PATTERING STEPS ACROSS THE CRUSHING WHEELS OF TIME

4.01 ❉ Two shooting stars

The forest was silent before dawn. Thin, black streaks, clothed in leaves of vibrant green were obscured by the darkest moment of the day, the hour before dawn. The skies were calm, letting all living things dream a final time before waking up. Through the thin bands of clouds slumbering across, a few bright dots could be seen against the abyssal expense. Everything was still, except maybe the clouds on the east, which were starting to don their clothes of pink and orange.

And except for the two moving stars. The stars had been placed there since a long time ago, two hundred years in fact. Of course, in their low orbit, nobody had noticed them- at least nobody who wasn't looking for them. But, just as the day was starting and as life was waking up, they too, would wake up.

And after two hundred years of a dreamless sleep, the teary eyed heroes from the past woke up from the remains of their awakening. Rising from the crystalline debris, Jhin and Melissa looked around. The sun had not quite risen yet, but the night was still not over.

They got out of the crater, and looked around more. They were in a forest. Rows and rows of black trunks, arranged by the unseen hand of a mysterious creator hid everything else from view. Looking above, the sky was at the weird border of night and dawn. Woken up early, some birds were leaving the site of the crash.

Indeed, it was best for them to leave, as something was coming. Breaking the gradual increase of light, a bright light was moving fast across the southern sea to the forest, quickly followed by a dark spot.

❉

Though of course, the two heroes were unaware of that. They were still looking around, feeling as if they had just received a gut punch. Everything was so... normal. Of course, they couldn't say where they were, but that forest was just that : a forest. It was a normal forest. Nothing more, nothing else. But perhaps that was the reason why this world was now so alien : that everything was so familiar.

They still couldn't tell.

Just as they were finishing this thought, a sudden light enveloped the area and lifted the veil of slumber that remained in their mind. The flying light and its dark twin had arrived.

"HEROES OF THE MALL. THY SHAN'T SET FOOT FURTHER IN THIS WORLD. THOUGH YOU HAVE JUST WOKEN FROM YOUR SLUMBER, WE SHALL SEND YOU INTO AN ETERNAL ONE."

Thus spoke the lights, a duet of angels. Both, one white and one black, were similar to rings adorned in eyes with teeth in the middle. Each of them had two wings, entertwined with the other's pair. These were Mal'akhs, low ranking angels. But to Jhin and Melissa, these were just angels. They assumed a combative stance.

❉

Such desperate and disgruntled opponents could not last long. The angels soon collapsed in front of the pair's blows.

Not waiting any more for more angels to come, they advanced northward, in the direction opposite to the one the angels had come from. Dawn had fully started now, and the sky was fully assuming the hues of orange, rose and blue that came with that time. The trees were still dark streaks, but now the foliage was properly donned with its jewels of dew, sparkling and sending bright flashes everywhere. It had rained the night before, and the ground was still wet, emitting a strong scent of humus and dirt. Spring was the season, on the verge of summer passing.

Eventually, though, they reached the first sign of civilization. Although it seemed a lot older than what they were expecting, it still was one. Carved in a cliff, a large stone door, at least 6 meters tall, was standing. It was adorned with many carvings, although the deep layers of moss and lichen that covered it made it hard to tell what these were depicting.

A second sign came soon after : a voice, coming from high up in the trees. "Ah, so that's what you look like." Jhin tooke a fighting posture.

"No need to get so defensive. I'm an ally." The owner of the voice descended from the trees. A head completely covered in hair, with two great antennae, two bright circular eyes, and a cloak of purples and blues like that of a moth.

"My name is the MOTH. If you know who that is, I'm a coworker of the RAT.
-The RAT ? The one from the sewers battle ?
-Yes, although that was a few centuries ago.
-We have, uh, a few questions.
-I imagine so. But some of these will be answered by yourself. We'll answer the others somewhere else though. Currently, we are on the island of Malutelo. To the north is the continent of Majala, which is where we will explain a lot of things. For now, though, just go north a little while. You'll find a shelter. Then, head north again to the town of Tatelo." And with that, hasty as always, the MOTH flew up and away.

❉

So, with little to no choice, they continued northward. After nearly a full day, they reached the shelter : an old meteorological station. It could be seen from far away, its white metallic tower rising high above the canopy. The sky was now covered in clouds, and the sun was starting to set in the west. Not wasting any more time, Jhin and Melissa rushed inside.

Canned supplies for a few days, a bit of money, sleeping bags, a foldable tent... All the necessary equipment for camping was there. But for now, they simply lay the sleeping bags on the floor of the station, heated a can up, ate, then went to sleep.

To them, it had been the start to something completely new. They had woken up in a new world, and were about to yet again go on a new journey. But, to the forest around them, it was just a normal day. Nothing new had happened, and nothing new would happen in a while.

4.02 ❉ Those who live

After having continued northward for a day, the two arrived at the outskirts of a village. It was built from sheets of metal and logs of wood, sometimes strung together haphazardly, but it was a village nonetheless, with all the ordinary things found in an ordinary village : children playing in the streets, mothers running errands, old people looking at the sky.

As if no time had passed. As if no war had ever been led, as if no more than two days had passed and not two hundred years.

Some things did not change. No matter how many wars would be fought, children would play in the streets, mothers would run errands and old people would look at the sky from old chairs.

They guessed this village was Tatelo. After gathering some necessary supplies, they looked for an inn to stay in.

The village bar was lively that night. Lots of people were inside, eating the soup-like food from large wooden bowls. It was another staple of time, one which would not change no matter what. Among the surrounding chatter, they found two open seats by a table, sat down, and went to get their food.

At first, not wanting to bother anyone, the ate in silence. But then, their neighbor, an old man with a missing hand, asked them. "And you, where are you from ? Obviously you're travelers, so where are you going ?
-We're going to Majala, northward." answered Melissa.
-Ah, Majala ? That's mighty big ! Don't you have a more precise destination ?"

Melissa thought of this. They had been told to wait for more instructions from the RAT or the MOTH once they got to Majala. But she also knew that her native town was in Majala. As for where they came from, they obviously couldn't say they were from the south. They had just been there, and there was nothing more south than this town, at least on this island.

"We're waiting for a friend there. Also want to check out the ruined city at the north." answered Jhin, while Melissa was still thinking about what to say.
-Ah you mean the Sewi lake ? I'll be ! It's been years since anyone set foot over there. They say strange shadows roam, even during the day. And then there's the desert ! just south of Sewi, there's a large desert that covers most of Majala. I hope you have some equipment for that !
-We'll manage" simply answered Melissa "But so you know where we can find a boat to go to Majala ?"
-Hmm... You'll probably find one at the harbors. There are two big harbors on Malutelo. There's a commercial one at the north and a leisure one at the south. Of course, both of them are long since abandoned. I'm sure you can find one that's still good though."

The old man seemed like he could have gone on and on, so Jhin, seeing their companion had also finished her food, politely excused themself. They went to the counter to rent a room, then went to sleep.

4.03 ❉ Flower farm

They had been walking since before the sun rose in the wastes. All around them, long, tall grass was gently swaying in the early morning sunlight. The sky above was a pale blue, with long and floaty strands of clouds colored pink by the sunlight and purple by the night streaking it from north to south. A gentle breeze, carrying the scent of grass, was flowing.

The path was a simple dirt road, maybe not even intentional. So many people had walked upon it that a path had appeared underneath. From time to time, a small cairn told them they were on the right track.

Under these conditions, walking was easy. But they both knew that at noon, the sunlight would be too harsh for them to advance and they would have to take a break. It was their second day on the road since they left Tatelo. They were walking northward not to the harbor directly, but first to a farm that was on the way. They had heard the farm was held by fallen angels.

The easy weather made them stop only on the cusp of noon. They stopped at a cairn and sat in its shadow.

❉

During the evening, the songs of crows were deep and resonant under the quiet dusk skies. Such weather was uncharacteristic for the season, the beginning of spring. They saw a cloud of white smoke rise from the horizon, and a few lights. It was the farm.

Approaching, a small group of children clothed in white robes run past them. Human children ? A dark figure came running behind. Upon passing it they saw it was a fallen angel. Taking a humanoid form, the only thing showing they were not humans was the various dark wings that replaced their head, forming a chaotic bundle. All around that bundle, crossed eyes were hidden among the wings. Other than that, they looked close to humans, with still a few black feathers poking out of their dark limbs.

A few steps behind them, the figure stopped, haggardly. "Uh... I'll come back to you soon. Did you see a group of children running past ?" they asked.
-Yes, they continued on the path."
-Argh.. These kids will be the death of me" And there they went, running for the kids.

Jhin and Melissa continued inside the farm. Through the glass walls of a few greenhouses, colorful flowers could be seen growing. On the step of the main building, an old fallen was waiting, sitting on a rocking chair and smoking a pipe. "Welcome travelers. This is one of the many fallen angel farms. I will ask for two more plates to be placed upon our table." And the figure went back inside.

❉

The inside of the main building had a rich odor. All over the walls, and hanging from the ceiling, drying bundles of flowers were painting the room with warm colors. They were in the main eating hall, at the end of one of the few long tables. On either side of the tables, a bit less than forty fallen angels and children were seated. At the end of the tables, big pots were steaming.

After the food was served, everyone started eating. In front of Melissa, at the edge of the table, was the old fallen from before, whom they guessed was the head of the farm. "I take it you are the ones the MOTH talked about." they started.
-Yes. we're looking to go to the commercial harbor to take a boat to Majala.
-I see. Unfortunately, the control room of this harbor is locked. The key has been taken by an Ideal.
-An Ideal ?
-Ah. How would I explain that ... An Ideal is the materialization of human beliefs. They have a varied appearance, and some of them are weak but others could raze a city in a few seconds. But in general, they like to reside within buildings.
-I see. Where is that Ideal then ?
-A bit to the east, in the old building of the General Water Company. Ideals hide inside abandoned buildings then extend the space within. The building is like a shell of a hermit crab. These are called guts."

At that moment, a child came running behind the farm head. "Can you tell us a story ? Please please please !" The head sighed. "Yes, yes, just get in bed all of you rascals..." And they left with the child.

Looking around, Jhin and Melissa saw that all the children had left, presumably to bed. The fallen who was chasing the children earlier sat down next to them. "From what I've heard you weren't there for Event Zero. You're probably wondering why there are children around here.
-Yeah, a bit. From all we know, angels are those cold and heartless killing machines.
-We fallens are angels that left the hivemind. A lot of us owe it to the RAT or the MOTH.
-So why the children ?
-These kids have all been abandoned in the village. Either because they didn't fit in, or caused too much trouble, or had an illness. The people know we'll take care of the kids, so they send them to us.
-What happens when they grow up ?
-Some of them try to go back to a village. Others work at a farm. Since this farm is rather small, most of them are sent to other farms.
-Cast away from society...
-Yeah. A lot of the kids we receive can't even walk, and a large part don't make it. It may seem peaceful but the villages are quite harsh over those they don't want."

4.04 ❉ Inside the gut

The GCW building stood tall in front of them. All around, a purple dusk with tints of gold crowned the fields that stretched off to nowhere. The plants were swaying under the gentle wind, but this building was not. It stood, tall and firm, refusing to decay and topple like its many brethren. Indeed, the building was relatively well conserved after having spent two hundred years in the open. A few cracks here and there, windows a bit dirty, but not even ivy had dared to climb upon it. They had heard this was due to the Ideal inside. When an Ideal went inside a building and made it its gut, the decay of the building stopped, or at least slowed down. This made it easy to know which building housed a gut or not.

Jhin got close to the glass door. Despite being entirely made of glass, they couldn't see inside. Dusk was on its way, but there should still be enough light to peek inside. And yet, it was... well, it wasn't complete darkness. They just couldn't see what was inside.

The door opened automatically. Even after two centuries, the circuitry was functional. And, there was still power. Intrigued, the two went in.

The inside was dark as well, but not to the point where you couldn't see anything. Dim light bulbs shone upon a slightly grimy checker pattern on the floor. The walls were covered in large and twisted cabinets, full of paper and forms from the past, and even outside the furniture, tall piles of paper rose nearly to the ceiling. A strong smell of coffee and paper filled the air, accompanied by a choir of typewriters, keyboards and printers of an unseen origin. They advanced cautiously in this unknown place.

The first thing Melissa noticed, is that the layout made no sense. She was always trying to keep track in her mind of where they were, and more than once she felt that the place they were in was outside the building itself. It also seemed like it was built by a mad architect : corridors spliced midway through into two, each side leading directly into a wall, stairs leading up or down but with no opening in the floor or ceiling to account for it, hallways turning at a right angle forming squares with three or five sides. None of it made sense.

The second thing they noticed was remarked by Jhin : it was all corridors. There were no side rooms, no offices. There was a complex background noise coming from many office supplies, but they could see none of it. There weren't even printers.

And so, stumbling in this chaotic and unorganized maze, they saw someone. Holding a tall stack of paper in front of them, they were clothed with the classic black pants and white shirt of office dress codes. But their head was unseen, simply an undistinguishable dark mass.

"Uhm... Hello ?" called Melissa
-Yes ? I'm busy, so be quick.
-We were wondering about how to get to the, uhm, director.
-Oh, I'm afraid you won't be able to see them without an appointment, and their schedule is full for the next few months.
-Uhm...
-We do have an appointment" said Jhin "But this office is so maze-like we're going to be late.
-Oh I see. Then I'll just... " started the Ideal, and without finishing they nearly threw the pile onto the floor, in a corner.

"If you would follow me." And away they went. Navigating the maze without looking behind them to see if they followed, the Ideal seemed like a fish in water. A very burnt out fish, but a fish nonetheless.

After a few minutes, they arrived in front of a door, the first they had seen since they entered the building. The door was wooden, with a panel made of cloudy glass. "Here you are. Please remember to say it was me who led you here, that'll put me one step closer to my promotion." and after these few words the Ideal went running back the way the had come.

The door was imposing. Both Jhin and Melissa were hesitant to open it. But after a few seconds of waiting, the door opened by itself into a dark, indistinguishable room, beckoning.

Inside the room was even darker than the rest of the building. The only light were coming from countless screens, each showing complex graphs and values.

Two hundred years ago, during the broadcast of the final discussion in which Enner had participated, chaos had ensued. While a lot of people hadn't believed the discussion, thinking of it as a hoax, a large part had believed it, or at least thought something would happen. During this short moment, merely an hour or two, the stock market had fluctuated so violently and so chaotically that even two hundred years later, ripples could be felt. In these short few hours, entire companies valued at hundreds of billions of dollars collapsed practically instantaneously, and small companies saw their value skyrocket.

Nowadays, no one was paying attention to the stock market. It was a relic of the past, of a society that no longer cared about living day to day but instead about hoarding a large, but useless pile of artifacts.

No one cared about the stock market, except for one Ideal. An Ideal which, by themselves, were running thousands of smaller companies they had bought for dirt cheap, and were trying their hardest to reestablish some sort of order in the peaks and valleys of value graphics. This Ideal was the Ideal of the marketplace. And currently, two interlopers had come and were about to throw all that hard work away.

"I believe you did not, in fact, have an appointment scheduled."
-Indeed. We were just tired of having to walk around aimlessly.
-Think of it as a security system. Indeed, you would not have found the way was it not for an underperforming employee.
-We'll make you an underperforming boss, don't worry.
-Even if one company fails and crashes, a thousand others will rise to fill the gap. You have no hope of defeating me.
-We've seen tougher speeches from tougher people."

Enough had been said. In the bluish, flickering lights, a shape appeared. It looked like a man with long arms and legs, dressed in a black costume. He wore a tall, black hat, and his large, devilish smirk was adorned by a thin mustache and a pointy beard.

Without even moving a finger, two of the screens next to him turned toward the duo, and stretching arrows, direct continuation of the graph, soared and plummeted chaotically, but launched toward them. At the last moment, Jhin jumped out of the way and dodged. But Melissa wasn't so lucky, and was hit in the leg.

Using his jump to his advantage, Jhin smashed one of the screens nearby and launched it toward the Ideal. He tried to jump out but was too slow, and slammed down to the ground under the weight of the screen. Nonetheless, he raised a hand, and from it came a greed and an I.T construct. The constructs circled a bit around his hand, then launched toward Melissa, who was still on the ground.

Quickly she sprang upwards, and grabbed a nearby screen to shield herself. The two constructs crashed into the screen and broke it into small pieces, which she threw to the side. Then, without warning, she launched a large rust construct toward Jhin, who grabbed a screen and deflected the construct with it toward the Ideal. Not fast enough, he couldn't get out of the way and took both the screen and the construct directly.

He collapsed on the ground, and the air felt strange. Without even noticing it, Jhin and Melissa were outside the building. It was nighttime, but even under the pale light of the thin moon, the windows showed what it was like inside. The Ideal had dissipated, and with it its gut, leaving behind only a desolate shell. Rows of cubicles covered in dust, fallen down chairs, and cracked walls.

They went back inside, and rethreaded their way, this time in a place that was not thrown together haphazardly, back into the director's office. Inside, a wall of screens was collecting dust. On the large desk, among the obsolete paperwork, they found the key to the harbor.

4.05 ❉ Lonesome lighthouse

It was just before morning. They were headed west of Japini, the southernmost town of Majala. Just as its name indicated, Majala was largely inhabited. Despite being the second largest continent, it was covered in large part by a desert. Only three cities had developed there : Japini at the south, Alakala at the north, and the now destroyed Jatelo. Jatelo was the town Melissa had come from, and in which she and Jhin had descended into the mall. It was now a simple ring of ruins, around an immense crater. After the events of two centuries ago, Japini and Alakala had shrunk greatly in size, and now were simple and humble fishing villages.

Though right now, this was of little importance to them. They were currently headed west, toward a lighthouse at the coast. In Japini, they had been told of two strange occurrences : an old abandoned lighthouse had started to shine at night, accompanied by distant sirens, and a malfunction at the greenhouses east of Japini. There was a good chance these two events were caused by Ideals, so they volunteered.

The western coast of Majala wasn't as arid as the rest of the continent, and this held true for the southwestern coast, where the non-arid area extended a bit more. The landscape was still rocky and dry, but not as dry. In another world, and another civilization, this biome would have been referred to as "mediterranean". Whatever that meant.

The stars were still visible in the sky of just before dawn. Tinted with a deep indigo, the sky rested like a dome atop the slightly orange hues of the eastern horizon's crown of sunrise. On the delicate velvet dome, the countless asters were like as many diamonds, all fighting for attention. Under this dome, the land was creased and folded, the red soil and rocks tainted black from the late night. Here and there, bushes and shrubs were ready to accept the sunlight, and the nocturn fauna was accompanying the night into bed.

Jhin had insisted on departing at least two or three hours before sunrise, as traveling under the sun was a death sentence. Melissa had refused, as they weren't heading into the desert proper and such precautions were not needed. After some negotiating, they had left town just an hour before dawn, and so now that the sun was rising, they weren't far from town. The lighthouse was a bit visible, although you had to look closely and not fall into the trickery of the haze that came with distance.

❉

After just under two days of travel, they finally arrived at the foot of the lighthouse. The sun was still high in the sky, and so they decided to wait for night and see if the rumors were true. Of course, while coming they had seen the light and heard the sirens, but with the echo of the plain they couldn't be sure it came from the lighthouse. They would climb into the lighthouse after they saw the lights.

Just after dusk had fallen, the beacon atop the tower started projecting its powerful beam across the ocean nearby and the plains around. And just after the beacon, a shrieking, long, and painful sound descended from the beacon. The sound was full of sorrow, but also of danger. It was a bit like a siren, though at this distance not completely. They decided to head inside and go see the beacon.

The inside was damp and humid. Frigid air charged with humidity rested stagnantly, the moistness slowly degrading the concrete of the floor. This wasn't the only difference with the outside : while the plain was open, full of warm colors and sunlight, dry, windy, and hot, the lighthouse was enclosed, painted in icy hues of blue and green and gray, covered in shadows, damp, stagnant, and cold. The staircase, made of row concrete, was slippery and went up so high that looking at it from below was like staring into a bottomless abyss. You suddenly forgot that it was above you, and could feel yourself falling upward into the endless spiral. The lighthouse was definitely taller inside than outside.

The first of these anomalies was relatively subtle. From time to time, a drop of water would fall from the ceiling onto a step, but the sound it made appeared to come from all around at once. One could liken it to an echo, but it was different : the sound itself didn't echo. It reached the ears from every direction, only once, and did not bounce around afterward.

The second anomaly was more obvious, but could be disregarded by an inattentive person : it was a door. The door was on the outer wall of the lighthouse, probably a few meters above ground. Neither Jhin nor Melissa tried to open it.

And the third anomaly was even weirder : it was a whole room. The room was embedded in the outside wall as well, and protruded at least five meters where only void should be. The room itself was barren, with a moldy wooden floor, wet stone walls and a dark wooden ceiling. The only furniture in the room was a chair, thrown haphazardly in the middle of the room, and another door which also led outside. Once again, Jhin and Melissa just contemplated the room from outside and didn't go in.

After a few hours of climbing steps, they finally arrived at the topmost platform. All around, the room was open, either by glass panels or doorways onto the balcony. The sky outside was already lighting up eastward. In the middle, the beacon was sitting, shining its beam. But, of the beacon, only the outer shell of glass remained : the middle, where the light apparatus should have been, was occupied by an Ideal. It looked like a lonely star, surrounded by deep darkness. From that shining star, like the sole survivor from the universe, both the lightbeam and the siren were being emitted. This close to its source, the siren sounded more like a wailing.

"Why do you shine so bright ?" asked Melissa.
-I want to find my kin" answered the star, finally stopping the tearful cry.
-Your kin ?
-Yes. I don't belong in this place. I was once the Ideal of the starry sky, but now that I've been trapped in here I might as well be the Ideal of isolation.
-Who trapped you ?
-They were boat captains. They told me to shine at night to show where the coast was, to reduce shipwrecks. But I don't belong here. I belong in the starry sky, and so I cry."

Melissa thought about this. They could free the Ideal, but then lots of vessels would crash onto the dark coast. She turned to Jhin, who shrugged. Whatever happened wasn't his responsibility, and he didn't care about the result. "I'll free you," said Melissa. Then, she kicked the glass hard until it broke.

"Thank you" said the little star, escaping from the lightbulb and outside in the western sky, where the sun had not yet reached.

Melissa was ready to hold the burden of the shipwrecks. What neither she, nor Jhin, nor the star could have known, would be that there wouldn't be enough time for shipwrecks to happen at all.

4.06 ❉ Kakule greenhouses

The sun was setting behind them. They deployed the tent near a boulder, and prepared for the night. The sky was turning a deep shade of indigo, except for the western side which was still lit up by a rim-light of a sun. The air was clear, and already a few stars were twinkling in the darkness.

Were they in the desert, they would have continued a bit after dusk to avoid the strong sunlight. But in this fresher climate they judged it more reasonable to settle down for the night. As they prepared their rations, they watched the shade of the night cover the steppe. In the beginning of spring, wildflowers started to appear here and there. At night, with the grace that only wildflowers have, they would slowly fold back into a bud to protect them for the night. Soon after, the only light left was that of the moon. It was nearly full, but not quite yet, and the silver light of the disc projected an eerie but calming atmosphere onto the plain.

❉

Since it was unoperational, few workers were left at the greenhouses and at the solar farm. The few left were only here to keep intruders and a few cleaning duties. This explained the surprise the main gate watcher felt when he saw the figures of Jhin and Melissa on the horizon. As they went around the greenhouses with the worker, he explained a few things about the farm. Since Japini was mostly a fishing village, the greenhouse was here to grow crops, which was hard to do in the desert around the town. The greenhouse relied mainly on solar power from the neighboring solar farm to function. Since a few days, though, production at the farm had stopped.

The two thanked the worker, and then headed further west to the solar farm itself. When they arrived, immediately they could tell something was wrong. There were no workers at the farm, but they needed no one to tell them the problem.

In this part of Majala, still at the south, the mountain range didn't quite prevent desertification. As such, even if there were more plants here than the desert, patches of desert appeared here and there as time went on. Due to the construction of the farm, the surrounding area had completely dried up and a small desert surrounded the farm. So, there should not have been plants at the farm. But, as they could see even from the distance, that was not the case.

As they got closer, they got a better idea of the situation. Long climbing plants were clinging to the solar panels. In the ground, shallow brooks and pools had been dug and formed a watery net among the panels. On the shores of these small rivers, countless weeds were growing, forming a dense green carpet. All over, flowers were in full bloom, in a range of colors from white to pink, deep purples and bright yellows. And as they got closer, they saw the one responsible for this garden.

A few days ago, just before the farm had gone out of order, a small piece of the sun had detached itself and fell to the earth. It was not the first, but it was the one that had the biggest impact. These sun pieces, enamored by the beauty of the lands, of the plants, the skies, the water, at the immaculate beauty of everything, would do all they could to preserve and exacerbate this beauty.

This piece of the sun had fallen to the earth and landed near the solar farm. It saw the degradation the solar farm had caused on the surrounding area and decided to stop it. In the middle of the garden, the sun piece was pruning plants and gardening to make its wild garden even wilder. But as Jhin and Melissa stopped, the sun piece stopped, and looked their way. Just like every other piece of the sun fallen to earth, it would defend its garden at all costs. For that reason, they were called sun guardians.

The guardian opened the hostilities. With a light like that of the brightest star, it sent a beam directly to Jhin. He tried to jump to the side, but could not match speed with light, and the beam hit them in full brunt. They were sent back, and crashed on a solar panel. Melissa quickly ran to the side and took cover behind a panel herself. She tried to focus and determine what construct would be best. Maybe greed ? She quickly made a greed construct and tried to send it at a curve to hit the guardian while remaining hidden. But, shortly after it left her cover, the construct was shot down.

She had to devise something with Jhin. She made two constructs, and sent them in the opposite direction at a delay, then ran as fast as she could toward Jhin. She picked his body up and ran for cover. Behind her, she heard the two constructs being shot down one after the other. To give her a bit more time, she made three constructs in quick succession and dragged Jhin for cover, though she wasn't quick enough and the guardian shot a beam at her leg and hit her.

Behind the panel, she slapped Jhin and poured water on their face. With difficulty, Jhin woke up. Melissa discussed her strategy, and he agreed. She prepared four constructs and sent them out at different speeds. At the same time Jhin ran from behind cover toward another panel that was closer. As predicted, the guardian only shot the constructs one after the others. Once she got confirmation Jhin was safe, she drank some water, wiped the sweat on her forehead, and concentrated to make five constructs. One after the other, she sent them out. And as she did, Jhin got to the opposite side of the guardian by hiding from panel to panel. For the final time, Melissa made 4 constructs, and sent one out. Jhin used that opportunity to rush close to the sun guardian. Of course, they wouldn't be able to physically hit it, but for the time it took the guardian to turn around and charge a beam, Melissa quickly shot out the three other constructs, which hit the guardian directly head on.

Without any sound, the guardian dispersed. The two collapsed, panting.

4.07 ❉ Desert ghosts

The sky was blue. A solid, severe blue, lighter toward the horizon but so, so dark above. The ground itself was so light it was nearly white. White, chalky stone, off white sand. It was generous to call it sand. Indeed, since the desert of Majala was a rock desert, the sand was closer to a fine, pernicious dust. The kind of dust that flew around, shimmering in the light, got into your eyes, clung on your clothes.

And, hanging in the middle of the sky, the sun. A large, white, blinding sun, bathing the desert in hot light that made the blood boil. By all accounts, Jhin and Melissa should take a break. They should get in the shade, and wait until the light waned. It was too hot to walk, and they were running low on water. But, there was no shade around. There was just the desert, omnipresent.

They didn't plan on going directly to the Sewi lake. They were walking a bit more to the west, to a small rocky outcrop known as Witomo. There, they would find a cave which was often used by travelers in which they could rest. They had had a choice, between either going to Witomo to rest, or more to the east to an oasis known as Witelo. Both would have been fine, but they chose Witomo because they wanted to wait for the night.

❉

The cave wasn't deep. It only went a dozen meters in the red rocks. The air inside was fresh, but also humid. At the end of the cave, a small spring could be used to refill water. The cave was also low in ceiling, at some points not even one meter tall. They were waiting in the deeper end of the cave. It was still not much after noon, so they would have to wait a little while until night, or at least dusk. Jhin pitched the idea to sleep now, and make a road at night, so they set up camp and fell asleep.

Melissa woke up. From the mouth of the grotto, only silvery light reflected by the dust entered. She stood up. The red rock walls were painted in blue and purple hues. It felt like a dream. I shook ▓ awake. ▓ moved a bit and went back to sleep, so I shook again and ▓ woke up. After ▓ woke me up, I followed ▓ outside. The both of ▓ and ▓ looked at the desert. You could tell at first glance. We saw ▓, and ▓, ▓ covered in ▓. Junk. Rust. Tools. Trash. And ahead, I saw something. I point it out to ▓. ▓ points something out to me. It's a shadow. Hole in the world. The shodow does not speak. ▓ and ▓ understand. I tell them, through means untold, that I am an Umbradesertus. It's not a shadow, outside of reality. They see it as they were before being banished. ▓ asks where they are. ▓ cannot answer. The umbradesertus cannot answer. The shadow probes. ▓ is susceptible. ▓ had watched ▓ do the same. Now it was my turn. I raise my hand. ▓ does the same. Cracks in reality coalesce into a sword-shape. In ▓'s hand, cracks of reality coalesce into a sword. This is a new element. ▓ learned an element I don't know about. The element of trash. Cracks in reality.

❉

A few hours before the horizon was painted with hues of gold, Jhin woke Melissa up. It was time to leave. But, before they did, he tried to remember the night before. Something happened... but he couldn't tell what. Melissa couldn't as well. Jhin saw images in his mind, but didn't know what they were. Still, they raised their hand, and cracks in reality coalesced into a sword-shape. The trash element. He knew he should not abuse it, lest the crack would never heal.

Something called them, to the east. They set out to Witelo. At night, the desert was completely different. The sky was much, much darker. It still wasn't black, but its dark abyssal blue seemed almost black compared to the soil. The ground was still very light, but it wasn't white. It was a silvery purple, given color by the moon. The full moon. Its disc was bright and large. Around it, the stars were obscured by the bright moonlight, but far from the moon, the heard of shimmering light was the brightest they had ever seen. Melissa wondered how beautiful that sky would be during a new moon.

They arrived at Witelo. The oasis was small. All around it, a few plants basked in the moonlight. The water was a shallow pool. They knew it had to be shallow. But it wasn't. They got near the edge of the water. They couldn't see the bottom. They were looking at a deep, bottomless well that extended down and down and down. Darker and darker, the abyss beckons. And they feel called. And deeper and deeper. And deeper. The moon is reflected on the surface- or is it reflected in the abyss ? Eaten by the abyss ? Trapped down below, in the bottom of a bottomless well. But the moon isn't alone. It's not the moon they know. On its surface, they can see cities. Alabaster cities, with geometric, symmetric buildings, square gardens, and mirror-like pools. Lunarians, a people lost to time. Trapped in their own prison of time and space. From deep within the abyss, something comes up. An icosahedron of pure gold. Lunatesseire. It looks at Jhin, recognizing the potential. And it teaches them. He learns of an old spell, not used since the collapse of the moon-people. Waves in the ripple of reality.

4.08 ❉ Flooded heaven

They arrived at the outskirts of the city. Melissa choked a bit. She recognized these streets, these buildings. Jhin kind of knew them, but not much. He had only seen them when he had gone to the mall, now 200 years ago. But Melissa knew them. She had lived in this city all her life. And now, even two hundred years later, she still recognized them. They went toward the center of the city. At the very edge of the city, the buildings were in a very bad state, eroded by two centuries of wind, and unprotected by the other buildings. As they went further in, the state of the buildings was better and better. But, as they went further in, once again the buildings were worse. Eventually, they reached the closest they could get to the core of the city. In front of them, was a shore. As they followed the shore with their eyes, it curved around the horizon and came back, forming a giant circle at least more than a kilometer wide. And in the middle, there was a lake. A perfectly circular lake. Melissa got closer, and saw that the bottom of the lake was like an inverted sphere. It was a bowl. A perfectly smooth bowl, filled with water.

"It must be a shock," said a voice behind them. Melissa turned around, and saw that the voice came from a humanoid figure perched on a lamppost. "I'm the RAT. We've been waiting.
-Is this..." asked Melissa, on the verge of tears.
-Yes. This is... the final work of the descendant. This is the crater of the explosion that destroyed the Angel Land."

Melissa was silent. Hearing about the descendant made her heart twinge in a strange way. They had destroyed a lot of things that were dear to her, but could she really blame them ? "I can't possibly imagine how you feel," tried to comfort the RAT. "But, I can tell you that the descendant was not evil. All they did, they tried to do for the greater good. They only destroyed to rebuild. This time, however... they didn't have time to rebuild.
-Enough about that." Melissa stood up and wiped her tears away. "Who did you want us to meet ?"

The RAT led them to a small rowing boat. They got in, and the RAT rowed to the exact center of the lake. Below, the water was deep. At this point, the water was as deep as half of the lake. But, through the dark and murky waters of the deep end, they saw something shimmering. A small circle. The RAT took a rope, attached a stone at the end of it, and dropped it in the water.The stone fell and fell, and eventually they couldn't see it, except for the tense rope that linked it to the boat.

They took a great breath, and started to climb down the rope, quickly. At the bottom, the shimmering circle opened into another space. They entered.

❉

They were still underwater, but could breathe with no difficulty. Around them, a blue sky, with sparse clouds. But something was wrong. Firstly, they could see the clouds below them. They were in the middle of the sky. Secondly, the clouds were wavy, as though seen through water. The sky was a little too blue, and the clouds were as well. They themselves were on a stone floor. They were on a platform that stretched toward the horizon, supported by pillars and arches that ended on no ground. Around them they could see other platforms.

The RAT led them once again through the maze. They walked a bit slower than usual, due to the water. This was the Angel Land, which the angels had occupied for millenias. A land that the descendant had wiped clean, in a single move. An attack that had opened a door to the Angel Land. A land that had been, over the course of two centuries, been filled with water.

They reached what was probably the center of this boundless land. Before them was a large black cloud, resting on the stone. The cloud woke up, and raised itself into a tall, formless figure, covered in broken eyes.

"I am the Dust." said the figure. "The one who called you here. Welcome to the Flooded Heaven." The RAT sat on the stone. "So... why did you want them here ?" they asked.
-Because we are threatened. We need heroes." answered the Dust.

"The angels kept humanity in check. They controlled them from the shadows, by means of organized religion, mostly. But, two hundred years ago, their grasp began to slip. The beliefs of humanity that had been kept in check came back, and the boundless potential of humans gave them shape. These are Ideals.

"However, two hundred years ago, when the religions collapsed, not everyone rejoiced. Those who were in these religions were in need of guidance. They needed a god. And so, from their seeking minds, a hugely powerful Ideal emerged. An Ideal representing the Sole God, the God alone in the sky, that rules the Heavens and the Earth, the Arbiter. This God's name is Ubu.

"Not all humans were involved in the unwilling creation of Ubu. Another large part of humanity simply believed in the thing most important to their life. A singular thing, as important to everyone. Something around which this whole world revolves, which gives life to it. The single most important thing. The Sun.

"From humanity, two hundred years ago, came two Ideals. Ubu, seeker of humanity, and the Sun, seeker of life. The two are opposed. Ubu loves humanity, and despises the conflicts between them. Ubu's only goal is to gather all humans into one mind, to render all wars obsolete. Ubu loves humanity more than anything.

"The Sun, however, despises humans. Since times immemorial, the Sun shone in the sky. It has seen everything, all of humanity. The sun knows what life was like before humans soiled it. The Sun also knows how the world was before the Argillacreantis launched their seeds of life unto it. As such, It seeks to destroy all current life, and begin everything again.

"Both of these Ideals are at war. Already they have claimed dozens of victims. They both have a following in the thousands, one that follows Their command perfectly."
-And what do we have to do with all this ?" asked Jhin.

"I need you both to collect three swords. These swords were forged a bit after you left. In the panic following event zero, lots of Ideals were born. To defend themselves, these three swords were forged to kill Ideals. Using these is the only way to kill Ubu and the Sun."
-I see. Also, what's event zero ? We heard that term before, but we don't know what it means.

"Event Zero is the name given to the moment when humanity was almost wiped out, two hundred years ago. A person named Enner wiped it out. However, thanks to the efforts of the descendant, who created human beings with a non-human soul, and thanks to other anomalies, there were survivors who rebuilt the cities you passed through."

The pair took some time to process. That was a lot. And... they needed some time to decide what to do. The RAT led them back to the rope, and they climbed back out into the boat, and came to the shore to set up camp.

4.09 ❉ The first sword

Before leaving the lake-round ruins, Jhin searched for the police station. They found it half destroyed, and went inside to retrieve firearms. Then, he tried to use them. However, after two centuries, the guns were no longer functional. Melissa took one, and using a construct, managed to fire a bullet. She spent the rest of the day training her aim. The Dust did not know where the swords were, only what continent they were on. There was a sword on Malutelo, the island at the south, one on Majala, the desertic continent, and one on one of the islands of Masimute, an archipelago to the northeast of Majala. As for the Sun and Ubu's places of operations, they were toward the south of Masuli, the large continent at the south.

After a day of training, they went southward again. This time, they knew to tackle the desert at night. They traveled to Witomo during the night, and slept for the day. Then, they regained Japini in the night again. From Japini, they joined the sea again, and found the boat they had used to come to Majala. They sailed it again back to Malutelo, and there they started their search.

They started with Tatelo. They asked in the village about legendary swords, but although there were a few, all of them were from stories from before event zero and could not have been about the swords. Then, they asked about any old ruin that dated from before event zero. A lot of people knew of ruins, for example a large ruined city formerly known as Pokatelo sat northeast near a river, but most of them could not date these ruins, or tell what their function had been.

They went to Pokatelo, but as expected, the sword was not there. It was simply a city. Towering spires, crumbling from the wind. Plants dared not even cover the ruins in ivy. They searched the city, but quickly gave up. Nothing was left here. There was only the decaying skeleton of an era long gone.

Then they remembered. They themselves had seen the ruin they were searching for. They went back south, to the forest they had landed on. They quickly found what they were looking for. A great stone door, weathered by the wind and rain. They pushed the doors, and instead of opening on its hinges, the doors fell flat. The dust settled, and they could finally grasp what they had come for.

A sword, laying on a pedestal. The sword was very long, about a meter and a half to two meters long. The sword was simple, with no decoration, and nothing remarkable except for its coloration. It was cut in its length in two halves. One was completely black, and the other was completely white. The sword was named Equality. Jhin picked it up, and the sword lifted up by itself. It floated, its blade pointing to the ground, and followed Jhin and Melissa.

One out of three.

As they went out, a crow flew down to them. The crow's head was covered in ashes. With the broken voice of the Dust, it spoke. "The MOTH has found the location of the Sword of Majala, the one named Justice. However it is locked by a key. We believe this key is kept by an Ideal residing in a bunker to the north. We rely on you to get the key and gather the sword." And the ash fell off the crow's head, and the crow flew away.

4.10 ❉ Domination

They were standing in front of the bunker. It was a bit north of lake Sewi, in a part of Majala that although barren, was no longer a desert. The bunker was hidden beneath the ground. A staircase dug in the earth led to the metallic door, from behind of which a bluish-whitish light escaped, reflecting on the fog inside.

They got closer. They could not see beyond the fog, and so went in. At first they saw only the fog, luminous. It gave them an idea of space that was much bigger than it was. Then, they walked a bit forward on the nude concrete ground, and saw that no, the space really was much bigger. The fog separated for a bit and they could see a gigantic space, filled with the bluish fog. The bottomless abyss was punctuated with square concrete towers that reached far into the fog above and below. The towers were linked together by walkways of concrete; reddish pink banners were hung on the towers and were flapping aimlessly in the wind.

They continued on their walkway, careful not to slip into the void. The concrete was slippery, due to the humid fog all around, so they had to do their best. There was a little wind in the Gut, but not enough to push them. After a bit of walking, they arrived inside a tower. The tower seemed completely filled up, except for the part at which they arrived, which was completely hollowed out and led to more walkways. There were no decorations inside the tower. Just raw, brutal, oppressing concrete.

A figure in a blanket was laying in a corner. They got closer, the figure shuffled and a dirty, unwashed face emerged. "Got some food ? I don't like to ask, but I'm starving." Melissa gave some food to the woman, and as she ate, Melissa asked a question. "What Ideal is this the gut of ?
-Domination.
-How can we get to that Ideal ?
-Dunno.
-How long have you been here ?
-A while."

Jhin took Melissa up and they left, as they wouldn't gain any information. This all had made Melissa much more determined to destroy that gut and let the people inside leave. As they meandered through the towers, they saw many other people, all asking for food. They didn't have many rations left, so Jhin convinced Melissa to stop giving them away after a certain point.

They got to a staircase. Up until now, they had always been on the same level. They went downstairs, and emerged in a well-lit room. The stone floor of the room was tiled with square stone blocks, the walls were of stone blocks as well, and lightly ornate columns were stretching to the ceiling. In between two colons, under two of the yellow lights, another figure in a blanket was sitting straight, with another blanket on the floor in front of them. "Care to buy something ?" They asked, and pointed to the various canned food on the blanket before them.

Jhin checked if these were the cans they had given, but these were different. "Why... don't you give any of the cans to the others ?" asked Melissa. "Well, the Ideal ruling this gut said that the one who was the most like them would be able to escape," the figure answered, "So, i'm keeping them under my domination."

Jhin dragged Melissa to a staircase going down before she hurt the merchant. The following floor was so similar to the one before that they wondered if Jhin confused the staircases and went upstairs again. But no, behind them the stairs were going up. They continued on the concrete. A few times, they slipped and nearly fell, if it wasn't for the other one. They went down a few more stairs, and as they descended, the fog around them got darker, as if they were descending into the night. On the towers, strong sodium lamps showered the space with a yellow light.

After a bit, everything was completely dark around them, save for the lamps. And finally, they were at the bottommost tower. But, looking upward, they couldn't see the maze they had just gone through, and downward, where there should only be naked towers, was a maze of concrete passages of which they could only see the fractions illuminated by the yellow glare.

Inside the tower was a much greater space than they would have thought. It was dark, but unlike outside they could still see details, which they interpreted as stormy clouds. Occasionally, lightning flashes let them see that they were standing on a transparent glass floor, under which they could see more of the stormy clouds.

"And here are the interlopers..." A loud voice, ringing thunderous. "Those who would break that dear system I put in place."
-Dear system ?
-Yes ! If they try hard enough and shoot high enough, anyone can reach the top.
-Reaching the top means you have to walk on others. After all, there can only be one person at the top in this system.
-That's what makes it so interesting."

Below the glass floor, a hole in the clouds let the concrete bridges, illuminated by a golden glare. In a lightning strike, a giant silhouette cut itself out in the sky. Without warning, the next thunderstrike hit the ground next to Melissa. An easy invitation.

They both ran in opposite directions. Equality stayed in the middle and rose, its blade skyward, drawing in arcs of lightning. With every arc, it flinched to the side then reverted to its orientation, still rising.

The clouds around the shadow in the sky parted, and the figure was revealed. Multiple great pairs of horns, each adorned with gold and rare fabric. Three eyes, observing and dissecting the world. A strong body, in a light leather bind. A long piece of the same fabric as the flags, ever powerful legs. Gold bangles on all limbs. A long, angular pointed tail, and a red leather whip, coursing with thunder. This was the Ideal of domination.

Equality stopped rising. Domination cracked its whip, and a wave of lightning spread out. Equality endured it, but Jhin and Melissa were sent back. Melissa took aim with her rifle, and shot a few rust bullets toward Domination, but with a wave of their hand, Domination made them drop to the ground. Jhin ran back until they were under Domination, going left and right and jumping around to dodge lightning strikes, then made a wave in reality. Domination writhed, but Jhin couldn't make constructs as strong as Melissa's.

"Melissa !" Melissa understood. She took aim, and fired a simple bullet. However, she fired it not toward Domination, but toward Jhin. At the same time she fired, Jhin made a wave in reality in the direction of Equality, who at the same time was winding back. The bullet bounced on the waves and imbued itself with it, Its new trajectory was toward Equality, which, as soon as the bullet arrived in range, absorbed a lightning strike while whipping back toward the bullet and domination. The bullet bounced on the sword, and the lightning arced around it. Domination made lightning fall on the bullet, but it was already protected by its own thunder, and the bullet hit Domination's third eye.

Domination howled in pain and writhed, holding its forehead. It looked back through its fingers, with a gaze so spiteful that Melissa felt shivers. The giant turned, and a great wave came by. It wasn't lightning, instead they felt like they were drowning. Equality fell to the ground, and so did Melissa. Jhin was standing alone.

Panicked, he tried to make waves again toward Domination, but he couldn't focus and Domination started to laugh at them. Jhin saw Melissa's body. He saw her try to stand up, but get struck down by lightning again and again. They felt their heart twinge a little bit, and were surprised. Surprised that their heart twinged at all. Since when do I care about people ? Since wh- Lightning. Why do I- Thunder.

He tried t- Craaaaack - to focus. To for- rrRRRRr- get the world outside. And to view a wave. A wave, in water. A wave, that ripples in a tight canal. that gets higher and higher. They stuck their arm out toward Domination. It decided to let them finish his attack to mock them more. Two long cracks ran parallel from Jhin's hands. Domination understood just in time what was happening, but it was too late. The wave coursed between the cracks, like a wave getting amplified in a canal.

Domination hit the wave in full force, and was sent back to the ground. Melissa stood up, and went toward Jhin. They looked at each other, and nodded. Melissa took aim, Jhin focusing on the mouth of the cannon, and Melissa fired a volley of shots. All of them hit Domination, all imbued with the waves in reality.

A few moments later, the space around them disappeared. They were standing in front of the bunker, and it was noon. The sky was clear. In front of them, on the ground, was an old stone key.

4.12 ❉ Cosmic observatory

After a few days of travel, they reached another building. It was easy to guess which buildings were homes to a Gut and which were just old buildings. Guts made the building more resistant to time. Like the one they stood before, buildings that housed a Gut looked new, as if the world around them hadn't ended. Perhaps this was because for Ideals, the world hadn't really ended. Perhaps it was because Ideals were the first ones to try and let the world exist again.

The building in front of them was white. It was a circular building, and at the top, its domed roof was broken only to let a large telescope out. Melissa, before the mall, had dreamed of visiting this place. She had dreamt of stars and of space, and the famous Majala observatory was where she had wanted to work. She convinced Jhin to go inside.

There was no floor, nor a ceiling. They were standing on an invisible plane, cutting a great hollow sphere in half. The inside of the sphere was a gradiented purple and blue, dotted with stars, constellation lines, and the such. Black walls, that seemed without texture, and looked more like holes in reality, created a circular maze around the center. The first few intersections were clear, but quickly they reached a hallway that seemed to run all around the center. They decided to split up, each with a sword. Melissa went left, and Jhin went right.

The corridor curved, and eventually Melissa reached another split. She heard something come. Something that sounded like... a train ? No, not really... Not a car either... Well, it was coming fast. She jumped into the split going toward the center. Just as she did, a great beast of light ran past the corridor she was just in, and went through the wall. She continued toward the center, when suddenly the sword she had taken, Justice, raised all at once and went back the way they had gone. She followed.

After a bit of travel, they reached the split they had taken and went on Jhin's side. Quickly, she found Jhin laying on the ground next to Equality. She didn't have to wonder what happened. Jhin had heard the Ideal coming, and had decided to take it on. Which, was not a good idea. She took Jhin on her back and dragged them outside.

She set up the camp and waited for him to wake up. They would try again to go in the Gut when he was feeling better. As the night set, Melissa understood why the observatory was placed here. Due to the meteorological conditions, the sky was especially clear, revealing thousands of stars, big and small. She tried to recognize some of the constellations, but couldn't. Even when she recognized one of the shapes, she couldn't place a name on it. It had been too long since she had had the time to stargaze, and recognize stars. She thought of how her life had been before the mall. She thought about how her family, her friends, were all dead, and had been for at least a century. Taken by a strange feeling of homesickness, she went to sleep.

❉

The next morning, they went back into the maze. This time, they knew what to expect. A few times, the light being tried to hurt them, but they managed to foresee and dodge it. They reached the middle of the sphere. The walls sank into nothingness, and in front of them the Ideal stood. It had a humanoid form, with long, blonde, curly hair, a face like a gem, an old fashioned cravat and suit. It stood with elegance in its red, gold, and indigo clothes, and around its head, multiple rings of light rotated slowly, some bearing a small sphere. The Ideal did not speak. Nor did it take a battle stance. The Ideal was that of cosmic order. It stood, silently, and nodded.

Without noticing it, they were outside. In Melissa's hand, an old flip phone was buzzing. She opened it. The screen of an old chat client, with a few messages.

[CHATLOG START PROG.R25 && USER.ENR]
>>R25: hii ?
>>R25: is [any_one] there
>>ENR: no, no one
>>R25: ...
>>R25: enner is that u
>>ENR: yes
>>R25: finally ??
>>R25: weve been searching for [so_long]
>>R25: like [200_years] long
>>ENR: that was a joke
>>R25: :(
>>R25: so who is it
>>ENR: we're survivors
>>R25: [sur_vivors] of what ??
>>ENR: the mall's explosion
>>R25: hold on
>>R25: are you the heroes of the [mall] ???
>>R25: not a [joke] this time ?????
>>ENR: not a joke
>>R25: not what im looking for but still good
>>R25: im just going to

[PROG.R25 RENAMED USER.ENR TO USER.MAL]

>>R25: there
>>MAL: so who's this enner
>>R25: the guy who has, among others, [destroyed] all of [humanity] ://
>>R25: they had their [reasons]
>>MAL: how did they do it
>>MAL: destroying all of humanity i mean
>>R25: using [fear]
>>R25: it seems [ab_stract] because it is, even when they [ex_plained] it i didnt get it :')
>>MAL: then they're a bad guy ?
>>R25: hard to say :/
>>R25: they had their [reasons]
>>MAL: why search for them then
>>R25: despite every thing theyre a [friend]
>>R25: hasnt been seen in [200_years], were all searching
>>MAL: how many are you
>>R25: [different] beings, only two
>>R25: with [copies], about a few [hundreds]
>>MAL: what copies ?
>>R25: too long to explain ':[
>>MAL: the copies are there to help during the search
>>R25: yes and no
>>R25: enough about [that]
>>R25: btw how did you get that [phone] and where
>>MAL: an ideal gave it to us in a observatory
>>R25: ah hold on
>>R25: got you !! ;D (on camera)
>>MAL: what do you know about it
>>R25: about what ??
>>MAL: about the ideal
>>R25: its name is [cosmic_order] >>R25: its the ideal that represents [cosmic_order]
>>R25: its an [ideal] its not that [complicated] XD
>>R25: the real question is [how] it got that [phone]
>>R25: oh hold on
>>R25: isn't that [ideal] one that [enner] recruited ??
>>R25: so maybe it was just [waiting] to give the phone back..
>>R25: though [why] did it give it to [you] huh
>>MAL: recruited ? to do what, destroy humanity ?
>>R25: no, enner did that with [a_nother_ideal], [x]
>>MAL: and what did x represent ?
>>R25: [fear] and the [unknown]
>>MAL: is it still around ?
>>R25: idk :/
>>R25: maybe its with enner
>>MAL: where did you search for enner ?
>>R25: every where DX
>>R25: i searched using the [remains_of_internet] and [cameras] and such
>>R25: my [team_mate] searched [physically] on every continent
>>MAL: who's the teammate ?
>>R25: enners old [partner]
>>R25: who was more or less [abandoned]
>>MAL: then why is it still searching ?
>>R25: bc theyre [worried] for enner
>>R25: and i don't think we could forget
>>R25: the [full_story] is too long to tell in [full], especially since you have other things you should do
>>R25: which i want to help you with
>>R25: whats your [goal] again ?
>>MAL: kill the sun.
>>MAL: and ubu.
>>R25: 0.0
>>R25: ok well ill help i think
>>R25: i can [gather] info pretty well
>>R25: and thats about it, not much else a [digital_being] can do
>>MAL: digital being ?
>>MAL: have you always been like that ?
>>R25: im a [renegade]
>>MAL: this explains that.
>>MAL: is this also the case for enner and their teammate ?
>>R25: no theyre both [humans]
>>R25: althoug im not [sure] for enner
>>MAL: they lost their humanity ?
>>R25: its a [possibility]
>>R25: only my [partner] truly knows what happened on the [31st_of_december_5447]
>>R25: though thats a [traumatic_memory], so they refuse to expend on it
>>MAL: understandable
>>MAL: do you know where that teammate of yours is ?
>>R25: i told them to [wait] for you at the [beet_root] farm to the northeast
>>R25: ill let them introduce [them_selves] :))
>>MAL: ok we'll met them there
>>MAL: also, you said enner recruited cosmic order for unknown reasons. if we find other ideals that helped enner maybe well have info on them
>>MAL: or maybe other objects that belonged to them
>>R25: i doubt it
>>R25: [cosmic_order] was the first ideal enner {recruited]
>>R25: even if you find [others] i doubt theyll help you since cosmic order was the [closest] to enner
>>MAL: how many were recruited ?
>>R25: many
>>R25: but most were [released]
>>R25: i dont think they kept [any]
>>R25: especially since [event_zero]
>>MAL: why ? especially in the events following event zero, they shouldve kept them
>>R25: one of enners biggest [motivation] was to create a [peace]
>>R25: we had a big chat with them about it just before the [event]
>>MAL: enner thought that by destroying humanity then by freeing their ideals they'd bring peace ?
>>MAL: if they thoughtt this then seeing what the [sun] and [ubu] are doing should make them react in some way
>>R25: honestly
>>R25: i don't know
>>MAL: otherwise it would be self-contradictory
>>R25: well ask [them] when we find them
>>MAL: can't we just ask your teammate ?
>>R25: i doubt theyll have an [answer] to this [question]
>>MAL: well then, we'll get going. wouldn't wanna miss talking to the teammate.
>>R25: bye o/
[CHATLOG END]

4.13 ❉ Beetroots in red and pink

In the red sky, the long clouds were a blue so dark it almost seemed like black. They were approaching the fallen farm where they would meet R25's partner. All around the farm, tidy crops of a low height plant with red stalks and green leaves were blanketing the ground. This farm specialised in beetroots, and a few other root vegetables. The wooden building of the farm was sitting in the middle, a dark house in the dusk-time, with bright yellow windows, and smoke from the chimney. On the porch, in a rocking chair, an old fallen angel was resting. They asked if a human had come recently.

"Oh, I'm right here." Behind them, a tall person with long blond hair and sleepy eyes was waving. "I'm R25's partner, Lape." Sensing that Jhin was about to ask something, they invited the two inside, where the meal was about to start. Lape helped the old fallen up, and they went to the dining room. Long wooden tables were set up, but after everyone was seated, only two out of the four in the room were used.

The soup was served. The white cream was melding with the deep red beet broth and turning into a cutesy pink. Dark pieces of beets floated among lighter bits of carrot and white onions. slices of beef were like dark shadows. Everyone started eating after a short prayer to the land who had given them the meal. The soup was delicious. The slightly vinegary taste of the broth was broken up by the soft cream, all of it crowned by the earthy taste of the beets and the savory depth of the beef. It was delicious.

"So, what's your deal ?" asked Lape. Melissa swallowed her soup. "We're the heroes of the mall. From two hundred years ago.
-Oh, yeah, R25 told me about the mall. It was a terrible situation. What you did no doubt saved hundreds, but... yeah.
-Let's not talk about it. What about you ? R25 was very vague when it came to you.
-Ah, yeah. I'd imagine they be. I am, or rather I was, Enner's partner. Just before event zero, I rushed to Enner and to dissuade them, but it was too late.
-Do you know why Enner... did this ?" chimed in Jhin.
-Yeah. They wanted peace. But... you know how it went. Ubu, the Sun, et al.
-How did they managed this level of destruction ?
-Using X, of course. I think it had something to do with bringing the fear out of everyone's heart ?
-Where do you think Enner is ?" rerailed Melissa ?

Lape took some time to think. "I have... two or three hypotheses.

"1, Enner decided that fighting would get them nowhere, and is living a life far away from everything. In this case, they would just focus on living, and appreciating life, just like the fallens.

"2, Enner hasn't given up, and will instill peace at all costs. This is the least likely hypothesis, but it's still possible. Though the fact you found their phone is a pretty good argument against that.

"And finally, the most likely hypothesis. Enner is dead. Just before event zero, as in seconds before, They were shot to death. A swarm of roaches took the body away, which is why I think it's likely that they still live in some way, but... They did collapse before my eyes. I don't want to believe it though. Neither does R25."

The three finished to eat in silence. Lape spoke. "And you ?" What did they mean by that ? "As in, what are you going to do ?
-Right now, we're trying to gather the three swords. There is only one left, the one on Masimute." answered Jhin.
-And then ?
-And then...
-We're going to destroy Ubu and the Sun." Melissa had spoken coldly. "It's what's best for everyone.
-The Sun ?
-...
-Well, in any case, be sure of your path. Don't falter, don't let the doubt cling to you."

They parted on these words. Lape travelled by night, since they would go through the desert, so they left the farm. Meanwhile, Melissa and Jhin went to the room prepared for them. Melissa quickly went to sleep, but Jhin couldn't. He thought a bit about what Lape had said. Enner had wanted peace, and brought great destruction. And then, Enner didn't continue to fight but had most likely settled down ? How did that make sense ?

If he, Jhin thought, had been in Enner's situation, they would have continued to fight, until they achieved their goal. Of course, their goal would have been different. Jhin didn't believe in something like peace. He would have fought for a more materialistic goal, like riches or even world domination. Jhin cringed a bit in his bed. World domination ? How old were they, 10 ? They eventually fell asleep.

4.14 ❉ Whereabouts of a sword

The sea was wide and blue. The sky above was blue as well, but a different blue. Whereas the blue below was dark and stirring, agitated by waves and wind, the blue above was calm, unchanging. It felt as if even if the sea dried out and disappeared, the blue of the sky would still be here, shielding the earth.

The few days before, they had stayed in the village of Alakala, at the north east of Majala. There, they had built their own boat, with the help of the villagers. Currently, they were travelling to the east with that boat, toward the western most island of the archipelago, Kamute. The island had a small mountain, and housed a village of the same name as well as an orchard held by fallens.

As they progressed eastward under the blissful sky, emerging from the sea mist, a dark cone came in view. This was their destination. They reoriented the small motorboat toward the island and sped up. they wanted to arrive before the sun fell.

❉

Just as stars began to appear, they brought the boat onto the shore. They pulled it up on the beach and secured it next to the few other boats, then entered the village proper. They quickly found the inn and took a seat at one of the big tables. As they ate, they asked at the table about rumors for a sword. However, even if they found out quickly that the sword was on a short stretch of land at the north west of the archipelago, they also learned that the sword was locked away, and got no clear answer as to the whereabouts of that key.

A traveller from the south told them that the key was probably on a volcano at the east of the archipelago called Maseli, although it could also be in an old stone quarry at the south east. Meanwhile an old man who was eating with his grand-daughter insisted that it was in an old coal mine toward the middle of the archipelago. The man's grand-daughter said it was in the north, on an island called Majakike.

As she said this name, the faces of the traveller and of the old man went grim. As the old man lightly scolded the young child, the traveller explained. "A century ago or so... a terrible ideal ruled on Majakike. It was the Ideal of plagues, also known as the plague being. Thankfully, warriors from the archipelago fought together and sealed it away. Even to this day, Majakike is a lifeless desert, and there is a rumor that the seal might be wearing off. Whatever you do, don't go on Majakike."

4.15 ❉ White, black, and red stones

They had decided to start with the coal mine. Inside had been very dark, maybe darker than it should have been. At the end of the tortuous maze of the mine, they fought the Ideal of darkness, but found no key.

Disappointed but not discouraged, they had went eastward to the abandoned quarry. The quarry was empty but not yet overgrown, which they guessed was due to it being a gut. Quickly, they had found it at the bottom of the quarry, a strange structure, the Ideal of fossils. They destroyed it easily enough, but still no key.

Finally, they had approached Maseli, a tall volcano. Although the volcano was sleeping, an Ideal had seized it and was slowly stoking its flames. They had climbed to the top on the spiraling trail, fighting off other Ideals and a few angels, and there found the Ideal of passion, which they easily beat.

Now they had nowhere to go. They looked at their map, and saw a small group of islands called Sitelo on which a town rested. They sailed there to gather most information. During the trip, the phone rang.

[CHATLOG START ADMIN.NGL && USER.MAL]
>>NGL: WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
>>NGL: YOU WILL CEASE IMMEDIATLY.
>>MAL: who're you
>>NGL: OUR HANDS BRING PROSPERITY, OUR HANDS BRING RUIN.
>>NGL: OUR IDENTITY IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS OUR WILL.
>>MAL: what do you want us to stop ?
>>MAL: what is your will ?
>>NGL: RESEAL THE SWORDS.
>>NGL: CEASE COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE RENEGADES.
>>NGL: AWAIT YOUR DEATH AND LET YOURSELF GET CARRIED BY THE SWARM.
>>MAL: hello no
>>NGL: YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. THE WILL OF THE SWARM IS ABSOLUTE.
>>MAL: what swarm
>>NGL: RESPECT OUR DESIRE AND MAKE IT YOURS.
>>NGL: AND THUS WE WILL LET YOU LIVE.
[CHATLOG END]

Sitelo was made up of two main islands with two other smaller islands, closer to rock formations, between them. They went on the island with the village, beached their boat, and went in the inn. Just as they went in, the phone rang again.

[PUBLIC MESSAGE FROM ADMIN.UBU]
>>UBU: THIS EMERGENCY IS TO EVERY INHABITANT OF THE MASIMUTE ARCHIPELAGO.
>>UBU: DUE TO THE INCREASING FEAR OVER THE AWAKENING OF THE PLAGUE BEING, A SPECIAL FORCE OF THE FOLLOWERS OF UBU WILL BE DISPATCHED
>>UBU: IT SHOULD ARRIVE SOON
>>UBU: WE ASK THE PEOPLE OF MASIMUTE TO STAY HOME, AND AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE THAT THE ARCHIPELAGO OF SITELO BE EVACUATED IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS UNTIL THE CONFIRMATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE OPERATION
>>UBU: THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION
>>UBU: SEND YOUR QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, AND PRAYERS TO ADMIN.UBU
[MESSAGE ENDS]

The innkeeper agreed to feed them just for the night and lend them a room. She didn't believe that the operation would be successful, and so told them to leave the inn as is and left. They were a bit dumbfounded.

They thought together. Obviously, they had to search Majakike for the key before Ubu came, because if indeed the operation failed, they would never be able to retrieve the key. However, they guessed that going by themselves would be a bad idea. If they accidentally unmade the seal, they probably weren't powerful enough to stop the plague being. They also agreed that they needed more intel.

[CHATLOG START USER.MAL && ADMIN.UBU]
>>MAL: what is the plague being ?
>>UBU: A FIEND BANISHED ON MAJAKIKE
>>UBU: CHILD, HAVE YOU NOT LISTENED TO YOUR HISTORY LESSONS ?
>>MAL: why has it been banished ?
>>UBU: AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS, IT IS A BEING WHOSE VERY NATURE IS THAT OF PLAGUE AND ILLNESS
>>UBU: NOT SEALING IT WOULD HAVE SPREAD THIS FIEND ALL OVER THE WORLD
>>MAL: what's the mission of the special force ?
>>UBU: TO DESTROY IT ONCE AND FOR ALL
>>UBU: RATHER THAN WAIT FOR A FOOL TO REMOVE THE SEAL
>>MAL: what is the composition of this special force
>>UBU: SAINT LUCII, SAINT OF HEALERS, AND OF FOUR ARCHANGELS
>>UBU: AFTER CONSIDERATION, IS SHE NOT THE MOST APT TO THIS TASK ?
>>MAL: no idea who this is
>>UBU: SAINT LUCII HAS BEEN CANONISED 52 YEARS AGO
>>UBU: SHE IS THE SURVIVOR OF THE WARRIORS WHO FIRST SEALED THE PLAGUE BEING, AND AS SUCH HAS THE MOST EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH IT
>>MAL: and the archangels ?
>>UBU: THEY ARE HERE TO DEFEND HER
>>MAL: aren't all angels supposed to be fallen ?
>>UBU: LONG AGO, THE ANGELS FUSED WITH UBU, THEIR GOALS BEING THE SAME
>>UBU: FALLEN ANGELS HOWEVER, ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO UBU
>>MAL: what is ubu's goal
>>UBU: TO RESTORE THE WORLD TO ITS WANED GLORY
>>UBU: THE WORLD REIGNED IN PEACE BEFORE EVENT0
>>UBU: DURING ITS DESTRUCTION, UBU WAS STRICKEN BY A GREAT GRIEF
>>UBU: NOT ONLY DID ALL OF HUMANITY PERISH IN IMMENSE PAIN, BUT THE WORLD AFTER WOULD BE SCARRED FOR ETERNITY
>>UBU: AGAINST ALL ODDS, UBU DECIDED TO PROVE THE OPPOSITE AND BRAVELY FIGHTS TO RESTORE THE WORLD
>>MAL: how will you do that ?
>>UBU: FIRSTLY, UBU WILL RID THE WORLD OF THESE FORSAKEN FALLEN ANGELS BUT ALSO OF NON-FOLLOWERS, WHO DO NOT RESPECT THE ORDER OF THE PAST WORLD
>>UBU: NEXT, UBU WILL ASSIMILATE THOSE WHO ARE WILLING, TO MAKE PEACE
>>UBU: THERE WILL BE NO STRIFE, NO PAIN
>>UBU: PEACE WILL REIGN
>>MAL: seems difficult to make peace simply by killing all those you disagree with.
>>UBU: AND WHO ARE YOU, TO MORALIZE ME THUS ?
>>UBU: DO YOU THINK UBU WILL FEEL NOTHING DURING THIS PURGE ?
>>UBU: UBU LOVES ALL THAT IS
>>UBU: THIS PURGE WILL HURT IT AS MUCH AS ALL THAT IT WILL PURGE
>>MAL: if ubu is so sensible to others, did they think of a more... peaceful solution ?
>>UBU: UBU'S FINAL GOAL IS ULTIMATE PEACE, CHILD
>>UBU: TO REACH THIS GOAL, UBU HAS TO CONTROL HUMANITY
>>UBU: THOSE WHO REFUSE TO BE CONTROLLED WILL NEVER AGREE TO COEXIST
>>UBU: THE VERY NATURE OF HUMANITY WILL MAKE IT SO THAT THERE ARE ALWAYS WARS, AND SO UBU SEEKS TO CHANGE THAT NATURE
>>UBU: CHILD, YOU HAVE NOT TOLD US WHO YOU ARE
>>UBU: SO ANSWER ME : WHO ARE YOU TO MORALIZE ME SO ?
>>MAL: i am a mere human
>>UBU: A HUMAN ? HOW STRANGE
>>UBU: THERE SHOULD NOT BE HUMANS OUTSIDE OF MY JURISDICTION, ONLY SAVAGES
>>MAL: hold on, do you control humans
>>MAL: as in control control
>>UBU: ARE YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE FOLLOWERS OF UBU ?
>>UBU: THEY ARE THE ONLY HUMANS LEFT AFTER EVENT0
>>UBU: BEFORE THIS EVENT, UBU LET ON THEIR ARK THEIR MOST LOYAL FOLLOWERS, TO PROTECT THEM
>>UBU: THEN, THE ARK CAME BACK TO THE EARTH TO BEGIN THE GREAT TASK OF REBUILDING THE WORLD
>>MAL: how did this cult start
>>UBU: AFTER THE DEATH OF MANY GODS, UBU WAS BORN FROM THE SPIRIT OF THOSE WHO NEEDED A GUIDE
>>MAL: can ubu understand that not everyone agrees with their plan ?
>>UBU: CAN EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THAT UBU WANTS THE GOOD OF EVERYONE ?
>>MAL: i think a large part would still want to retain their free will.
>>UBU: CERTAINLY
>>UBU: A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE WOULD PREFER TO LIVE IN DESPAIR AND SUFFERING, WITH EXCUSES SUCH AS "its our despair !!! its our suffering !!!"
>>UBU: BUT EVEN THEN
>>UBU: TELL ME, WHAT PREVENTS PEOPLE FROM HELPING THOSE IN NEED ?
>>UBU: FROM SHARING THEIR BREAD WITH THEIR NEIGHBOUR ?
>>UBU: IF ALL OF HUMANITY SHARES ONE MIND, THIS IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM
>>MAL: it would be the end of humanity as we know it, which seems contradictory with your project of restoring the world
>>UBU: HUMANITY AS WE KNOW IT DIED LONG AGO, AT THE HANDS OF ENNER
>>UBU: BUT THE RESTORED WORLD WILL BE SIMILAR : THE SAME TECHNOLOGIES, LEISURES, PLEASURES
>>UBU: ALL THAT WILL NOT BE LOST
>>MAL: what about the individuality and riches of humanity itself ?
>>UBU: THESE RICHES ONLY BRING RUIN AND MISERY
>>MAL: this ruin and misery are part of humanity
>>UBU: WE ARE GOING BACKWARD
>>UBU: AGAIN, YOUR PRIDE IS MAKING YOU SAY THAT
>>UBU: BUT THE FACTS ARE SIMPLE TO PREDICT : YOUR PRIDE WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL
>>UBU: ITS A FACT THAT UNDER MY CONTROL, HUMANITY WILL PROSPER IN ETERNITY
>>MAL: how do you explain the fact that humanity prospered before ubu
>>UBU: BECAUSE THE ANGELS WERE GUIDING IT
>>MAL: i doubt that angels wanted the good of humanity
>>UBU: WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THAT ?
>>MAL: just a simple intuition.
>>UBU: OBSERVE THAT INTUITION AND ASK YOURSELF : IS THIS THE TRUTH ?
>>UBU: FACTS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR LOGIC.
[CHATLOG END]

4.16 ❉ Plague being

On the horizon, sitting just below the afternoon sun, a faint, barren shadow. They were approaching Majakike. Even from that distance, the weather was clear enough that they could see some of the ruins dotting the island, as well as the sandy plains separating them. The island was rather flat.

They pulled the boat up onto a rocky beach. There was no wind, no bird. A faint sound of waves, but even that seemed more muted compared to the other islands. The sky was a stark blue. The sun was shining. It was close to noon. From the south, a small white dot was floating. That, they guessed, was the envoy. They wrapped the swords in fabric and strapped them on their backs. After all their effort to fool Ubu yesterday, they didn't want an angel to see them with the swords.

Ubu probably had the tombs of the swords under surveillance, and had to know the swords were missing. Ubu knew that the heroes of the mall had awakened- hell, Ubu was the one that had welcomed them after their awakening. They decided that they would help Saint Lucii in fighting the plague being.

The small dot grew, and eventually revealed its true nature. Four archangels were flying in a tight square formation, their swords meeting in the middle. On the swords, a figure in a white cloak adorned with a cross was standing tall. Quickly, the arrangement landed and the figure was let onto the ground.

"We were not expecting people to be here." A female voice had spoken, enunciating clearly. "We came to help. We take these matters uhh.. as very important," answered Jhin.
-Very well. We were not expecting help, but any help is good help."

"Let's begin to the grave." And silently, St Lucii went, surrounded by the archangels. The archangels stood tall, swaying white clothes lifted by the wind, ink black swords raised straight toward the sky, chained frankincense leaving lavender trails behind. Wind rose, and sand flew. Visibility fell.

Jhin and Melissa walked a few meters behind St Lucii. After a few dozen minutes of walking in silence, they arrived. In front of them, on a circular stone altar a few meters in diameter, a stone coffin was placed. This was the grave in which the plague being had been sealed.

The archangels stood around the coffin, one on each side. They raised their swords further still, and silently stabbed them in the lid. Effortlessly, they raised it. What was inside was... worse than they could have ever imagined.

The coffin was empty. On its walls, slimy green mold dotted with orange thrived. In the bottom, a disgusting dark sludge stagnated. A rotten smell filled the air. "Wh- what ?" exclaimed St Lucii, looking around "has it escaped ?"

The archangels put the lid back down, shaking slightly. "We must separate. Its probable that the target has not yet escaped, otherwise a trail of dead fishes would lead out of the island," ordered Lucii, in a cold, afraid tone. She had an angry look on her face, but was pale.

St Lucii and the archangels went to the west, and Jhin and Melissa went back eastward. A sandstorm was raging around them. In the shifting sand-winds, shapes appeared and disappeared. What was wasn't, and what wasn't was. Everything had a sick, greenish tint. They looked around, but they had no idea what for. The plague being could look like anything. Maybe it didn't even exist. Maybe it wasn't an Ideal, but just an old forgotten custom.

Then, Melissa heard a cry. The cry had come from ahead. She ran to the source, Jhin calling her. A child in a hazmat suit was in front of them, pinned to the ground by a fallen pillar. They recognized the child as the one they had seen on Kamute, who had been interested in the plague being.

"Thank god ! I came to watch the battle from far away, but this pillar fell on me when the wind started ! I'm stuck now, but if you could open the suit I could slide out !" Melissa got closer. Jhin, weary, called her from behind. To him, this was definitely a trap.

But Melissa didn't care about traps. She cared about a child on the brink of death. She got closer, and unmade the latches behind. Jhin ran to stop her. As soon as the latches were opened, a terrible smell spread. Jhin and Melissa both were projected backward.

An ugly, crushed voice that seemed like it came from a hundred radios back to back laughed. "I wasn't expecting you to be so gullible ! Oh my, how it feels good to be free again !"

Saint Lucii arrived behind, quickly followed by the four white shadows of the archangels. "So it is too late.
-Oh Lucii ! My dear small Lucii.
-Plague. Your face is not one I missed. For the past fifty years, I have spent every day anxious about your unsealing.
-And oh ! If you knew how I longed for you !"

The hazmat suit fell to the ground, unveiling the body of the plague being. Smooth, white, blueish skin. Long, thin limbs. A spherical head, dotted with too many eyes, speaking with the distorted voice of a hundred chattering radios.
-If only you knew how the body of your fellow tasted. How their flesh so pleasantly gave way to the far reaching hyphae of mold and rot... But they were not enough.
-Plague being, as sure as our Lord watches from Their rightful seat at the throne of Heaven, I will smite you down. Never again will you taint Their pristine kingdom.
-You have no idea how long I've waited for this ! Oh how you've changed, Lucii. But I won't be satisfied with just you... No, I will cross these seas and cover the whole world !"

Shutting the conversation short, Melissa shot at the plague being's head. It exploded, leaving almost nothing behind. Then, It regrew. This time, an angry look on its face, toward Melissa. Lucii whispered a short prayer, and the archangels sprung forth, stabbing their sword in the plague being. Suddenly, Lucii infused the swords with an I.T construct, which tore a hole through the plague being.

"Lucii, little girl, this kind of trick won't work twice," spoke the chattering radios. And the plague being rose in the air. The hole filled back with flesh, and the swords were taken in the air. They fell out, and levitated to stab themselves in the Ideal's arms.

Melissa took that opportunity to fire an I.T construct with her gun, and with a wave of his hands, Jhin made a spear shaped hole in reality that pierced the plague being. "No seriously, that won't work. I had hoped to have at least some resistance, you know..."

A dark cloud appeared above the being. It spiraled, and, pestilential and putrid, spread through the impromptu battlefield. They all began to cough violently. Melissa fell to her knees, her vision darkening.

"Archangels !" Lucii called out, "and you, unusual one," she called Jhin, "You will know what to do." And she raised her hands high. Their sword dislocking from the plague being, the archangels formed a strange mesh around Lucii's hands. Then, with a snap, they were cut, and a wave of light sweeped the area. She Put her cut wrists toward the plague being, and the sword-mesh followed. Then, with a prayer, a great beam of light passed through the mesh and hit the plague being. Jhin understood, and made a cage out of fractures in reality around the target.

The plague being crashed in the sand. "Arghh... I hate it when you do that, Lucii..." It turned suddenly toward Jhin, furious. "And you... Did nobody ever teach you to mind your own business ?" A swarm of bugs surrounded Jhin, and then, suddenly, each of the bug burst, covering Jhin in miasma. Jhin collapsed as well.

As his vision darkened, he saw Lucii ordering two of the archangels to take him and the two others to take Melissa. And with that, he lost consciousness.

4.18 ❉ Land that thrives under the sun

Back again at Sewi lake. Jhin and Melissa had not talked at all for the few days it took to travel here again. They, Melissa especially, were devastated after the event of Majakike. Worst thing was that they learned that the tumor had grown. Slowly but surely, it would cover all of Masimute.

The flooded heaven had not changed at all. The dust either. Both the RAT and the MOTH were present. "You have now gathered all of the swords. These artefacts have a unique history, one shared by no one or no thing else. About two hundred years ago, Ideals were running rampant. To fight back, humans asked an Ideal to create weapons. That Ideal is the Ideal of the forge, known as the Blacksmith.

"The Blacksmith created these three swords. Because they were created by an Ideal, they have the ability to gravely wound Ideals. Humans, hasty, stole the swords before they were truly complete. For a long time, the swords were used separately. But eventually, one by one, they fell back into the hands of Ideals. Fearing their power, the Ideals sealed them away in their tombs, and the swords fell in obscurity. And fearing that new swords be created, Ideals sealed the Blacksmith away in the forge.

"But now that all three swords have been uncovered, you can go unseal the Blacksmith, and you can reunite the swords into one, as was intended."
-And where is that forge ?" asked Jhin
-It is in the northern lands of Masuli. These lands are covered in ice and snow. However, going to Masuli through Masitelo is impossible due to... recent developments. As such, I will gift you an invaluable artifact. A train pass."

Melissa and Jhin looked at each other, confused. "Old subway lines had been dug long ago, but were deemed impractical for the transport of masses. If it's just you, however, you should be able to use them with no problem.
-Subway lines ?" Melissa asked
-This special network courses between every continent. It forms a curving arc starting on Malutelo, which goes north through Majala while curving east, linking Masitelo. Then, at the north of Masuli, it splits. One branch is short and goes further north, the other goes south and curves back to the west through Masuli. Currently, you will use the north branch."

The mouth of the subway was dark. The lights in the station were turned off. They went in, and took long stairs underground. Very long stairs. The station proper was around 200 meters underground. When validating the pass, they chose the north branch, in the Masuli direction.

The subway itself was... just like any other subway. Except it was a long ride. The ride total took two days. At one point, Jhin got bored, and decided to try and message the sun. Surprisingly enough, an account of the name USER.SUN did exist.

[CHATLOG START USER.MAL && USER.SUN]
>>MAL: hi i'd like to talk to the sun please
>>SUN: listening
>>MAL: i wasn't expecting a response from the sun
>>SUN: & yet
>>MAL: ubu unsealed a great evil, aren't you going to do something ?
>>SUN: not my pb
>>MAL: aren't you enemies ? and opposites ?
>>SUN: and
>>SUN: im not their mom
>>SUN: PB is nature too
>>MAL: aren't you opposed to his purge plans ?
>>SUN: if ubu succeeds
>>SUN: not my pb
>>MAL: if they succeed you won't exist anymore. this doens't seem to bother you
>>SUN: if ubu succeeds i send SGs
>>MAL: SGs ?
>>SUN: solar guardians
>>MAL: i doubt theyre powerful enough to defeat ubu
>>SUN: can't defeat me
>>MAL: you seem sure of yourself, but you can't defeat them either since the war is still going on
>>SUN: and
>>SUN: y are you msging me
>>MAL: because i await at least some reactions from the sun at the doings of its greatest foe. But you seem very passive, as if you didn't want to fight... and you wanted to defeat them.
>>MAL: are you deserving of your position ?
>>SUN: no need to justify my reason
>>SUN: no need to justify my existence
>>SUN: i return the question
>>MAL: i don't see why i'd bother answering if you don't make the effort to justify all this. if you want my answer, then tell yours first.
>>SUN: you all are my reason
>>SUN: always seeking an answer, a cause
>>SUN: can't you accept things how they are
>>MAL: false, we accept things how they are. We simply research to define what things really are, then we accept it.
>>SUN: y research at all
>>MAL: because everything is not as it seems, some things are deceitful.
>>MAL: and the true question is, why NOT research these things
>>SUN: bc knowledge isn't necessary
>>SUN: it removes the wonder of the world, instrumentalizes it for a goal
>>MAL: knowledge is necessary. knowing how our foes will react, what we eat, when we sleep, how long...
>>MAL: all that is crucial to survive.
>>SUN: i see things and appreciate them
>>SUN: live foolishly in the wonder of existence
>>SUN: what you define as knowledge is simply instinct
>>MAL: knwoledge is wonder too. and in that case, that just means that instinct is the first kind of knowledge.
>>SUN: instinct is the only necessary and acceptable knowledge
>>SUN: rest is hubris of insignificant beings
>>MAL: why is it the only necessary one ? thanks to these supplementary knowledges, we can have a better life. Boats to fish or trade, buildings to protect, weapons to defend; is a better existence an insignificant act ?
>>SUN: these acts denature the world for what it is
>>SUN: superfluous knowledge always leads to these acts
>>MAL: the world simply is what it is via its inhabitants, so it isn't denatured.
>>MAL: after all, it's also in the instinct of a fisherman to use a boat and a fishing rod. are you mocking that instinct as well ?
>>SUN: except if the inhabitants are from an external source
>>SUN: like the tribes
>>SUN: i saw the world without the tribes
>>SUN: i saw the world without inhabitants
>>SUN: i saw them denature the world
>>MAL: because of this "forsaken" knowledge
>>MAL: and to denature the world is simply the mark of each existance, like an ant denaturing the earth by digging its anthill. "denaturation" is inevitable.
>>MAL: the only way to keep the world natural would be to get rid of every inhabitant and their traces.
>>SUN: true
>>SUN: but an ant doesnt put thousands of tons of heavy metals in the environment
>>MAL: no, but it still influences the world at its own scale
>>MAL: if you want to make this world natural again, you will have to erase EVERY living being, which would denature the world quite a bit
>>SUN: and i will do it
>>SUN: i know i am part of the problem
>>SUN: this ideal world would be under the watch of an idiotic aster, opposite to my current state
>>MAL: life will appear again, this is inevitable. nothing will change
>>MAL: this goal is a waste of time
>>SUN: this is why i specified my goal
>>SUN: i want to create an idiotic world
>>MAL: this world won't be worth it if there is nothing in it. This idiotic world will be empty and futile
>>SUN: and why
>>SUN: the sun doesn't need to be useful
>>MAL: what makes a world a world is its inhabitants. nothing will be different with any other world.
>>SUN: nothing will be different, except there won't be a consciousness pretentious enough to denature it.
>>SUN: it will stay pure for eternity
>>MAL: everything will be different, purity is only an impurity, the world is not made to stay natural
>>SUN: mine will be
>>SUN: after all, purity is subjective, and i've decided which one is mine
>>MAL: this is only delusion. this purity is a lie.
>>SUN: exactly
>>SUN: but by reaching it, this lie will be no more, because i will not think
>>SUN: it will then become the truth of the world
>>MAL: this truth is useless
>>SUN: everything is useless
[CHATLOG END]

Jhin was shaking. They understood the sun, maybe a bit too much. He could see how the sun had come to this reasoning, and maybe was agreeing just a little tiny bit.

4.19 ❉ Snow and coal

They climbed the long and dark stairs of the station, and emerged outside. Already, they were cold. They emerged in a valley. To both sides, steep mountains capped in snow blocked the view. Nearby, in front of them, they saw a small village, with houses covered in snow. They hurried.

This was the village of Luwalo, the last village before entering the region of Mawalo. This region was an icy waste, at the north of which resided the Magnacoronae and the forge. They would spend the night in Luwalo to gather snow equipment, then would depart the next day. The people of the town were warm enough to have a conversation with, but most of them were fearful of the Magnacoronae, and they listened to a few tales of Magnacoronae coming to town to steal kids. These tales were dubious at best. Probably stories to get kids to behave.

❉

The waste itself was... well it was cold. Sharp winds flew straight in their faces, carrying small crystals that sticked to their face and hair. If they weren't wearing sunglasses, the white snow and great icy field would have quickly caused snow blindness. And it was also very cold. They had checked multiple times that their clothes were tightly secure, because any small opening would greatly lower their body temperature. If they weren't wearing gloves, their fingers would become blue in a matter of minutes.

The journey was long. They had around ten days of walking before reaching the settlement, and they couldn't go fast. Their movement was greatly restricted by their clothes, and they had to carry a heavy charge. The snow itself was also slowing their progress a lot.

To conserve energy, as they walked, they did not talk. They tried not to think about something else. The subway tunnel had been built to go to the very north, however the tunnel had been obstructed by boulders after an earthquake. They were glad that the waste was mostly flat. If it had been sloped or otherwise, their progress would have been much, much slower.

Thankfully, their travel went smoothly- or, as smoothly as it could have went. They had a bit of trouble with the tent for the first few times, but got the hang of unfolding and folding it. The main problem was simply how tiring it was to travel like that, but they didn't have a choice.

❉

After eleven days, they finally arrived. The Magnacorona's settlement was built in what looked like a small crater. They had dug galleries in the very walls, and in the center a large pile of iron objects stood, capped by snow. Jhin and Melissa were welcomed warmly. They had been expected, it seems. The Magnacoronae went out of their galleries to greet them, and led them to the center of the pile in a small procession.

Then, a familiar voice spoke. "Welcome ! Welcome to our settlement. We are the Magnacorona tribe, indebted to you." It was Kanra who had spoken, the leader of the tribe. Together they went to the pile. The Magnacoronae were preparing a feast, and had brought some vegetables and meat from some of the fallen farm.

During the fest, they asked about the forge. "Ah ! The forge. The forge is a great building. It is just a bit to the west of here. To reactivate it you will have to reactivate three parts. The electrical supply, from the nine great towers that stand tall above the clouds, the fire of the forge, from the deep and tortuous underground tunnels, and the belief of the forge, from the haze of the mystical branch.

"There is no order to these. But you have to do all three. I have no doubt you will succeed ! And know that we are all counting on you !"

Jhin remembered his conversation with the sun. The Magnacorona, along with all the other tribes created by the Argillacreantis, were the first targeted by the sun.

4.20 ❉ Three make a whole

From afar, the forge seemed much farther than it really was. This made it seem like a normal building, maybe a bit tall, but still normal. As you got closer, however, its scale revealed itself. It was a black, circular building. On the side opposite to its entrance, a small outcrop was suspended above a cliff, and high above, nine towers went so high that their top could not be seen, hidden by the veil of clouds.

The main door was tall, almost as tall as the building itself. They opened it with difficulty. The main room was dark and circular : it filled all of the main building. In the middle, a large circular hole opened to a black abyss. On the walls, countless tools were hung, each displayed with a faded glory. Three doors led out of the room. One went upstairs, to one of the towers, another went downstairs to the tunnels, and the last went to the outcrop. Wasting no time, they went to the tower.

❉

The towers were organized in a circle of 8 towers, with the tallest one in the middle. Midway through the first one, a dinky wooden bridge led out from an opening in the wall, upward, to the next tower in the circle. The bridge swayed wildly in the wind, but they could see the other bridges between the other towers. For now, they were under the clouds, but they could see the next bridges got lost in the heavy cover.

The inside of the tower was the same. Stone floors and walls, humble arches over the doors, and countless windows. The windows were the only source of light, and at this level, the inside of the towers was still very dark. At the 4th or 5th tower, they entered the clouds. The inside of the towers was darker, but sometimes illuminated by flashes of lightning. The bridges were slippery, due to the constant rain, and they had to make sure they didn't slip.

And then, at the 7th tower, they pierced out of the clouds. They couldn't see the ground. A sea of clouds, so dense it seemed almost solid, was stretching far to the horizon in every direction. A brilliant blue sky filled the rest of the landscape, with a large sun so bright that the shadows cast by its light seemed almost pure black. The bridges were completely dry. Jhin tried to remove their glove, thinking that the temperature was acceptable, but Melissa reminded him that no, it was still quite a few degrees under zero.

And then, they reached the ninth tower. It stood straight and tall, in the middle of the crown of towers. From there, they could see the long shadows the towers cast on the cloud cover. This tower was largely empty. The others had been built with corridors and chambers, but this one was one single room. In the middle of the room, a large switch rested, on the off position. Melissa got closer and switched it on. With a clang, and a bzzt, an electric hum filled the air. The towers collected electricity from the countless thunder rods that stretched out of the towers.

❉

The main room was now lit up. The light revealed more details, like how the tools on the wall all had the luster of well used tools, about how the floor was covered in dust, about how ice tried to invade the space from the window. The abyss in the middle was unchanged however. They decided to go down to the tunnels.

The tunnels were dark and tortuous. The air was moist, and the walls stained your hands black after touching them. They advanced through the tunnels. While they were old, the walls, floor, and ceiling were all made out of stone blocks. Regularly, side rooms opened up in the tunnel, revealing cavities dug in the stone itself.

After a certain distance, they reached an elevator. The elevator was a mine elevator : primarily in wood and metal, just a platform lowering deep inside the earth. It also seemed rickety. There was a pretty big chance for the elevator to get them down very fast and very quickly. With caution, they got on, and, with even more caution, engaged the lever. The elevator went down at its intended speed, although it bumped a lot against the walls.

A few minutes later, Jhin and Melissa spilled out of the elevator and collapsed, panting. Oh god, they thought, we're going to have to take a ride back.

The tunnels down were very tight. In some spots they could barely pass, and in others they had to hope that these weren't the way forward because there was no way the could pass. The tunnels, carved in the earth directly, were sometimes held by wooden beams, sometimes by good will and strong intents. At the end, they reached a toll booth. Going over the barrier, they looked at the room behind the opening behind the toll booth. Jhin turned around, and immediately turned back upon seeing the corpse occupying it.

The room was also carved in stone. On the back wall, a large extinguished broiler stood, against the tides of time. Pipes were going upward from it, presumably to the main room. They put some coal in the broiler, then started its flame. Almost immediately, it started vibrating, and the flames got stronger.

The main room was heated now. The ice and snow that had gotten in melted, and Jhin and Melissa removed their thick winter clothes. The bottom of the abyss in the middle showed a small red glowing pinprick. They went to the last branch.

The mystic branch was very different from the other two. Whereas the sky and underground branches were purely functional, the very function of this branch was to be superfluous. A strong smell of incense filled the air, and tentures created a strange, shifting maze of red and purple cloth. It was very warm in this branch. They advanced through the maze, sometimes following the path it drew, sometimes lifting the tentures and going through.

After a bit, they arrived at a small altar placed against a wall. four sticks of incense were placed on the altar, and on the wall behind it a complex circle was linked to the four incense sticks. They lit the incense sticks, and made a short prayer.

They continued through the maze, and found two more of the altars. Taking a big breath, they reentered the main room.

❉

Around the abyss, incense sticks had been placed. And in the middle of the abyss, a platform had been raised, along with an anvil and a basin of water. And, sitting on that anvil, a corpse. "I am the ideal of the Blacksmith. This forge is my realm, thank you for reviving it, and for allowing me to complete my final work."

The swords floated behind and went around the blacksmith. "You've made good use of Law, Justice, and Equality. But the three are only whole together. Will you, rightful owners of the swords, allow me to reforge them into one, as I had intended ?" asked the corpse. This was the final duty of the Blacksmith, and after that, they would disappear completely. They agreed.

The Blacksmith began to work immediately. They worked hard, but quickly. After a short time, only a single sword remained. Its asymmetrical blade was completely black, and it did not even have a hilt, only a band of fabric to hold it. "This sword is named Deicide. It is the only thing capable of definitely harming Ubu and the Sun. Take good care of it." And with that, the corpse fell back in the abyss, disintegrating into dust.

4.21 ❉ Golden mould

[PUBLIC MESSAGE FROM ADMIN.UBU]
>>UBU: THIS IS A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
>>UBU: SOON, WE WILL LAUNCH AN ATTACK ON THE SUN FORTRESS
>>UBU: WE WILL TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS
>>UBU: WE WILL PURGE WHAT IS IMPURE
>>UBU: UNLESS @USER.SUN ACCEPTS TO NEGOTIATE AND LEAVE THEIR WISHES OF RUIN.
[PUBLIC MESSAGE END]

[CHATLOG START USER.MAL && ADMIN.UBU]
>>MAL: isn't there a more pressing matter ?
>>UBU: THE MOST PRESSING MATTER IS DESTROYING THE PLAGUE BEING
>>UBU: WHEN DYING, THE SUN WILL CREATE A WAVE THAT WILL ANNIHILATE ALL IDEALS, INCLUDING THE PLAGUE BEING
>>MAL: won't this wave destroy all life ?
>>UBU: DON'T WORRY
>>UBU: THE SUN ITSELF SHOULD NOT EXPLODE
>>UBU: WE WILL LEAVE THE PLAGUE BEING IN ITS COCOON UNTIL ITS DESTRUCTION
>>UBU: THEN, WE WILL TAKE CARE OF ANOTHER UNKNOWN FORCE
>>MAL: unknown force ? who ? the sun ?
>>UBU: WE KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SUN
>>UBU: BUT OBSERVATORS HAVE NOTICED SOME ANIMALS WHOSE HEAD WAS COVERED IN ASHES
>>MAL: were they still alive ?
>>MAL: why attack them as if they were dangerous
>>UBU: THEIR BEHAVIOUR WAS STRANGE
>>UBU: THEY SEEMED CONTROLLED
>>UBU: WE WILL ATTACK THE SOURCE OF THESE ASHES
>>MAL: is it possible its an ideal ?
>>MAL: and where is this source ?
[USER.SUN JOINED THE CHAT]
>>SUN: ubu doesnt know
>>SUN: bc they concentrated observation on the fortress
>>SUN: i know where these ashes are from
>>SUN: mjla
>>MAL: evacuations are necessary then
>>MAL: what more have you found out about them ?
>>SUN: its not a threat
>>SUN: animals are freed after a few hrs
>>UBU: I THINK I KNOW WHAT THE SUN IS TALKING ABOUT
>>UBU: RENEGADE ANGELS
>>UBU: BUT FOLLOWERS SUCH AS YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT
>>SUN: hold on
>>SUN: you think these are followers ?
>>UBU: YES
>>SUN: oh haha
>>SUN: oh god haha
>>UBU: ?
>>SUN: you think that user.mal
>>SUN: that theyre followers ??
>>UBU: IS THIS NOT THE CASE
>>SUN: oh thats hilarious
>>MAL: no no we are followers
>>SUN: oh this is too silly
>>MAL: you seem very trusting of your greatest foe
>>SUN: hey ubu
>>SUN: wanna know what name this account had until a few weeks ago ?
>>UBU: SURE
>>SUN: user.enr
>>UBU: OH
>>UBU: OOH
>>UBU: YOU TRICKED ME
>>UBU: YOU USED MY KINDNESS
>>UBU: KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ADDED TO MY LIST
>>MAL: what list
>>SUN: with that
[USER.SUN LEFT THE CHAT]
>>UBU: LIST OF THREATS TO GET RID OF
>>UBU: YOU ARE IN DANGER
>>MAL: boohoo
>>UBU: WELL THEN
>>UBU: I WILL CHANGE MY EARLIER STATEMENT
>>UBU: IF, IN 5 DAYS, YOU HAVE NOT ARRIVED AT THE SOLAR FORTRESS
>>UBU: I WILL DESTROY IT
>>MAL: why would we care about that ?
>>UBU: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LIVE THERE REGULARLY
>>UBU: ARE YOU SURE YOU WILL LET ME KILL THEM ALL ?
>>UBU: OUR HANDS BRING RUIN, OUR HANDS BRING PROSPERITY
[CHATLOG END]

4.22 ❉ Sun fortress

They emerged from the nearest station to the sun fortress. The fortress, closer to a small city than a fortress, was in the middle of the bean shaped Masuli. It was near the estuary of a large river. That estuary, much larger than it was 200 years ago, was punctuated by old building that pierced out of the water. Old towers from one of the biggest cities of the old world.

The fortress itself was surrounded by plains on all sides that weren't in the direction of the estuary. It was a collection of great, square, tall concrete towers. They had no flourishes in their architecture. The only decorations had been added afterward by the people living there. They had added hanging tentures in warm colors, wooden balconies, and countless plants and growths.

They arrived closer, and could see the busy occupation in the streets. Every street was a marketplace, with children running, and stands with vegetables, spices, cheese, game, all things that could be sold at a marketplace.

They approached the tallest tower. On it, a great tenture, the greatest one, with a large sun-like symbol. In its entrance, someone was waiting, a woman in a formal military uniform. "Welcome. I'm here to guide you to the general of this fortress, who wants to hold a strategic meeting before Ubu's attack."

❉

They were led to the last floor. The inside of the towers was equally barren, the only flourishes having been added after their construction. Here, most of these flourishes were charts and maps. The woman stopped in front of a door. "Enter." she said.

They did. Inside was a barren room, walls covered in maps. In the middle, a large slab of concrete had been raised, to be used as a desk. On it, a world map was placed, covering all of it. Pins were placed on lake Sewi, the sun fortress, and another spot at the southwestern end of Masuli. Behind the desk, a figure in a blue-grey military coat was standing, their back turned. On the back of the coat, a great sun pattern had been embroidered, with the writing SOL under.

The figure turned, revealing an empty coat. "I am the sun general. I am the Ideal of war, one who fights for something." Three luminous orbs appeared around where the head of the figure would have been, like three small suns. "We know how Ubu will attack. It's important that you know how, since this mode of attack will be preventable.

"A few dozen years ago, Ubu tried to make an artificial angel. This angel was an attempt at making a great weapon, almost as powerful as Ubu itself. This artificial angel was named Metatron.

"With it, Ubu attacked the sun fortress. After great fighting and great sacrifices, we were able to seal the metatron away. The metatron was sealed in a certain mechanism. A machine that, with a certain cost, can remove from reality a certain object. As you can guess, that object was the Metatron.

"However, this process can be reversed. By returning that cost, it's possible to make the machine go back and bring back the item into reality. We are certain that Ubu will bring that cost, and reactivate the machine by giving it the same cost. This can be stopped.

"Bringing something back will take time, estimated one to two hours. If you destroy the machine before that time is up, the Metatron will not be brought back, and Ubu's attack will have been stopped.

"You will have to destroy the machine in 40 minutes. During that time, we will all be tasked with the evacuation of the fortress.

❉

An alarm siren rang outside. Jhin and Melissa ran to the roof, and the general exited the office to start the evacuation. On the horizon, four wheel like angels were coming, in a square formation. On each of the thrones, a cherub was standing, with their metallic wings linked together. This was the Merkabah, a formation of angels known as the chariot of god, that was used to transport large quantities and as a stand-in for Ubu. And above the chariot...

A great mass. A large sphere, formed of countless things, lumped together. Upon looking closer, they saw that the sphere was made of countless people, writhing, screaming, pleading. This was the cost.

The woman from earlier rushed to the roof and burst through the door. "This is bad. Ubu wants to accelerate the machine, and this is how they're going to do it. This cost is much greater than it should be. It's estimated that the revival will only take twenty minutes. This is not enough for the evacuation. We are counting on you." She ran outside again.

Four powers appeared beside the chariot. They held out their spears in the cardinal directions, and then in a single, synchronized movement, they all thrusted it down to the plain below. At the moment the spears hit the ground, a great flash rang out, and a hole in the ground, square, its corners marked by the spears, appeared. And a gigantic mountain of metal, taller than the tower they were on, emerged.

The powers took their second spear, and the cherubs broke formation, and took long swords. They put themselves in formation around the sacrifice, and the thrones placed themselves underneath, as rings leading to the machine.

All in the same movement, the powers stabbed with their spears, and the cherubs sliced with their swords. And, in a single, disorderly motion, the sphere fell apart. Limbs fell, blood flowed, gut bled, and all fell into the rings, and into the machine. And with a great tremor, the machine came to life.

They only had twenty minutes. They didn't waste any. Using Deicide, Melissa launched a great rust construct onto the machine. Jhin focused, and waves cornered by cracks coursed toward it. And the machine withstood the attack. Fifteen minutes left. Deicide launched forward, and sliced into the machine. Jhin and Melissa focused, and launched an amalgam of rust and tears in reality. And again, the machine withstood the attack. Ten minutes left.

Deicide came back, and Jhin grabbed it. Lifted by the sword, he flew to the machine, and hacked it with the sword. Melissa shot toward them, and with the sword, Jhin reflected the bullets at point blank range in the structure. And yet it stood, unwavering. Five minutes left.

Melissa grabbed onto the sword, and together they sliced it into the machine. Then, they made the sword resonate with void and waves. thirty seconds left.

Jhin threw a rock surrounded by waves at the machine. Twenty seconds.

Melissa launched a greed construct. Ten seconds.

Deicide sliced. Five seconds.

❉

And then a great light. They lost consciousness.

4.23 ❉ The future haunting the past

[CHATLOG START PROG.R25 && USER.MAL]
>>R25: hey
>>R25: u 2 ok ?
>>MAL: not really no
>>MAL: we did just let a city get destroyed
>>R25: you didn't do it, ubu did
>>MAL: same thing
>>MAL: we let it get destroyed
>>R25: it wasn't your fault
>>R25: you did your best
>>MAL: they all died still
>>R25: i know how it is
>>R25: i have... experiences w destruction of civilizations
>>MAL: well whatever, well get better, blah blah blah
>>MAL: maybe
>>MAL: i imagine you didn't message us just for your condolences though
>>R25: right yes
>>R25: i uhh
>>R25: i think i found enner
>>MAL: oh ?
>>R25: i don't want lape to know though
>>MAL: why ? did you find their corpse or something ?
>>R25: no i think theyre alive
>>R25: but lape wouldn't take well to it
>>R25: to them, finding enner is the last thing keeping them alive
>>R25: and i don't think itd be good for them to see that go
>>MAL: right.
>>MAL: so where are they ?
>>R25: on malutelo
>>R25: once every 2 weeks they come back to tatelo for like groceries
>>R25: if you go now w the subway you can get there in time
>>MAL: we'll get going then
>>R25: oh and
>>R25: tell them we said hello
>>MAL: yeah
[CHATLOG END]

The subway trip took about five days. The station was the terminus, near Tatelo. They walked the rest of the way to the village. They decided to go to the general store. They asked the shopkeep if there was a client that didn't live in the village but came every few weeks. The shopkeep simply pointed behind them, to an old figure, with long black hair, in a tall cloak. The figure agreed to let them follow, paid for their items, then left, hunched, helped by a long stick.

They walked slowly. The figure hadn't presented themselves. They were old, probably 80 or 90 years old. They walked in front, and Jhin and Melissa walked a few steps behind. They were going to the east, through the forest that covered most of Malutelo. From time to time, a small black spot jumped from the hair or the cloak of the figure, and went into the forest. And from time to time, a black spot came back, holding an herb or a leaf, and put it in the figure's basket.

After a bit less than an hour of walking, they reached a small house, lost in a clearing. The house was built in wood, and painted in white, red, and green. Around it, overgrown grass covered the lawn, save for some tidy crops. The sky was turning dark, and long orange streaks were lighting up in the sky. The figure invited them in.

The inside was... homely. On the carved wooden beams, herbs and dried meat and fish were hung. A small lounge, with wooden seats covered in knit blankets invited. An old, small kitchen lit by a yellowing flame.

A green door, closed, invited the mysterious temptation of other rooms.

The figure invited them to take a seat. They began preparing a soup in a big pot, with some of the vegetables they grew and seasoned with herbs from the trip back. Melissa began the conversation. "Who are you ?

"I am someone who no longer wants to make a mark," the old figure answered, with a tired voice. "Long ago, I pushed away the people who cared about me, so now I bear that price.
-Are you Enner ?
-I am no longer worthy of being called that. And you ? Who are you ?
-We are... the heroes of the mall. If that rings a bell.
-No, not really. I've stopped keeping up with wars and heroes a long time ago.
-Its from more than two hundred years ago.
-Still nothing.

Melissa explained. "The angels, in an attempt to defang humanity, created towers in the form of malls which would remove humanity. We explored one of these towers, and with the help of the descendant of the Argillacreantis, we destroyed a large part of the angels. We were then sealed away up until a few months ago."

"And now ?"

And now. The unspoken question. Jhin tried to answer. "We... want to protect." Did they ?

"To protect what ?"

These questions stung. Hard. "The people. The sun and Ubu want to either wipe out humanity or enslave it.
-I see. But what did you do ?
-We...

Destroyed a city. Destroyed a people. Destroyed another city. Destroyed an island.

"We destroyed." Melissa collapsed on the table, her tears running silently. With a croaked voice, and a throat so pinched it hurt. "We only destroyed.
-We all do.
-We destroyed so much. An entire continent, gone. Cities. People. Lives.
-I did the same.

"A long time ago, I destroyed all of humanity. I thought of a greater goal, of something ideal. Of peace. Friends tried to stop me, to make me go back. But I didn't listen. I was determined. I gave everything to that goal. I gave my body, my soul. " Enner stopped cutting the eggplant they were holding, and looked behind at Jhin and Melissa.

"Do you want to see X ?"

X. They agreed. Enner told them to go see in the other room. As they got closer, a chatter. From inside. Like garbled speech from a broken TV. Like many voices all switching. Ununderstandable noise, only recognized as a voice but undecipherable. They opened the door.

The room within was dark, the only light coming from slants in the curtains and medical machines. The chatter was stronger. It came from the bed. A hospital bed, in which a dark figure stood. A figure like a hole in reality. Hooked to it, countless perfusions. The figure didn't look at them. It didn't react. It kept its chattering, nonexistent eyes staring at nothing.

They exited. This was the Ideal that had destroyed all of humanity in a few seconds.

"The fear network, the phenomenon X augmented and used to destroy humanity, took a great toll on it. It's been in that state, unchanging, for two hundred years.

"I destroyed all of humanity, but I also destroyed all those who would stand by me. R25 hates me for reenacting something so traumatic to them. R17 hates me for doing something so irrational. Lape... hates me. I did something so terrible to them. Pushed them away, brought them in back again only to scare them away again... and then dying before their own eyes. And X, who I found, befriended, me, the only person who gave them appreciation and love... ultimately used them and irreversibly destroyed them."

They took their seats again. Enner brought the soup. Smell of thyme and rosemary. They ate.

"And now ?" Jhin returned the question. "The goal you had hasn't been realized, far from it. A new war has started.
-And now, I just live. I learned something, after all of that. I learned that the best way to live, is simply to live. To learn from the others, and accept them, and to live. War and strife is only going to make peace further away."

Jhin didn't agree. To him, combat was necessary to get what you wanted. You couldn't get what you wanted if you didn't stand up for it. Melissa had complicated thoughts on the matter. On one hand she agreed that fighting would just lead to more fighting, but also that to protect something or someone you had to fight.

"It may be difficult to understand, I know. And I knew that as well. In that goal, I carried out a certain ritual just before event 0." Enner stood up. They lifted their coat, and revealed their body. Under the coat, instead of a body, countless cockroaches swarmed, all huddled together.

"I am waiting for this world to fall, for my final ties to be cut. Just before event 0, I made a deal with a colony of cockroaches. I agreed to guide them, as a spiritual guide of some sort. Cockroaches are hardy. No matter how many times the world falls, I know they will be able to rebuild it. And so, don't worry.

"You cannot stop now. Your conscience won't let you. But, don't be worried about me. Do what you must. The future haunts you, and just like me years ago, this haunting won't let you stop. I can only pray that you end up well."

Suddenly, it all clicked for Jhin. No matter what riches you could accumulate, these were useless against the wheels of time. Suffering would never stop however, and everyone could suffer. He decided that, like Melissa, he would fight, not for himself, but to protect others. He would fight not for the present, but for the future.

4.24 ❉ How to make a ghost

They arrived in Tatelo again. It was morning, since they had spent the night at Enner's house. Looking to the north, suddenly, they saw a gigantic panash of black smoke rising from the horizon. They rushed northward, but quickly realized that the smoke was not coming from Malutelo, but from Majala. They hurried to the subway.

Majala was covered in soot and ashes, but there was no smell of fire. They were next to Sewi, and the buildings were all covered in a thick layer of black grey dust. The cloud was coming out of the center of the lake. They took the boat, and swam down.

Even under the water, the smoke was rising. They reached the bottom, and went through the gate.

The flooded heaven was different. When they had been there before, the space had been eerie, but it wasn't threatening. Now though, touches of dark red tinted the clouds, and the water was dark, murky, cloudy. Filled with ashes. The platforms, that had formed a clear path before, were now swaying, in movement. Carefully, jumping over gaps, climbing pillars, they advanced to reach the Dust.

Overall, they were the one that had changed the most. Whereas the Dust had been formless, unspecific, they were now shaped like a human heart, its surface covered in wings the color of dried blood. A certain radiance was emerging from behind, and cross-like spears were drawing a dark blood from the heart. The ashen smoke was coming from the heart.

"Dust ?" called out Melissa, her voice flimsy. "You... finally came..." answered the Dust, with a whispy voice coming from far, far away. "Give me... the swords..." it ordered.
-The, the swords have been fused. There is only one sword now." answered Jhin, like you would talk to a senile old hag.
-Fused... ? I remember something like that...
-What... what are you doing ?" exclaimed Melissa, shaking.

"Hm ? Oh sorry. Almost got lost for a bit," the Dust answered with their usual voice "I am in the final stretch of my plan. For that I need the last sword. This is for the good of everyone."

"What plan ?"

"I guess you won't be making it out of here anyway, so I might as well indulge a little and explain. Over the last two centuries, I learned something. I learned how to make a ghost."

❉

"To make a ghost, you must kill something with fire. When a living being burns alive, its soul is also burnt, and the ashes that result make a ghost. But such a ghost is weak, and cannot have an impact on reality. To make a ghost corporeal, you have to mix the ashes with water.

"Two hundred years ago, a gigantic explosion reduced a majority of the angels to ashes. Over the following centuries, the angel land in which the ashes resided filled with water. Over the following centuries, the ghost that was inside developed.

"I learned something else, over these years. It's that ghosts have seen beyond. They have seen death, experienced it. They have seen that death... is peace. Calm. But they have been brought back to reality. And they suffer, like everything else in the world. But they know what it's like.

"Ghosts seek one thing. They only want one thing. To reach that peace. And the only way to reach it... is to destroy everything. Not just destroy, but annihilate. Reduce everything to nothingness.

"After We're done, not even dust will remain."

❉

That wouldn't do. How can you protect a world when it doesn't exist ? Melissa, without warning, shot the heart. It blew apart, but the dust converged again. Jhin rushed up close, and punched it with great strength as soon as it reformed.

But the wisps of ash converged and coalesced again. Formless.

Melissa shot constructs at the heart. It blew apart, but reformed easily. It seemed to always reform in the same place, so Jhin got an idea.

He rushed to the heart, and unleashed a strong crack in reality. Melissa understood and launched a giant construct at it. The cloud of dust blew away in a very large circle. Jhin rushed to where the cloud would reform, but wasn't fast enough. The cloud reformed around his arm that wasn't holding the sword.

He felt a sharp pain. Their shoulder escaped the grasp of the cloud, and he tried to grab Deicide with both hands. He couldn't. He tried to launch a construct with their free hand. He couldn't. He looked at their shoulder.

Nothing. Not even their sleeve. He collapsed. Melissa rushed in, but the veil shrouded Jhin's body like claws protecting a prey.

❉

Jhin opened his eyes. All around, there was darkness, and an ashen, strangling smell. A smell like something old that couldn't let go. Like an old grudge. Do you see now ? The smell shifted, going from an old grudge to an unshattering pride. Jhin felt as if their body was floating in water. In a deep, deep lake. Do you remember ? Images flooded his mind.

Images of the sky, a deep blue dotted with clouds. Wings on either side, pushing forward. Of a forest in winter, black and white trunks and the white-blue-white snow on the ground. Monochrome streaks on a monochrome ground.

Of countless bodies, bodies of light and wings, all skewered on deep lances. Of the forest, black ashen trunks on a grey-white-grey ground. Not snow, but cinders.

Images of flames and blood. Fear, terror. We shall not perish. We shall survive and overcome. The darkness lit up, illuminated by a great net. To survive, we must destroy all that threatens us.

And we did.

Flames, blood, flowing in the streets. A hole in the universe the size of a desert. The moon distorted in all directions by waves from all dimensions. Great towers between worlds, funneling souls.

And even in our ranks, they fear. They flee. We catch them or kill them. The Great One fled. They bait us, in our own domain, in our testing field. We catch the Great One back. We make them pay. A great white light from the heavens. They shall pay. They shall pay. We will protect what is ours and destroy what hates us.

Do you not agree, Jhin ? After all of this, do you see how we thought we were righteous ?

But then, we died. We saw the great beyond. We saw the nothingness. After life, there is nothing. The void. Not even souls to think with. Nothing. Forever. This, is the greatest peace. Death. We were brought back. Our eternity shattered back into the eternal suffering.

We want the best for everyone. We want everyone, everything in this world to reach this peace. This nothingness. We will destroy. Not to protect what we don't destroy, but to protect what we do destroy.

Do you understand ?

❉

Yes, Jhin understood. But didn't agree. To destroy everything at once was an impossible act. In the end, the very act of destruction would bring about war. Instead, you should protect what you wanted to protect. Jhin vowed that he, would bring peace. He would protect the world, and destroy what wanted to destroy it.

The Dust stared at Jhin, tears in its eyes. Was it wrong again ? It had vowed not to falter, it had vowed to accomplish its end. But now it couldn't. Was destroying everything only going to cause more pain ? Yes, it was undeniable.

It was laughable they had ever thought otherwise. Of course, getting caught up in such a war would only accelerate the cycle, and not stop it. Nothing could stop it.

❉

Melissa was banging on the black veil. The Dust had completely stopped after swallowing Jhin, and had closed off completely. Deicide was still inside, in Jhin's hand. But then, the veil began to disperse.

Jhin was laying on the stone, in a puddle of their own blood. His left arm was missing.

4.25 ❉ Sacred forest

At the southern end of Masuli, facing the western sea, a small islet protruded off of the coast. This small islet was the one on which Ubu had lowered the Ark, after Event Zero. It was the sacred place of the cult of Ubu, and access to the holy city was heavily restricted. Around the border of the city, a large slum had accumulated, populated by followers hoping to one day be granted access to the city.

Melissa and Jhin were approaching the slum. They could see it from afar, smells of trash, oils, frying, food, people, sweat, piss. It was filled with people, and with shops. Some selled food, others raw produce, others fabric and clothes.

They got further and further inside the makeshift city, and eventually they reached the center. Or at least, the closest point to it. A tall metallic fence topped off with black spears surrounded a forest. On the other side, the forest was dense. Just a few meters away and the visibility was completely blocked off.

They went around the fence, and reached the gate. As they tried to go through, two men in rusty armor holding rusted spears appeared. "And where do you think you're going ? To get through you'll have to pay us." Something from far away in the forest arrived. "No, seriously, everyone here wants to enter but you can't come in unless you pay. Ubu needs your money, you know."

An angel appeared. "WE HAVE TOLERATED YOU LONG ENOUGH, GATE DWELLERS. YOU WILL CEASE YOUR FAKE DUTIES." The man fell to the ground, and the angel, in a single slice of the black sword it bore, cut the sword and the man's arm in half in the length.

While the angel was busy butchering the man, Melissa and Jhin hurried inside.

❉

The forest itself was dark and grim. While the forest they had landed in was dense, it was still light enough, like a forest that didn't hate you. A forest that tolerated you. No, this forest was trying to make you trip, to hurt you. It grew around you, suffocating you in its pride.

Along the path, sometimes ruins peaked out of the growth. Some belonged probably to habitations, others probably to religious edifices. All had been built in white stone, and their intricate carvings had been rubbed off by time.

They felt watched. In the dark vegetation, hiding spots from which you could spy were plenty. They kept watch, but everytime they investigated a rustle, it was always a bird or small animal. They advanced carefully, feeling like prey.

The forest was thinning out. They weren't out yet, but didn't have a long time to go. Behind them, they heard a noise. They turned around suddenly, and except for a fugitive shadow saw nothing. They went back to where the shadow had been. Again, a noise behind them. And again, a fugitive shadow. Whatever was watching them was playing, like a cat with a mouse.

Jhin stayed in place while Melissa went to investigate. The dark shadow appeared in between the two of them. It was a figure like a black wolf, save for its head, which was shaped like a rifle. Its long, stringy tail ended with a reticle. It quickly assumed a battle position and shot toward Jhin. Deicide quickly jumped from his back to the front and blocked the shot.

Melissa ran to the wolf, but it had already disappeared. She looked around. The wolf could be everywhere. Leaves rustled, foliage shook. Anxious, she spoke. "Who are you ?" The wolf had to be an ideal.

"Me ? Teeheehee. Oh you. Of course you wouldn't know. You haven't searched anything about your foes ?" The voice, a playful, kind of condescending voice, had come from everywhere around. Melissa shook her head. "Then I'll tell you ! teeheehee...

"Just after Ubu's ark landed, the followers tried to start rebuilding. But they were so laughably weak and ridiculous that I came forward. I'm the hunter, Ideal of the hunt. I agreed for Ubu to vassalize me. Ubu also made two other entities that built shelter and grew crops.

"We're not needed anymore tho. The two others have gone dormant in this forest but I'm still around. I don't really care what you do too. As long as you don't destroy the capital. So with that, peace~~"

The voice had stopped. The rustling stopped as well, and for what it meant, the forest was a bit kinder.

4.26 ❉ God of the modern world

The holy capital of the cult of Ubu, the most important city in the world, a sacred place where the world's rebirth began anew, was in ruins. Buildings had been toppled over left and right, and the inhabitants of the holy city wandered haggardly among the ruins, an empty look on their face, barely aware of their own existence. A sickly white fog covered the city.

To the end of the city opposite to the entrance, a tower rose, its end hidden in the clouds. They went toward the tower, determined.

The tower was a tall, thin, inverted pyramid. It stretched high above the clouds, the top lost in it. A few meters above the ground, an opening in the tower served as a door. Large stone stairs went up to the opening, like stairs to a titanic temple.

❉

They went up the stairs, but a great bright light flashed behind them when they reached the top. Melissa had just the time to turn around, when Jhin jumped toward her and pushed her down a few steps. Just as she did, a great beam of light shot out from the ground where she had been standing. Jhin had also narrowly dodged it.

Behind them, an angel was floating. It was a great angel, tall of at least two dozen meters, its numerous wings arranged in a symmetrical design. At the core of the design, a small sphere colored by the color of the end of the world held two fetuses, inverse of one another, like a biteless ouroboros. The Metatron.

The sphere within started to shine bright again, and circles of light appeared at Jhin and Melissa's feet. Quickly, both rushed out of the circles, and just as they did, pillars of light emerged where they had been standing.

Melissa had watched the Metatron intensely during the exchange, and saw that two of its wings had disappeared then appeared again. She held out her hand, and Deicide came in it. The circle appeared at her feet, and just as before, the Metatron's wing disappeared and appeared again, blinking in and out. She readied herself, stepped out of the circle, and just as the pillar of light appeared, she sliced it in one motion.

The Metatron cried out, in a baby-like wail made by a hundred thousand babies in unison. Only one of its wings appeared again. The other was truncated, white smoke bleeding out. A few dozen circles appeared near Melissa, and one after another, she sliced the pillars one after another. One after another, the Metatron's wings disappeared, replaced by white smoke.

The angel recoiled. Half of its wings were missing. It coiled the wings it had left around the fetuses, and a warm glow came out of the resulting sphere. Melissa let the sword lift her in the air, and she stabbed it deep, up to the hilt. A sharp ray of light came out of the wound, then another, and another, and countless other, and finally the Metatron blew up in a mass of smoke.

❉

They went inside the tower. The space inside was deep and wide. It was devoid of form, devoid of shape. It also felt very familiar. They floated to the top. The more they rose, the more the smoke around them seemed more and more like mold. A light appeared on top, and a platform of light appeared beneath their feet. Then, they noticed they were at the top of the tower. Stone walls slanted to form the inside of a wide and low pyramid. Embedded in the ceiling, large blocks of glass let the sunlight in.

Moss covered the floors and the walls, as well as streaks of white filaments. Mold. Mold covered the floor. And in the middle, sitting under the apex of the pyramid, a black icosahedron. The shape was about 3 to 4 meters tall. It stood impassively. Jhin got close to it and tapped the 20 sided shape with Deicide.

A great voice rang out from it. A voice that commanded respect and awe. A voice that seemed to love you for yourself, but also to reprimand you for your sins. A voice that knew all about you, from whom you could hide nothing about you.

The voice of Ubu.

"HERE YOU ARE... HEROES OF THE MALL. I HAVE WAITED FOR YOU, HAVE LET YOU IN MY DEN.
-Why let your enemy into your own den ? That seems a bit... shortsighted" remarked Melissa.
-I COULDN'T LET MY GUESTS OF HONOR IN THE RAIN."

The sun cut a delicate lattice of shadows on the floor. Spores danced in the light.

"BUT PLEASE, DO TAKE A SEAT. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT DRIVES YOU."

Melissa thought about it. She didn't really know anymore. She was a bit tired of always fighting. She wanted to settle down, maybe at one of the fallen's farm. The flower farm was the one she had the best memory of. But before she could talk, Jhin stepped forward.

"We... We have travelled this world. We have seen everything. We have seen the ugly, we have seen the beautiful. We know how this world works. We also know how this world worked before. We lived there, in the past, and we were robbed of it.

"And we think... that what this world needs isn't another war. What the world needs, what everyone needs, is acceptance. It's to be given the time to mourn the world before and to rebuild the world after.

"And so, that's what we want. We want to let the world rebuild itself at its own pace."

Ubu was silent. Melissa took that chance to slash the Icosahedron in half. She felt the blade cut it, she felt it falling apart, but when she stepped back, it was whole again.

"I SEE. AND THAT WORLD WOULD NOT NEED AN OVERSEER. DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT THE WORLD AS LOST AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, COULD REBUILD ITSELF WITHOUT GUIDANCE ?"

A rumble shook the room. The floor fell apart, and the walls too, like pieces of cardboard. The space around them shifted. The Icosahedron floated high, and fell apart, revealing its contents. Within it, spurning mold was squelching, rotting the world around. All around, the smoke took shape like mold. And then, figures emerged.

"AS YOU CAN SEE WE ARE COMPLETELY OPPOSITE. I AGREE THAT WE SHOULD LET THE WORLD MOURN, AND I HAVE DONE SO FOR THE PAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS. BUT, REBUILDING IS NECESSARY. LEFT ON ITS OWN, THIS WORLD WITH ROT AWAY, DROWNING IN ITS OWN TEARS."

The anatomy of mold is interesting. Often believed to be very simple life forms, molds still present an anatomy more complex than a shapeless cellular mass. Rhizomes attach the mold to the substrate, be it a surface, other molds, or a biofilm. Then, the hyphae swath around, composed of cylindrical cells in continuity with one another. These filaments will form the real "body" of the mold. Finally, when the conditions are right, the reproductive organs develop. These organs take the shape of small spheres lifted up above the hyphae by the filaments. The spheres contain spores that, when ripe, will spread around, carried by the wind.

Just as Ubu was a mold, it too had a rhizome, the ark, grounding it to reality. It too, had a swath of hyphae, its dear followers and it itself. And it too, had a way to spread itself around, to create more hyphae : the angels.

All around them, in the mold-smoke, high structures rose. Shaky pillars of mold, with a translucent sphere at the top.

"Wrong. Just like a widow eventually dries her tears after losing her lover, the world will stand up."

In each translucent sphere, high above the ground, at the ideal height to be carried by the wind, were embryos. Shapes of embryos, with half formed wings, half formed eyes, swishing around in the rot juice.

"BUT, JUST LIKE SOMEONE WHO HAS LOST HALF OF THEIR BODY NEEDS HELP TO REEDUCATE, I WILL GUIDE THE WORLD."

Melissa threw Deicide in the air. It flew high, and then, like a bolt of black lightning, it cut through multiple of the angel eggs. Their contents spilled on the floor, like otherworldly viscera. Jhin took a deep breath, and let a wave in all directions, then at the crest of the wave, like seafoam, cracks in reality ripped and destroyed the filaments around them.

Melissa charged an I.T construct, but just as she was ready, someone grabbed onto her. Then someone else, and someone else. She looked over her shoulder, and saw a crowd of followers, all dressed in the clothes of followers, but with mold growing on their face, on their arms, on their legs, on their bodies. People, who once had been like her, but who now had forfeited everything to Ubu.

"LOOK BEHIND, DO YOU NOT SEE MY BELOVED FOLLOWERS ? DO YOU NOT SEE HOW HAPPY THEY ARE, HAVING FORFEITED THEIR ALL TO ME ?" Ubu had spoken from everywhere. Melissa could not believe it. She was disgusted by Ubu. She would destroy it. Jhin jumped behind her, and Deicide flew down to their hand, and with a slice and a wave, the crowd fell to the ground. Jhin ran toward them.

"These... people are barely conscious. Can you really call them happy ? Can you really even call them people ?" Jhin ran toward the crowd, before swerving at the last moment, Deicide in hand. The crowd followed. "I RETURN THE QUESTION TO YOU, SCORPION. I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MALL. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE."

Jhin jumped up high, and with the sword stabbed some of the spores. They switched around in mid air, and just before crashing made a downward wave, slowing their descent. Someone tried to grab him, he shook them off and started running. "Then you should know what we did. And honestly, if given the choice ? We would do it again."

He jumped again, and slashing Deicide in the air, prolonged tears in reality toward the eggs, like arcing electricity. "AGAIN AND AGAIN, YOU TRY TO DESTROY THESE. BUT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ?" Jhin fell to the ground, into the crowd. He couldn't move, grabbed from everywhere. Deicide was taken from their hand, and thrown away. "NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, DESTROYING UBU ENTAILS DESTROYING MUCH MORE THAN ALL OF THESE REPLACEABLE SPORES. NOW, SURRENDER."

"I may not be in a good position, but she is."

Melissa had been focusing during all that. She had been focusing on one single I.T construct, which had grown huge. Its blue light flickered, lighting the mold a bright cyan. "HUH ?"

She sent the construct on Deicide, which had risen high in the air. And, resonating with a deep sound, a blue light engulfed everything.

❉

Ubu was laying on the ground, a putrid and amorphous mass of mold. They approached the mass. "YOU... CANNOT WIN..." Ubu declared with a tired voice. "I... HAVE ALREADY FUSED WITH THE EARTH... I'M NOW... STRONGER... THAN EVEN TH-"

Melissa stabbed the mass with Deicide.

❉

They walked out of the tower. They had spent the night within. The fog around the city had lifted. Far on the horizon, in front of them, the sun was rising.

4.27 ❉ Solar

The people of the sun fortress had begun rebuilding. There were a few survivors who had managed to evacuate, but four fifths of the city's population had been killed by the Metatron. The rest was silent. They were still searching the ruins for bodies.

Jhin and Melissa still felt guilty for what had happened. They couldn't stop the machine in time, and now others had paid the price. Not them, but others had reaped the consequences for their actions. People who had just wanted to live.

Not wanting to be noticed, they inched their way through the ruins to find what they wanted. After a bit of moving rubble around, they found it. Stairs going down in an underground tunnel. They went down.

This was the solar underground. The only way to communicate with the sun. After great efforts, the inhabitants of the fortress had achieved a great technological feat : a satellite orbiting the sun.

The underground was square. It was dark and damp, its stone walls carved with symbols and stories told by the people above. After some time, they reached the end of the corridor. They arrived in a large circular room. The walls were all carven with stories relating to the sun. In the middle was a computer terminal and a metallic disc linked to the computer by wires.

❉

The solar satellite had a strange atmosphere. It was built with corridors curving, following the curve of the sun. Hallways perpendicular to the curve linked them together. The floor was tiled in a black and white checkered pattern, and a grey fake ceiling loomed overhead. Plexiglas windows ran the length of the halls. They advanced in the weird and strange space.

The sky beyond the windows was clear. It was perfectly black, and was it not for the glare of the sun, it would be dotted by countless stars. The temperature rose as they approached the observation room, despite the remarkable insulation. It felt like a school corridor.

Eventually they reached the end room. It was in the middle of the arc closest to the sun. A round room with windows stretching from floor to ceiling toward the sun. The windows had a special coating that dimmed the sun's light somewhat.

From this close, the sun was imposing. It filled the windows, showing only a minuscule part of its whole.

Just now, they realized the absurdity of the situation. Puny flesh beings, two puny flesh beings, and a metal stick, against one, giant star. Against something which had lived for billions of years. Something that had given life to the world for eons.

How... how did one even fight the sun ?

A strong voice rang in their head. "So you did come, in the end. I saw you destroying Ubu. Great work."

"Are you... the Sun ?
-Yes, the very. I know who you are. Since your birth, I have watched you intentely, just like I watched everything that exists.
-Were you not given consciousness just under two hundred years ago ?
-I suppose so. But I do have memories of everything I have witnessed.
-And your conclusion ?"

A pause.

"At first, I was interested. Life was very interesting to watch. Countless beings were born, and died, all in endless evolution. Then, the creators arrived. While they created all of this world, I still cannot remove my contempt for them. They spread their seeds, and started the tribes. And now, see what happened. Countless wars started, all destroying more and more.

"But, I realize, even if they hadn't done that, nothing would have changed. War would still exist, because of the primates. They changed, and changed so much that they dissociated themselves from their own source. They began to destroy the world around them for their own benefits, and to destroy each other. Humanity had chosen the path of destruction since the very beginning.

"And over time, since the event in which the primates died, I have gained sentience. I have grown contempt, hatred, anger, wrath. I hate humanity, and the Argillacreantis, and the Ideals, and the Pennalegis, and every tribe.

"All I want, is to go back. I want to go back to how the world was before. When it was just me, unthinking, content, watching life develop below. Without any war. Without any hatred."

"So," started Melissa, "you want to remain as an impartial observer. You want to just watch the world without interfering. Is that right ?" The sun confirmed.

"But then what if even after you create that world and achieve that state again, wars start again ? What then ? Will you just destroy over and over ? Isn't that interfering ?

"If the world chooses a path, you can't decide to steer it again. You say you want to remain as a simple observer, and yet so far all you did was simply... to interfere. To steer."

The sun remained silent. Both Jhin and Melissa were sweating, their throats tied. They remembered the world below. They remembered the trees of the forest in the time before dawn. They remembered the peaceful villages. The wildflowers dotting the steppe. The white desert dust. The ruins of the city. The azure waters. They remembered the people. Those who had hated them, those they had hated, those who had helped them, those they had helped.

Deep down, since they had entered the solar underground... they knew. They wouldn't be granted a return trip.

This was the end.

They had to make it count.

They realized what they already knew, and put themselves in position.

Melissa held Deicide toward the sun. She and Jhin infused the blade over and over with constructs. They filled it with energy. The blade was a ship, a ship that contained their wishes for the future.

They would send it to the sun's core, and there it would destroy it. "I see," said the sun, a final farewell. "It was good knowing you."

Melissa and Jhin looked at each other. In the strong and stark light of the sun, the shadows on their faces were exaggerated. They smiled.

A black sword against a white orb.

A white sail against an even brighter light.

The window shattered.

4.28 ❉ Legend of the two stars

There were lots of legends in this world. Legends of before, legends of a fall, legends of after, and legends of the end. Some of these legends shared some characters. Many had a god represented by a dice, or a star represented by a candle.

They had fought for a long time, and had defeated the dice and the candle. But eventually, even some things were lost.

Lost to time, for example, were the three swords and the one sword with which the warriors had fought.

Lost to time as well, were their wishes. Few remembered why they had fought so many. Lost to time, were many of their acquaintances. Lost to time was the ghost they convinced to stop existing. Lost to time, was the unknown one, who had become one with the depth.

And lost to time, were the final actions of the dice. Seeing its imminent defeat, the dice had sent a part of itself down to the earth. Some things would never become forgotten, and one of these was the kind and benevolent earth. But, the dice had not succeeded.

It wanted to become one with the earth, into a being more powerful than the candle and the warriors, but it couldn't. It was overwhelmed, and what it had done for the good of those it loved failed. Had it succeeded, the earth would have been forever kind to those who loved it.

Lost to time as well, was the sacrifice of the candle. It knew what would happen. It knew that it too, would eventually die. If not now, it would have died to the Forgotten Sword the warriors had lodged in its entrails sooner or later.

So, as a gesture of kindness, it died. The candle decided to die a peaceful death. It had seen all of the deeds of the warriors, and it knew that for them to accept death, it had been their final wish, the thing they wanted the most. So it accepted and honored it.

The candle died slowly. Instead of a single deflagration that would have burnt the planet it loved so, it died slowly, quietly extinguishing.

It wanted to give the planet another chance.

Lost to time, were all these deeds, all these actions. No one would remember them, but, as forgotten as they would be, no one could have ignored their consequences.