Dark Matter Ascension

Jace made great time thanks to the vehicle. He was attacked by several winged Astral Demons, but the point-defense turrets pierced enough holes in them that they were driven off. He was leaning back in the chair, steering with his foot, while he messaged back and forth with Shhiv.

There was a five-minute delay thanks to the message having to travel up the voidlight tether back to his universe. Quinn's communication, in contrast, came from her Skills and her supreme specialization in facilitating cross-reality communication and contact. Jace could have sent his messages via her – but he wanted to keep his personal discussions personal.

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[It's going to be so great having Missy back. She is already starting up a charity organization with the Nebula Alliance and Star Council's support. A lot of former Pulsar Coalition members are choosing to help out, since they feel like they owe Greg a favor for helping stop Troxanir.]

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Factions constantly changing, Ollie stated. Such is the way of people and society.

Jace nodded in agreement as he began firing off a response to Shhiv. It'll be good for a lot of people, and hopefully her [Guide] Class helps her reach her goals. Looks like I'm getting close to my destination if my map is anything to go by, so you may see me leave you unread for a bit. Love you, hon. "Send."

He took the controls and began to move the vehicle down to the ground. The landscape had shifted once more; the ground cracking apart in places as vents of yellowish fumes burst upward, covering the whole area in a haze. The map showed that the vehicle that The Architects had driven was mostly buried – only a few small sections poked up from the terrain.

As he landed, Ollie spoke, I have been trying to figure out the changing environment and the best I can think of is that each half-cycle the entirety of the Astral Verge shifts and the terrain swaps around. Outside of the large mountains that lead up to the funnels to universes. Those seem to be a constant. Almost like pillars, holding reality above aloft. His voice carried a curious and inquisitive tone.

Jace activated the sentry mode for the vehicle, so that it would fight off Astral Demons. He got out of the cockpit and exited through the side bulkhead, jumping to the cracked and crusted-over ground. The yellow fog that surrounded him was difficult to see through, and even his prosthetic eyes were unable to filter out the substance. Just in case, Void Shield (Rank 6). The white-grey barrier popped into existence around him. And for good measure and visibility, Void Removal (Rank 10).

The yellow fog and smoke raced away from him, fifty feet in all directions. With a clearer view, he could see prickly plants that turned towards him and began launching spines. Little spikes that turned to nothingness against his armor. Look at that, even the foliage is hostile, Ollie quipped, sounding enthused.

Jace followed the map forward to the edge of the vessel. "According to Xera's schematics," Quinn stated, "You are at the port spire. The whole vessel is a series of spires. Do you want me to overlay your HUD with the readout?"

"Do it," Jace replied as he drew Nethaldrim, anticipating needing to cut his way into the crashed vessel. The three-dimensional structure appeared in front of him, and he felt shock and awe at the sheer size of the construction. It was easily the size of Manhattan. A center large spire started at an elegant tip that expanded as it went down towards the midsection, bulging out in an ovoid form, before slowly coming to a tapered point. Attached around the center spire were three more spires – the same style of a lengthened spike with a bulge. But the bulge was closer to the front attachment point.

It had the resemblance of a weird type of fork. Quinn's voice came over the comms again, "I'll mark your best entry point. Xera's assured me that the vehicle, if in this crashed state, is dead and won't be recoverable."

Jace got to the edge of the spire that Quinn had noted and closed his eyes, trying to focus on his hearing to make sure he was completely alone. Only the slight fthwip of the thorn-throwing plants made any sound. Confident he was alone, he set sword to hull – and it barely scratched the surface. I'll need to use Void Blade. The blade limned with white-grey and enabled him to cut through with ease, and he cut out a triangular-shaped passage with three, rapid strikes. The metal block slid inward and began sliding down the corridor of the vehicle, far down into the depths of the ship.

Jace got through the small tunnel and took in the star ship that crossed realities. The metal was all a deep, dark purple hue with intricate hexagonal patterns that interlocked with each other. His prosthetic feet and boots shifted under the NICIF's unconscious commands, creating small grapple hooks that helped him keep his footing and not slide down after the cut-apart hull that was still scraping and sliding its way down into the depths. "Mission parameters?" Jace asked.

"Xera wants you to check out a few places. Engines, Crew Quarters, Medbay, and the Bridge. I'll tag the locations. You should be flagged as friendly, so the ship's defenses won't attack you. Be prepared, though, to scuttle the vessel."

Jace allowed his claw-feet to recede and slid down the large tunnel. Casting out his Soul Tether grapple, he swung himself over to a bulkhead and cut through it, kicking the metal inward as he delved into the ancient starship. The metal looked pristine, and even seemed to move when he was barely seeing it out of the corner of his eye – though it stopped when he focused on it. "How come no one scavenged it?" he asked.

Stealth protocol, Ollie replied. The Architects had plans and redundancies. This vehicle cannot be detected by any means, save for other Architect constructions. Plus, the metallic hull will cause intense pain to anything that touches it. Save for you, since you are flagged as a friendly. I would bet that the vessel was originally the target of salvage efforts from other universes, but was left behind as they could not interact with it.

"And we know the Astral Demons left it alone because they can't use technology," Jace reasoned as he reached the Engines. Cutting through another door, he found a darkened, deep-green metal chamber. Cords and pipes ran along the ceiling, floor, and walls before integrating smoothly into the structure surrounding him. At the center of all of those conduits was a dull, orange sphere that sat on a pedestal inside of a glass sphere.

That's a dormant engine, Ollie said excitedly. We can use it! Take it with us!

Jace walked over and began inspecting the various cords, cables, and conduits. "How do we take it out?"

Quinn's voice replied, "Each connection should have a release near the sphere itself. Then, you can release it from the pedestal using the manual trigger on the bottom under the little lip."

He began moving around, finding each little connection pin and removing them before pulling the various connections away. Each time, there was a slight fzth of some electrical energy discharging, but thanks to the nature of the Dark Matter he was imbued with, and his Void Shield, he felt absolutely nothing. Extracting the glass orb, he tapped it to his forearm, an it vanished into the TPSB. "Engines done. What's next?"

"Crew Quarters," Quinn replied.

Jace headed back down the main, central spire and to the Crew Quarters. "What could have caused it to crash?" he mused aloud. "I don't see any signs of damage."

Maybe the very nature of the Astral Verge did not enable for this type of starship to travel, Ollie replied. Or the vessel was attacked by something that shut down the engines. We will know more when we get to the Bridge.

Jace got to the Crew Quarters within a few minutes of rapid transversal, and cutting his way in he saw several individual chambers. Going to the first one, he cut through the locked door and kicked it in. The room was twenty feet in all directions – a perfect cube – with a bed, desk with a console, and a small, black-and-yellow-marked section.

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On the bed, he saw a corpse. Ancient, desiccated, and long-since dead. It was once female, and looked just like Xera. A deep, black skin, four arms, and two legs. "Quinn, you seeing this?"

Xera's voice came over the comms, and her words were filled with a deep sorrow. "That's Tlikta. She was a pioneer of biology and xenobiology. Jace, every body should have an implant in the center of the Cervical Spine. You will have to cut at the C2 vertebrae, since the disc-shaped implant is between that and the C1 above."

Jace went to the corpse and turned it over, feeling along the spine until he located the appropriate vertebrae. Willing the NICIF in his body to work, his armor along the fingers retracted, and his index finger lengthened into a scalpel. He cut cleanly and efficiently thanks to his Edge of Possibility making him, in the moment, a master of xenobiology. He removed the dark, grey disk and put it into the TPSB.

Xera's voice came back, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. You need to do a full sweep of the ship, from top to bottom, and extract cortical stacks from every Architect you come across. There were seven-hundred who survived through to the age of the journey."

Jace sighed and nodded, "Very well. But Xera, promise me one thing."

"Yes?"

"Don't…don't bring them all back to do something really shitty, like rule the universe or something."

"Would never dream of it," she replied. And Jace knew that she was being honest, as they had renewed their mutual-honesty contract through Quinn before it would have last expired. She continued, "I plan on bringing their consciousness into a virtual reality construct to undergo therapy. Only once they are rehabilitated will I place them into prepared bodies." Her tone shifted slightly, to one that was filled with a sense of remorse. "I am sad their journey did no go further."

Jace scoured the ship and found all but five of the crew. Dead. He removed their cortical stacks and placed them into the TPSB, but the whole time he had a lingering thought in his mind. What if they decide to completely take over? Sure, Xera doesn't want that to happen, but it's been…who knows how long since they were around. These Architects may decide to rule our universe by force for all I know.

Perhaps, Ollie replied. But the entire universe is contained within The Cosmic System, and the Wayfinders have ultimate control. Well, save for Xera's emergency override – but you know from her contract with you that she will never take over. Even if The Architects wished to rule, they would need to wrest control of The Cosmic System from my fellow AI.

That brought a little comfort to Jace, but he still had the lingering feeling, that remaining suspicion, that these Architects were not to be trusted. Sure, they had made the whole Cosmic System for other species and then left the universe to explore a means to conquer death. A benevolent goal. But Jace, with his jaded view of reality, suspected worse. They could have given everyone The Cosmic System and been trying to find a means to permanently conquer death to create an endless army of powerful entities.

To what end?

Conquering other universes? The Astral Verge? Taking over all realities? Lots of possibilities, Jace thought back.

There are other progenitor species out there. All of existence, all of reality, is a big place. We have not come across any, yet, but I doubt that The Architects, if that was their grand plan, would be able to just dominate other progenitors. You are worrying for nothing. Ollie's voice sounded sure, but there was a slight side-effect to the Verge Protocol. Jace could feel his emotional state, and the otter Wayfinder had been assured, but there was a tiny sliver of doubt.

Honesty is the best policy, Jace thought as he headed to his last destination. The Bridge. On his way down the central corridor, sliding along the enormous expanse of the vessel, he reactivated his comms. "Quinn? Can you put Xera on?"

"Patching her through," Quinn replied.

"I'm here," Xera said. She sounded curt and focused.

"I want to make sure of something," Jace said. He spent the next few minutes of his controlled slide down the semi-inverted vessel sharing his concerns. His fears regarding what The Architects might do.

Xera was silent the entire conversation, and when he concluded, she replied in a solemn voice. "I…I fully understand. That was never the intention from the start, but I can see where your concern rises from. I can only think of one way to assuage your concerns, but it cannot be done yet." Her voice hardened and became filled with a resolve. "I promise, I swear – Quinn, contract – I will designate you as System Administrator once the tunnel to the afterlives are made. You can take my penultimate position of overseeing the Wayfinders."

Jace was baffled. Blown away by the offer of Xera giving up her reins of power over the entirety of The Cosmic System, and by extension, their universe. "I'm sure I'm not qualified," he stated.

"You do not have to manage much," Xera replied as her voice lightened slightly. "You are basically just an emergency lever, waiting to be pulled in case the Wayfinders go crazy – which should not happen in the first place. You'll be a contingency. An immortal guardian of our universe. And my people, The Architects…I will keep them in that virtual reality construct until then. They have been dead for millions of years, and I imagine the therapy will take several hundred years, even in an accelerated virtual interface."

Jace felt truly touched, and for the first time in a long time, that warmth of someone who truly cared about him spread through his chest. That feeling of unconditional concern and care. "Thanks," he said softly.

"Of course. If you'll excuse me," Xera's voice faded away.

Feeling better? Ollie asked.

It's a lot, Jace thought back. I don't want to rule a universe, but it's not like I'm really ruling it. I'm just the emergency switch. But she does bring up an interesting question – what's the chance an AI can…what's the word-

Go rampant? Low, Ollie replied. Wayfinders, at least, have a forced reset every ten-thousand years. His voice filled with pride, But not me! Since you kept me around, I am never going to have to do a reset!

Jace smiled, secure in the knowledge that his trusted companion would be with him for all eternity – as long as he didn't die, that was. Can Wayfinders die?

No. If I am corporeal – which is only possible since you kept me around – then I will be capable of suffering injury. But the instant that happens, I will revert to an incorporeal state. The only way I can die for good is if you die. Our fates our bound, to use some cryptic language. Ollie sounded full of confidence.

They arrived at the bridge and Jace used his grapple line to keep himself from slamming into the bulkhead. Cutting his way into the bridge, he slowly lowered himself into the heart of the ship. The deepest section; the most secure area. Several chairs faced consoles on the exterior edges of the room, and a single chair sat at the center of the chamber on a slightly raised platform.

The last five bodies were in the room, and Jace went to each in turn, removing their cortical stack and tossing them into the TPSB. But when he got to the center seat, he felt an odd sensation. A feeling of deja-vu, as the person was a spitting image of Xera. Just male, and an ancient corpse. But the bone structure of the face was identical. Must be Xero, her brother, he thought.

Jace cut out his cortical stack and tossed it in with the rest. "Anything else we need to do?" he asked.

"None of the tech is viable without the power core," Quinn replied. "And they did not have weapons or armor, instead relying on their ship's defenses. That's it. Time to scuttle the vessel. Dump that corpse out of the captain's chair."

Jace did as he was told, moving the body off to the side before sitting in the angled chair. "Now what?"

"You need to grip the undersides of both arm rests. There are small buttons. You need to do the exact inputs I give you. Ready?"

Jace felt, gently touching, and his fingers brushed along several hidden keys underneath the armrest edges. "Ready."

Xera walked into the enormous, square, white room. The heart of the TPS, or Tetradimensional Pocket Space. Here, she could access everything she had ever compressed for storage. And since the TPS was a shared space with segments she had installed, she could access all of her Signer's inventories.

Going to Jace's TPSB area, she tapped several keys on the console and removed all seven-hundred cortical stacks. All a dull, grey-silver that looked like inert discs, Xera knew full well that the full consciousness of her species' survivors were stored on the devices. Just like the one she had implanted in her spine. But, since she was in her universe, she could hop her consciousness to a new body without having to manually extract and re-implant.

Taking the cortical stacks in a small, padded box, she warped back to her battle station back in her tower within Khrox. "Josie, bring in the VR interface."

Her Wayfinder, a blob-like shape with tendrils, carried over a huge tower with cords and cables running from it. "I set it up just like you asked. Doctor Restra and her colleagues are ready-to-go!"

Xera nodded, her heart fluttering with delight at the idea that one of the best therapists in the universe was helming the efforts of rehabilitating the Architect species after their eons of isolation. The inner world of a cortical stack was heavily customizable, and could be up to the size of a continent. But outside of pre-programmed features, they were quite limited. She set up the console to monitor the cortical stacks, and made sure to airgap the entire setup apart from The Cosmic System interface.

She was not going to risk breaking Jace's trust, or the contract that she had signed with him. And part of that was making sure none of her species in a mad dash for freedom escaped into her universe while still maddened.

Once she had a trillion verification checks – smoothing out bugs and troubleshooting the whole time – she was able to confirm, for certain, that the program would work as intended. "Please inform Doctor Restra that she and her colleagues should come to my tower. I will have pods downstairs, with the proper safety features. All air gapped."

Taking a deep breath as Josie vanished with a pop, Xera began loading the remnants of her civilization's survivors into the tower. Soon, she thought, I'll have you back, brother.