Year 35
Renee wore a full suit to the after-‘party’ of signing the Sparkle Census into Merodi Universalis. While it was called a ‘party’ it was not only a highly formal occasion – it was very much a business occasion. Which meant black, white, tie, cufflinks, everything. No traditional wear or over the top dresses – like she usually wore. She even switched out her normal embroidered dulled-ruby glasses for standard round black-rimmed spectacles.
She still wore her hat though. That was her defining feature. They would just have to deal with it.
“I still think you’re dressed like a man,” Daniel said.
“This is formal business attire for anyone who isn’t a Princess, which I am not.”
“At least the human women get to wear dresses.”
“Horribly drab and uncreative ones,” Renee pointed out. “Plus, I can at least get somewhat creative with this.”
“There are a lot of black and white gemstones hidden in those folds.”
“I’m secretly an inner bedazzler!” Renee said, smirking evilly. “They will not know the levels to which I will go to push the dress code!”
Daniel smirked. “No. No they won’t.”
“Though I do feel sorry for Eve. Any sort of formal attire is rather horrible on those wings. I told her she was a Princess and she could just go with the regalia, but she had to follow the Overhead code.”
Eve was, in fact, experiencing difficulty mixing her wings with her highly limiting attire. It did not matter that a Rarity had created it specifically for her – it never worked right. Had a dress been allowed they could have just been tucked under the folds of cloth in special pouches, but that wasn’t the code.
Renee twitched. “Much more of this fashion bizarreness and I will go on a rant about the setting of forced trends and how limiting it is…”
“Let the other Rarities do that,” Daniel said.
“Right, right, I know, it isn’t my job.” She didn’t stop looking though. Most ponies were wearing elegant dresses and sharp tuxedos, same with most of the humans. Notably the delegation of the Imperium of Man were in their power armor - weapons disabled, of course, but their metallic exoskeletons were too much of a source of pride for them to give up. To make it even more interesting the Emperor of Mankind was up and about - finally safely removed from his Golden Throne after all those years. He was well over eleven feet tall, wore armor that looked solid gold, and seemed to glow with a slight aura similar to Corona’s. He certainly looked like an Emperor.
Besides humans and ponies, there were also a couple of troll Skaians who just wore standard human dresses or tuxedos, as did the Mushroom World Toads. The pudgy five-pointed Lumas didn’t really have much to put on them, so they wore little ties or tiaras. Their leader, Rosalina, wore a white dress to go with her blonde-platinum hair. She had already greeted the Sparkle Census and was currently talking to a Ga, or ‘sirknight’ from Pokèrin Anima. They had ‘dresses’ built into their bodies, so they’d just added earrings.
Gems had a mixture of tuxedo- and dress-wearing individuals, depending on the body type they created. While all gems were ‘feminine’, some were more rounded than others. She imagined some of the middle-ground Gems had difficulty choosing. Only black and white Gems were allowed to create their own clothing due to coloring limitations. Something White Diamond would have been able to make full advantage of… If she had been there. She was never to be found at anything.
Red Diamond was, though, her starry eyes catching the imagination of everyone who looked at her. You could easily get lost in those eyes. She had chosen to wear a very simplistic black dress. The amount of fabric that must have gone into it was impressive, given her size. Renee was pretty sure if the dress were dropped on her it’d break a bone or two.
The gargantuan Diamond was leaning down to give a warm welcome to the Grand Secretariat and her contingency of Sparkle Census Council members. Renee didn’t know what half of them were called – but if they came up to her they had plaques pinned to their tuxes and dresses, as was required for council members.
Renee noticed Minna watching Red Diamond like a hawk. The Gem’s ability to avoid her sights always put the girl on edge.
“She’s good for her people,” a man’s voice said. It sounded normal, but when Renee turned to see who it had come from, she knew it had been spoken right into her mind.
The leader of Pokèrin Anima was a gargantuan quadruped with a white coat and golden tipped hooves. His body was not smooth and round like a pony, but angular and pointed in most places. His mane and tail were not long and flowing – instead seeming more like fleshy protrusions with fur on them instead of hair. Accenting his mane were his ears, which were pointed upward, coming out the sides of his head and rising over the top. His face was devoid of fur, revealing a gray face devoid of a mouth, but with two green piercing eyes. He was wearing a tuxedo that looked less like it was designed for him and more like it had been created around him and his front legs.
Around his midsection was a four-pointed star-shaped construct made seemingly of gold that was highly reminiscent of the old Arcei arcs. It was no surprise those who had once been Arcei had started to worship this gargantuan equine.
Renee knew better than this though. While Arceus was in fact the creator of the entire Pokèrin Anima universe and certainly had the power to back it up, he was not a nigh-omnipotent God. He was just a Creator. A Creator who saw no problem with people worshipping him, but he didn’t exactly demand it, so nobody had any real complaint against him.
“Red Diamond?” Renee said, responding to his comment. “She is. Built precisely to bridge the gap.”
“Indeed. Though if I was willing to grace this meeting, the least White Diamond could have done was make a courtesy call.”
“I’ll say,” Renee agreed. “She doesn’t make her people look good.”
“Which is why Red Diamond is good for her people. A change. A new creation.”
“Speaking from experience?” Daniel asked.
“I suppose you could say that,” Arceus mused.
“I have to hear this story,” Renee said.
“You have heard most of it already, Renee. It is the story of my world.”
“Oh, but something tells me there’s much more to it.”
Arceus nodded slowly. “…Very well. It has been many years since I’ve told the story in full. The last one to hear it was… Well, the Primary team when they made first contact.”
“That would be a dreadfully long time ago,” Renee said. “About when I lost my eye, actually.”
“It would be my pleasure if you two were to come dine in my realm tomorrow,” Arceus said. “It would be an opportunity to tell true stories of origins.”
“I think that would be wonderful. I will ditch everything but the hat.”
“Likewise. Clothing is always an unusual concept. Daniel?”
Daniel shifted uncomfortably. “Er… I’ll stay dressed, thank you.”
Arceus may not have had a mouth, but Renee swore he was smirking. “As you wish.”
The Creator took his leave, allowing the couple to continue on alone.
“Dinner with god,” Daniel mused.
“Please, Flutterfree will be the first to tell you he isn’t Him and he makes no claim to being such.”
As if on cue, Flutterfree and Eve teleported over. Eve glanced over her shoulder with a panicked expression. “Renee, I need the files on the Sparkle Census worlds.”
“And why do you need those, Eve?”
Eve twitched, realizing she was going to have to explain. “Because I just made a minor flub where I thought one of the catalog worlds was joining with the rest of the Census, but it turned out it wasn’t, and now I need to do some last-minute-panic studying and you have access to all the files including the sorta-secret ones right?” She grinned.
“She’s about to explode from political stress,” Flutterfree whispered.
“I am not!” she blurted back – slightly too loud. The outburst made several people look at her with quizzical expressions. “Heheh…” She looked at Renee with pleading eyes. “Pleeeeeease…”
“Evening, it’s just a political meeting, and the Census is very understanding.” She teleported a ‘Sparkle Census’ brochure to Eve. “Just go off of this.”
“This isn’t enough detail!”
“And this is not an important enough reason to shunt Expedition full-detail files directly to you.”
Eve nodded. “Okay. Right…”
Flutterfree glanced to Renee. “Are you sure you ca-”
Eve interrupted Flutterfree’s plea. “She’s right Flutterfree, I can’t just ask for that casually. I forgot that for a moment. I am sorry for breaching protocol, Renee.”
“It’s alright,” Renee insisted. “You were in a hurry. I believe you can ask Corona for some of the lesser files – they’ll give you what you need.”
“Right, thanks.” She saluted with a wing – looking for any excuse to stretch it away from her suit. “See you later!” She teleported herself and Flutterfree away.
“You don’t even bat an eye at that anymore,” Daniel observed.
“Well I did lose an eye,” Renee said with a smirk.
“You lost the eye be-”
“Daniel, love, I know. I was trying to make a joke. I suppose it didn’t work.” She stretched herself out. “As it turns out, it is still possible to be good friends like this.”
“I still think it’s a little awkward.”
“Friendships develop,” Renee said. “Each one of us has a very different relationship with each other now. It’s something I’m able to look back on and marvel, now that I’m in my old age.”
“Your centennial has passed.”
“And I still have as perfect a complexion as ever! Remind me to thank Corona again. It’s amazing how liberating not worrying about aging is.”
“That’s what you think!” the Emperor called over.
“Emperor, darling, I don’t think sitting as a skeleton on a chair for several thousand years really qualifies in this instance.”
“Hah,” the Emperor said - clearly enjoying his ability to laugh properly. “Who’s the immortal with thousands upon thousands of years of experience over you?”
“Who’s the instigating nitpicker?” Renee countered.
“Who’s the human f-”
“My Lord, let’s not go there,” Kitten, his aide, said, clearly glad that he was able to stop the Emperor.
“I can go where I fucking want.”
“Get a private engagement with Renee later, don’t make this the day you get everyone to hate you.”
The Emperor glanced over his shoulder at the other dignitaries - a few of whom were looking oddly at him. “...Very well.”
“Sadly, Arceus already has us for lunch,” Renee said. “Perhaps we can finish another time?”
“I will hold you to that, floppy-hatted marshmallow.”
Daniel facepalmed.
The Emperor chuckled - once again feeling delight in the sensation.
~~~
Jenny of the Red Gloves was no longer part of the Expedition team with Lady Rarity and the others – she had moved on. Graduated and created her own team, formed of herself, Ivan, Dintin, and the Thing With the Big Wig. Nobody knew where the Thing With the Big Wig came from, but he was amazing. In a sort of disgusting, bizarre sort of way.
Dintin called him Cousin It. For some unknown reason.
Jenny called him Bigwig. Because… he was a big brown wig.
He was the best thing ever.
But sometimes even the best thing ever couldn’t satiate her boredom.
“BORED!” Jenny declared.
Ivan sighed. “We were just on a mission yesterday. That was enough excitement for me.”
“Those bugs were very angry,” Dintin observed with his calm, synthetic voice.
Bigwig made a bunch of indecipherable noises.
“You’re all right, but today is a new day!” Jenny said, standing tall. “And a new day comes new adventures and new boredom to combat!”
“You could govern the Beanstalk instead of letting the ponies do it for you,” Ivan suggested.
“PSH. That’s old-Jenny. New-Jenny is an agent! An Explorer! A meeter of new people and helper of old! And – wait a minute, old…” She put a hand to her chin. “Does anyone remember the last time we heard anything about the University of Doors?”
Everyone glanced at each other – and shook their heads.
“Let’s drop in and say hi.”
“We’re Merodi Universalis now and have been for a while,” Ivan said. “Do you really th-”
“Yes. Yes I do. Come on let's go.” She leaped out of her chair and pulled out her dimensional device, dialing the University of Doors Campus.
The natural structure of the unusual universe was the same as ever – every plane was covered with doors and keyholes of all shapes and sizes, each one leading to another universe or realm. The orientation and position made no sense, but the members of the University knew how to navigate them without a door device.
Jenny missed door devices. Any doorway could become a dimensional portal with just a flick of the wrist. None of this ‘opening and maintaining portal connection’ nonsense.
The University Grounds themselves were, as normal, devoid of the constant shifting of the rest of the planes, giving an island of mostly three-dimensional sanity to those who needed it.
Nothing else was like Jenny remembered. All the lights were dark. Multiple buildings had been reduced to complete rubble. There was no sign of habitation whatsoever.
“What in the world…?” Jenny said, gawking. The University of Doors was one of the most organized and tight-knit groups she knew of – even when the Xeelee came in and heavily restricted their movements, they were still strong and kept studying. What could have done this to them?
“The glowing materials are dark,” Ivan observed. “Almost as if the light was drained from them.”
Bigwig made some twittering noises.
“You’re right, it could have been an experiment gone wrong,” Ivan concurred.
“They survived experiments exploding before,” Jenny murmured, walking forward. “What would have made this di-”
A hologram of a tall man in the dress of a University Headstone smiled. “Visitor! No doubt you have come a long way to learn and study at our elusive, hidden University. I regret to inform you that the University of Doors has closed down all classes permanently due to unforeseen circumstances. All staff went their separate ways and remaining students were given honorary degrees for simply surviving the horrendous events that led to our downfall. This message is just to inform you that, yes, you have found the University of Doors. By making it this far you are a testament to the way of the Doors. If you have come to this place by accident – please, look around, enter a door, and find a way to a new existence. I am sorry I cannot help you.”
Jenny furrowed her brow. “So something bad happened and, instead of fixing it, they just left.”
“They didn’t have much to do…” Dintin said.
Ivan let out a sigh. “They gave up. Great.”
“I still want to know what caused this,” Jenny muttered.
“Don’t you have that eight ball connected to the Datasphere? It’d know,” Ivan suggested.
Jenny smiled. “Right, right…” She shook the eight ball, thinking deeply of the question she wanted to ask. What destroyed them?
A word took form on the surface of the ball. Necrozma.
“What the heck is Necrozma?”
~~~
Arceus’ realm was a pocket dimension overlaying the physical Pokèrin Anima. It was wholly separate from everything – including the built in Temporal, Spatial, and Reverse worlds that helped give the physical world substance. Each of these worlds were not a different universe, which meant they could not be dialed through standard means – one had to enter Pokèrin Anima and use a secondary portal device to transition to one of the other dimensions. There was rarely any need to enter the Temporal or Spatial dimensions, and doing so was generally seen as a bad idea since they held together time and space. The Reverse world was visited somewhat regularly, while Arceus’ personal realm was by invitation only.
Invitations which Renee and Daniel had.
Normally, Arceus’ realm was empty, black, and formless, so he could shape it into whatever he wanted. Today he had shaped it ahead of time into a Parthenon-like dining hall sitting atop a mountain that looked out over a visual representation of what was happening in the physical world; essentially, a live feed for everyone to enjoy. He had chosen the mountain at the intersection between three different colonies of his children. One were the oh-so-familiar sirknights, or Ga as they were known in other universes, a people who loved grace, psychic power, and beauty; constructing towering buildings that rose far into the sky. There were also the foodin, a different sort of psychic being who were yellow-brown and often had an obsession with spoons – for some reason. They built simpler dwellings and spent more time meditating. The third choice was the metagross, living four-legged computers who constructed great towers to house their vast stores of knowledge. Their city looked like a giant cube, starkly contrasting against the blue sky.
Renee found this annoying, but she wasn't one to say anything about it. She and Daniel were eating strange white fluffs that resembled marshmallows but tasted nothing like them – weren’t even sweet. “Absolutely heavenly. What is this?” she asked.
“I haven’t named it,” Arceus said. “It’s just intended to particularly suit the palette of whoever is eating it.”
“Seems to be cheating,” Daniel observed, trying not to shove all of them into his mouth at once. This may not have been quite as formal a meeting as the Sparkle Census reception, but it wouldn’t do to be a slob.
“It very well might be. But when you have my power, you can do just about anything if you put your mind to it. Granted, to perform full universe creation I need the Unown to manage minute details, but I can easily make a snack that’s delicious just because I say it is.”
“Have you experienced taste?” Daniel asked.
“Yes I have. Though I prefer not to have a mouth, I can make any part of my body taste something if I want.”
“Huh.”
Arceus seemed to be smirking again. “We are here for a purpose, though. Renee, do tell me the full story of your universe.”
Renee cleared her throat. “Well, we suspect the universe was created by Universe Generator Q-MLP-023, discovered during the Silvertongue Incident. It’s responsible for the existence of most pony-based worlds and has been churning out new ones for as long as we can tell. It is suspected to be a Downstreamer-model universe generator, but we can’t exactly prove this for certain.
“Our world was a lifeless rock until the Starstream War broke out among the Stars. The Starcross Society was created – and one of the fallen Stars, Castor, fell to our world and became the Harmony Forces. This is also one of the many timeframes when Aradia, our guardian of time, arrived. The Harmony Forces went through several forms over the millennia, but always in Six parts, the Elements of Harmony. The names of the Six changed. I’m Generosity – but for the bearer before me it was Beauty, and before that I think it was Grace, but I can’t remember for sure.
“There’s a lot of ancient history that means little – an age of demons, after which Tartarus was created, followed by an age of hardship, and a lot of strange nearly world-ending events. But, eventually, ponykind rose from the turmoil of magic. We entered a golden age under the tutelage of Celestia and Luna who… Who…” Renee blinked. “Actually, I have no idea where they came from. I can tell you the origins of Celestias and Lunas from plenty of other universes, but I don’t believe I’ve ever asked about ours. Strange.”
“I may ask her myself,” Arceus suggested.
“I’m sure she’d be willing to tell you. Unless it’s some deep, dark secret…” Renee rubbed her chin. “Regardless, they arrived at about the time the three pony tribes came together on Hearth’s Warming Eve to banish the evil of the windigos and unite to form Equestria. The bearers of the Elements before us put their essences into a seed that allowed the Star that was Castor to have a physical form again, becoming the Tree of Harmony. And then about a thousand years passed, Eve collected the five of us to become the new Element Bearers, and we started defeating evil wherever it lay. Eve found the black bowling ball and the rest is history.”
Arceus nodded. “A deep tale of origin indeed. Mine is perhaps not as simple or bright, for I am the creator.”
“It would give a much more… unique perspective,” Daniel admitted.
“It would… To begin with, this world was not the world I created first. It is the second.”
Renee blinked. “I had been told you and your Pokérin came from another world. Is that not a rumor?”
“It may seem like a rumor buried in the many different religious teachings of my people, but yes, that part is true.” Arceus closed his eyes. “When I created the first world, I used the Unown to create reality itself, and created several lower deities to manage it for me. Time, Space… one to draw antimatter away from the physical realm so substance could actually exist. Stars and planets formed, and one planet was chosen to be the place for most of my creations to flourish. There were a few other worlds here and there, but this one was the big world. It was… a nameless world. Pokèrin Hume if it needs a name. All the creatures you see on this world existed there, alongside a handful of others.
“But something strange happened. One creature came that was very different than all the others. I remember creating them, but I never thought they were truly of me. Almost as if they were a manifestation of the Unown themselves…”
“Wait, the Unown created them? Or you did? …Wait, didn’t you create the Unown?” Daniel blinked, clearly confused.
Arceus summoned an Unown to him – a simple, flat creature with a single eye that looked a bit like an exclamation mark. “As far as I am concerned, both I and the Unown are primordial entities. That is, we always existed. I am fully aware there was a point in metatime when I didn’t exist, and then one that I did, but I was in a realm without time, as were the Unown. It is possible they came from elsewhere, I am uncertain. I don’t know everything. My current theory is that they are a natural manifestation of language through ka in some fashion.”
The two nodded.
“Anyway, the humans. I always had a bad feeling about them, because from the start they were special. They didn’t have the shapes, the forms, or the natures of my creations. Instead of my creations growing to form societies, it was the humans that did it – even though a few of my creations had more intelligence than them! But they lacked the drive humans did, and so the humans dominated.
“At first, I thought this was no issue. Let my creation find its own path. While the humans were dominant, they lived in harmony with the Pokèrin. They even started creating their own with technology and interaction, which was delightful. And then they figured out how to alchemically capture Pokèrin into machines. Everything went downhill after that.
He looked deep into their eyes. “You are no doubt aware of the Pokèmon games, yes?”
Renee nodded. “Games that feature creatures similar, but not identical, to your Pokèrin. All about capturing the ‘pocket monsters’ and engaging in battles.”
“That is exactly what happened,” Arceus said. “As they perfected the capture technology, the forced combat of Pokèrin became commonplace. A sport. They even made it so the devices conditioned my creations to want to fight, even if their disposition wasn’t aggressive. It was brutal, horrendous, and just…” he paused, trying to collect himself. “These ‘trainers’ were a blight on the world and had sullied my creation. They went far beyond the natural predator-prey relationship that was supposed to exist and devolved into pure brutality. I considered, multiple times, just wiping them out. But I couldn’t bring myself to follow through with it. But then beings from other universes started interfering with my world, letting me know of the multiverse. These were terrible beings indeed – let me tell you about the light-eater, Necrozma, some time, that was a difficult time for the world. But after that, I understood how to travel to other universes, to distance myself from the world I had created – and perhaps begin anew.
“So that’s what I did. I took every Pokèrin – artificially created or otherwise – and transplanted them to a new world. The humans had enough technology and ingenuity to survive without them. I was able to remove the special Time, Space, and Reverse realms as well, giving them a more ‘mundane’ universe to live in. I took everything here so the horrendous forced battling would end. No more would they battle. No more would they be named differently depending on their ages. No more would humans control them.
“Some of the Pokèrin had ended up depending on human structures to survive. So I made it known that the Pokèrin who were smart enough to emulate human ingenuity could recreate what they saw fit to aid their fellow beings – and so they did. The three races you see around us were some of the first to do so, each in their own way. But they never recreated the capture devices.
“Back when this world was first created, I allowed some of the chosen good humans to come along. But I didn’t let them breed. Even those with ways to extend their life eventually died off. And this world was left to the Pokèrin to do as they pleased. Instead of dominated by humans, several dozen of the Pokèrin with higher intelligences formed nations. Some were altruistic, some were evil, but it was all part of the balance. It was still nature.
“And then you showed up and the rest is history.”
“Wow…” Renee said, face sad. “The games must give you bad memories.”
“They do. But they are harmless themselves. Just a bunch of colorful creatures fighting on a computer screen. None of it is real. The Prophet behind it didn’t know it was real either.” He stared into the distance. “It was just a trick of fate I had to fix.”
“I think you found the best solution,” Daniel said. “Nothing had to die.”
“Oh there was some death as a result of my actions,” Arceus said. “There were no doubt hospitals running on Pokèrin that had no way to compensate. They would struggle for a few years to recreate the levels of electricity they had. But it prevented there from being a war – or a judgement.”
The two nodded.
“Now, how a-”
A pink-white, vaguely dragonlike head poked into Arceus’ realm through a swirling pink portal. “We have a problem,” she said.
“Palkia, can’t you-”
“Unauthorized portal opened. Capture device detected.”
Arceus blinked.
“Ka. It’s fun,” Renee muttered. “I suppose we’re probably here for a reason. Let’s go see this.”
“Yes. Let’s.” Arceus muttered. With a glow of brilliant white energy, they were gone.
~~~
The Eldritch Embodiment had decided to meet to discuss something.
The Eldritch Embodiment never met to discuss anything. Ever.
The Eldritch Embodiment had decided to meet to discuss something.
It was a momentous occasion when all of the major Outer Gods came together. Right in the universe of Azathoth’s Court.
As usual, Azathoth himself, ruler and progenitor of the entire Embodiment, was ‘asleep’ and couldn’t care less about the proceedings. This essentially left Nyarlathotep as the ‘primary voice’ in the eldritch expanse, though his ‘siblings’ Nameless Mist, Unnamed Darkness, and Cxaxukluth held sway if it was needed. Other voices of note were Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, Hziulquoigmnzhah, Tulu, and Ghisguth – every other voice present was either just an aspect of one of these eldritch gods or so insignificant nobody cared.
The following conversation is as translated as well as it possibly can be.
“Let me be frank. Merodi Universalis is now more powerful than we are by a large margin,” Nyarlathotep said. “Were we to actively enforce our rules over a breach of theirs, they would likely retaliate. And in that retaliation they would initiate a war they would likely win. Considering how close they are to our borders and how often they lightly prod our realm, we have had to become more careful with how we act within their space. This cannot stand.”
“Why the ´‰‰Ø‰ not?” Cxaxukluth [?????]ed.
“Because if we relax too much, our realms become fuel to magic of theirs. We end up serving them in a way, instead of the other way around. Lower beings should not be able to do this to us.”
“Not all of them are lower beings,” Nameless Mist decreed. “The Arceus is higher. The Angels are comparable. As are the ßπå∑˜ øƒ ˜´ƒ´¬˙´ˆµ.”
“Of course,” Nyarlathotep said. “You forget that their leaders are all basic mortals. Or the vast majority, anyway. The point is they are in a position to best us and we must do something about it.”
“You think in too human terms,” Cxaxukluth laughed. “Thoughts of ‘serving’ and ‘not serving’. You are among them too much. Return to us – or perhaps you should take some advice from Father and learn the virtue of apathy?”
“Why would I be apathetic about this? This is the fate and future of the Embodiment!”
“Which will continue endlessly regardless,” Yog-Sothoth said, using his functionally endless number of eyes to see all possibilities. “They do not wish to destroy us. They never will. We are a force of nature to even the highest. Only the Beyonders would seek our destruction.”
“The point is not destruction, Yog-Sothoth!” Nyarlathotep blurted. “And if you really can see that far, why did you not bring this up before?”
“It was unnecessary due to [The Screams Of All The Young In A Pinecone] and pointlessness in resistance. I see all, Nyarlathotep. I see the One Above All, I see the Great Will, I see the Dark Tower.”
“No you don’t,” Nameless Mist said. “None can see the Dark Tower fully.”
“I see what it does, should I wish to. My nature is true omniscience, after all.”
“In the present metatime only.”
“True. But nothing drastic enough to change our entire society ever happens in metatime.”
“Lord English?” Tulu suggested.
Yog-Sothoth was quick to respond: “[DO NOT WANT] AND IF YOU INSINUATE SUCH THINGS AGAIN ALL MY SPAWN WILL BRING YOU DOWN IN PERFECTION.”
“Don’t press Yog-Sothoth’s buttons,” Nyarlathotep suggested. “He may not be as enraged as Cxaxukluth, but he does have the power to make you regret crossing him. Easily.”
“Knowing everything is a powerful tool,” Nameless Mist agreed.
Ghisguth grunted. “I get it, our neighbors are big. What do you want to do about it? What can we do about it? We’re static.”
“Go the way of the Horrorterrors,” Nyarlathotep said. “Progress. Increase our holdings for the first time in ÓÅÓÅ Òˆ´ ˇˆÂ´ ÇŘ ´◊´˜ ı´ ¨˜Î´‰ÍˇØØÎ. Make the Eldritch Embodiment rise. We are a Class 3 merely because we do not exert ourselves! If we expand-”
“Do not be foolish,” Unnamed Darkness spoke for the first time. “Nyarlathotep, that is not our way. We are the Eldritch Embodiment. We will not alter ourselves to become a human Embodiment. We do not conquer, we are. We do not war, we terrify. We do not band together, we emulate. We are all reflections of our father Azathoth. If he does not believe there is enough concern to act, then there truly is not.”
Azathoth made a snoring noise that translated best as “damn straight.”
Nyarlathotep deflated.
“When Father arises, then we may band together,” Nameless Mist said. “Until then we remain as we are.”
Cxaxukluth laughed. “Finally got everyone to talk and nothing even happened! That must [Blue Feet] Nyarlathotep! Hah!”
Fuming, Nyarlathotep left the Court of Azathoth.
~~~
Arceus, Renee, and Daniel appeared on the edge of a small forest, a village of ‘lucario’ in the distance – blue-black bipedal jackal creatures with spikes on their wrists. They saw Arceus appear and ran away in fear – not being from a more advanced society, they had no concept of what Arceus was or even much about the multiverse Pokèrin Anima was part of.
The human, though, didn’t flinch. He was a young man – in his teens – with black hair and a blue jacket. A yellow rodent sat on the human’s shoulder, sparking with electricity. Behind him stood a humanoid frog with a tongue wrapped around his own neck that looked like a scarf at first.
The human blinked. “…Arceus?”
This caught Arceus off guard. “…You know me, human?”
“Uh, yeah, we stopped you from blowing up the world a few years ago.” He looked around. “…Where am I? What kind of Pokémon is that?”
Renee raised an eyebrow. “I am not a Pokèmon or a Pokèrin, thank you very much. I am a lady. Renee Jackson, if you need a name.”
The human blinked. “Uh, I’m Ash. Ash Ketchum.”
Daniel clearly recognized the name, but since he said nothing it was probably from something fictional and not previously known in reality. “Daniel Jackson,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
Ash put two and two together about the last name and decided not to comment on it.
Arceus lowered his head and stared into Ash’s eyes. The kid finally flinched at the gargantuan equine being that close. “Uh… Hi.”
“He does look familiar. Perhaps he is a version of one of the many humans I saved.”
“Have any way to check?” Daniel asked.
Arceus nodded. He closed his eyes and let out a pulse of energy – prompting a small, green fairy-creature to appear next to him, its head like a plant bulb.
“Celebi, do you mind checking the past human settlement for Ash Ketchum?”
“Oh, him! I know him. He was really nice! Don’t even have to go back.”
Ash stared at Celebi. “You can talk!?”
“That might be the translation spell?” Renee suggested, tilting her hoof back and forth in uncertainty.
Arceus decided to end this line of questioning before it could continue. “Ahem. Celebi, that will be all.” The green fairy vanished into time. “Now… Ash. I do not remember you well, for it has been eons since a human graced the surface of this world. But you were one of the chosen.”
“Cho… sen?”
Arceus let out an annoyed grunt. “Last time I did this I sent out a general message to all of them at once and let them sort it out themselves.”
“Not very courteous,” Renee pointed out.
“I know,” Arceus said, collecting his breath. “You are in another world, Ash Ketchum. I am another Arceus, likely different from the one you know in many ways.”
“Uh, all right. I think I got that!”
The yellow rodent made a “pika-chu!” noise.
Arceus stared at it, baffled for a moment. “…I thought that was just the show being silly.”
“What?” Ash asked.
“Not important,” Arceus said, shaking his head. “What is important is that, in my world, I took all Pokérin – er, mon – away and moved them to this world to live without humans.”
“W-why?”
“Because of those red and white balls you carry on you. You may not realize it, but they are horrible devices. You think they just capture new friends for you that you use to go on a grand adventure, one where you and your friends learn much about each other, correct?”
Ash nodded slowly.
“This device is a brainwashing machine,” Arceus said. “Whatever it captures, it attempts to force it to obey your every word. Do you ever wonder why when you capture wild Pokè…mon they fight you like their life depends on it, and then suddenly they’re great friends with you nine times out of ten? This device overrides what they are.”
The yellow rodent and the blue frog reacted to this visibly. The frog appeared deeply conflicted, while the rodent seemed to be thinking ‘that makes a lot of sense’.
Ash stared at Arceus. “R-really?”
“Really. It is a truly nefarious device. If there were not a creature within the ones you held I would destroy them with my judgement. And were you not vouched for, you would have been struck down for even coming to this world with those infernal devices.”
Ash gulped.
“But there is a simple answer. Just release all of them here, and you may return home.”
“W-what? Here? And go back without them?! Never!”
“Pi-ka!” the rodent shouted, sparking with electricity.
Arceus’ eyes flashed. “So be it.”
~~~
Nanoha looked at a zoomed-in map of the multiverse, skewed in such a way that both the E-Sphere and Q-Sphere holdings of Merodi Universalis were easily visible. She watched as a few dozen dots added themselves to the map, raising the number of ‘main’ universes within Merodi Universalis to over a thousand – not counting colonies and scientific outposts, or even worlds that were just allies receiving aid, technology, and protection that were essentially already part of Merodi Universalis and just waiting for their turn to be added.
They were still a low-Class 2 – a thousand primary integrated worlds still wasn’t much. TSAB had over a million. But many many of those had been colonies that grew to full status over decades.
She had no doubt Merodi Universalis would be considered mid-tier with time. High was a bit of a stretch – moving up past mid-Class 2 was always difficult without some kind of extreme edge. Like the Xeelee’d had with their outrageous technology they’d invented before they left their universe.
Still, the fact that they had gotten to Class 2 at all in less than a century was remarkable, especially considering what they were and how they had started.
Part of it had to do with their ability to make friends and allies. But there was another part…
“Quite the little protagonists, huh?” the Doctor said. Nanoha didn’t hear him come in, but she didn’t even look up from the map to greet him. “Growing well, growing fast, drawing the attention of the whole multiverse…”
Nanoha nodded. “Figured it wouldn’t be that obvious. The Xeelee were never called the protagonists.”
“Because the Xeelee were impersonal,” the Doctor said. “The Merodi have heroes.”
“So did we.”
“You were thought to be the Protagonist some time ago.”
Nanoha smiled warmly. “The Protagonist is just a legend, Doctor. I don’t think there is a true Protagonist for the multiversal story. It just changes over time. It was me and the TSAB. Now it’s Eve and Merodi Universalis. She will rise to a point, possibly where she’s like us, and then it’ll become normal. The buzz will wear off. We’ll wait for the next protagonist and pray this one doesn’t bring a multiversal threat that destroys us.”
“You and I both know they’re different.”
Nanoha leaned back. “So what? There have been rises and dips in multiversal history. Maybe they are the heralds of another age. Metatime goes on forever, Doctor. Even if all of us eventually die, existence carries on.”
The Doctor shrugged, dropping that line of conversation. He leaned in to examine the map. “You know, it is curious. Very curious in fact.”
“What is?”
“They’re positioned in such a way that their two halves are on opposite sides of the Dark Tower. If you drew a line in the standard model, it would go right through it.”
Nanoha raised an eyebrow. “That’s a very much ‘more or less’ thing.”
The Doctor shrugged. “I suppose so.”
Nanoha nodded, looking deeply into the map.
“…Why do you stare at it so intently? They are important, yes, but they are just another society.”
“I’m responsible for them,” Nanoha said.
“You’re not their mother.”
Nanoha gained a knowing smile. She made no further response.
“Curiouser and curiouser…”
“Any particular reason why you’re here, Doctor?” Nanoha asked.
“I’m just here with a warning – not a mysterious one or one with a lot of vague prophecy. I think the Time Lords are up to something.”
“They’re your people.”
“I rarely talk to them.”
Nanoha nodded. “I know. Never try to reconnect?”
“I don’t play well with their regimen.”
Nanoha smirked. “Or ours, for that matter.”
“You’re nowhere near as bad,” the Doctor said. “I’ve just found evidence of them tampering in areas of the multiverse they shouldn’t, but whenever I look closer everything’s gone. Just gone. Like they know I’m looking and decide to pull out because of it.”
“You are telling me about it.”
The Doctor nodded. “Just be careful. You are their closest competition. They’ve never liked rivals.”
Nanoha nodded, taking the information to heart.
~~~
Arceus lifted his front hooves.
“For Celestia’s sake, he’s just a kid!” Renee shouted. “What is wrong with you?”
Arceus looked at her. “...Excu-”
“DON’T YOU ‘EXCUSE ME’ YOU VIOLENT HOOLIGAN!” She waved her hoof wildly. “You do not solve violence with violence!”
“This is my world, I can give out my own justice.”
“As a member of Merodi Universalis your rank as World Leader is under that of an Overhead,” Renee decreed. “So if you want to go the legal route you do have to submit to me, creator.”
Arceus bristled. “Are you certain this is where you want to go?”
“If it’ll get you to settle down for five freaking seconds so we can talk out a solution, yes!”
Arceus had the dignity to look slightly ashamed at this.
“Good.” Renee cleared her throat. “Ash Ketchum, I am Renee Jackson – Overhead of Expeditions for Merodi Universalis, a nation of which this world is a primary member of.”
Ash peeked out from between his fingers – seeing his blue frog standing over him defensively alongside his rodent. The frog had gained red markings on its face and a more powerful aura. “It’s okay Greninja, Pikachu. I think we’re okay now.”
Greninja stood down in an instant – but Pikachu glared at Renee with distrust.
“You don’t have to trust me,” Renee said. “But, Ash, do you see the horrendous nature of these capturing devices?”
Ash nodded slowly. “Mind control… I’ve spent a lot of my journey fighting against it. I thought… I wasn’t using it.”
“It’s okay, you didn’t know. Do you think your P… friends would stick with you even if you kept them outside?”
Ash thought about this. “…Yes.”
“Then do that. Have them walk alongside you without the capture devices conditioning them.”
Ash nodded. “Right.” He pulled out four more of the red and white balls, releasing the remainder of his team. Then he tossed five of them to Arceus. “Do what you want.”
“Just five?”
“Pikachu doesn’t use one.”
Arceus looked at Ash with kind eyes. “I see… I apologize. I suppose I did misjudge you.”
“You tried to force him too quickly,” Renee muttered. “He was willing, you were just too quick.” She sighed. “Of course, that’s only half the problem.”
Ash’s eye widened. “Back home… So many Pokèmon are being controlled against their will! I have to go back and stop it!”
“You’re just a kid,” Daniel said.
“I’ve saved the world before,” Ash said.
“PI-KA!” Pikachu confirmed.
Renee smiled. “…You’re a determined one, aren’t you?”
Ash nodded, hands in fists. “What those things are is wrong.”
“And what of battling?” Arceus asked.
“…It would only be right if they weren't forced to do it. If they wanted to.”
“You have my blessing,” Arceus said, standing back. “You may return to your world with all of them. You can change the world, Ash. Perhaps there is a way to do it without moving worlds, or exacting great judgement.”
Ash nodded. “I will.”
“Actually, I think he’ll need some help,” Renee said. “And I happen to be in charge of a lot of different Expeditions teams. What do you say to meeting some new, powerful friends?”
Ash brightened. “Sure!”
~~~
The Seats sat around the Dark Tower for a meeting – though, specifically, it was only the Class 1 Seats who cared to talk to each other about interesting phenomena.
In this case, the Celestialsapiens, Abstracts, Xeelee, and Horrorterrors. The Beyonders and the Great Will never wanted to show up to these ‘curiosity meetings’ and nobody wanted Them to be there. The High-Class 2’s simply weren’t invited.
The female Celestialsapien raised a hand. “MOTION CARRIED: ANALYSIS OF THE MERODI UNIVERSALIS KA SIGNATURE HAS BEEN RUN THROUGH EVERY CONCEIVABLE TEST. CONCLUSION: PROTAGONIST.”
>: Not all that surprising.
“It is certainly a mixed blessing that our theories appear to be correct from every conceivable angle,” the Horrorterror Ni’rath’a said.
The Abstract Eternity spoke last. “The Flowers have not weighed in.”
>: The Flowers were not invited. Perhaps if they bothered to advance, they would have. As it is they do not understand true scope, happy as multiversal janitors.
“WE NEED TO ESTABLISH WHAT THIS MEANS.”
>: Let’s lay it out simply. If it is a Protagonist civilization, we do nothing. Shouldn’t even bother messing with it, that’s just going to add to trouble. But if it is the Protagonist civilization, then we need to do something.
“Do we know if they are or are not the Protagonist Civilization?”
“Evidence suggests most likely. We cannot be certain – if we were certain I would believe it was a glitch in our readings.”
“OTHER EVIDENCE SUGGESTS TRUE PROTAGONIST AS WELL. PSYCHICS ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE ARE TALKING OF THE ‘END OF CERTAINTY’. AWARE BEINGS SEE A MOMENT IN THE FUTURE THEY CANNOT DISCERN.”
“And there are also beings that are not affected. They see life continuing as normal.”
>: But they are not able to pinpoint any disaster, or what is causing the perceived ‘end of certainty’ in all the others. Which means, at the very least, there is an event coming that no one can foresee, and it’s big enough that psychics and Aware beings are losing their minds over it. Something is coming. If not a story worthy of the Protagonist, then something along the lines of the Dark Tower books, or the Downstreamer era.
“The Last Downstreamer has awoken recently.”
>: Precisely. The pieces are all there for the beginning, middles, and ends of the multiverse to meet. We have a fresh protagonist, an ancient curse from the middle, and a boy with the power to retcon back to the start of everything. It has all the signs of a culmination of everything.
“BUT THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF THE RED HERRING.”
>: True.
“The last passage in the Tower’s Testament does outline two different thoughts.”
>: Analyzing the Tower’s Testament is a doomed endeavor.
“AGREED.”
“So, assuming they are the Protagonist Civilization, what do we do?”
>: Whenever conflict arises, side with them. Seriously, never put yourself on the enemy side. Even if the Protagonist is beaten, they will still achieve a pyrrhic victory of some sort. We want to be on that side when it all goes down.
“Which suggests a question. If we will be on the side of the Merodi, who will be the enemy?”
“THE OTHER CLASS 1’S, PERHAPS?”
“Them will not risk themselves without need, and it is unlikely the Great Will has any desire to create a large scale conflict… Unless It wishes to become God.”
>: My money is on the Downstreamer. Working together with the Beyonders perhaps, but definitely the Downstreamer.
“OR SOME THREAT FROM WITHIN HORRORTERROR SPACE AGAIN, RELATED TO THE LAST ONE.”
“…”
>: You do have a history.
“We will need to prepare for the unexpected. Perhaps one of the lower Seats has something up its sleeve, or the retcon will drag a threat from the distant meta-past. Whatever it is, we will need to prepare.”
“WHAT IF IT INVOLVES THE DARK TOWER IMMENSELY?”
>: Oh joy, that’d be wonderful.
“As I said, prepare for anything. Including a possible attempt on the Tower.”
There was nothing further to discuss.
~~~
Curaçao and her team returned from their mission, arriving in the main hall of Renee’s castle.
“Velvet you were, like, awesome!” Insipid said, bouncing up and down.
Velvet rolled her eyes, adjusting her glasses. “What? It’s not like I haven’t devoured an eldritch being before.”
“But but… You made it scared!”
Velvet chuckled ominously. “That felt great…”
“I helped,” Alushy insisted.
“You were distraction bait.”
“Still helping!”
“It didn’t care about ‘Yo Mama’ jokes,” the fifth member Nae the Ga, said.
“Yo mama so tall, she-”
Nae smacked Alushy in the face with her gun. “Something, something, ran into a bar.”
“Quiet down,” Lady Rarity hissed.
Renee passed the six of them by. “Oh, you’re back! Ahem. You need to come to my office.”
“Don’t we get a break?” Insipid whined.
Curaçao put a hoof to Insipid’s mouth. “What is zis about?”
Renee smiled warmly. “I’ve got a possible longer-term mission for you. Don’t worry, you won’t have to go immediately, but we should discuss it sooner rather than later.”
Lady Rarity nodded. “Of course, Renee.” She teleported her team and Renee to Renee’s office where Daniel and some kid with a yellow rodent on his shoulder were waiting.
“This kid’s not going to be able to handle us,” Velvet said. “I could eat him up in an instant.”
Renee coughed. “We’ll talk about that momentarily. Team, this is-”
“Holy hell in a handbasket, it’s Ash Ketchum,” Alushy said.
Renee facehooved. “Alushy…”
Ash looked at Renee. “Uh, how does he know who I am?”
“She,” Alushy corrected.
Ash blinked. “Uh…”
Nae cleared her throat. “Let’s just say there are other versions of Ash Ketchum and leave it at that.”
Ash forgot completely about Alushy and stared at Nae. “…You really can talk.”
Nae smiled warmly. “Yeah. Lots of us can, if we’re only allowed to learn. Though I’m from a world where there are only Ga – not gardevoirs and not sirknights. Though functionally we’re the same. My name is Nae.”
“And now for the rest of the introductions,” Renee said. “You already know Nae. The team leader is Curaçao, Element of Trickery.”
Curaçao bowed respectfully.
“Then there’s Lady Rarity, the spider version of me in the armor there.”
Lady Rarity bowed. “Charmed.”
“That’s Alushy. She’s a vampire-pegasus with a deep, dark power in her. And quite the mouth.”
“Fuck you too.” Alushy sneered. Ash looked at her like she was speaking an alien language.
“Next to her is Insipid, a mare with the ability to copy the powers of others, and Velvet, a blood-warrior who can feed on fear.”
“We, like, are totally Curaçao’s sisters!” Insipid said.
“Zis much is true,” Curaçao chuckled. “We ‘ave fought gods, explored ‘ells, and turned the tide of war.”
“Yeesh… You’ve all been through a lot,” Ash said.
“Which is why they’d be the best to help you in your quest,” Renee said. “We’ve found a world that needs some changing. A world where sapient beings are enslaved by human machines and forced to engage in brutal battles. Many people think these battles are just popular sport, but in truth the machines have a bit of ‘mind control’ to them, meaning the creatures generally do not have a choice. The ‘gardevoirs’ are all enslaved, as are every being you’ve seen from Pokèrin Anima. It didn’t take much for Ash to realize this and see that things needed to change. He wanted to go back to his world and help it.”
Renee put her front hooves together. “I could have contacted Aid and Cultural to ask for a full military force to make change happen, but as much as I hate to admit it, it isn’t a grimdark universe, even though it needs help. So, instead, I just got approval to send a small team through to help change it from the inside. Ash Ketchum here was going to try to change it anyway, and I think you five are particularly suited to doing what needs to be done.”
“We’re probably going to kill people,” Velvet pointed out.
“Wait what!?” Ash blurted.
“Humans hate change like they hate sharing,” Velvet commented. “We’ll be lucky if this doesn’t devolve into war.”
Ash paled.
“Surely you realized that was probably going to happen?” Lady Rarity asked. “That is, unless you were locked up for being crazy and never allowed to tell anyone.”
Ash blinked, seeing the truth in what she was saying.
“Are you still sure you’re willing to fight like that?” Nae asked. “It won’t be a sport. It will be a real fight.”
Ash took one moment to look at Pikachu. His face became set. “I’ll do what needs to be done.”
“Spoken like a true ‘ero,” Curaçao said with an understanding smirk.
“So you’ll take the mission?” Renee asked.
“Assist in the overthrowing of an entire world order?” Alushy asked. “Fuck yes!”
“It sounds, like, kinda fun,” Insipid added.
Velvet shrugged. “I could go either way.”
Nae looked at herself. “…For my brothers and sisters, I will.”
Lady Rarity smiled. “I have no issues.”
Curaçao nodded. “We’ll take it, Renee.”
Renee grinned. “Glad to hear it. I’ll leave you to be acquainted. You have a week to prepare and recuperate.”
“Viva la revolution!” Alushy shouted. “It will happen!”
Ash looked at her, unsure.
“You’ll get used to her,” Nae said, walking up to Ash. “Now, besides Pikachu… Who do you have with you?”
“I have a lot… But right now it’s Greninja, Noivern, Talonflame, Hawlucha…”
“Greninja…” Nae closed her eyes. “A gekkouga. That’s one of the Pokèrin intelligent races. I might be able to teach him to talk, like me.”
Ash gawked. “…Really?”
“Really. They have the potential to be just like us.”
Ash nodded. “I wonder how many others can.”
“Unfortunately not Pikachu,” Nae said, scratching the electric rodent behind the ears. “He really is just a large rodent.
“Pi-KA!”
“Not that you ever should be mind-controlled to fight against your will.”
“It wouldn’t constitute a ‘crime against personhood’,” Velvet pointed out.
“We can figure out the legalese later,” Lady Rarity said. “Clearly, the practices on Ash’s world need to end. And we have the power to bring it about. Ash, you should come train with us – and perhaps get a weapon of your own.”
Ash shook his head. “I fight through my Pokèmon.”
“But what if you’re separated? Or if-”
“I can bond with Greninja until we basically become one,” Ash said.
“You still need a gun,” Alushy muttered. “Or a sword or something.”
“We’ll discuss it in training,” Lady Rarity said. “Come, Ash. Get to know us. Be sure to bring your Greninja.”
They left the office, leaving Renee and Daniel.
“I do things like that every week,” Renee mused. “Several hundred teams under my command, I probably do it a bit too liberally…”
“You did give him one of our strongest teams.”
“It was to get on Arceus’ good side. I did yell at him for a bit. Probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”
Daniel smirked. “No. It wasn’t.”
“Regardless, I’ve got to take care of the Sparkle Influx… I’m going to have to shuffle a few teams around to make sure everything’s all even.” She brought up a display of all the teams. “…I do hope they don’t blow up the planet.”
“You never know.”
~~~
Valentine and Froppy stood on opposite sides of a holographic screen that showed a news report on the Sparkle Census joining Merodi Universalis.
“Ribbit,” Froppy said.
Valentine let out a deep sigh. “Really?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it!”
Valentine looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it.
“…What did you think I was implying?”
“I’m on a hairpin trigger,” Valentine muttered.
“They’ve become stronger than us,” Froppy translated aloud for her benefit.
“Yes… And while I don’t exactly feel threatened I do feel like we’re inadequate. They’re a century younger than us! Why don’t we progress like that!?”
“I think you need to calm down.”
Valentine nodded, adjusting his pink suit. “You are correct. This is unbefitting.”
Froppy nodded. “Ribbit.”
“I still can’t imagine why…”
“I think you can answer your own question.”
“They’ve got stronger ka?”
Froppy raised an eyebrow.
“…We’re too divided.”
Froppy nodded slowly.
Valentine pulled up a map of the USM – almost completely limited to the E-Sphere, with a couple of holdings elsewhere. Amusingly, it was often compared to the standard 50-state design of the United States of America, with Alaska being the Q-Sphere and Hawaii approximating the Strands. They had a lot more than 48 ‘continental’ universes, but that didn’t change the comparison.
It was a patchwork light of red and blue with the occasional yellow blip that represented ‘other’.
The constant political war between Democrat and Republican. It never ended. With the heavy American roots in ‘Murica’, it was no surprise that everything tended toward this political scene. They had started as the division between blue and red, and nobody was willing to change it. All worlds added had to, if they wanted any say in multiversal politics, adapt to the system. There were very few ‘yellows’. The first Discworld was the only yellow that mattered, and they never elected any Presidents, or made any pretense of adopting the party system.
The war between the two sides was constant. It wasn’t a physical war, but a political one. They froze each other at every turn, forced their ideals at the expense of progress, and…
Well, essentially, they made the USM stagnate. They argued about everything and never made any big decisions.
“I created this…” Valentine muttered.
“Your America hadn’t quite achieved the split, as I remember,” Froppy said – reciting things she learned in history class.
Valentine nodded. “But I saw it in the others. I always did. But I ignored it. Ignoring that the future versions of my country had…” He pounded his fist into the table. “This isn’t America. Not anymore.”
“…So what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing can be done. A revolution to a more even democracy will be political suicide.” He folded his arms. “We’re stuck and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Ribbit.”
“Nobody will accept entry to Merodi Universalis. Not even myself. I don’t care about how effective they are – they aren’t free.” He shook his head. “It looks like we’re just going to stay as we are.”
“Are you sure we won’t fall apart?”
“…Not if I have anything to say about it,” Valentine said, curling his hands into fists. “This is the USM. We’re not going to fall. No matter what.”
Froppy wasn’t so sure about that.