Lampyria, 68,000 light-years from Earth
At first sight, it’s not an even fight: a hundred Oracles of Apollo are fighting four members of the Vanguard. The fact that each Oracle can transform into any form of light makes it nearly impossible to dodge their attacks, or even to harm them. On the other hand, it’s the Vanguard.
Quantum is the only one who can keep up with them, sharing their shapeshifting ability: just outside of the visible spectrum, he’s the electromagnetic field shielding his companions by the barrage of laser beams. Vesta is the only one who doesn’t have to be protected, thanks to her divine invulnerability, but she’s not very useful in this fight: she can’t punch or burn light.
Kari Zel feels even more useless. She’s the best hand-to-hand fighter in the Galaxy, and thanks to her 10K Rise technique she’s currently ten thousand times stronger and faster than a regular Myridian, let alone a regular human, but that pales in comparison to the speed of light.
In fact, the only member of the Vanguard who is making any sort of progress is Torn. The energy swords created by the Demon are somehow able to physically hurt the Oracles, even in their light form, but there’s a limit to how many he can actually hit.
“This isn’t working. Any suggestions?” Kari asks through the Neural Transmitter.
“I can kill them if they slow down” Torn answers.
“How do we do that? They’re made of light!” Vesta adds; the frustration in her voice is building up.
“I have an idea, but we risk blinding every Lampyrian in the city” Quantum says.
“We just need a few days to re-grow our retinas, and better blind than dead. What do you have in mind?” Lily asks. While not a member of the Vanguard, she’s been following the battle from a safe distance and listening with her own Neural Transmitter.
“Vesta, we need to flood the place with a ton of light. Can you, like, create a miniature sun without burning down the city?” Quantum asks.
“I think so, but why?”
“Just trust me, and hit them hard when they stop! Ready? GO!!!” – Quantum instructs them, then returns to human form next to Vesta. He covers his eyes with his hands; Kari and Torn do the same.
The Oracles can’t believe their luck, and they all converge towards them just as Vesta creates a ball of fire within her hands.
<I hope you brought your sunscreen> she says, increasing the temperature of the ball to a million degrees. At this temperature it’s plasma, a miniature sun that could set the atmosphere on fire if it wasn’t for her total control over her power. It’s also creating so much light that the Oracles change their direction to avoid it in search of some shade; Vesta counteracts this by throwing the mini-sun into the air, and commanding it to split into a dozen smaller sources of light.
The result is that the area is absolutely flooded by photons. A second later, almost a hundred Oracles materialize. Most of them fall to their death before Vesta dims the light enough to let mortals be able to see.
<That’s our cue!> Kari says excitedly; powered up by the 10K Rise, she makes short work of the Oracles that have been lucky enough to land on the building before they can transform again.
<Soul Reaper!> Torn shouts, materializing a large energy scythe that he swings around to hit the last six Oracles who are zooming toward their location: in an amazing display of precision, he manages to split all six lasers. This forces them to return human at the same moment they die.
<Is that it? Did we win?> Kari asks, eager to continue the fight.
<Looks like it. How the Hades did you know it would work!?> Vesta asks Quantum.
<When you’re made of light, it’s hard to keep your form when there’s so many other photons. I usually have to switch to a different particle, but since they can’t, I hoped they’d turn back human.>
<Didn’t you say they also turn into tachyons?>
<It’s a very hard transformation for me, and since Shaina didn’t use it during her first attack, I reasoned it’s hard for them as well.>
<Speaking of that witch, is she one of the fallen ones?> Vesta asks; considering she’s usually very uncomfortable with the idea of killing enemies, it’s telling how much she despises her.
<No such luck> Torn answers her.
The Mindscape
Living in a skyscraper, Noriko Null thought she knew everything about awkward elevator rides. But now she’s enjoying one with the company of two previous Nexus hosts: the Monk, manifesting himself in the form of a child floating in the lotus position, and Diomedes, the stoic Greek hero who seems even less inclined than Torn to strike a conversation.
<So… you were in the Trojan War?> she asks him, trying to fill the silence.
<I was. Don’t believe a word Ulysses says about it.>
<I’ve met Ulysses. He’s immortal now.>
<Of course he is. That man just can’t accept his fate.>
<Speaking of fate, how did you, uhm…>
<Die? That’s a good question. I wouldn’t know, since the Nexus doesn’t record the host’s death.>
<He died of old age> the Monk reveals.
<I did? Now that’s disappointing. It means I lost a bet with Ulysses.>
<You seem strangely… okay with being dead> Noriko notes.
<Everyone dies. There’s no sense fighting destiny.>
<Speak for yourself, I’m planning to live through this. How long’s this ride gonna be?>
<Central Registry is deep into the Nexus programming. We must be careful: you don’t want to be recognized as a foreign program and be permanently deleted> the Monk answers.
<You haven’t really explained to me what exactly Central Registry does.>
<It’s the part of the Nexus that links the current host to the Master Archive and maintains the copies of the previous hosts. It’s the deepest part of the operating system that can be accessed from within. I hope you appreciate the opportunity: it took me fifty years of intense meditation to find it.>
<And what have you done with the information you found there?> Noriko asks.
<The search of enlightenment and knowledge is its own reward. Besides, an active host cannot retrieve information from this part of the operating system.>
<We’ll see about that, Monk. Is it me or are we slowing down?>
<We are. Welcome to Central Registry, future host.>
The door of the elevator opens, and Noriko’s jaw drops. She’s already seen majestic sites… from the Vulcan Forge to the Pandemonium to the Winter Castle… but Central Registry is the strangest one, not bound by the architectural limitations of physical space.
Outside of the elevator door, there is another elevator door. And next to it, another one, and another one, in an endless row that stretches to infinity. There is no horizon: the doors are aligned on a Y-shaped passageway, intersected with an identical one that also somehow doesn’t seem to have an end. It’s like looking at an M. C. Escher painting inside a house of mirrors.
<What are those?> she asks pointing at one of the doors, still dazed by the sight.
<Connections to the Mindscape sections of other hosts. Some are working, some of them aren’t; the doors can’t be opened from this side> the Monk explains.
<Don’t think too much about this place. It’s easy to get lost here> Diomedes warns her.
She can see why, and regrets looking up. There are an infinite number of other rows door above her, alternating with miles upon miles of cables that are the connecting tissue that seems to hold Central Registry together. The place is eerily quiet, except for the noise made by the cables every time an electrical signal passes through them.
<This is insane. How can anyone manage to find anything here?> she asks.
<We need an interface. Follow me> the Monk tells her, walking towards the handrail that blocks the passageway and normally prevents anyone from falling over. Unless they jump down like the Monk does, despite Noriko yelling:
<Wait!!!> she calls for him, too late to stop him. She expects to see him fall, but the Monk not only doesn’t do that but he also float back to her level.
<Wait what?>
<I don’t know how to fly> she reminds him.
<Your mind is too literal. You’re still trying to rationalize what you see, adjusting your senses to what you consider familiar. Don’t try to fly, just order your mind to take you where you want.>
<If I had so much control over my thoughts I’d be anywhere but here> she notes.
<I can show you how to do it Diomedes suggests, and without hesitation he sweeps her off her feet and holds her in his arms. She’s about to complain when she notices he’s suddenly floating.
<Alright, let’s go. Just don’t make a habit of this> she concedes.
They’re not done exploring Central Registry, and Noriko gets the feeling a lifetime wouldn’t be enough: even as they slowly descend towards its center, she simply can’t tell how big it really is.
Intellectually she knows the Monk is right: none of this is real, there aren’t literal elevator doors everywhere and she’s not really flying while a Greek hero holds her in his arms, but knowing all that doesn’t make it feel less overwhelming.
Once they approach the center, her stomach turns as she feels they’re both descending and flying up at the same time. They reach the only thing she can’t see that isn’t a door or a mass of cables: in the middle of a crossway of dozens of paths, each one diverging an infinite number of times far away beyond a non-existing horizon, there’s a podium made of glass.
Above the podium there’s a floating screen. Its dark display shows the image of a silver infinity symbol slowly glowing and dimming at the rhythm of a relaxed heartbeat.
<Logging in> the Monk says to the screen.
<HOST 79235165 RECOGNIZED> the screen says.
<Show entry log.>
<ACKNOWLEDGED> is the answer, and the symbol is replaced by an extremely long list of data, streaming too fast for any human to read. Any human that isn’t a Nexus host, of course.
<This is a lot of stuff. Can I log in?> Noriko asks.
<HOST 79235168 RECOGNIZED>
<How many hosts are currently active?>
<YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION>
<Of course. Can I get a full analysis of the Nexus?>
<YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION>
<How about a status report? Or a system dump of the latest crash?>
<YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION>
<Okay. How do I get authorization?>
<YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION>
<This is getting ridiculous. Why give the hosts access to this place if we can’t do anything here?>
<Perhaps we were not meant to be here> Diomedes suggests.
<Not meant to be here> Noriko repeats, stroking her chin and looking pensive.
<You’re coming up with a plan> Diomedes understands.
<Can I upload data directly into Central Registry?>
<Of course; it will be analyzed and sent to the Master Archive. But if you’re thinking of creating some sort of override, hacking Drylon programming is too much even for you.>
<I don’t want to control Central Registry. I’m gonna break it> Noriko says, getting close enough to the floating screen to put her right palm over it.
<Run Abyss program> she says flatly, and the symbol on the screen turns from silver to red.
<DATA RECEIVED. EXECUTING PROGRAM>
<What did you just do!?> Diomedes asks. The electricity running through the cables intensifies and becomes black, while the elevator doors suddenly shine red.
<I uploaded my Abyss personality. The curse Inanna put on me will destroy it before it can become sentient, but not before Abyss spreads inside Central Registry and corrupts its program.>
<Are you insane!? The Nexus can’t run without Central Registry! You’ll crash the entire system!>
<I’m counting on it> Noriko answers the Monk, crossing her arms right before the console explodes, followed by multiple detonations on each level of Central Registry.
<FATAL SYSTEM ERROR. CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE IN FIVE. FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE.>
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