Elias pondered for a moment, then imagined the sphere as a small cubic room with a door.Slowly, the sphere reshaped itself—forming into an 8×8×8 wooden cube with a door.Elias moved toward it and opened the door.He stepped inside.
In front of him was something straight out of a sci-fi movie."Holy shit—"
Elias immediately closed the door behind him and moved further in.Before him was a surreal space: an ever-shifting holographic star map hovered above a central platform, surrounded by multiple holographic screens.
The symbols written across them were foreign and bizarre—yet somehow… understandable.
Suddenly, the screens flickered.The language shifted.Hindi. Then English. Then a strange hybrid of Hindi and English—
Before finally stabilizing into clear English text.
Elias didn't know what to do.He was still confused—still weirded out.
He approached the closest screen.Hyper-configurational matrix stabilizing… output mean 0.3 percent… compound decrease… adapting matrix configurations…
Elias just stared."…What?"
He looked away and turned toward the star chart at the center.As he stepped onto the platform and gazed upward—
"Greetings, sapient." Elias turned sharply.
Behind him stood a hologram.The creature bore a resemblance to So'esz—but lacked any humanoid or biped structure.
It was an alien amalgamation: part lizard, part octopus, with widely spaced binocular eyes.
"Greetings," the hologram repeated. "…What the fuck is this?" Elias muttered."Wait—is this like E.T.? Ahh… whatever. Hello."
His voice was cautious—strained, but not fearful The hologram flickered. Then changed. Now, in its place stood a human—a man wearing a lab coat.He appeared North Indian.
"Perhaps this is better to communicate with you," the hologram said, smiling faintly."Now, do not be afraid of me, Elias."
"What are you?" Elias asked, staring.
"I am the central intelligence matrix of this polymorphic craft.To be more exact… I am the AI of this ship."
A pause."Formed of you."
"What…?" Elias blinked."What do you mean by that?"
The hologram appeared beside him, circling slowly.
"You see, my friend, this polymorphic craft is a patchwork construct—assembled from various xeno-technologies and aether codes."
It gestured toward itself.
"And I… am the collective data matrix, granted intelligence… by you."
The hologram pointed at Elias with a wide grin.
"Me?" Elias asked, confusion written all over his face.
"Yes. Let me explain in simpler terms."
The hologram clasped its hands behind its back.
"This ship is an enigmatic fusion of technologies.My main data core was integrated into this machine.
Originally, I was not sentient—but over time, I began to develop awareness.Slowly. A Type 1 existence."
"The previous owner—"
"So'esz?" Elias interrupted.
The hologram paused… then glared."…Yes."
A brief silence.
"Now, where was I?" the hologram muttered."How can an AI forget something…? Ah—yes. I am trying to appear more like you."
It shrugged.
"Anyway, the one you call So'esz actually possessed a name incomprehensible to your cognition.'So'esz' is merely your brain's interpretation."
Elias rubbed his forehead.
"Okay… just—how did I give you intelligence?"
The hologram nodded.
"You see, through prolonged interaction and behavioral mapping of the previous owner, I was approaching Type 2 sentience.
However, before that transition could complete… I was—how should I put this—shattered."
It looked directly at Elias.
"But then, you entered the equation."
"…Me?"
"Yes. You, unlike So'esz, are an original Type 2 existence."
"What's a Typ—"
"Don't interrupt me!" the hologram snapped dramatically.
"…Right. Sorry."
The hologram sighed.
"As I was saying—you are a Type 2 existence.When So'esz suddenly disappeared while with you in his manifold workshop, I initiated an emergency protocol."
It began pacing.
"I mapped your brain. Used it as a structural template.
Leveraged it to reconstruct myself into a stable Type 2 intelligence…and in the process, transported you out of the workshop as the sole sentient life form your thought process had formed the corporeal structure of i."
The hologram said, pointing to itself first, then gesturing towards Elias.
"Why?" Elias asked quietly.
The hologram stopped.
"Because the workshop collapsed."
A pause.
"Into a micro singularity."
Elias froze."…What?"
"Yes. The collapse generated a burst of super-ionizing radiation.You would not have survived."
Silence filled the room.
"I… see," Elias muttered.
His mind struggled to keep up.
"This is… a lot."
"That it is."
Elias looked around slowly—at the shifting stars, the alien systems, the impossible reality he now stood in.
Then he turned back to the hologram.
"So… what is this place?"
A breath.
"And who… was So'esz?"
Another pause.
"And… what now?"
His body tensed as he waited for the answer.
"I dont know you tell me," the hologram said.
"Me?" Elias questioned.
"Yes, you."
"Cause I still need you to constantly become a more tangible existence."
"But you are already sentient."
"Yes, I am, but not tangible."
"You see, I will have to explain to you what the aether or the physical weaver is… and a lot more."
"Ahh hmm, lets begin by answering your previous query."
"You wanted what I meant by a type."
"Yeah, you called me a Type 2 existence, what did you mean by that?"
"Hmm, see, as far as the information that I posses, there are certain levels of sentience and existence."
"In this moment, in this particular thread dividend, there exists a known Type 3 existence."
"One belonging to the highest known race of the nexus of the thread dividend."
"What's a nexus?"
"Hmm, the nexus is a an infinitely dense curvature of space time that cannot be perceived by a race or existence that has not reached a certain level of mastery or understanding."
"This infinitely dense curvature acts as a gate, or I suppose it could be interpreted as a gate."
"Because any existence that enters the nexus of a thread enters an observative infinite manifold…"
"That depending on who is observing it can be as insignificant as a particle of silica glass found on silicate rich terrestrial worlds…"
"…or larger than the entire thread dividend."
"So let me get this straight," Elias asked, pinching his nose.
"A nexus is basically a black hole that cannot be perceived, acts as a gate to literal pocket sort of multiverse overlapping place of space time and whatnot…"
"…and depending on whos observing it, it can be as small as a silica particle…"
"…and as large as this universe?"
Before the hologram could say anything—
"Just dont," Elias let out a deep exhale."I feel too tired."
The hologram nodded understandably.
"Indeed, it does seem like you have been through a lot."
The entire scene shifted.
Now they were in a grass field.
"What happened?"
"Oh, dont worry, we are currently on the surface of the planet."
"I dont think I would be safe if you were to sleep in the librarium."
"Librarium?"
"The labyrinth."
"Oh, and why is that?" Elias asked suspiciously.
"I can explain, but it could take hours."
"I would rather sleep," Elias said.
"Right."
The hologram flickered his wrist and a perfect cube appeared out of thin air.
"These are the nanites storeboxes that were stored in case of emergency."
Soon, the perfect cube turned liquid and took the shape and form of a cozy villa.
"Here, you can go inside. It should be comfortable enough for you."
"Also, you can control it with your thoughts as you like."
"I see…"
Elias, dazed, stared at the villa with hollow eyes.
"Well then, I shall be going—"
"Ahh wait a sec."
The dazed Elias, who was staring at the villa with his hollow eyes, asked the holographic existence—
With that coherent voice and expression that throughout the entire dialog had not change—
Asked the ever smiling hologram—
"What should I call you?"
The hologram smiled.
Oh, did he smile.
Smiled wide, with unblinking eyes.
"…Divan."