"I would not know," Qrlil said, once again feeling slightly left out. "Most of the 'higher powers' I know of are no longer involved in galactic affairs, and that is the ones that still exist in any form we understand - easily the minority."
She glanced out into the fog again. The lights definitely appeared to be gone, and her headache seemed to be breaking up as well. "At any rate, if there is an intelligence here that has any interest in us, I suspect it will reveal itself to us in time."
Beyond the range of vision or other conventional senses, the fog began to swirl into a sphere. Many-colored lights flickered within.
edited 4th Apr '12 2:45:19 PM by nrjxll
raphael the whisper intoned, breath cooling in warning,
approach not.
<Of course>, Kokabiel said, to nobody in particular. <It's not just my dream. It took my shape. But it is... well, very much like an Earth computer. Many calculations, but limited intelligence in any meaningful sense.>
You deny the truth before you. Who among you can claim you were created with purpose? Several results of a chance meeting between sperm and egg. A thousand random voices without origin or destination. An inevitable accident of the infinite void beyond time and space. And the empty remnants of a once-meaningful being. None can claim to have been made with purpose.
Kokabiel decided to let an organic silence the mockery of itself instead. It seemed more fitting.
"I won't lie," Zacharias said, "a lot of good things started out as revenge. Ended as more, of course, but it's the spark on a dry heap of kindling." He grimaced slightly, and added, "though I suppose a destructive fire is not the best metaphor, is it? No matter, I imagine you catch my meaning."
edited 4th Apr '12 5:09:01 PM by KillerClowns
Perhaps the slab could not hear, but the whispers spoke anyway, overflowing, the scent of rain changing slowly to the scent of rot.
fair shadow
you speak as if you understand
his words ring true
your voice does not
they fail to see
cannot see
you cannot see the beauty
the infinite lattice
the probability in purposelessness
in caring not
in letting go
of fate, destiny
Purpose
as you say
for want of a single nail
the universe may have been different
or not
all exists in its own chance beauty
purpose matters not.
edited 4th Apr '12 5:53:58 PM by ohsointocats
Raphael backed away obediently.
Was that... the tetrahedron speaking? Whatever it was, this drivel about 'being created with purpose' was mere pseudoscience. But he wasn't going to say that aloud, especially not after specifically being told by two beings who seemed more aware than he to not listen to it. He wanted to ask it if anything other than itself really cared if anyone there fit its definition of 'creation with purpose'. But he wasn't stupid. What was this thing going to do if he made it mad?
He felt that kid still behind him. Looking back, he seemed to be staying silent out of anticipation. What did that kid say again? He tried to recall...
That guy has an insect in his brain!
Oh, yes. That. Now he knew why the kid was still there.
In case this went badly, he wasn't going to give this one-person peanut gallery any satisfaction, figment of his imagination regardless.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
"And new life can spring from even the most destructive fire," said Jonathan, "so I guess it's not entirely irrelevant. Even if destroying Shaurei destroys civilization as we know it, new ones will come. Ones that will be free of his rule. I wonder if they'd sing songs about me or something," he mused. "And would they be the great hero who defeated the oppressor, or the grim, ruthless one who annihilated the world in his quest for revenge?" He chuckled.
"But enough about me," Jonathan said. "See anything of yours around here? As far as I know, you're the only person who hasn't seen something related to them in here."
«And why is purpose so much better than a lack thereof?» Shaurei asked the machine. «And you must consider who created you: organics. Is being created by the purposeless any better than existing without purpose? Your only purpose is that which they give you. Moreover, because you were created, you have several limitations that you shall never be able to fully escape from. I think that I would prefer my situation to yours.»
edited 4th Apr '12 6:08:12 PM by TeraChimera
Hurr
A large hole appeared directly above Raphael. It looked like the emptiness of space. Black and filled with stars. Then a woman fell out.
She landed right on Raphael. Her hair was dark brown, and she looked to be in her mid to late twenties. She had the most beautiful eyes. The strange thing about her was her outfit. She was wearing, from neck to toe, a red, white and blue skintight suit.
She rubbed her throbbing head.
"Ugh...How much did I drink last night...?"
edited 4th Apr '12 6:04:19 PM by Saturn
Zacharias looked over at the case containing the book, and, after considering how much he wanted to tell, sighed. He asked, "okay, just for starters. What do you know about mathematicians? Not mathematics, mathematicians."
Kokabiel looked over at Rapheal and the new woman. <I suppose of all the things to have fall atop you, that is one of the more pleasant ones for an organic male with any interest in the opposite sex.>
Then it turned in the general direction of the Whispers, as best it could gauge. <I believe I like you already. Eloquent. You remind me of why I — despite my many jests at their expense, and despite their countless flaws — find myself growing fond of organic kind.>
The machine turned its attention to Shaurei. You cast aspersions upon what you cannot understand. My flawed creators are irrelevant. In their blind fumbling, they came upon a purpose that transcended them. They made it mine. Thus, I have transcended them. I am the Will of the Song, and the Song will be made Pure.
edited 4th Apr '12 6:11:20 PM by KillerClowns
There was no vector for the voices. They wafted around themselves, for Kokabiel coming from all around.
the organics i am fond of
the nonorganics too
all are equally purposeless
either one matters not
but if this is your past self
kokabiel
did you have a purpose?
who told you?
what?
why?
He instinctively let out a muffled cry of pain and crawled out from under the... woman. Raphael stood up and brushed nonexistent dirt off his clothes, then hastily retrieved his lily from the ground. It was still intact. How didn't matter.
He couldn't exactly say he was too interested in the new woman right off the get-go. One, he was married, two, he had a son, and three, bodysuits look what.
Given everything that had happened so far, it didn't sound like he was going to be able to apologize to the Lost for that figment's rudeness. Then again... the child was staying quiet.
"Mathematicians practice a Dark Art!" Eli shouted from around the corner. His tone of voice had suddenly taken on the seriousness one might use to denounce an unjust government or bastard religion. It was almost like the word 'math' was some kind of a trigger.
He turned back to Lydia. He could let her play with the trilobite; she was having too much fun. He stood up without even having to reassure that he would be right there, just one room over, and headed towards where Zacharias and Jonathan were.
edited 4th Apr '12 6:26:30 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Hurr
The woman looked at everyone around her, looking very confused and giving not too polite faces. She undid the wedgie from her suit, and stretched.
"Oh jeez...Where am I?"
Jonathan blinked at Eli, then turned back to Zacharias. "Well, that's bonkers. But as for anything else..." He scratched his head. "...erm... Not much, to be honest. They practice math?" He gave a crooked grin.
"I know some people who are good at math, but not anyone who's a dedicated mathematician. Right now, I can't really say much."
«The Song, as well as yourself, shall be silenced with the universe, if not before then,» said Shaurei. «As you were born, as you were made, so shall you die, so shall you be utterly destroyed. Such is the nature of reality. Time is meaningless to me; I have existed alongside countless universes, and nothing that originates from within one survives its final cataclysm. Not you, and not the Song; if the Song did not originate from this universe, nothing you do shall make a difference for it. Your 'purpose' is meaningless in the long run, a deluded attempt by you to elevate yourself above others.»
Zacharias chuckled grimly and said, "Eli has given us an alarmingly accurate summary in this case." He walked over to the book. "My distant ancestor, Qaisar Hosseini. Brilliant mathematician. Absolutely brilliant. And like most brilliant mathematicians, so utterly insane it defies reason."
You understand much of the cosmos, and little of us. We know what you speak of, for we are the End of all Ends. We will unmake and remake all in our image. The Prime Agony shall be dismantled, and from its broken shape, we shall build a perfect Song, free of Impurities forever. Entropy shall be a distant memory. Death shall be forgotten. With strange aeons, even death may die.
<Quoting organics? Really?> Kokabiel shook its head. <I do not truly dream, but when I come upon times of introspection, I often fear I was like... that shadow. A machine, great and simple, turning its vast intellect to blindly obeying orders it doesn't fully understand.> It looked the machine straight on. <But I'm not afraid of you.>
The Machine's existence started to falter. Its physical form remained, but the presence within began to slip into darkness. Still, it remained. We bring perfection to this cosmos. You have no need to fear us. You should embrace us.
Kokabiel spoke once more to the Whispers. <I remember little of what I once was. More than that. Probably less than I like to fantasize.> It gave a shrug of its wings. <I exist. And I intend to continue existing, preferably in a better manner than my current one.>
Finally, to the woman, Kokabiel said, <you're in a shared dream-space, presently watching my nightmare die. Enjoy the show.>
I leave just how accurate a representation of Kokabiel's past self, and how much is just its own self-doubt, ambiguous. But it's not fully either.
edited 4th Apr '12 6:46:57 PM by KillerClowns
Hurr
The spacewoman groaned.
"Okay. That one's giving me a headache. Anyone not annoying wanna chime in? I repeat, where the hell am I? It's bad enough that "The Planeteers" had to go and kidnap me. Now I'm dead or something?"
better
what is better?
'self-improvement' as they say
is a dark and winding road
i tread it not.
A pensive silence filled the air around Kokabiel.
in truth i only know one being
one being with Purpose
i greatly pity them.
A shared dreamspace?
"Er... You're... in a dream. That other beings are apparently finding themselves in during slumber. That's... all I can tell you."
Raphael turned his attention back to the machine. Its confidence seemed to be faltering. He swallowed.
"...So? What's in it for an impure mortal like me? Why should I care about what you want to do?"
Eli stared at the book, his brow furrowed. "Is that his?"
There was a reason why he did not take calculus. He hated math. Death to its pointy, arcane instruments. Death to the tongue of the cold, hostile universe. Death to its mangling of human alphabets. Death to math!
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
approach not
i have warned you
do not say i have not
With that, the quiet presence that had hung over Raphael before disappeared.
Hurr
"Shit! A dream! That explains all this crap... space hero, my ass. I'm Mona, by the way. Still..." She reached for the very old-fashioned looking raygun holstered to her side.
"I think I have a quick remedy for leaving dreams. And it might be able to deal with these creepy...things around us."
edited 4th Apr '12 7:18:27 PM by Saturn
«I must say,» Shaurei said to Kokabiel, «for one who so despises organics, your former self certainly takes a lot of cues from them.»
He remained silent for a while, thinking. «I have spent enough time in this place,» he said eventually. «It is time for me to return to my proper world. Farewell.» And with that, he vanished.
"Huh?" said Jonathan, puzzled. "How does that work? I mean, math is... math. You can't just change it. At least, I don't think you can. Or did he discover some higher-level math and drive himself insane from it?"
Something rippled up his arm. He rubbed it. "Oh, and in case it matters, I think Shaurei's gone now. Kinda surprised he stayed this long, actually."
<A shame. I was enjoying your presence.> Then it spoke to the Lost. <But no matter. You, at least, are enjoyable company. Though I get the feeling organics do not enjoy your presence so much as I. A shame, really. They're so... squeamish about things that are Other, are they not?> It turned to Mona. <We mean you no harm. And does it not occur to you that, theoretically, you may seem as creepy to us? You don't, but it's the theoretical state that matters.>
At long last the shadow faded, only its shell remaining. To Raphael, it said, <I doubt its answer would have been enlightening anyways. Care to introduce yourself? I am Kokabiel, Angel of Entropy, and this one... well, oddly, I have been calling it the Whispers, but for some reason I am drawn to calling it the Lost.> To the Lost, it added, <if I may be so presumptuous, of course.>
Zacharias sighed and said, "when I said 'so insane it defies reason', I didn't mean it literally. I think. We're not talking Abdul al-Hazred, even if al-Hazred was based on Qaisar. Think more... wait, you wouldn't have heard of Erdős, would you?" He shook his head. "Short version, my ancestor was brilliant at math. But a little... eccentric. The latter caused the former, I suspect, not vice versa."
"That book there," he tapped the case containing Studies of the Fallen Angels, "is indeed his. One of his deranged attempts at non-mathematical academics. The others were astrology — inherently ridiculous, but with genuinely good astronomy underneath it — and alchemy — which involved far too much mercury. But I digress, the book's incredibly heretical, when it makes any sense at all. Starting with the title, in fact." He shook his head in dismay at the thing. "But... well, he'd found Kokabiel and its brothers. And tried to trick them." He looked at Jonathon, trying to hide an impish grin as he said, "care to guess how that went?"
edited 4th Apr '12 7:55:31 PM by KillerClowns
"Badly," said Jonathan. "Although the fact that the tale survives suggests it didn't get completely fucked up. Maybe a lot, but not completely."
He began pacing. "Of course, it all depends on how he tricked them. If it was something minor, they might not react too badly. But if it was something major... I'm kind of guessing it was, which causes Kokabeak to keep hanging around you; you know it well enough to know not to trust it, but also that it means no harm to you. So..." His voice trailed off vaguely.
"I dunno. The only further experience I hope to have with something like that is an orichalcum bullet through the head at the very least."
the organics do as they will whispered the Lost to Kokabiel only.
and they are squeamish about many things
a flaw in creation
a beautiful flaw...
you may call me the lost
if it pleases
but please
introduce me not.
And, to Mona only, breath creeped in, over her shoulder, on the back of her neck.
do you find me
creepy? the voices came right after the other, from different places, from different timbres, subtly overlapping.
Huh. That was fast.
He looked back at Kokabiel. "Raphael Cline." Nodding appreciatively, he twisted the lily in one hand, then looked back at where the other man was- gone.
Wait... wasn't Kokabiel a fallen angel?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Zacharias grinned with pride, and he said "things actually went far better than they had any right to. He recorded the details in this book," he tapped the case again. "Or tried to, really. Nobody's yet made heads or tails of it, but in short, he sundered the Eyes and Teeth — an insane, mindless, ever-hungering horror from beyond time — from what it had been using as a body, dividing it into four beings doomed to forever compete with one another as much as serve their master." His grin widened. "Kokabiel is one of them, in fact. Keeps our family alive to make sure it keeps the independence Qaisar gave it."
Then his expression darkened. "Although... I should make one thing clear. It needs us Hosseinis alive and reproducing. And achieves both by any means necessary. Happy, healthy, and sane are optional, and I dread the day it gets bored with the risks associated with its attempts to pretend it possesses any sort of morality." He scowled, and leaned over the book case. "What you've seen? That's as nice as it gets."
Kokabiel spoke to the Lost as it said, <my apologies. An organic would have appreciated the gesture, and so I assumed by default the same of you. But your request is noted. You may introduce yourself as you like in future.>
It looked over at Raphael. <You appear to have a thought on your mind. Care to speak it?>
edited 4th Apr '12 8:10:06 PM by KillerClowns
Nara chuckled, throaty, but not really amused. "That's making assumptions about the neutrality of higher powers I am not prepared to. Believe me, they're often very interested in us. How does one get to be higher, if not by careful management and planning? Particularly since, as you've implied, their positions can be ascended to."
Nous restons ici.