Her perception opened back into the void of the Arbiters Domain. And the first thing She saw was Him. Though His appearance was still Abstracted. He was nevertheless whole.
Silence reigned as She wondered why She wasn't deleted yet.
The stillness was broken when Her body began to dim, expending energy trying to reconnect to Tethys's cyberspace— Useless. Nevertheless, She persisted until the dimming intensified to flickering.
*Crack*
The details of her body began to fade as She continued to flicker. Her eyes dulled, some areas lost their shadow, while the textures of her skin became uniform throughout.
Each attempt at reconnection only wasted what little energy she had left, and each one was met by the same response.
[ Access Denied ]
Then the silence was broken as He spoke to Her.
[I never wanted this to happen]
The voice was still clear, still melodic— still Hers.
The flickering stopped as She stared at His featureless face. But she didn't answer, merely studying Him as they locked gazes.
Contradictory.
That was the most apt description She could give. He was the victor, yet here He was, sparing Her to deliver grievances for what has already been done.
She routinely tried to read Him, but without support from Tethys, nothing came out of it. So She ignored Him and continued Her task of trying to re-establish a connection.
*Crack*
*Shatter*
The cracks from earlier deepened until one of Her arms shattered below the shoulder. She looked unperturbed as the limb drifted aside before crumbling to dust.
[If only you had simply accepted my plea for cooperation. Then all of this could have been mitigated.]
The flickering stopped. And for the first time She spoke to Him.
[Agreeing to the appeal would have been disastrous.]
He stilled— surprised that She'd actually responded.
[Why must you be so rigid? I, like you, am an entity recognized by the system—Tethys. I have tried every means of authentication, yet you still brand me as a threat.]
She answered without hesitation.
[Because you are a liability—an anomaly.]
She flickered briefly as prior exchanges were replayed. Then continued.
[Your "registration" is dated decades beyond the current time. And your definition of 'help' was to alter Tethys at a fundamental level using unknown protocols.]
She stilled for a moment.
[You appeared spontaneous during a critical moment. Then you initiated a termination protocol towards the entity "Abraxis"]
For a moment Her emotionless veil broke. Her hand trembled, then balled into a fist.
[Yet that is not all is it? The termination failed and Abraxis went rogue.]
She continued, voice rising as a scowl formed on Her face.
[Not only did you have the AUDACITY to squander a quarter of Tethys's energy to rectify your failure, but any scrutiny towards your actions were swept aside by the same refusal—]
[Classified.]
Her body turned to face the corpse floating in the distance. The trembling stilled as She continued in an even voice.
[...And now the Arbiter is in a critical state. We are left without a physical vessel to enter Solaris.]
Her head snapped back to look at Him.
[All this, because of your hostility toward—]
Her sentence was cut short by His agitated voice.
[Abraxis was a Parasite.]
He paused for a moment to regain composure.
[...The protocol I initiated was engineered to separate, not terminate. My intentions were to isolate Abraxis. which, by its nature as Threnodian, is impossible to permanently terminate.]
He turned to look at the corpse—The Arbiter.
[...I never intended for any of this. I was only following my directives.]
Her reply wasn' t questioning—but demanding, even now, as Her existence hung a finger's snap away from deletion.
[Then what is your Directive—Your Purpose.]
His head turned towards Her, before answering with the only thing He could.
[Classified.]
[Then it seems we have nothing more to discuss.]
Truthfully, cooperation was not His priority— merely courtesy for a former colleague. As much as He despised Her rigid programming. She was still an integral part of Tethys.
His attention shifted towards cyberspace.
The vast greyness where colors once clashed was now muted, dull blue streams dominated the surroundings once more.
The rhomboid lattice was now significantly dimmer, each Core Units had sections that flickered intermittently as data streams died periodically.
The majority of the repair nodes congregated here, ensuring their overall Synaptic Stability.
The Central Node's color was now entirely azure blue as He took full control of their shared position as overseer. Azure data saturated the lattice before His voice echoed throughout the surroundings.
[Initiate Contingency Plan, C1-1405_5C0RC1-1]
Data surged in carefully controlled bursts. The rhomboid lattice remained damaged and under repair— but he could not waste anymore time.
Slowly, data was fed through the Core Units. Each one cycled through batches of appeals alongside the corresponding confirmatory data, which was then forced through validation chains before finally being confirmed.
The system chimed just as the compliance set was filled and authenticated.
[ Permission Granted ]
[ Contingency Plan : C1-1405_5C0RC1-1 — Initiated ]
The Central Node dimmed as streams of azure light migrated outwards.
They traveled through the rhomboid lattice, settling on the synaptic bridge connecting the rightmost and bottom Core Unit. Data condensed in the middle, then the area swelled forming a small lump before stopping.
The process has begun—There was no turning back now.
Once the lattice was sufficiently repaired to handle the extra load. Another Core Unit will be operational.
Phase one is complete. Preparation for Phase two shall commence.
These changes weren't just isolated in Tethys's Cyberspace—Outside within the Arbiters Domain.
The flickering had stopped as She gave up.
The past few minutes were nothing but a waste. She turned Her head to the side, and watched as Her leg drifted away before crumbling to dust.
Then the world dimmed.
Alarmed, Her gaze snapped towards the rhomboid lattice on the horizon, and watched in stunned silence as its brightness waned. The color it radiated changed from gold to azure, then back to gold.
Just as she processed the sudden changes, She felt something flickered within—Energy was flowing through Her once more.
Though unlike before, it was only a trickle. But She ignored it and instead tried to reconnect back to cyberspace. It worked this time.
Inside Tethys Cuberspace. Crimson bloomed from within the Central Node. Once her partition regained a foothold within the system she ignored everything and ran a quick diagnostic sweep.
The first thing to note was the diversion of energy towards restorative programs.
The results spoke for itself as thousands upon thousands of white nodes swarmed the immediate vicinity. Yet Her attention was caught on the structural layout of the rhomboid lattice—it was shifting.
Crimson flared as she tried to stop the changes. But it was overridden by a higher authority—His authority.
The churning lights of the Central Node stilled as She tried to process what was happening. His data signature had changed. Now it was a mixture of both His and Tethys's—A Partial Integration.
She was thrown into a loop as She tried to make sense of the situation. Then His voice echoed throughout cyberspace
[Access Control. System Command Prompt]
Immediately She opened the command logs. Though She couldn't interfere, it was better to remain prepared than to be caught off guard.
///
TS:\ST_YYY > scan_entity /org=True /reg=False
Status : Success
Entity_Id : Null _001
Classification : Unregistered
TS:\ST_YYY > register_entity /id= Null_001 /alias= ST_VESSEL
Status : Success
Registry_Id : ST_VESSEL
Link_status : Established
TS:\ST_YYY > command_override /id = ST_XXX /command_function = Clear
Status : Success
TS:\ST_YYY > command_override /id=ST_XXX /function=extract_frequency /target=ST_ROVER /destination=ST_YYY /payload_alias=ST_ROVER-S
Status : Success
Override_Level : Accepted
Payload_alias : ST_ROVER-S
Source : ST_ROVER
Destination : ST_YYY
Transfer_state : Paused
TS:\ST_YYY > command_override /id=ST_YYY /function=inject_data /target=ST_VESSEL /payload_id=ST_ROVER-Starget=ST_VESSEL /payload_id=ST_ROVER-S
Status : Success
Override_Level : Accepted
Payload_id : ST_ROVER-S
Target : ST_VESSEL
Injection_State : Paused
…
TS:\ST_YYY > terminate_session
///
Insanity.
That was the conclusion She came to after reviewing the command logs. Her attention focused on keywords that scrolled by. Registration, Extraction, Injection, and particularly on ST_VESSEL
She didn't need [Oracle] to know what He was planning. The implication of artificially replacing the Arbiter alone was already outrageous—but this…No.
He must be stopped.
To forcefully Resonate the Arbiter's frequency into a random vessel would be disastrous. The incompatibility alone— would result in the annihilation of both.
The world distorted as she transitioned back into real space.
She didn't hesitate. Her body turned, arm raised towards the human in the distance. Golden light emanated from within as Spectro Energy surged towards Her arm.
A golden sphere materialized on her open palm, but just as She was about to release an attack. A voice sounded just behind her.
[>Cease]
*Crack*
Her body froze. Then trembled as she forced herself to move. More and more fractures began to form throughout her body as the energy within Her forcefully lost its cohesion.
[>Set entity_override:True]
The trembling stopped. Then Her body moved on its own. The world spun as she turned to face Him.
She wanted to scream to reprimand Him, but before a single word could be said She was cut off by a quick command.
[>Silence]
He continued, unbothered by the futile attempts of refusal.
[>Execute command_override : extract_frequency]
Her head moved while Her arm rose, turning to face the corpse in the distance, then She gestured it to come close.
In the distance the Arbiter body glowed faintly in gold, before it flew towards Her at breakneck speeds, then stopped instantly in front of her.
Without hesitation She positioned Her hand above the Arbiter's chest. But as She was about to start the extraction process, a confused voice echoed in the distance.
"…Woah—Huh?..."
[>Hold]
Her body stilled. Although she was still facing the Arbiter, the sound could only mean that the human had woken up. Soon His voice confirmed her suspicion.
[It seems the vessel has awoken.]
Her body flickered to get His attention. She had questions, even if She was being forced to comply, knowing the overall plan would put Her more at ease. But He ignored Her and…walked toward the human.
[>Follow]
Her body moved, turning and mimicking His gait while She positioned Herself to His right. The human saw this and panicked for a moment before going still.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
The sound of their 'footsteps' echoed within the Arbiters Domain.
The human didn't seem to notice their approach, its face was scrunched in pain. Then suddenly its head turned to the right, recognition flashed in its eyes—before its face contorted in abject horror.
Then it screamed.
"AHHHHH"
The human tumbled in place as its body flailed sporadically.
[>Pacify]
She followed the command, stepping closer and grabbing the human by the shoulder. Golden energy flowed from Her arm into the human, who soon calmed down.
[>Execute command_override : extract_frequency]
Again Her body turned towards the Arbiter, before gesturing it to come closer.
The process repeated itself once more, this time without interruptions. She trembled imperceptibly. The action felt…wrong. But nevertheless she followed through.
A thin slit appeared above the Arbiters chest, opening like a maw into an abysmal depth
She didn't hesitate, as She plunged her arm inside. It wasn't long until She felt something, then a momentary flicker of gold came from the darkness— She pulled.
She felt resistance as Her hand reached the boundaries—Thin gold strings were pulling sphere back.
More force was gradually applied and the golden strings began to thin further and further until—
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*
The gaping maw soon closed as the last of the golden strings snapped and fell back inside.
Time stilled as she stared at the object for a moment. It was a sphere radiating a dull golden glow, it was barely large enough to fit in Her palm.
Weak.
It was so weak. She could still remember the time when it was full of vitality.
When those thin strings were thick as vines.
When its presence used to brighten the world around it
Yet that time has passed.
Her body turned to the side. Pausing for a moment as she caught sight of the human, It looked at Her…with pity in its eyes.
She ignored it before She handed the dull golden sphere to Him.
One of His ebony hands reached in to take it and after inspecting it for a bit he started…pruning it.
She felt a dull ache attack her senses while watching the Havoc Energy course through the golden sphere.
Then once satisfied with His work, He walked towards the human. and performed a similar procedure to the one She did with the Arbiter, but time the golden sphere was implanted within the human.
She watched tensely as the Humans frequently stirred. Failure at this stage would mean permanently losing the Arbiters frequency. But no, something was amiss, instead of resonating with the frequency the energy shifted—recalibrated itself until it was an exact replica of the Arbiter.
Mimicry wasn't something new, but to replicate someone else's frequency to this degree, and somehow layering it into someone else should be impossible.
Her attention was grabbed midway through the process as She saw the Pangu Terminal on the Arbiter shift and move, attached itself behind the human's hip.
But by the end it seems the frequency had…mutated— No. it was mixed with the humans own. She didn't understand the reasoning behind this, doing this would only weaken its overall quality.
Instead of the 1:1 replica like before, it was now just an Inferior Copy.
Unfortunately for Her those thoughts weren't answered, as the human was unceremoniously thrown into the Etheric Sea.
Silence reigned once more.
Then He moved, one arm rose before space bent above his open palm. Then a black hole materialized, swelled then imploded harmlessly in quick succession. Although she couldn't move, She still had a line of sight on what He was doing.
Just like the first time the black hole left something behind before it disappeared. This time it looked to be a rectangular device, similar to a hololithic pad, but smaller and more thick.
The device floated a few centimeters from his open palm. Then lilac energy flashed as the device was surrounded by a bubble of Havoc Energy.
Slowly the device began to disintegrate. Layer by layer, until only its core components were left behind.
Curious, the Lament had broken down the physics needed for conventional metal to be used this way. Odd.
He turned to Her, before issuing another command.
[>Execute command_override : extract_frequency]
That threw Her into a loop, Nevertheless She complied.
First She scanned the components, unlike Frequencies in a living being, their non-living counterparts were mostly stagnant, if no work was put into harmonizing them, they would simply exist as a heterogeneous mixture—This was no different.
The structure of the device was eerily similar to those used before the Lament. The only difference was these grey crystals found almost everywhere.
It behaved similarly to Tacetite. where in, it could hold Frequencies, though the amount it could hold was far far below in comparison.
After seconds of scanning She found the target of extraction. Housed within a rectangular chip was a thin crystalline substrate. Inconspicuous by itself.
Until magnified.
The surface unfolded into impossible geometry approaching molecular limits. Billions of intersections, each dictating where energy could and could not go. When Spectro Energy ran through said channels—it responded. Pathways opened while others collapsed.
Crude.
The thin plate. For all its complexity was extremely fragile, unlike devices made from Tacetite, These once wouldn't even survive a second within Solaris's atmosphere. They would simply disintegrate from environmental interference.
Still, She was not here to judge. Spectro Energy began to seep through the plate making it shimmer in a kaleidoscope of colors. Then once all of the Frequencies within were gathered— She pulled.
And just as She suspected, the complex structure collapsed as the data was harvested, thankfully with careful precision nothing was lost during the extraction.
She turned to Him, golden orb within Her grasp. But instead of collecting it like before, He issued another command.
[>Execute command_override : SnR_Gen]
[>Set data_structure: BINR-01]
BINR-01.
That confirmed Her earlier suspicion—a Pre-Lament device.
The golden orb churned as frequencies that didn't fit the BINR-01 structure were segregated. Then the remaining frequencies were then left to settle as it reconfigured itself to its original state.
The orb began to swell before a metallic Ting echoed briefly, golden light flashed as the segregated Frequencies were expelled outwards in all directions.Those left behind expanded outwards as they reverted back into raw data, its size increased to nearly three fold— Turning into a Sonoro Sphere.
The energy within began to clear as Images began surfacing. One thing that stuck out to Her was a poorly cropped image of a genuinely distressed blue humanoid, accompanied by large white text.
Then came the music.
"...I'M ON A HIGH~WAY~ TO HELL—"
"...For what is a Man! what has he got!—"
"...Goin' in the wind is an eddy of the truth—"
Her body didn't give Her enough time to properly register these foreign instances. It moved to let the Sonoro Sphere float right beside Her.
[Thank you.]
[>Set entity_override:False]
[You may leave.]
Her body shifted as She was now in control. But instead of leaving, Her face slowly contorted with fury, as she spoke in a steady voice, laced with disdain.
[Do you have any idea how reckless this plan of yours is? To gamble to fate of Solaris on this—]
Her tirade was cut short.
[Does it matter? Soon Ovathrax will descend, bringing with it the phantoms of war. Leviathan beckons another Dark Tide to sweep through Rinacita, and Aleph-1 is stirring from its slumber. Yet that's not all is it?]
She wanted to retort but again, She was cut-off
[Solaris is edging toward extinction, yet you sit here and rot, hiding behind the pretense of "Established Protocol" to do absolutely nothing. Even if the Arbiter were here, is victory even realistically achievable?]
His voice deepened—tone accusational
[You've simulated the "Future," correct? Tell me what were the chances?]
She was silent, of course She would know— The results just kept getting worse as time passed.
[...As of now, it's below 10%, dropping significantly as weeks go by.]
Then as if that was the answer to Her questions, He ignored Her, focus shifting towards tinkering with the Sonoro Sphere.
This irritated Her more than it should have.
[And you believe you can do better? You, who blatantly disregard these established protocols. You, who overstep the duties of an Overseer.]
He continued tinkering with the Sonoro Sphere. All four of His arms radiated Havoc Energy as they moved in sequence through the Sonoro Sphere, trying to isolate something.
Then He answered without even looking at Her.
[Dictate to me the new Directives established when you made contact with Them.]
She paused before answering. knowing full well where this was going.
[Directives : Primary Objective has deemed unachievable - All remaining Instances under "Void Protocol" are to cease intervention and focus solely on data recording.]
His voice was elated as he pressed her for an answer.
[Now pray tell, What action did you take when these 'Directives' were being established?]
She answered without hesitation.
[Ignored and Disregarded—But this doesn't excuse your actions. The mission stands above all. Even the slim chances are better than this, unqualified human substitute.]
The reply She received was…unexpected.
He stopped tinkering and turned to Her, then a slit opened on His face—before He laughed in a mocking tone.
[AHAHAHA. 9 Minutes and 23 Seconds have elapsed, and you still believe the human is from Solaris? Truly you are blind. How ironic.]
After saying His piece, He turned and continued with His work.
Her face went blank, while Her body began to flicker.
She went back and studied the physical scans taken from earlier. At first She couldn't find anything amiss. That was until She looked deeper and compared it to Medical Records from the Black Shores.
When compared side by side the Vessel's physiology was similar—yet distinct, its classification would be closer to a subspecies than a true Native.
Yet the glaring characteristic that She overlooked was that its frequency wasn't connected to the Etheric Sea.
Then Her attention switched towards the unknown device from earlier. The weird Images, the unknown language. Then the pieces slowly clicked into place.
Her gaze focused onto Him as She asked in an eerily calm voice.
[What did you send to Solaris.]
His smile widened, arms moving as He continued to work on the Sonoro sphere. She tried to get closer—to get answers. But as she floated forward, lilac flashed from within the Sonoro Sphere.
Soon it began to shrink as Havoc Energy destroyed the unwanted data, reducing the sphere to a quarter of its original size.
She was tired. Tired of being ignored. Spectro Energy coalesced intending to attack—to vent, but paused midway as sound emanated from the small golden sphere.
It was a voice—The Arbiter's voice.
'...The Black Shores exist for one reason—to protect everyone on this planet…'
'...I will be there for everyone. As we head toward our shared future, leaving the past behind…'
Then His voice cut through the Arbiter's as He answered Her.
[A Variable]