history, change civilizations, and completely transform the course of their world.
Blue looked directly toward Gold.
Blue: But there are limits.
Gold's amusement remained.
Being X: And Gray has been so respectful of those limits?
Gray: Yes.
Gold actually laughed.
Being X: Your champion's ability is subconsciously stealing dead souls from entirely different realities.
Gray: Attracting.
Being X: Stealing sounds better.
Gray: It is also inaccurate.
Gold ignored him.
Being X: And that is only one side effect. His ability allows him to recreate technologies from other realities using whatever rules exist in his current universe. He remembers what something should do, and the power simply fills in everything he doesn't understand.
Gray remained completely calm.
Gray: Correct.
Being X: He can push technological development forward generations within a handful of years.
Gray: Also correct.
Being X: And you don't consider that breaking the universe?
Gray: No.
Gold stared at him.
Gray's dice rotated slowly.
Gray: My champion's creations still have to function according to the laws of the universe he inhabits. His ability does not simply manifest impossible objects from nothing. It provides knowledge, alternatives, and solutions that remain compatible with local reality.
Blue nodded.
Blue: Which keeps the ability within the agreement.
Gold looked toward her.
Being X: You would defend him.
Blue: I am defending the rules.
Being X: Convenient.
Blue ignored the comment.
Blue: The abilities we choose to grant our champions are our own decisions, as long as they do not fundamentally break the universe they enter. Unusual consequences do not automatically make them violations.
Gold slowly turned toward the blackened Devil Gundam.
His smile returned.
Being X: Excellent.
Blue immediately sounded suspicious.
Blue: Why does that make you happy?
Gold gestured toward Black.
Being X: Because by that same logic, whatever happens now is simply an unusual consequence of giving Black a new body.
Blue's glow sharpened.
Blue: No.
Gray's dice accelerated.
Gray: Absolutely not.
Gold raised both hands.
Being X: Worth trying.
The Devil Gundam suddenly shifted.
Its chest moved slightly as something beneath the armor began changing.
Not machinery.
Something organic.
Something growing.
Black's broken voice emerged from the Gundam for the first time.
Black: Enough. Your laws bore me.
All three entities turned toward him.
Gold smiled.
Being X: See? He understands perfectly.
Blue's glow intensified.
Blue: That is not reassuring.
The Devil Gundam slowly looked down at its own hands.
Black flexed the fingers one by one, examining its new body.
Then came a low, distorted laugh.
Black: This body is… pleasing.
Gold bowed slightly.
Being X: I thought you might appreciate it. Consider it a gift from one brother to another.
Blue turned toward him sharply.
Blue: Brother?
Being X: A figure of speech.
Black's growl returned, though this time it sounded almost amused.
Black: Gold.
Being X: Yes?
Black: Leave.
Gold stared at him for several seconds.
Then he laughed.
Being X: Very well.
Blue's body began dissolving into a wave of pure blue light.
Before disappearing, she looked toward Gold one final time.
Blue: Do not interfere any further.
Gold smiled.
Being X: I make no promises.
Blue vanished.
Gray remained slightly longer.
The gray dice continued rotating around one another as he faced Gold.
Gray: I stayed within the agreement. Remember that before you decide to escalate this any further.
Gold's eyes narrowed.
Being X: You still took my favorite blonde soldier.
Gray: We literally just established that I did not.
Gold said nothing.
Gray's dice shifted.
Gray: And I will remind you again that Tanya made her own choices after arriving. Whatever she becomes now belongs to her.
Gold's expression soured.
Being X: I liked her better when she was miserable.
Gray: I am aware.
One by one, the gray dice disappeared until nothing remained.
Gold was the last entity besides Black.
Golden light began surrounding his small toy-soldier form once again.
He looked toward the possessed Devil Gundam.
Being X: Try not to break this universe too quickly, Black.
The Gundam's head turned toward him.
Black: Go.
Gold chuckled.
Being X: Until next time.
The golden light collapsed inward.
He disappeared.
Darkness returned.
The Black Marauder remained floating nearby, now completely motionless and empty of the presence that had animated it for so long.
Beside it floated something far more dangerous.
The blackened Devil Gundam.
Its eyes burned faintly in the darkness while unfamiliar systems slowly awakened beneath its armor. The machine was already beginning to change under Black's influence, while Black itself explored the strange capabilities of its new body.
For now, Black simply stared toward the distant stars.
Then the creature laughed.
The sound emerged from its new body as a broken mixture of mechanical distortion and something much worse underneath.
Black: ….…
The Devil Gundam's engines ignited.
—-///—