Corona needed some time to think. Luckily she had access to a mindscape she could spend a significant amount of time in while letting only a second pass on the outside. She used her empathy powers to tap into Raging Sights’ mental state rather than letting herself watch Kars’ monologue.
Raging Sights’ mind was never as full or as interesting as most others – like all TSAB-style devices, the intelligence within was only partial. Raging Sights had emotions, memories, and connections, but not as strong as what would normally be called a ‘person’, and as a result its mindscape was blank, fuzzy, and rarely had much in it that Corona herself wasn’t already thinking about.
Which meant she and Raging Sights could focus.
“Right, so, the Infinity Gauntlet is complete and has access to all the power in the universe. Known weaknesses: it only operates by motion of the hand and does not function outside this universe.”
Corona felt a ripple in the mindscape, not all that surprised to see Doctor Strange walk in.
“Good to see you’re putting that astral projection to use,” Corona said.
“Is there a plan yet?” he asked.
“Just outlining weaknesses. Physical motion is out, because Kars can just overpower us by sheer strength. That leaves the fact that the Infinity Gauntlet won’t work outside this universe.”
“I’m sure the Living Tribunal won’t mind a temporary removal…” Doctor Strange said, furrowing his brow. “Raging Sights, do we have time to create a portal?”
“Yes,” Raging Sights decreed.
“Chances of him falling all the way through it?” Corona asked.
“Near zero.”
“Crud,” Corona muttered, hand to her chin. “What about reality alteration spells around the Infinity Gauntlet?”
“Lack of time and unknown effectiveness.”
“It looks as if he’s only going to wipe out Jotaro first,” Doctor Strange said. “Do we have time after that?”
“Yes.”
“Agh!” Corona said, facepalming. “Kars has a horn! He’ll sense if we start doing any uber-magic that would be capable of altering reality! …Where’s Eve when you need her?”
“Seraphim would be quite useful,” Doctor Strange admitted.
“Mmmm, we’ve got to be able to do something!”
“Well, he currently has the thing I use to manipulate time in that Gauntlet, so there goes the simple answer.”
Corona curled her fist. “What if I just punch him really, really hard?”
“Zero percent chance of an effect,” Raging Sights reported.
Corona sighed. “Flash-portal everyone to another universe?”
“Best idea so far. Wrought with chances for Kars to destroy everything, but it works.” Doctor Strange folded his arms. “I can provide distraction magics to draw his attention.”
“You sure?”
“You’re more familiar with interdimensional magic than me, and you have the computer crystal in your hand.”
Corona nodded. “Thank you, Strange.”
“It’s the best I can do.”
“We need to move – time does not stop while we’re in here.”
Doctor Strange nodded, turning to leave – but something stopped them.
A message written out in text appeared in front of them.
>Do not act, heroes. Help has arrived.
“…Help?” Corona asked. “From who?”
>The Xeelee.
Corona recognized that name. “…Xeelee? As in the Class 1 Xeelee?
There was no further response from the mysterious text.
“Know anything about them?” Doctor Strange asked.
“Class 1. Uh… I think they’re really into technology…?”
“So nothing?”
“It’s not like information about them is exactly easy to come by. The Living Tribunal is the only one who’s actually sat down and talked to us about themselves.”
Doctor Strange furrowed his brow. “…I say we take the chance. Let them do what they want. See what happens.”
“I’m just worried about why they’re helping us,” Corona said, “Class 1 civilizations never have any reason to deal with anything this low…”
“We have yet to see them actually do anything. All we saw was a text message.” He waved his hands. “Talk in a few minutes, unless we’re all dead.”
“Same.”
Corona allowed herself out of the mindscape, watching time flow at a natural rate.
“Die,” Kars said, preparing to snap his fingers.
Then the Infinity Gauntlet punched Kars in the face.
“NANI!?” Kars shouted, staring at the Infinity Gauntlet. “What foul trick is this?”
Jotaro, for once, looked dumbfounded.
The Infinity Gauntlet flew off Kars’ hand. Then it pointed at him, the Infinity Stones glowing brightly. Raging Sights told Corona that there were many invisible wires surrounding the Infinity Gauntlet, coming from many other universes simultaneously.
Kars knew the Infinity Gauntlet could kill him in an instant. But he wasn’t going to just let it happen. He summoned his Stand and threw it at the Infinity Gauntlet. The colorful gems used their power to push the Stand back.
There was only one problem.
You Can’t Stop The Rock.
It plowed right through the Infinity Gauntlet, shattering the golden frame that held the Infinity Stones together. The Stones themselves bounced off the Rock, flying in many different directions within the room.
Kars laughed. “Not even the power of Infinity can stand up to m-”
Superman took the opportunity, driving Kars facefirst through the table with a punch. The pillar man stood up faster than anyone could react. He didn’t bother to monologue – he pulled back his arms, creating sharks out of his fingers. He pushed forward…
…And the invisible wires stuck him in place. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak.
“What…?” Superman said, baffled.
“Everybody stop!” Corona and Doctor Strange shouted, making sure no other heroes would try to do anything.
The heroes glanced from Corona to Doctor Strange, silence filling the room. Iron Man sighed. “Which one of you is going to explain what’s going on?”
“I am,” Corona and Doctor Strange said at the same time. This prompted both of them to sigh overdramatically.
As it turned out, they didn’t need to explain anything. The six Infinity Stones collected together in a pile, creating a holographic display out of their rainbow light. Text scrolled by in front of all their eyes.
> We are the Xeelee. In the process of a larger-scale operation, we noticed your difficulty with the Arcei. Kars was one aspect of this problem. The Xeelee have judged Kars guilty and deserving of a fate worse than death. His sentence is a full year of biological experimentation prior to execution.
“Not complaining,” Jotaro said, grabbing his hat. “Bastard deserves worse.”
The text continued to scroll while Jotaro talked. > Now that the issue has been resolved, it is time to take the next step. Corona Shimmer, we request a time be set aside for any relevant Merodi Universalis Overheads to listen to our report on the Arcei situation.
Corona blinked. “What did you do to the Arcei…?”
> A topic that will be discussed at the meeting. It is best to explain it once to those who need to know.
Corona pulled out her phone. “Alright… I’ll say the Xeelee want to talk to them. Do you have a preferred location or anything?”
> Negative. Our only request is that it be held in a location with a digital interface. It is a simpler task to display upon a screen than directly into minds or through cosmic powers.
“Gotcha. …Do you have a name?”
> You are speaking to a collective of local Xeelee consciousnesses designated Down-32,302,134.
“I’ll just call you the Xeelee,” Corona said, dialing Eve’s number. “Hey, Eve? The Class 1 Xeelee want to talk. They won’t tell me much besides they want a meeting with you and any interested Overheads in a room with a screen and that they’ve done something to the Arcei to ‘help’, I think. …I thought the same thing.” Corona hung up. “She says she’ll get it ready. Until then, I’ve got a few questions to ask if you don’t mind.”
> We do mind. It is best to explain things only once. We will return once the meeting is ready.
“How will we contact you?”
> You won’t need to.
In an instant, Kars was gone. The Infinity Stones stopped projecting, becoming the inanimate objects they had been before.
The Flash blinked. “I guess we’re splitting them up then?”
“Certainly solves that problem,” Spider-man admitted.
Batman produced a specialized net and tossed it on Aquaman, wrapping him up. “Do you have a cure for vampirism?”
Corona blinked. “I… think so. I can take him to one of our hospitals.” She sighed, putting a hand to the bridge of her nose. “Though right now I’m a bit scatterbrained because of all that just happened.”
The Jojos just stared at where Kars had been, all five of them unsure of how to think about what had just happened.
They had lost.
And then they were saved by something they had scarcely even heard of before.
It just felt wrong. This wasn’t the way things were meant to be.
~~~
Eve had made the calls quickly. The respective overheads of six of the twelve public Divisions determined they cared enough to be there personally, bringing together Relations, Expeditions, Military, Expansion, Research, and Aid. Eve, Renee, O’Neill, and Maud were still the Overheads their Divisions had had since their inception, but Research and Aid had changed leadership over the years. Research was run by a Fire Nation elder by the name of Nora, while Aid was headed by the Binary Lexa from Mistress Luna’s world.
The six of them sat down in a gray room, expecting to speak amongst themselves a bit before the meeting started. But the moment Renee sat in her seat, the screens on the walls around them blinked to life and began displaying text.
> Overheads of Merodi Universalis, we are the Xeelee, a Class 1 Society based within the parts of the E-Sphere farthest from your relative location. Upon the conclusion of your recent activities involving the fall of the Collector, we decided it would be worthwhile to send a long-range reconnaissance presence to get a fuller picture of who you were and what you stand for. We are glad to announce we approve of your society’s values, goals, and knack for progress.
“We are humbled by your approval,” Eve said, bowing her head – glad the Xeelee were using text to communicate rather than voice.
> We noticed your society struggling greatly with an internal threat from the Arcei of Lai and determined that removing the complication from your society would serve as an initial gift from us to you.
“How exactly did you fix the problem?” Nora asked, adjusting her glasses with her mechanical arm.
> We removed the arcs from all Arcei in a single instant, with the exception of one individual whose biology would not survive the removal of the arcs: Starcei. Without previously existing arcs, the art of transforming Runes to arcs is now lost to all but Starcei herself, and a scan of her mental state has proven she had no desire to perpetuate what she originally brought about. The Arcei will no longer attempt to destroy Stars or harvest Runes from Lai.
“That’s taking away their cultural identity!” Lexa blurted.
> The likelihood of their society completely vanishing due to this action has been deemed low given the cultural protection laws put in place by your Cultural Division, whose Overhead is not present.
“I didn’t expect this to be about the protection of an interior culture, I didn’t put that on the memo,” Eve said. “Does she need to be here?”
> Unlikely. Our projections suggest the Cultural Division will not need any outside assistance to ensure the Arcei retain culture without the need to destroy Runes. As a people they will continue to exist. If disaster strikes we may provide further aid in this regard.
Renee nodded slowly. “Have you taken any other actions?”
> Merely captured any militant Arcei and sent them to your containment facilities, with the exception of the few who were deemed too dangerous to do so with, such as Kars. His vampire-Arcei were cured of their vampirism the moment we determined they were infected with such a thing.
O’Neill folded his arms. “And were there any casualties?”
> One Arcei suffered a heart attack from shock. She has since been revived, but has suffered mental damage. We would need to upload her to a mainframe to cure it, and our policies dictate we hold off uploading non-digitized beings in cases like this.
“…You can fix Coming Back Wrong?” Eve asked, eyes widening.
> We apologize if we gave you that impression. She did not Come Back Wrong, her mind was just damaged in the act of death. The is no cure for the condition, merely workarounds that involve cloning and soul creation. The original being is always lost in that case.
Nora nodded. “As we expected.”
Eve cleared her throat. “While we thank you for your immense aid in our crisis, we would have preferred you told us what you were doing prior to doing it.”
> It was noted that your own policies would prevent such action from being taken by an internal or external force. You would have refused the assistance if you were unable to be certain of the effects. You may now rest easy knowing everything will turn out for the best.
O’Neill narrowed her eyes. “We’d like to make that judgment for ourselves, thank you.”
> As expected. We will wait patiently for you to make a decision in that regard. However, we would like to make our offer during this meeting.
“What offer?” Renee asked.
> We do much the same things you do as a society – explore, learn of new nations, and assist them where it is deemed necessary. Your Arcei problem was simply the most prominent, we saw numerous other issues we could have rendered obsolete with our assistance. In the future, we wish to assist you with the rest of these problems as well.
“Such as…?” Maud asked.
> We can track down Brutalight and any of her escapees and take them off your hooves. We can ensure the University does not continue engaging in its thieving practices on lesser universes. We can provide you with known methods to stop the internal infighting on your Earth worlds. We can even offer protection from powers such as the Starcross Society, should they determine they want to attack you.
The six Overheads stared at the text on the screen in shock.
“…What do you want in return?” Eve asked after a moment of silence.
> Nothing obligating. We will provide this assistance so long as you accept it. We simply ask that you continue to progress yourselves through technology. At the point you perfect digital uploading, we will extend an invitation to join the Xeelee.
This prompted another moment of silence.
Nora coughed. “This is a bit much to take in.”
Eve nodded. “We will have to deliberate a decision of this magnitude with all the Overheads.”
> Keep in mind that we are only offering aid now, with hopes that, in the future, you consider adding your song to ours. The latter part does not require a decision at this juncture, and likely will not for many decades or centuries.
“It still requires deliberation.”
> Very well. Our presence at this meeting is no longer required. We will know when you wish to resume in earnest.
The screens all went dead, leaving the six Overheads alone with a momentous decision.
“Let’s all take a break,” Renee suggested. “Talk to our advisors, spread the word around to those who need to know, and consider every angle. I instinctively don’t trust this.”
“It’s almost exactly what we’d do if we were in their position though,” Nora pointed out. “We’re not exactly in the habit of making sure we ask before solving problems.”
“We’re not always right to do that,” Eve reminded her. “The case-by-case way we live by has produced many problems. More good results than bad, mind you, but it’s not a perfect system. What we need to ask is if this will end up as one of those bad situations.”
“Or if they’re trying to take advantage of us for something,” O’Neill said. “I’m calling Valentine and the Grand Secretariat, see if they’ve gotten any offers like this.”
Eve nodded. “Everyone, break. We’ll meet back here once we’ve made a decision and the Xeelee are ready to listen. …Which is apparently all the time.” She rubbed her head. “I feel like a shiny bug in a zoo right now.”
“Good description,” Lexa said with a laugh.
“Thank you.”
~~~
Toph sat in her throne room, Starcei and Lady Rarity sitting in front of her, waiting for a reaction from their Queen.
“I was kinda hoping you two would tell me how I was supposed to feel about this.”
Starcei facehooved and Lady Rarity sighed. “Dear, you’re the Queen. You get to make the decisions.”
“I can’t make a decision if I don’t know what to think, can I?” Toph muttered, tapping her fingers on the armrest of her throne. “I have to make informed decisions.”
“Is there really one to make?” Starcei asked. “Beings far above us decided to be ‘helpful’ and solve a perceived problem. There’s little for you to deal with as a result.”
“I still have to make a speech about it or something and make changes in the current policy. To do that I need to know what I want in the situation.” Her frown deepened. “All I can say for sure right now is that we’ve been robbed of something.”
“It’s nothing more than what we rob of others when we save them,” Lady Rarity reminded her. “We change what was meant to happen.”
Toph nodded slowly. “…Fine, I’m just going to ignore the Xeelee for a moment and talk consequences. The Arcei have no arcs and have no way to get more arcs so long as Starcei doesn’t tell them.”
“I have no intention of creating more Arcei,” Starcei promised. “Or having more children that would require Runes to survive.”
“And because of that, there are no more Star-hunting missions or even missions to take the Runes of Lai. Even better, the most militant and aggressive of the Arcei have been taken care of and dropped right on our doorsteps. Or taken away if they were particularly nasty.” She folded her arms. “And we apparently ‘learned our lesson’ from Siron enough that the Cultural Division will go out of its way to ensure the Arcei won’t lose themselves because of this. How that’ll work I don’t even pretend to understand.”
Starcei cleared her throat. “The ponies who were once Arcei will stay together, practicing the same traditions they have been practicing for eons, with the exception of Rune destruction. They will have lost their unique style of magic, but they will still perform the rituals. They will be a proud people who stand defiant.” Her expression steeled. “Their society will eventually adapt to the new terms of their existence, becoming something new.”
“They’ll lose their culture,” Lady Rarity said.
Starcei shook her head. “Cultures change all the time, Lady Rarity. As I’ve watched my children grow over the eons, I’ve seen them go through many distinct phases. A modern Arcei would not understand an Arcei from three hundred years ago. They aren’t being forced into submission by us, they are being actively protected. …And even if they were being forced to comply, is that such a bad thing?”
“It sits wrong in my mouth,” Toph observed.
“We changed the Gems by force.”
“They were our equals,” Lady Rarity pointed out. “There’s something different about pressuring someone who can resist you when compared to people who have no power.”
“We’re the ones with no power, for once,” Toph realized. “What are we going to do about our culture here?”
“The Xeelee are not our problem,” Lady Rarity reminded her. “That’s for the Overheads to deal with.”
“Are they even a problem though?”
“I don’t know.”
~~~
Eve stared at the fireplace in one of Canterlot’s royal lounges, thinking deeply.
Luna, ruler of almost all Equis Vitis, moved into her view. “You are troubled, Evening.”
“I just realized that everything falls on my shoulders here.”
“You do not stand alone. Your many colleagues are involved in this decision as well.”
“I’m the Relations Overhead, Luna. Most of them will just follow whatever course of action I recommend. There will be a few dissenters, and I’ll listen to them, but this is my area of expertise. Even though I’ve opened it up for everyone to have a say… It will still mostly be my decision. Aid and Culture have nothing to deal with external aid or protecting our culture. They probably will after this is over, but for now… It’s an external presence dealing with us on a large-scale, so I’m the one who knows what to do.”
“And do you?”
“No,” Eve said, shaking her head. “My gut tells me to be defiant and refuse everything on principle. My mind tells me to accept them as they are and take all they have to offer.”
“Do we know if they are who they say they are?” Luna asked.
“We know they can do the things they offered. We also know they offered the Sparkle Census and USM similar deals, though notably not the University… Probably because of their practices.“ She furrowed her brow. “The USM has already outright refused because of their extreme national pride. Sparkle Census is still pending.”
Luna nodded slowly. “So the question is if we accept the offer of help or not… And you have strong feelings both ways.”
“You bet I do.”
There was a knock on the lounge’s entrance. “…Wonder who that could be?” Luna asked.
“Uh… Hey? Eve? You in there?” Corona called from the other side of the door.
“Corona, you’re a princess, you can just walk in,” Luna said. “This is the royal lounge.”
“Oh, right,” Corona opened the door with a bashful smile and closed it behind her. “I don’t exactly hang around here all that often. Excuse me.”
“It is no issue, your service more than makes up for your lack of regal attitude,” Luna said.
“…I feel like that was a thinly veiled insult.”
“Perhaps. But it is not what you are here to talk about.”
“No,” Corona said, sitting down in front of Eve. “I heard what the Xeelee offered you.”
Eve nodded. “Quite the impressive offer, huh? Deal with our big problems, defend us, and eventually adopt us into their fold. Almost an exact mirror of what we give the universes we take a liking to.”
“You need to hear what I found out on Earth MC,” Corona said. “I met the effective Abstract leader.”
Eve blinked. “W-what?”
“The Living Tribunal watches over all Abstract universes, ensuring balance. He told me, among other things, that I couldn’t take the Infinity Gauntlet away and we weren’t allowed to incorporate Earth MC into our fold. But, in the end, he gave me a piece of advice.” She folded her arms. “He said we needed to watch how powerful we were, because there would eventually come a point when we would just crush those below us without trying. He warned us not to become conquerors by friendship.”
“Good advice,” Eve admitted. “That’ll probably push the Lower Society bill into passing.”
Luna pondered this. “That’s the one where we will not be allowed to adopt societies below a certain ‘energy threshold’ into our folds, right?”
Eve nodded. “With what Corona’s just said, I’m certain it will pass now. Tribal societies like the demons will never have access to us or our technology, even if they want it. That line will only go up with time. …But Corona, that’s advice for us. How does that pertain to the Xeelee?”
Corona frowned. “Think about it, Eve. The Xeelee are at the very top. You’ve been talking to a small extension of them that was able to safely remove the arcs from every Arcei across dozens of universes and take control of an Infinity Gauntlet on the side. What if they are the conquerors by friendship? Won’t they destroy us? Do we know if they have a cultural protection program or anything of the sort?”
“I would assume it’s minimal,” Eve said. “Seeing as how part of inclusion in the Xeelee requires perfecting upload technology. I assume this means they exist as a digital society.”
“So if we pursued this and accepted their help what we exist as will soon be unrecognizable to what it is now.”
“But we need to ask ourselves if that is a bad thing,” Luna reminded them. “There are many societies we stick our hooves into and change drastically for the better – think Equis Fallout. Gem Vein. Nobody argues that the changes to those worlds were negative, though in a few cases they brought about unintended side effects.”
“But are the Xeelee objectively better?” Corona asked. “I don’t think so.”
“Digital uploading is a form of immortality,” Eve pointed out.
Corona sighed. “I know. But I’m really close to another solution. It won’t be much longer. Definitely less time than it would take to perfect upload technology.”
“…Gotcha…” Eve shook her head. “I don’t know. This entire thing just feels wrong.”
“Are we certain there’s no ulterior motive?” Luna asked.
“I talked to Nanoha,” Eve said. “She admitted the Xeelee have been known to do this from time to time, though usually a lot closer to their seat of power. It’s a tad unusual they’d go this far out to make an offer.”
“I think they want our power in ka,” Corona said.
“Possibly,” Eve responded. “But that’s just an explanation as to why they came out this far. It doesn’t change the validity of the offer.”
“Let us come at this from a different angle,” Luna said. “Why shouldn’t we accept their offer?”
Eve stared into the fireplace. “…It would eventually take us away from what we are.”
“Which brings us back to ‘is it or is it not better’?” Corona pointed out. “Back to an unanswerable question.”
“There are presumably other reasons we hesitate,” Luna suggested.
“They have too much power,” Corona said. “Way too much. They likely always get what they want just by flaunting it without any effort.”
“You sound like Siron,” Eve pointed out.
Corona blinked. “…Holy Celestia, you’re right.”
“We don’t want to be him,” Eve said. “Power isn’t inherently evil. It clearly breeds vices – as has been seen with most of the other Class 1s – but we shouldn’t hold it against them.” She looked up. “We need to be consistent with ourselves.”
“Consistent?”
“Let’s put ourselves in every position, filling everyone’s shoes,” Eve said. “Think of us as the Xeelee, and the single universes that we give aid to. Let’s imagine how to make the reactions of all three consistent with our current way of life.” She put a hoof to her chin. “I’ve just got to figure out how to do that…”
Corona nodded. “You are the boss here.”
“Thanks for coming, Corona. You too, Luna. You’ve all given me a loooot to think about.” Eve furrowed her brow. “I’m working out what we’re going to do.”
“Is it, by chance, the Third Option?”
“I think so.”
~~~
Giorno and Johnny didn’t stick around after Kars had been defeated – they went home, back to their lives and responsibilities. Jotaro, Jolyne, and Josuke returned to Morioh… To clean up Holy’s house. Everyone else had gone back to Marina and Jotaro’s after the initial reunion.
The reunion had been joyous.
What a dramatic turn of mood this was.
Josuke had started by ‘fixing’ the blood, knowing it would return to whatever morgue Holy’s body was currently sitting in. The act of doing so was too much for him. He broke down, punching a hole in the floor. “WHY!?”
Jolyne latched onto her father, hugging him tight.
“WHY!?” Josuke shouted. “Why did he have to kill her? Why not just take her like all the others? She couldn’t fight! She was no threat! She was just an old woman!”
Jotaro pulled his hat as far down as he could manage, shielding his eyes from visibility. “Because she would hurt the most. And because it was as personal a revenge he could have gotten.”
Josuke turned to glare at Jotaro, fists curled.
“Josuke…” Jolyne warned.
“Don’t you feel anything?” Josuke blurted. “She was your mother! How can you just stand there!?”
“Josuke, stop!” Jolyne called.
“No! I’m not stopping! I want to know how this bastard can stand there and give us facts about what happened! C’mon Jotaro, what is it? Are you a robot? Are you even human? Maybe you’re one of th-”
Star Platinum drove Josuke into the ground without the usual ‘ORA’ call. The only noise was his head hitting the floor.
“Josuke!” Jolyne blurted.
Josuke picked himself off the ground. “You can’t even look me in the eye. What’s with you?”
Star Platinum grabbed Josuke by the collar. “It is true. I often wonder if something might be internally wrong with me. I don’t feel pain as much as other people. Moments where others experience joy, I just have a slight smile. Moments where tears flow, I just sit silently. Perhaps I’m stunted somehow, or the sensations of life are muted for me. However…” He tore his hat off his head and threw it to the ground, revealing his eyes.
They were red, wet, and terrified. “THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE TIMES!” He hurled Josuke into a wall, for once in his life dropping the poker face completely. “She was my mother! I stand here, impassive, for the sake of the rest of you! So you can have a rock to latch yourselves on to! Looks like I’ve failed, just like we failed to protect her! Failed to defeat Kars!”
“Dad…” Jolyne said, holding out a hand.
“We lost, Jolyne!” Jotaro threw one of his arms wide. “LOST. There was no win condition. There was never a win condition. He knew, from the start, where that Gauntlet was! He would always have had time to access it! Always. We would have all died there! All of us! We’re failures!”
“Dad stop!” Jolyne shouted. “We’re alive! We didn’t lose!”
“We’ve lost, Jolyne. It’s just a trick of ka that we’re still alive. Perhaps not even that – perhaps just blind, stupid luck.” He wiped his eyes with his hand. “Yare yare daze…”
There was silence. Jolyne and Josuke stared at Jotaro, unbelieving at how he had just acted.
Jotaro picked up his hat and put it back on. “This is why I stand, silent. So there can still be some stability.”
Jolyne looked at her father with sad eyes. “…You need some stability too, Dad. It’s better if we stand together.”
“Stand proud,” Josuke said, standing up. “Stand as one.”
“Nobody should carry this burden alone.”
Jotaro opened his mouth to say something, but Jolyne pulled him into a hug. Whatever retort he had been about to make died on his lips. He let out a deep sigh, dripping with many years of pent up emotion. “…You’re right,” he said, pulling her in.
Josuke leaned back, allowing the father-daughter moment to conclude. Eventually, Jolyne was the one who pulled back. “…Dad, you’ve hurt yourself for our sake. I’m not going to ask you to stop being who you are, but I am going to ask that you stop tormenting yourself.” She wiped her eyes. “Grandma’s gone. It’s okay for you to break now. Nobody will judge, and nobody will think less of you for it.”
Jotaro trembled. “Jolyne…”
“Shh… It’s okay,” Jolyne said. “It’s okay.”
Josuke put a hand on his shoulder. “…Let it out, big guy.”
And so he did. He fell to his knees, slammed his fist into the ground, and shuddered. He did not weep, he did not scream – he just shook, kneeling on the floor, as weak as any man had ever been. The sounds of the younger generation weeping behind him fell into the background as he remembered his mother. She had given up so much for him, and he had given up so much for her…
It was all gone now. And he hadn’t even been able to set it right. There would forever be this hole of Jotaro’s failure deep within his soul.
It would never go away. He would live with it the rest of his life.
~~~
Before she entered the meeting, Eve sent out a quick message to all twelve other Overheads.
Any last minute changes to my decision you want brought to light? We need to know before we begin.
Twelve messages came back nearly instantly. There were no suggested changes – though Renee and O’Neill’s messages contained encouraging words meant to calm her nerves.
She let out a breath. “Here we go…” She walked into the meeting room and sat down. The Twelve Overheads were all present – and she knew Giorno was watching from a secure location. Everyone was ready.
> We detect that you are ready to reveal your decision to us.
“We are,” Eve said, spreading her wings. “We have decided to treat your offer of aid as a lesser universe would treat our offer of aid.”
> While we know what this means in your mind, it must be stated for the record.
“First, I have a question. Do you ever bother to make friends with those you aid?”
> We are friends through our exchanges.
“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” Eve pointed out. “I mean do you ever stop to get to know them on a personal level? Do you live among them and communicate with them after the job is done? Do you learn who they are?”
There was no response.
“Or is that even possible, given your digital nature?”
> It is exceptionally difficult to operate on the mental level of non-digitized beings. The friendships such as you describe them are rare, often impossible. It is why we do not allow non-digitized to be official members of the Xeelee. But this does not change the fact that we respect such life, for it is where we originated. We seek to bring it to our level.
“But you cannot truly know them from where you are now,” Eve said, nodding to herself. “Thank you, that’s all I needed to know to be certain.”
> Then please, state your full decision.
“We’re not going to be hypocrites. We’ll accept any aid you offer, in the belief that most of it will be better for us in the long run, taking it on faith that you know what you’re doing. But we will also make it clear that we have no intention of ever joining the Xeelee. By our way of doing things, this means you will not interfere in our large scale government, not introduce new technologies to us, and not introduce us to the wider multiverse. You will treat us like a world that says no to us. Do you understand?”
> Yes. We wish to make it known that, if you go down this path, after our initial aid, we will likely never contact you again.
Eve nodded, sure of herself. “We expected as much. Let us fade into the background of your memory, like so many worlds do for us. I can think of several worlds we have a connection with that have no interest in dealing with us. Ardent comes to mind as the most prominent. We accept their refusal, and rarely is contact resumed.”
> Understood. Do you approve of the following revised list of Aid?
The Xeelee produced a list of minor assistances – including finding Brutalight and keeping the practices of the University of Doors limited. There was a notable lack of governmental suggestions or advice-based aid.
Eve nodded. “I concur. Any objections?”
The Overhead of Merodi Universalis shook their heads, giving their stamp of approval to the project.
> We shall set to work right away. And then we will be gone. We wish you luck in the wider multiverse. Beware of the higher societies. You will not find one as benevolent as us again.
Then the screen died, indicating the meeting was over.
“I think that went well,” O’Neill said.
“They’re upset,” Renee observed, adjusting her hat. “They wanted us to become part of them.”
“They wanted our story,” Eve added. “Notice how they removed pieces of aid they didn’t strictly have to from our terms. No suggestions for improvement of little things. It’s their way of saying ‘your loss’. But this is the decision that needed to be made.” She took in a deep breath, steadying her breathing. “I’m going to go rest. If you have no pressing matters, I suggest you do the same. In a few hours I expect this ‘aid’ to bring about more than a little bit of uncertainty among the population.”
Everyone nodded, leaving to return to their various responsibilities – or to rest.
~~~
The Golden Joke was not without recreational activities. There were a handful of restaurants, a movie theater, and an arcade. Jenny loved the arcade a bit too much. The University of Doors was by far the least popular of all the multiversal societies in the local area, and Dracogen Enterprises was almost always lumped in with the University as a single entity. This made it rather difficult to get ahold of entertainment and games from other worlds, and if Jenny ever tried to go herself, well, her face was actually known among the general public and it wouldn’t go over well for everyone involved.
But she was free to move about at the Golden Joke, and the arcade was stocked with games from all sorts of worlds. Her favorite game was Multiversal Heroes 3, which was a favorite among most multiversal explorers who were actually in the fighting game. The developers put a lot of attention to detail in the ways the characters on the screen moved and acted, trying their best to emulate the real people. Of course the actual attacks were balanced to make a good game, but it was still enthralling nonetheless. It also helped that in MH3 Jenny herself was marketed as a neutral character rather than a pure villain.
There were no less than two dozen arcade consoles for the game in the Golden Joke, all connected to play with each other should it be desired. She was currently beating the tar out of a team of Coronas, laughing all the while. It was so easy she allowed her mind to wander as she pummeled the ‘noobs’ – the studio behind MH3 had announced there would be a Collection expansion to the game soon. No doubt featuring the Collector and perhaps a few of his most prominent Collected – Jenny had a betting pool running that Lightning and Thanos would both be included. She wondered how they were going to balance the Collector’s absurdity while still maintaining the accuracy. They always managed to do it… Though notably almost no one understood how to play the balanced Rohan correctly. He was a m-
“JENNY!”
Jenny blinked, realizing that YVND was on her arcade screen, hacking into it all the way from the Ninth World. “Oh. Sup?”
“You aren’t answering your communicator.”
“Psh, I was having some curbstomp fun. Give me a break.”
“Well we have a serious problem.”
“Really? If it really needed my attention you wouldn’t be talking to me right now.”
“It’s a serious problem we have no power to do anything about. Dragging you here would tick you off and be rather pointless.”
Jenny’s smile vanished. “…What happened?”
“Class 1 Society showed up and screwed with the University of Doors. They really don’t want to give away any information, but I suspect something about the University just ticked them off. They’ve been forced to suspend all ‘acquisition’ operations outside the Ninth World.”
Jenny blinked. “Crud, that’s not good for us.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Jenny rubbed the back of her head. “How much funding do you think we’re going to lose?”
“Almost all of it devoted to multiversal exploration.”
“Fuuuuuudge…” Jenny pulled at her hair. “We’re losing door access aren’t we?”
“It seems likely.”
Jenny turned away from the console and folded her arms. “Well, we got a good couple decades out of that deal. It was fun while it lasted.”
“If you say so.”
Jenny moved to adjust her suit in an attempt to look business-like – but then she remembered it was form fitting and didn’t even have a collar for her to mess with. “I’m just… gonna go make an announcement to the Golden Joke.”
“If you believe that is wise.”
“Can it, paperboy,” Jenny muttered, walking away. She left the arcade and went right to the main hall, walking across the dead, arid surface of the world. Never before had she thought the lifeless rocks were so depressing. She supposed she generally just didn’t care enough to notice these sorts of things.
She entered the main hall. There were a few people there, using it as a place to mingle and discuss policy. Jenny knew everything was recorded, so it didn’t really matter who was and wasn’t there.
She walked up to the main podium and tapped it. “So, hey, eyes on me.”
They all turned to look at her – confused.
“You may be thinking, ‘why is there a speech going on now? Nothing’s scheduled!’ or ‘why is Jenny talking? She never talks up there!’ Well, this is because I’ve got an announcement to give and then I’m going to have to jet. Are you with me so far? Good.”
She folded her arms. “The University of Doors has been forced to suspend its most extensive program, the acquisition program. This means all their research into exploring the larger multiverse suddenly means a lot less to them. Which means we, Dracogen Enterprises, are going to lose our access to the door matrix and the funding we receive to undertake expansive multiversal missions. I see a few of you smiling – yeah, I see you back there, prick. ‘oh hey, finally, they’re gone, we don’t have to deal with them anymore’.”
Jenny growled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right to be happy. We’ve been pushed aside like a bunch of stupid sheep. I’m not sure we’re even going to be a Class 3 anymore after this settles. We’re going to have to focus more on our world for a while. So go ahead, throw a party, you all outlasted us. Whoopee. Congratulations.”
She groaned, a hand to the bridge of her nose. “…Look, for what it’s worth, we screwed up big time back when we met. Possibly the worst mistake of all time. I’m aware enough to admit that. You all don’t have to keep rubbing it in.” She sighed. “Regardless, we’re leaving. We’ll probably keep a minor presence here, but don’t expect us to actually do anything. Much as I hate to admit it, we’re checking out for now. Buh-bye.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “This has been Jenny of the Red Gloves speaking for Dracogen Enterprises. Hope you enjoy your victory party.” She turned around and walked off stage to stunned silence.
She opened a door and appeared inside the Beanstalk, realizing with no small amount of sadness that she wouldn’t be able to do that for much longer. No more need to have door access if the University didn’t have a use for them anymore. She’d have to resort to using Merodi-designed devices.
It was embarrassing.
She watched the Numenera technology of the Beanstalk fly overhead. The citizens of this little town wouldn’t even know what they’d just lost. Few knew the University even existed, even less knew the full extent of the multiverse. They just knew the expansive universe they existed in, and that was it.
They probably wouldn’t care that much about the sudden slowing of technological progress, the lack of new ideas coming in, and the slow disappearance of ultraterrestrial visitors.
But Jenny would care.
She kicked a can across the street, fuming inwardly. She was going to take one of her ships and fly to a distant star. Hopefully she’d find something that was interesting enough to take her mind off this.
She made a note to purposefully order copies of Multiverse Heroes for permanent use within the Beanstalk. She couldn’t imagine life without that game anymore. Just like she couldn’t imagine life without being able to step through doors and appear almost anywhere…
She could do something about the former. She couldn’t do anything about the latter.
Because life was stupid like that sometimes.
~~~
Brutalight had herself an empire that suffered under her iron hoof of insanity. Five worlds currently obeyed her and her friends’ every whim.
That number was about to rise to six.
It had been a long, brutal campaign, but they were finally at the last step on the journey to conquering their first technology-based civilization. The world in question was Utara, a universe dominated by elves. Brutalight had a particular distaste for elves – didn’t know how to have fun, were always so arrogant even to each other, and were far too resistant to the joys of insanity.
That may or may not have been a huge factor in her decision to conquer this world. The elves would learn what it truly meant to live… Though most of them would learn how to die instead. But once they were dead, who cared?
They also had good books. Books were great. Even digital books.
Brutalight, Fluttershout, Rarifruit, Rainbine, and Six bashed down the three-meter thick wall that surrounded the Utaran Council’s final bunker. The interior was lit by blue lights, giving the rounded room an eerie feel. Sitting around a heptagonal metal table were six of the seven Utaran Council members – the seventh of whom had been guarding the door with his powerful magic. He had fallen rather quickly.
“You hunt us ruthlessly even months after we offered a surrender,” the youngest elf said, a woman. She stood up and walked toward them, leaving the other five behind. “Since I am about to die by your cruel hands, answer me one question. How?”
“How?” Brutalight blinked. “Was anyone else expecting the usual ‘why?’ question?” There was a round of nods from the other four members of the team. “Yeah, what gives?”
“I already know why you do this,” the woman said, shaking her head. “You find it enjoyable. You do not conquer for power, though that does factor into lesser areas of your motivation. You do not conquer for others, since you only care for each other. You do not conquer for revenge, because if that were the case you would have chosen a very different world to engage, and would have been much more efficient in your conquering. You conquer because it’s fun, and it’s the only thing besides each other that gives you enjoyment.”
“What’s your point?” Fluttershout asked.
“I have no point. I just stated I already know why. I want to know how.”
“Through magic and punching!” Rainbine blurted, grinning.
“How do you justify it to yourselves? How do you sleep at night? How do you treat each other with such love and care and exclude all others from that joy you experience? It is not because you were born as one,” she gestured at Six as evidence of this. “It is not because you really don’t care. How?”
“Do you know what the definition of insanity is?” Brutalight asked.
“There are a couple. One is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Another is foolishness. Perhaps irrationality.”
“Combine the last one with something a bit more literal,” Brutalight said, tapping her head. “We’re screwed up in here. Screwed up in the way we were born. You could explain to me in perfect logical arguments that what we do is wrong, and that we should stop, and I would be able to agree with you. We’re completely evil and batshit crazy. But, here’s the fun thing about insanity – knowing about it doesn’t do anything to change it!” she laughed. “We’re irrational! We’ll keep doing it because we feel driven to and we feel no remorse as a result! We don’t have to worry about guilt or conscience!” She grabbed the elf in her magic.
“…But what about the love and joy you share with each other? I’ve seen it. We’ve all seen it.”
Brutalight shrugged. “Insanity doesn’t require consistency, you know.”
“But you’re consistent with each other.”
For the first time, Brutalight’s cruel smile faltered. “You know what, I think we’re done talking. Rarifruit, you we-”
Rarifruit cut the elf’s head off with a levitated blade. “Yes…” she whispered.
“Even I think that’s creepy,” Rainbine admitted.
“Six, would you do the honors?” Brutalight asked, gesturing toward the remaining five elves. “I think we’re all growing a little tired of these little apes running for their lives.”
Six tapped into her power over death, ready to touch the elves in an instant.
The oldest elf snapped his fingers, activating the self-destruct spells in the compound. He fixed his eyes on Brutalight, clearly expecting everything to go up in flames before anyone had a chance to speak.
Brutalight laughed. “Do you think we’re stupid? Of course we knew you wanted to blow us up! Have you forgotten about our magic? Bomb disarming field. Easy. Everything within a kilometer radius is unable to explode right now. There’ll be no ‘nuke from a distance’ either.”
Six’s black power sucked the souls out of four of the elves, leaving only the elder. He stood tall, eyes completely unafraid.
“Why do they always have to be so boring?” Fluttershout asked. “He’s not trembling at all!”
“Because some people have an admirable strength,” Six said, Brutalight nodding in agreement. Six lifted her hand, grabbing the last elf in a telekinetic choke hold. “But even they die, just like everyone else.”
Brutalight sensed a series of strands shoot from multiple other universes, piercing Six in the heart, brain, and spinal column. It was a precision attack clearly designed to kill in an instant, giving no opportunity for reaction.
Six fell back, dead.
“S-six!?” Brutalight shouted.
“What did you do!?” Rainbine shouted at the elf.
“He didn’t do this,” Brutalight said, raising a defensive shield around them all. “Something else did…”
The wires appeared again, pinning the four ponies in place, preventing them from so much as speaking.
The elf stared at the four frozen mares in disbelief.
A text message began to appear on the table, projected by the blue lights.
> Apologies. It is not usually our intent to end life without a warning, but her ability was potent enough it was possible she could kill us, given time and luck. It was too high a risk.
“W-who are you?” the elf asked.
> The Xeelee. Expect future communication from us involving the aid you believe we should render to help rebuild your world.
The elf bowed in reverence. “Thank you for saving us, Xeelee! We are forever in your debt!”
> We know. We shall now take these assaulters off your hands.
In an instant, all four ponies were gone, leaving the elder elf the last remaining member of the Utaran Council.
He sat down in his chair, looking at the ceiling.
What even was there to rebuild at this point?
~~~
Eve stood on the balcony of the Castle of Friendship, Renee and Pinkie at her sides.
She was reading through the compiled list of everything the Xeelee had done, and the consequences thereof.
“Removed all arcs from Arcei, creating a cultural crisis that looks like it will resolve itself…” Eve muttered, slowly moving her eyes across the data pad. “Placed heavy restrictions on the University of Doors, forcing them to drop most funding to Jenny and removing their active presence in the larger multiverse…”
“Such a shame. I think they were finally coming into their own,” Renee said, shaking her head.
Eve nodded. “Tauryl, the last nation on Equis Vitis not part of Merodi Universalis, has finally stopped their completely xenophobic refusal to speak to us. Talks with the centaurs and gargoyles will begin next week. Long-term consequences are unknown.”
“I want to know how they did that without getting them reaaaaaally angry,” Pinkie said.
Eve shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t think we’ll ever know, since we can’t really contact them on our terms. ...The Xeelee took Kars, saving many of the Avengers of Earth MC, the Joestars, and Corona. They have handed over numerous other criminals that are of lesser concern. The next item on the list is classified; let’s just say they helped take care of a security breach. There was also an evil doomsday monster we didn’t know about on Earth Vitis got taken care of… Equis Concrete’s Sombra finally got what was coming to him. They removed his hold on his ponies, leaving a few of them insane, but otherwise everyone is exceptionally glad that brutal dictator is out of the picture. And…” She scrolled further down the list. “Yeah. That’s a lot of stuff they’ve done for us.”
Renee shook her head. “I suppose we finally know what it feels like now, don’t we dears?”
“Getting help from high above…” Eve muttered. “It’s… not always the most pleasant of feelings.”
“It just means admitting you can’t do anything,” Pinkie said. “Being weak isn’t bad, Eve.”
“I know. But I’m just not used to thinking of ourselves like that. Usually, we can just conquer our problems with enough time and effort.”
Pinkie cleared her throat. “Moral of the day: if you’re going to help others, be ready to accept help.”
“I thought there was a moral about not crushing societies?” Renee asked.
Pinkie shrugged. “Eh, the morals are a bit vaguer now than they used to be. There was also a lot of other stuff mixed in to the adventure this time. Welcome to an extended study of the anticlimax!”
Eve rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s what it is from one direction. From another… The talks were their own adventure, in a way.” She turned around, heading back toward the Map room. “Come on, let’s go have lunch or something.”
The moment they went back inside, the Map flashed, producing text above it.
> And our last gift to you is complete.
Brutalight, Fluttershout, Rarifruit, and Rainbine appeared in front of them, all four of them surrounded in invisible restraints.
Eve took a moment to process what was happening, but she had gotten used to the need to transfer from emotional conversation to leader in an instant over the years. “What are you going to do to them?”
> The sentence is similar to Kars’. A year of biological testing prior to execution. Six was already executed since she was deemed a risk.
“Is their insanity curable?”
> Yes, via uploading. Aside from the moral concerns of editing their personalities in order to accomplish a ‘cure’, there’s also the issue of the levels of depression they would suffer after the procedure. They would not revert to the ponies they once were; they would still be the soul combination. It would be right to think of it as trading one insanity for another.
Eve nodded. “I understand. They are who they are… It’s not reversible, at least not in a way that doesn’t just rewrite their minds completely with something new.” She turned to Brutalight. “I want to talk to her.”
> As you wish.
Eve turned her ears on, struck by the way the air was blowing past her ears. She looked Brutalight in the eyes.
“Hello, Evening Sparkle,” Brutalight said. It was the first time Eve had heard Brutalight speak without any sort of malice or rage in her voice – she sounded so sad. So tired.
Eve sighed. “Hello, Brutalight Sparcake.”
“So… You’ve won. Got yourself some nice benefactors to fuck us up and bring us in.” Brutalight forced a smile. “Taking out the trash, finally?”
“You could say that.”
“This wasn’t exactly how you figured this would go down, huh?”
Eve’s ears twitched. “I was going to take you out with my own hooves. Your ears would go first – then the rest of you.”
Brutalight laughed. “Fitting. It would have been a nice death.”
Eve shook her head. “Something is really wrong with you…”
“Surprise, surprise,” Brutalight chuckled bitterly. “Personally, I was going to go for your eyes next, and then over the course of several days use the dried eyeballs to remove parts of you over time, keeping you alive with magic until your soul just gave out.”
“…Now I feel a lot less guilty about what I was planning.”
Brutalight winked. “Glad I could give you some piece of mind before I’m off to the chopping block.”
“…You really are, aren’t you?”
Brutalight’s corny smile faltered. “Yeah. Guess I just know this is it, y’know? Not really a point in screaming at you until the bitter end. I can tell you that is what Fluttershout and Rainbine would be doing right now, if they got this opportunity. But not me.”
Eve sagged. “Why do you have to show this part of yourself to me now?”
“Because it can only come out now,” Brutalight said. “I mean, I’m still Twilight in here, somewhere in this tied up mess. I know I won’t be able to destroy you or take any more revenge. I guess some part of me is trying to set things right? Even though I don’t really have the capacity to understand what ‘right’ is.” She laughed bitterly. “If you’re thinking of letting me out, seriously don’t. I will kill you if I get the chance.”
“I know,” Eve said. “I’d do the same.”
“Glad to see I rubbed off on you.”
“Likewise.” Eve looked around at the rest of them. “I’m sorry about Six. And… what you’re going to go through.”
“Pff, we deserve it and you know it. I’m probably going to get some sort of sick, masochistic enjoyment out of it at times. BRING ON THE BIOLOGICAL TESTING! Make me give birth to myself or something.”
“Ew.”
“Exactly!”
Something about the way she said it brought a smile to Eve’s lips. “I hate you, you know.”
“I know,” Brutalight said.
“But I’m glad we got to end like this, rather than the way either of us wanted,” Eve said, grabbing Brutalight’s hoof. “It allowed me to see you for who you are. I still hate you, hate you for everything you’ve done. All the horrors you’ve brought. You deserve the worst. But I can finally see it in you. What you showed all your friends. Your magic.”
“Ah, geez,” Brutalight said, grimacing. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“It’s okay if you do.”
Brutalight sucked it in. “This is the last memory you’ll have of me. I don’t want it to be of a bawling alicorn brought low.”
“Then don’t let that be who you become,” Eve said, taking a step back.
“…Do you think there’s something else?” Brutalight asked. “Something… after?”
“In some places, there a-”
“You know what I mean, and that isn’t it.”
Eve blinked. “I… I don’t know what I think. Flutterfree’s sure there is. Nova’s pretty sure there isn’t.”
Brutalight nodded slowly. “Yeah… Yeah I already knew that. I don’t even know what I was asking.”
“It’s a good thing to think about,” Eve admitted.
“Yeah…” Brutalight chuckled. “Rainbine is probably inwardly screaming at me for being such a softy right now.”
“I bet she’ll understand everything and want to support you.”
Brutalight grimaced. “C-come on Eve, that’s not fair.”
Eve smiled. “Go. I hate you. But we can leave as friends.”
“Oh good god you just had to say it,” Brutalight said shaking her head. “You’re a moron, you know that?”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Fine then,” Brutalight said, a single tear rolling down her face. “We leave as friends.”
Eve nodded. She turned around.
“…Hey, one more thing.”
“Hm?”
Brutalight lifted her wing, flipping Eve off. She smirked evilly. “Bye.”
Eve nodded. For the first time in her life, she twisted her wing into the obscene gesture.
Brutalight laughed joyously.
There it is, Eve thought. Take her away.
The Xeelee obliged. The Elements of Insanity were gone. No further text messages appeared above the Map.
Renee put a hoof around Eve. “I’m so proud of you. That couldn’t have been easy on you.”
Pinkie hugged Eve tight.
Eve smiled. “It… It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. And… And I feel a lot better about her now than I do about Siron.” She walked back onto the balcony, looking out at the setting sun of Equis Vitis. “There was something beautiful there… Setting aside our hate…” She smiled. “It was right.”
~~~
The Xeelee Transport Matrix would take precisely 9.4 seconds to arrive in Xeelee controlled space with the Elements of Insanity. To the prisoners, this would be instant. They would experience a flash of light, see a bunch of strange ‘string’ patterns pass by their eyes, and then they would be in the cell that would serve as home for the last year of their lives.
However, the Xeelee were digital beings that thought several orders of magnitude faster than a standard organic brain. The trip, while not exactly a terrible one, would still feel long to them. There was plenty of time for a conversation.
>> Their ka is clearly separate from us.
<< They could have just not wanted to join.
There are large quantities that refuse the offer. <<
>> What I’m saying is that their story would not have allowed them to join us.
<> Just like it will not allow us to interfere with them over time. You know as well as I do that, should we try to control them, it would end disastrously for us.
<<> We do not try to control lesser races.
<> It’s all a matter of perspective and definition.
It sounds like you might need to be sent back into ethics education. <<
>> No, it’s good. The point is valid.
<<> Fair.
^ Alert! Incoming attack! ^
<<> What kind of attack would warrant an alert!?
^ A temporal-based weapon of unknown make and origin sailing through the Infinite Sea in parallel universes, following us with alarming precision. ^
>> Are you saying it’s actually going to hit us?
^ Precisely. ^
<> Only Gallifreyans have the required temporal knowledge to craft a time-based weapon that could do anything to us… And they lack the ability to track us with this precision.
<< More than a little concerning. Activating wire constructs.
^ ALERT! FEEDBACK LOOP! ^
And then everything went static in the conversation. A weapon that could not be seen by human eyes ‘impacted’ a ‘ship’ composed of invisible string constructs, trapping it in a bubble universe locked in time, then shunting the location of the bubble to a location buried deep within an unstable cluster the Xeelee would not be able to find.
They would have no need to search with diligence for such a small transport ‘vessel’.
Within the bubble of time, all entities remained conscious – but unable to communicate, move, or do anything. It was as if only their souls were immune to the distortion of time. Perhaps an intentional part of the weapon’s design.
All Brutalight knew was that she was going to have a long time to sit and think, her body frozen in a sea of beautiful colors, frozen in time…