"Hmhmhm... oh, I have been isekai'd into a shitty hole, lalala~"
Elias sang to himself as he worked on his project.
"Okay, let's see." He pressed a button on a nearby holographic screen. "Sup. This is year 1, day 215. Project 15: combining the mechanics of human body motor functions to make a body for the fucker known as XL-45."
He gestured to a larger holographic screen at his side, showing a humanoid figure. "As you can see, this is the fifteenth model I've made. Now, why? Of course, as I answered in my previous logs..."
Elias slammed his hand on the metallic floor. "Because that motherfucking AI wants me to!"
Then he grabbed the screen that was recording him. "You know what that fucker said?"
With a dramatic gesture, he continued. "'You must consolidate the memories and make the knowledge you possess your own.' I mean, I get it, considering all that I've been told by that fuckerrr. Aughhh."
Elias sighed. "Anyway."
He motioned to the design on the screen. "This model possesses greater dexterity than a human. However, that would have compromised its strength, so this time I used a special tungsten-titanium matrix for the bones and semi-organic nerves to make sure it doesn't break like the previous bot. Anyway, that's it. Log out."
He turned off the screen and went back to his project.
"There's still the matter of attaching those antimatter jet cannons, the molecular disruptor blades and the space-fold shields. Aughh, just thinking about it..."
His head throbbed. The bot's structural integrity was already compromised, and he had no idea why it had to be so dexterous.
"It would've been better if it were just a cube equipped with..." Elias stopped. "But how would it have moved? Huh. Maybe a cube wouldn't have worked if we kept it this small."
He continued to mutter as he fell back into his rolling chair and closed his eyes, and the memory of Divan's explanation came back to him.
"So how are we going to do that?"
Divan had shown him a vial of grey liquid that moved on its own.
"This is a special nanite matrix. It will bind to your neural tissue, giving you a sort of master key to the polymorphic craft and everything else. Alongside that, it will greatly increase your intelligence and memory, so you can better access the knowledge you possess."
"Okay."
"After that, you must become so efficient at using the basic aspects of that knowledge that you can still use it without the nanites. Once you can do that, we will move on to metaphysics."
"Metaphysics?"
"Basically, the study and process of etching your consciousness into the Law of Threads."
"And how does one do that?"
Divan looked at him. "Do you want an hour-long lecture on the entire process, or a short-form explanation?"
"Short form."
Divan sighed. "Thought so. Basically, we will turn your brain structure into a mathematical equation and let the laws of reality do their work..." he said, nonchalant.
"You serious, dude?" Elias's brow twitched in annoyance. "That's it? Like nothing? You didn't explain anything."
"Hey, you asked for a short explanation, and you got one. Besides, it's better if you don't try to understand knowledge you can't handle."
"Ahhhh." Elias scratched his head. "Fine."
"Neural configurations completed."
Elias opened his eyes and jerked forward. "Hmm. It seems the configuration is quite stable."
He pressed a button. "Screen, begin the synthesis."
"Affirmative," a robotic voice replied.
"Also, contact Divan."
"What is it?"
"Dang, it's creepy how you always answer so instantly." Elias spun around. "How goes the scouting?"
"Hmm. An area with a radius of about 2,489 light years has been charted and mapped. This galaxy holds no life that is either sapient or advanced enough to be worth communicating with. If I'm correct, the closest worthwhile star-faring civilization is at least 60,000 light years away. It's a good thing this region of space is desolate. The nearest major empire's border is at least 8,000 light years from this sector."
Divan looked over the bot. "Anyway, I see you have greatly improved. The neural configurations, and the entire anatomical structure, are not only more resilient but also quite dexterous," he praised.
"I know, I know. Anyway, what are we even gonna do with these automatons?"
"Simple. Use them for labour and weapons."
"And why would we do that? Like, why exactly do we need labour and weapons?"
Divan looked at Elias. "You will realize why."
Elias simply stared back at him.
"How long do I have?" he asked.
"Quite long. If you continue to learn at this pace, we will be able to start early."
Elias nodded and walked to another screen, pressing some buttons. "We can begin the first experimental tests tomorrow."
"I will begin the construction of orbital relays and stations, alongside a fleetyard and a Dyson sphere," Divan said.
Elias looked at him. "Wouldn't a Dyson sphere attract too much attention?"
Divan shook his head. "No. Advanced species consider it an inefficient form of energy absorption. They will most likely presume we are an upcoming primitive civilization with no relevant tech. Fortunately, all the major alliances and empires across the universe are locked in a state of cold war..."
"Hmm. Interesting. Anyway."
Elias snapped his fingers, and in an instant he stood in a grassy field.
He looked up at the sky, his gaze filled with equal parts terror and equal parts nothing. His body was reacting. His heartbeat was rising. His gaze was transfixed. If one were to look into those eyes, they would find terror, and beneath it... nothing.
"What am I looking at?" Elias whispered.
Divan, standing beside him, simply whispered back, in a tone that lacked everything, "I don't know."
It would have made even the bravest uncomfortable. His voice lacked everything. His face lacked everything. No emotion, no shift in tone, just an uncanny coherence.
But that did not scare Elias. At least, he thought it did not. After all, while he himself felt nothing, his body was shaking and breaking out in sweat just from looking above.
"What do you see?" Divan asked.
"...I don't know," Elias whispered, his voice cracking, as if something were pressing down on every atom in his body. "It feels like eyes. They're eyes. They're there. In the stars. Behind them. In them. In the void."
His voice grew more and more disoriented.
Divan quickly teleported them back inside. Elias fell to the floor as his knees gave out.
"How long have you been seeing it?"
"Not very long," Elias said, standing as if nothing had happened. There was a frown on his face, though. Truthfully, it had been a few weeks. "I was just walking around when I slowly started to feel discomfort looking at the sky. Slowly but surely, I started to see shapes. Sometimes colors. Sometimes nothing. And today, it was different. Far clearer than ever."
"What was that?" Elias asked, looking back at Divan.
Divan simply shrugged. "I don't know. But this is a sign."
"A sign of what?"
"A sign that, slowly but surely, your mind is evolving under the weight of all that knowledge."
"And what does that mean?"
"It means your time is extending, slowly. As to what that entails, you will understand later."
"Will it get better?"
"No," Divan answered, his tone cold as he chuckled. "It can only go worse, and worser."
"Well, fuck," Elias cursed as he slumped back into his chair. "So now what?"
"Nothing much. We mine this system, work on our plans as before, and wait."
"What exactly are you not telling me?" Elias asked.
"Don't worry. I assure you, it's for the best of us both. Otherwise, what you just experienced will only become worse and worse, so much so that you will feel and see much more, all the time."
"Can you at least tell me what exactly the labyrinth is?"
"I possess no idea," Divan replied, in a voice that sounded truthful. "But what I do know is that it is some manner of library. An extremely advanced one at that."
"How advanced are we talking?"
"So advanced that I can only imagine its technological scale."
Elias rubbed his temples and sighed. "Fine. You can go."
Divan nodded and disappeared.
Realizing there was no use wasting time thinking about what happened, Elias went back to work, not knowing that the things he knew would eat his very existence into oblivion