Dark Matter Ascension

Jace left Quinn's apartment and quite unexpectedly he was warped into Xera's place. The windows were darkened, and the woman was sitting on the couch, staring off into some vast, unseen expanse. Her eyes transfixed on some point in the distant blackened exterior panels. "It's almost time," she whispered.

Jace glanced at Ollie, who shrugged, and then floated over to Xera. "You okay?"

She looked over to Ollie with a thoughtful, bittersweet smile of delight and melancholy mixed together. "We are on the precipice of completing a dream of mine; removing all hostile influence from The Cosmic System. Soon enough…if you succeed, Jace…Troxanir will be no more. We will finally have the means to seal off our universe from outsiders…and I can fix so, so many issues." She waved a hand, and Jace saw all of the black panels of the windows fill up with millions, trillions of error messages. "So much to fix," she whispered.

Jace walked over, "I'll stop Troxanir, no matter what. I'm going to get Chroma's soul out of him. Is there some type of…soul capture device I can have?"

Xera shook her head, "There are such devices, but they irrevocably harm the soul as well. The best course of action is to let her journey progress, and get her from the afterlives beyond the Nethershift."

"There's got to be a better way," Jace replied. "I don't want to risk her being grabbed up by another Astral Demon on the way there."

"It would damage what remains of her," Xera replied as she met his gaze and her look became one of sorrow. Not sorrow for herself, but a pitying sadness. "I am sorry, Jace, but it is a risk that has to be taken. If it is any consolation, when Troxanir is beaten and slain, the souls should all escape en-masse and begin their journey. Which means that she will be akin to a single fish in an enormous school – the odds of her being caught are slimmer."

Jace felt uneasy, and his stomach was tying itself in knots as he thought of Chroma getting even further away from rescue. "What about Priam? He can do divine soul stuff, right?"

"I researched that, and all of the other magic-world originating species' indexes. There are no solutions here that will keep Chroma intact and unmarred."

He took in a deep breath and looked at Ollie, "Everyone else leveled up and Ascended, right?"

Ollie frowned and shook his head, "Quinn did not pass her Trial. She may try again in the future, but she could not dredge up the System to infuse into herself. Dee, Priam, and Greg are all Tier 10 Ascendants…but are not integrated into The Astral System."

"Why?"

Xera replied, "Because I told them not to…yet." She stood up and walked in front of Jace, looking up at him. "You are going to be more efficient, focused, less predictable if you are solo. You're a lone wolf. You could work with others in a pinch, but looking at your history – Velenar Prime, Nihilethelea, Earth, Poltor Six, Harkon Secundus…you've pretty much been on your own and done extremely well."

"I wouldn't count several near-death and body-death experiences as "extremely well"," Jace countered.

Xera began to reach up towards him, but stopped and pulled her arm back. "I…I have faith in you, Jace. But I am also a pragmatist. Greg, Dee, and Priam are my backup plan. In case you fail. I cannot risk them going with you."

"Makes sense," Jace replied as Ollie flew over to him and wrapped around his neck. Jace absentmindedly reached up and scratched Ollie's soft fur. "Promise me something. Shhiv is taken care of. No matter what happens to me."

Xera nodded, "I give you my word. I'll even a sign a contract to that effect-"

"No need," Jace replied. "I forgive you. You helped me do terrible things, but I'm going to make amends. I forgive you, Xera." He reached forward and gave her a hug, feeling her arms wrap around his torso. He made sure not to squeeze too hard, given his titanic strength, and pulled away after a moment.

"Thank you," she replied, and Jace knew that the emotion she felt was genuine. Not fabricated or controlled by some cyberbrain she had installed. He could hear the authenticity in her voice. "Now," she said as she pulled away, wiped the corners of her eyes, and began tapping her wrist pad, "Enjoy your time with your beloved."

The world slipped away and Jace was back in his apartment. Shhiv jumped slightly, but relaxed back into the couch as she saw who it was. "You look different. Your face is glowing," she commented as she patted the seat next to her.

Jace got out of his armor and popped into the restroom, taking stock of himself in the full-length mirror. He still had the black and gold arms, the draconic eyes, the grey-white hair, and now there was a gentle glow suffusing his skin. "Ollie, what's going on with that?"

"A sign of you being an Ascendant. It will fade after a short while. Think of it like the glow you experience post-org-"

"Okay! I get it. Thank you," Jace quickly interrupted as he went over to the hygiene station, activated it, and then slipped on some lounge-about wear as he went over to join Shhiv. "What we watching?"

She snuggled up against the crook of his arm, pulling the hand down to caress her abdomen. "I want to watch this cooking show Missy told me about."

Jace looked down at her and she glanced up, those dark predatory eyes staring into his deepest part of himself. "Soon here," he said softly, "We're attacking Troxanir. And then…I'm leaving our universe."

Shhiv sighed, "I expected that to happen soo-" She jerked upright, "Wait! You're Tier 10?!"

"Yeah?" Jace replied with a slight questioning tone.

Shhiv let out a squeal of delight, "Oh my System! We have to celebrate! Come on, I've been saving something for this occasion- no, you stay there!" She disappeared into the bedroom and came back a moment later with a bottle, "400 Stardust, for a special occasion. Something called champagne from Earth. It's a fancy-person drink." She began to unscrew a small, metal top, and the cork containing the thing fired off with a loud pop.

The sudden shock caused her to drop the bottle, but Jace's reflexes were far faster than gravity's influence, and he snagged it before it hit the ground. "Careful there." He looked around, "No glasses?"

Shhiv took the bottle from his hand and wrapped her mouth around it, chugging down a few gulps before handing it to him. "No need!"

Jace took a sip and found the liquid to be a little bit acrid, dry, and almost disgusting in a way. "Do you like it?"

Shhiv frowned, "Not really. Which sucks because this was pricy!"

Hey, NICIF? Can you stop processing alcohol so I can get drunk?

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[You got it, boss!]

[Also, this Cosmic System infusion thing you had going from Ascension is really supercharging us.]

[No clue what that will do, but we will keep you in the loop!]

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Jace took another swig of the liquid and gulped it down, trying to knock it back past his tongue and taste buds. He handed the bottle back to Shhiv who took her own sip. The two went back and forth, using the fabricator to make more mundane beer and the weird, green alcohol Shhiv had first brought.

The two were quite inebriated as they put on the cooking show. But it was quite boring, so Shhiv scrolled through the cosmoscreen's selections before she alighted upon a choice. "Oooh, this is called "adult entertainment". I wonder…" she chose a video from the listing.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The scene on screen was confusing, "They're just picking fruit," Jace commented. "Sure, dressed really provocatively, but-" Then, it dawned on him. "Oh…Uhm, Shhiv? I think it's explicit entertainment."

"Hmm?" Shhiv looked back at him. "What do you mean."

"Uh…" Jace struggled to find the best way to state what was going on – but soon enough some cheesy, horrid dialogue that sounded very stilted came out from the speakers.

Shhiv's eyes went wide as the figures on the screen began to disrobe, "Oh. Oh! That's what it means!" She giggled, "This is going to be interesting."

Priam and Dee were sitting in his study. Well, Dee was a goop glob on the floor in front of the fireplace. She was listening intently to Priam's words, just letting them wash over her despite her not really understanding some of the more complex terms. He was reading about the religions of a world called Gargantua, and their worship of large creatures they termed "Titanoclasms".

"Maybe they're like the divine beast things we met?" she postulated.

Priam nodded thoughtfully and paused his reading, taking a sip of tea. "Possible. How exciting would it be to go and see these things in person?"

"It would be fun. We should do that once the singularity is sealed off. I'm sure we'll have free time."

Priam nodded and looked back down to the book, "Oooh, I think you'll like this part! It's about one of these things going on a rampage."

Dee would have smiled if she was in her chitinous shell, "You know me so well. Yes please. Really lean into the descriptions!"

Greg held Missy close, just laying on their bed and enjoying the comfort of being with each other.

"It's a bit of a relief," she said softly, "That you won't be going into this whole other layer of reality."

Greg nodded and took a deep breath, "I don't think I could stay away from you for longer than a few weeks," he said back just as gently. "But…not getting access to what Jace has still-"

"You are a great man, but that jealousy thing is something to work on," Missy stated as she turned in his grip to look at him. "You have your own thing going for you. You're the hardest thing to kill in our universe, right?"

"You know it."

Missy smiled and cupped his chin, "That's something he doesn't have. He's almost died a lot."

"He has died a few times," Greg replied. "You're right – I just need to get over myself. Besides, soon enough he'll be out of this universe on his mission."

Missy frowned, "I wonder how Shhiv will feel about that?"

"I don't envy the man," Greg replied. "But that's where we can be the kind couple of neighbors. Invite her over for food, you keep doing your workouts with her. We're kind of like a big, weird, aliens-mixed-in family."

Missy nodded, "Good. We're on the same page with that."

"I won't lie though," Greg said as his voice took a slightly harder edge, "I wanted to go rescue everyone myself. But…I get it. I trust him to get them back. And if not? Then I'll go after him and everyone else."

Missy moved her hand to the back of his neck and gently caressed him, "My strong, handsome man. You want to save everyone else. That's yet another reason I love you – you are so selfless."

Greg grinned and luxuriated in her back-of-head scratches, "You know it."

Quinn was curled up on her bed, deep in blankets. A burrito of sadness as she felt her tears all dried up and completely spent. Music was playing and filling the room – a deep, dark violin that echoed her sorrows in its haunting melody. Piano interspersed to add a sense of longing for something from the past that could no longer be obtained.

Quinn cursed and curled in on herself further, wallowing in her own misery. I'm not good enough, is what she was going to say, she thought as she visualized Xera. I'm not good enough because, what, I'm selfish? I don't have these authentic bonds with people?

It was not fair. She was smart, she was really smart. She wanted to be immortal, to live forever, to make herself rich and spend eternity doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

There was a ring noise from her apartment's entry door, and Quinn glanced at her wrist pad as she saw Mizarion standing at the front of the apartment building. She keyed through to the speakers, "What do you want?"

The man turned to face the camera and he had with him a box with a white covering. "I heard from a mutual friend that you're feeling a bit down…so I brought something I read would help. May I come in?"

Quinn keyed in the access, and as Mizarion walked into the apartment entrance he was instantly warped in front of her part of the complex and the doors slid open to let him in. He walked into the bedroom, and she pushed herself against the headboard.

"You don't look too good," the man said softly. He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the white box, "These are called truffles. I thought they were a type of mushroom, but apparently, they are also some type of confectionary delight."

"You're…you're eating real food," Quinn said as she reached for one of the white ones and popped it into her mouth, savoring the chocolate with a peach cream center.

"It's not like eating a nice, crunchy fruit," Mizarion replied as he picked up a dark, brown chocolate and popped it into his mouth. "But," he said after chewing and swallowing, "I read that humans and this substance have a positive relationship. It should help cheer you up."

Quinn nodded and snagged another one, "Just coming by to cheer me up?"

Mizarion nodded and his voice was filled with sincerity, "I heard from our mutual friend what happened. Don't worry! I'm sworn to secrecy. But I also know how crushing it can be to fail something so important." He chuckled, "I failed by Ascension Trial three times before I figured out the secret."

"There's a secret?" Quinn asked as she perked up at the idea of having a workaround.

Mizarion sighed, "I grew up an orphan here in Khrox. I never had friends, or family, and the closest I have now are some acquaintances. That's why I failed so many times. But Star Poppa never let me give up, and he gave me some great advice." He looked into her eyes, "You need a tie to something or someone. A person is easier, but you could also build up a tie to an object." He glanced back to her main room, "You had a console there, and you did some type of computer work?"

"Webwalking, and now Cosmic System interfacing," Quinn replied.

"And those computers look like they're from Earth – I've been there a bit getting things settled since Levi's incident. Do they hold sentimental value?"

"I spent twelve years building them," Quinn affirmed.

"Focus on that. Something you value. Not a person, but a thing."

"Okay…I'll give it a try."

"What, right now?"

"No time like the present." Quinn tapped her wrist pad and felt reality warp around her as she activated the Ascension Trial sans-Wayfinder. She was immediately skipped past the Class and Advanced Class part of the Trial, and was standing over the black, inky depths twinkling with gold and silver flecks. Here I go.

She felt the water turn to liquid under her and sank to the bottom instantly. She felt around and gripped the handle of the weird cube thing at the depths of the System she would have to lift.

Looking up into the blackness, she did not have a Wayfinder to act as a guiding light. Instead, she visualized her console. The device she spent every single cred to improve. The object that facilitated her rise through the street runner echelons. The means to her becoming a fierce Webwalker that was desired for many, many gigs across Earth.

She saw a glimmering square far above her, and had to reach it. It's mine. I built it with blood, sweat, and tears. Everything went into it. It's like my baby.

That thought crystallized in her mind – the console she built was just like a child to her, and she felt that sense of protective instinct wash over her. She could not let herself just die in the depths of the System. Who would update her database? Who would run the software updates? Swap out the hardware for new integrated components.

Quinn swam against the pull of the System, forcing her way to the surface…and breaching it.

She felt the bed under her and Mizarion let out a chuckle, "Wow, that was a fast Ascension Trial."

Quinn looked down at her hands and saw a vibrant, bright glow. "I had already done the Class parts," she stated. "I…hold on a second."

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Name: Quinn Cipher (Ascendant, Tier 10)

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She felt tears once more, but happy tears. "I did it!" she shouted as she crawled forward and hugged Mizarion, "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!" she squeezed him tightly.

"My pleasure."

Shhiv was inspired by the film, to say the least. Jace was thoroughly exhausted, and just lay with her quietly sleeping, curled up on the couch, resting on him for support. He could feel her warmth.

It almost made him not want to go through this singularity at the center of the universe to rescue Chroma. Just let her go to whatever afterlife was there for her. Enjoy his immortal existence with his partner, and just live life to the fullest.

But…regrets tugged at the distant strings of his consciousness. He had killed a lot of people. Especially on Earth – he'd killed quite a lot. Hundreds of thousands died because of his poorly thought out uses of Archmage spells-turned-Skills. He'd killed a lot of Aspirants and Ascendants.

And he had to atone for the innocents who died. He knew it, felt it in his bones, that he needed to pay for those sins in some way. The best way would be to bring them back. Give them more chances. Build this tunnel that Xera wanted him to build, to enable transit back and forth from their universe to these afterlives. Conquer death forever for every person. No more sorrow at the loss of a loved one.

He was torn, as he gently ran his hand through Shhiv's hair and along the fin atop her head. I don't want this to ever end, he thought. I just want to be in this bliss forever.

Almost unsolicited, the words of his mentor – no, his father – echoed through his thoughts. "When you can do the right thing, you do it. Never if it's to your own detriment, but if there's another street folk struggling, and you have a bit extra, help them out. We all survive together. Stick together to survive. Part of sticking together is doing the right thing."

He pulled up a System screen and began whispering a message to Xera as to not wake Shhiv up. "Is there going to be a way for me to quickly return to our universe when I want to see Shhiv?"

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[I am working on a tether system.]

[Once Troxanir is defeated, and we have the seal on our universe's singularity, I can do more research and data gathering.]

[That will take me a short while, so you will have downtime assuming you actually defeat Troxanir.]

[I absolutely plan on giving you the means to return swiftly. I would not deprive you of your creature comforts, or your partner.]

[Those help to stabilize your sanity and keep you in a good place mentally.]

[And in the Astral Verge, emotion has a strong, strong influence.]

[I need you to be stable to survive what may be there.]

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"Thanks," he whispered. "For everything."

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[You are welcome.]