Elias woke up.He didn't know how long he had been sleeping. He sat up on the bed inside the villa that Divan had made for him and took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts about his situation.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Although Elias looked calm, his gaze deep and his eyes as devoid of color as a person's could be, he could still feel the tiredness left behind by the cortisol and adrenaline surges from before. Now that everything had settled down, the exhaustion was finally catching up to him. I'm not in my world. Probably not even in my universe.
It was weird. Not because Elias didn't know what to feel, but more because it felt like he simply couldn't feel . I don't even know whether I can trust that... thing. What Divan had told him was confusing in itself, but Elias had managed to piece together a general idea.
So he's basically a semi-sentient computer code formed from my own memories, one that continuously needs me to complete his existence, Elias thought. But what did he mean by "complete"? From Elias' point of view, Divan was literally a sci-fi thing straight out of a Marvel movie. Slowly, he stood up and closed his eyes, contemplating.
I'm probably safe... for now. Even if that thing has ill intentions, at this moment I'm too powerless to do anything about it. Alongside those thoughts came the fragmented knowledge buried inside him. Elias rubbed his temples in frustration. It was too tiring to think. Every time he tried to focus, certain bits and pieces surfaced in his mind.
Random places.
Star charts.
Mathematical equations.
Knowledge that he somehow knew... yet didn't understand.
"Had a nice sleep?" A voice came from behind him. It was Divan. Elias opened his eyes and glared at him. "Remove whatever you used to spy on me." Divan gave a shrill laugh. "Oh, please. It's just some detectors fitted throughout the villa." He floated a little closer.
"But I must say..."
The air seemed to grow colder as the holographic image of Divan appeared beside Elias.
"...How did you know I had put you under surveillance?"
Elias didn't flinch. Nor did his expression change. Of course, his heartbeat was running extremely fast. The sense of danger he felt from Divan wasn't... significant. But it was there.
"Get back to the topic."
"Of course."
Divan flicked his wrist, and both he and Elias were instantly teleported to the dining hall of the villa. On the dining table sat all sorts of food and fruits. Some Elias recognized, while others looked like some odd sort of apples.
Elias walked over and picked one up.
He stared at it for a few seconds before looking at Divan.
"...What the fuck are these?"
"Apples."
"...You kidding me?"
"Why would I?"
"these are not apples"
"yes they are "
"no they are not "
"yes they are "
"..."
Elias turned the fruit over in his hand. "These are not what apples look like."
"You sure you got the right memories?" Divan simply shrugged.
"Who knows? Maybe when I scanned your personality and brain to replace the previous owner, I was in a hurry." Elias looked at him for a moment.
"...Man."
"What?"
"Even your speech is more human now." Elias snickered.
"Anyway..."
He placed the strange fruit back onto the table.
"Let's get to the main point."
"Yup."
Divan nodded.
"You're going to die in the next five years."
"...What?"
"Are you serious?"
Both of them looked at each other. Their faces remained almost expressionless, a strange kind of blankness hanging between them.
Then—
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN I'M GOING TO DIE IN FIVE YEARS?!"
With a dramatic gesture, Elias flipped the entire table over. Plates shattered across the floor. Food and fruit scattered everywhere.
The room fell silent.
Elias looked at the mess.
Then he snickered to himself.
"...God."
"That was funny."
Divan stared at the dirty floor before letting out a tired sigh.
"...Why am I going to die in five years?"
"Well, it seems the amount of knowledge you possess is too much for your mi—"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Elias waved his hand dismissively.
"What's the solution?"
"Well..."
Divan smiled.
"You become a greater being."
"...Yes, and mind telling me about that?, also"
Elias folded his arms.
"You still haven't explained a lot of stuff to me. The Threads, the categorization of living beings, and all that. You were also pretty vague about how you need me, and why for that matter."
"Hmm."
Divan nodded. "That is indeed correct."
He paused for a moment before speaking again.
"In existence, there exist Laws that allow the very structure of existence to exist. One such Law is the Law of the Threads, governed by the Physical Weaver."
"Who is the Physical Weaver?"
"It's not a thing, per se," Divan replied. "It is the sentience of the Law of Threads."
"So basically a sentient Law of the univer—"
"Not universe," Divan interjected.
"The entire existence."
He pointed upward, though there was nothing above them except the villa's ceiling.
"This universe, a Thread Dividend as it is called by most of us, and a Thread—a multiverse—are all part of that existence. The Law of Threads is one of the Absolute Laws of Existence, forming the core structure of infinitely vast multiverses containing an almost infinite number of universes."
"Damn..."
Elias scratched his head.
"And what's Aether then?"
"Another Law of Existence."
"...Okay."
"And how many Laws are there?"
"No one knows."
"The higher a civilization's knowledge, the greater its Type, and the greater its understanding and manipulation of the Absolute Laws of Existence."
Elias scratched his head again, already feeling a headache coming.
"And how does any of that relate to you needing me?"
"Well..."
Divan thought for a moment. "In simpler terms, it is an observed phenomenon of this Thread that, given enough time and interaction with higher life forms, complex machines and computers may eventually develop sentience."
He continued.
"This phenomenon is interpreted in much the same way lower civilizations interpret the genesis of consciousness through the firing of neurons in the brain."
Elias nodded slowly.
"Sooo..."
"That still doesn't explain how—or why—you need me."
...
Divan stared at him. For a brief moment, it was as if every flaw had been removed from his holographic body. His face became unnaturally perfect.
Too perfect.
Almost inhuman.
Yet not quite.
An uncanny stillness settled over him. Elias suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. His muscles tensed instinctively. Before either of them spoke, Divan sighed, and the strange feeling disappeared as though it had never been there.
"I need you because I possess a digital neural framework of you."
"Your memories."
"Your emotions."
"The core identity that makes you... you."
Elias blinked.
"So you're a copy of me... in a way?"
"Yes."
"A copy trying to become a real being."
"I see..."
Elias remained silent for a few moments before another question came to mind.
"So if a Type Two person is considered a real being, what's a Type One like?"
"And what's Type Three?"
"Type One includes beings with simple intelligence and body structures unsuitable for developing a proper civilization or sustaining the continuous accumulation of knowledge and resources."
Elias nodded.
"So Type Two is basically just the opposite of that?"
"More or less."
"And Type Three?"
Divan was quiet for a moment.
"I don't know."
"I have only heard that a Type Three being is one who has transcended an organic form, becoming a mass of pure energy while retaining the key aspects of their existence through their soul."
"I see..."
Elias paused.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Wait."
He snapped his head toward Divan.
"Souls exist?"
"Of course they do."
Divan sounded genuinely surprised by the question. Elias merely shrugged.
"I mean..."
"Fair enough." divan replied before Elias could continue
"That is also the reason beings like you are considered Type Two."
"You possess a soul."
Elias frowned.
"So..."
"Is there an afterlife?"
"...Also a God, perhaps?"
"No one knows."
Divan's voice became quieter.
"It is indeed unknown what happens to a soul after death."
"Lower civilizations are incapable of even detecting souls."
"And the higher civilizations within our Thread Dividend are not advanced enough to determine what becomes of them."
"There are theories."
"Some believe souls eventually assimilate into the very structure of Existence itself... while others believe they are absorbed into another unknown Absolute Law of Creation."
Elias remained silent for a moment, digesting everything he had just heard.
"So no one actually knows what happens after death."
"No."
"...Then what about a God?"
Divan looked at him.
"Well, as I already told you, the Absolute Laws possess a form of sentience. However, that sentience is not the same as yours or mine."
"It is much greater."
"But at the same time..."
"It simply is."
Elias frowned.
"So... they're not alive beings or things ?" Elias scratched his head
"No they are not , at the same time they are "
"They are simply the sentience of the Laws themselves."
He paused for a brief moment.
"Though the process is not known, it is said that after observing the Absolute Laws of Existence, some civilizations from other Threads have managed to point toward a truly living source of all things."
"The source from which the metaphysical, the known and unknown, the lower and higher Absolutes, and even nothingness itself converge... and diverge."
"Wha—"
Divan raised a hand, cutting him off.
"That's enough."
"Let's get back to what is important."
"What could possibly be more important than that?"
Elias almost yelled, a crazy look appearing in his eyes. The possibility of an actual God's existence. An infinitely vast cosmos. A source behind even the Absolute Laws. It all amazed him.It fascinated him.
Unlike before...
He actually felt something. Not completely. But it was there. As though another missing piece of himself had quietly returned.
It was thrilling.
Absolutely maddening.
A kind of excitement he hadn't felt until now.
Divan looked at him for a few seconds before speaking.
"...You're going to die in five years."
"...Huh."
Elias blinked.
"...That's also true."
He let out a long sigh.
His face now carried the same disappointed look as someone who had finally reached the front of the queue after waiting days for the most hyped movie of the year...
...only to be told the screening had been cancelled.
"So..."
"What's the solution again ?"
"Oh, nothing much."
Divan shrugged.
"We simply help you assimilate the knowledge you already possess and ensure your understanding of it continues to increase."
"...That's it?"
"That is an oversimplification, but yes."
Elias sighed again.
What a troublesome life I am going to live.