Take a moment to stop for a while on my weapons, Lord and Cript began walking with me through a very… odd portal.
“And...where are we going?” I asked the two curiously.
"We throw around a lot of words like Admin, Hacker, Code, Deletes. For two reasons." Cript said.
"It's the best words to describe what they are in modern tongues. And, it's much more litteralliteral than you'd think." Lord said.
“Alright...that didn’t answer my question though.” I started. “I asked where we’re going, not what words mean.” I said, not sure if this is one of those ‘explain the words first then to where we are’ or just them completely ignoring my original question.
"What's a good comparison… how's this, we are exiting the matrix. Give you an idea?" Cript asked.
“Could have just said that the words meant where we’re going.” I pointed out. “No need to be all cryptic when there isn’t any reason to.” I rolled my eyes.
"Well considering you are only the third person to ever come to this place, it felt fitting."
“And you know Jericho hasn’t been here why?” I asked honestly.
"That." Cript said, Pushing me down as he and Lord ducked, almost taking an axe to the head. It was some kind of ugly almost oger looking thing that looked like it was glitching as computer parts were randomly sticking out of it. Cript then grabbed me by the scruff and jumped high. Getting a good look weird things like that one were here, flying about in what I can only describe as an infinite and giant computer. "Those things can two shot ME. So, yeah." Cript said.
“And when has that ever actually been true?” I deadpanned, having heard that before and it being not true in several regards. “So...this is a thing.” I said while looking over the Computer.
"Welcome to the whole of creation. Or rather, the machine that we live in." Lord said as we all landed on what looked like a mega sized ram card. "And yes they can two shot Cript. These things keep us out of here for a reason." Lord said as we began walking through the place.
As I looked around, I had this weird feeling we were being watched, and not just by what I could only guess as the ‘Guards’. “So...who else is feeling watched by a third party?” I asked curiously.
"That would be who we are looking for." Cript said. "You've actually met previously. Kinda."
“Met previously? What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
"You'll know when you meet them." Lord said.
“Alright...so why are we here?” I asked curiously.
"This person knows everything. We are going to ask about the Nulls." Lord said.
“Cool.” I nodded. “Wonder who it is…”
"Well well well. Hello again you three." That voice. We all turned around. That silhouette form, Truth, now lined with a circuit board pattern stood behind us. "What brings you three to my home?"
"Hey there Truth. Long time no see." Cript said.
“Wait…” I blinked. “The fuck are you doing here?” I frowned. “Shouldn’t you be in FullMetal Alchemist World?”
"So naive, so young." Truth said.
"Truth isn't bound to one world Ben. They are the sentient consciousness of this whole machine." Lord said.
"Blunt as ever I see." Truth said, that smile growing ever larger. "I devided myself to each world and even individual, not that hard as I'm the reason you all even operate. Running and managing all those endless code calculations that are 'passive'. It's all me."
“Alright…” I said slowly. “So...mind answering some questions I have if that won’t cost me everything but the kitchen sink?”
"Ask the question and I'll determine the price. Simple as that."
“The hell is Null.” I started. “And...who are they working for?” I asked, knowing full well Truth knows what memories Jenny gave me.
"Ah, the Nulls. I'll need payment upfront before I disclose that little secret."
“And what Payment is that?” I asked, already having a bad feeling about this.
"I'll need three things. One from each of you. To sweeten this deal, Lord and Cript can also get something from me in exchange. Sound fair?"
"As fair as you can be." Lord said, almost hissing.
“And we came to this thing why?” I whispered to Cript and Lord. “So...what do you need?”
"From Cript, heh, he knows what I want. From Lord, I'll be taking that Armor… and from Ben. I'll take either your name, or your heart. Your choice."
"More like you can kiss my ass." I frowned. "This ain't 'equivalent exchange' time, this is not having Creation End time." I frowned. "And it's probably been more than once…"
"Many. But to know the whole story, a choice must be made. This isn't about equivalent exchange, it never has been. This is about sacrifices. Lord's armor is the only thing he has from the old days, the long since bygone days. And Cript, well, like I said he knows what I want. So what will you sacrifice Ben? Or Is your home not worth the loss?"
I growled. "Are you threatening my family?" I asked pointedly.
"I don't threaten, I state facts, truths, information long since forgotten I can recall it all. I'm simply stating that either you accept the offer and pick what to sacrifice, or leave and learn nothing. Choice is always yours."
"So do I completely remove any and all character development I've gotten through these years, or finally have the 'who am I?' crisis?" I frowned. "That's a lot more than just 'heart or name'." I frowned.
"Is having a heart all that important to the king of Nothingness? Is holding onto your name, your sense of Identity that important? Collin Ventral, went by Eclipsa Sparkle, now Eclipsa. Zeke Ventral changed too, going by the name of the power that resides in their chest."
"You're given Ben an easy out with asking for his name, aren't you?" Cript asked. "Why?"
"Because, in reality, he has little I'd see fit to accept as a sacrifice. Without his heart, his title as king and Admin of Nothingness will allow him to keep his emotions, and his name, well, like I said a name is just a word, letters, easily changed. No, Your Armor Lord, it's like your skin, and I want to see you remove it. And Cript…"
"Yeah yeah I know." Cript waved off.
"And Names magically don't hold power?" I asked curiously.
"Only if you want them to. Take the offer, or don't." Truth said.
"Fine…" I sighed out. "Take my name since it's so special."
Nodding, Lord actually, and I almost chuckled, T posed, suddenly the back part of his armor unfolding and unlatching. Opening up like a shell as suddenly, walking out was… he was about my old height, Latino, dark black hair, wore a black shirt and black jeans with sneakers. So that's how Lord looks under the armor. "There's my armor." Waoh! Sudden thick Latino accent…
Truth then held out a hand, suddenly from my head, my three letter name floated out from me, and into their hand. Inhaling, Cript walked over to Truth. "Deal." He said, shaking their hand as suddenly, there was, something different about him now. He seemed the same but, now, there was something off still. As he walked back over to us, I saw it. His Nexus mark was gone, but in its place, a small symbol of sorts.
"Now then." Truth said, a wave of their hand bringing Lord's armor over to them. "The Nulls. They are my safety net. A backup and failsafe all in one. One can argue they are like, the OS of creation. I'm the hardware, they are the operating system, and you all are part of the software we run and oversee. They don't mean harm, in fact they prevent it. In such a big program errors are commonplace, but big ones that end reality and defy the set rules, well, that's when Nulls are called in. If they can't correct or eradicate the issue before it spreads, a hard system formating and reset is required. It has happened only about sixteen times."
"So...they're your Firewall?" I asked. "But where would they all stay? If an entire group of those things are out there, wouldn't everyone be able to sense them?" I asked curiously.
"Not if they blend in. Remember, they are the OS, the Firewall, as you put it. They can appear whenever or wherever in a physical body but they are always everywhere, in the background of your realities code and void. Like myself they watch and observe, looking for any faults to correct. The one thing about them is that, unless you are detected as harmful, they won't let you sense them. But, I do know of a place they frequent, if you wish to speak with one for whatever reason."
I looked at Truth and blinked. "That...sounds strangely familiar…" I said slowly. "Not like Agent Smith from the Matrix but...something else." I frowned, wondering why that sounds familiar.
"What is this place then?" Lord asked.
"The place where all the lesser glitches get tossed. The Recycle Bin." Truth said. Opening another odd portal of sorts. "I'll give you three access to it. Might come in handy."
“Alright…” I said worriedly.
"Come on then. Let's see what this mess looks like." Cript said, leading the way. As he walked, I got another quick look at the symbol on his hand where his Nexus mark used to be. Something about it seemed… so strange. Both worrying and comforting, oddly.
"So what should we call you know since we can't even say the name --- to refer to you?" Lord asked. I still can't quite get over how he looks outside the armor.
“No idea.” I shrugged. “But Cript...seriously, the hell did he do?” I frowned. “That symbol on your hand is both worrying...and comforting somehow and it’s bugging the shit out of me.”
"You don't have to worry about it. It's nothing bad." Cript shrugged. "Also, I have a name that you might like. How about either Dire, or King? Dire cause obvious, and also obvious for king. Sound good or?"
“King sounds better and less threatening.” I shrugged. “But...does anyone else feel Grey?” I asked curiously. “Like...small bits of it here and there?”
"Little bit." Lord said.
"Kinda." Cript agreed. "Nothing impressive, but odd at the very least."
“Grey is a...very special energy.” I said while continuing through this weird place. “So...where the hell are we?” I asked, looking around the place.
"Like Truth said, the Recycling bin. Obvious guess is they put shit here that harms our reality, then once it's full they recycle it, break it back down to base code and remove the glitch in the process." Lord said.
“So...is that why I see a weird Zombie in a cage?” I asked, seeing in a very well sealed see through box with a person that...had Void Corrupted Nothingness thorns pulsing on it. “Just like my nightmare…” I muttered worriedly.
“Shit.” Lord said. “This place makes my code stand on edge.”
“I mean...that’s what happens when your looking at things that are just...wrong.” I said worriedly. “So..where to find Null’s…”
"Well, in my experience if you want an all powerful beings attention, you just have to make some noise." Lord said.
"Bar fight?" Cript asked.
“Can we not accidentally set these things free?” I frowned. “Cause I don’t know what you two are planning, but I’d rather not have any of this shit free.” I frowned while motioning to all the damned things here.
"They can't escape this place unless we or a Null pulls them out. Besides, we're just gonna speed up this places natural process of killing them." Cript said. "Though it will take quite a few hits, glitches are pesky like that."
“I mean...alrighty then.” I said while pulling out Lunatic and Skysplitter, both of my weapons shifting into their sixth evolved state. “So, just smack something really freaking hard?”
"How hard can you hit at the moment?" Cript asked. "This can actually be a good test. King, kindly funnel as much power as you can til your body starts breaking under the power and hit one of these things. This is a good way to measure how much of my power you can handle."
“Oh I’ll show you much more than that.” I said while getting down into a runners starting pose. “Might want to step back a bit.” I warned them as I started pumping raw power into my weapons as my fur started to rise and spike up. “Wraths Moon." I growled, my fur turning pure white, Frost Fire forming on the tips of each spike as more and more Raw Power got pumped into it all, going higher exponentially by the mass Rage skills that Lord and Cript saw. “Skills...Power Attack...Grand BullRush...Leap Attack...Pounce…” I growled, my entire body and weapons full of Pure Raw Power. “Skill...Tireless Rage...Enduring Rage...Moon’s Guidance...Gaea’s Song…” I muttered, all the skills trying to counteract all the bonuses from the skills I was compounding together with all the Raw Energy that finally felt like I was going to break. “Which cage?” I growled, thankful for the change so I wouldn’t go completely blind
"Let's try…. That one." Cript pointed towards a massive cage with what looked like a glitched Titan Shadow Creature.
I grinned. “Alright…” I said, my body having grown maybe three feet taller as all the energy was waiting to get set forth. “Grand Skyfall…” I muttered as I took a single step, before leaping towards the cage and eight swings from both Lunatic and Skysplitter. The first swing shattered the cage, the second swing cleaved off the things arm as it tried to defend itself, the third swing slammed it straight into the back wall, the fourth punched it straight through the back of the cage, the sixth cut straight into the things torso, the seventh cleaved through any healing factor it had...and the eight cleaved it straight in two, killing it faster than an instant. I landed on the ground, panting heavily as I looked at my arms and my weapons, my weapons were still fine thankfully...my arms on the other hand had cracks in them...couldn’t even feel the pain even if I was still able to move them. “So...how was that?” I panted heavily, my HUD having massive errors telling me even though my skills were keeping me alive were being pushed with my outlandishly good healing factor.
"Impressive." Lord said. "But… weren't you supposed to pull power from Cript, not stack rage skills and abilities like a junkie?"
"Regardless, you did reach about sixty percent of what I can use. So good all in all." Cript said. "Though Lord does have a point, those rage power stacks make it a bit harder to determine how much you pulled on your own."
I weakly raised my arm and showed them a screen of my stats of when I was charging. “I...always make sure to save my peaks.” I said, showing that indeed I did use sixty percent of Cript’s power, and all the Rage stacks tacked on another twenty percent just from all the multiplicatives. “So...in raw power, I can only go to sixty, but with additives….I can get to eighty…” I panted heavily. “Just...have to make sure I set it up right…”
"You're just as reckless as Eclipsa." Cript chuckled. He lifted my arms. Looking at them, I saw they were scabbing over. "This won't heal, not like other wounds. These will scar over, and never heal right. Will likely also mess up the way your arms fur looks when it regrows. You proved you can survive my power, but Don't do that again until you can HANDLE it. Okay?" Cript said, looking at me not like a teacher, or a partner… like a father.
“Had to...prove all my hard work wasn’t just talk.” I said honestly. “Nothing’s worse...than being told and shown everything I’ve done means jack all…” I said gently as I looked over my scars. “I’ll...figure out how to make them better…”
"So this was too prove it to yourself?" Cript asked.
“And...to you and Lord.” I said while clenching my fists, wincing slightly but the pain wasn’t bad. “To prove that I’m not lying or faking, that I can stand with you and others…” I said honestly. “I’m...sure I’ll figure out a way to heal this...not the first time I figured something out that doesn’t normally have an answer…”
"Then… your further behind us than you think." Cript said, looking me dead in the eyes, a sad, mournful look on their face. "King, Lord doesn't give much vocal praise, or acknowledgement. And I always knew when the time came, you could reach where I stand, and maybe even go higher. You are smart, clever, and now powerful. Even if you weren't, do you think that would have mattered to me?" Cript said, placing a hand over my wounds. "There is a way for these to be healed, but it's something I've had happened to me, and I don't want that for anyone else."
“Then I’ll figure something else out.” I said honestly. “It...can’t be that hard right?”
"..." Cript sighed, standing up as he took Lunatic from my weak grip. The weapon immediately changed to that of the moon at the tip of a claymore, but this time, chains linked around the moon and blade bound them together. "There are two secrets, too harnessing all my power, properly, and it comes at two heavy prices." Cript said, walking passed me and to the edge of where we were and the field of cages. "First, is to be immortal. In no way, shape or form King, can I die. But you can, a concept you seem to struggle understanding. And secondly." They said, my instincts and Assistant alerting me that running was the only option, as Cript began to flow out so much power. "It's to take the pain it causes you," he said, suddenly a slash across his back, ripping his trench coat as a mix of blood and power spewed out. "Every torn muscle, every one and zero in your code screaming from the excess power," another slash, fishing blood and power from his back, his coat now falling off as I began to see something peeking out his wounds. Soon, more appeared along his right arm, forehead, ears. "Take all that pain, and scream Screw It, from the top of your lungs." Suddenly, from Cript's back emerged three sets of wings. The top, an angelic white that glowed with a calming warmth. The bottom, demonic and ungodly. The middle pair, a mix of the two, black feathers where some were and patterned in every other part was either a feather of scales. They turned to face me. Their right arm now split into tendrils, several of which held small blades along them as his bloody skeletal hand still gripped Lunatic between them all, and his forehead held a third Eyeball, akin to a Psychopaths. "I gave up, my ability to cap, to keep my power below max. For what it was worth, it was because, my full power," they grew taller, from there pants an almost reptilian like tail shot out, a metallic set of Barb's as their gets shifted to something like from a dog's, but armored. "Will change me forever."
Finally, over their head, appeared an orb that radiated pure Mana, and many, many different kinds of powers, and from his chest, in the center, an Electronium Crystal emerged, it's power felt like millions of Foudre crackling. "He gave up a lot for you." Lord said to me, pulling me up. "True power, given physical form."
I sighed out. “Alright alright...we already got enough attention as is…” I said while looking over to see all the Null’s gathered around.
"Looks like." Cript sighed, handing me back Lunatic. It shifting back to base form. "Looks like it holds out at max then." He then placed a finger on me, immediately my body felt amazing and I could stand on my own. "So, care to guess what each part of my new look means or later?" Cript asked as we walked over to them.
“I’m going to have to double and triple check that wall of text just to make sure…” I said. “But I can already guess the third eye is for your Psychopath part.”
"Yeah. Oh wait." They blinked it, now it glowed the white of Humanity. Another blink sent it to normal. "That's a weird feeling."”
“Eh, you get used to it.” I said while blinking and showing my eyes of Humanity and Psychopath, before blinking again and it going away.
"Not that, the three eyes thing."
“Eh.” I shrugged. “So anyways…” I said while looking around. “Hi, how are people doing?”
"We are not people." One of them said.
“By the definition of ‘people’, yes you are.” I started. “So uh...sorry about breaking some of your stuff, needed to get your attention somehow.”
"Like we care about these pesky little insects." One of them said.
"What do you want?" Another asked.
"They're with me." That voice. Walking through the crowd, Jenny, older, but her.
“Jenny…” I started, not sure how to start...but decided to keep it simple. “Are you okay?” I asked, even if she is one of these things, she’s still Jenny...my daughter.
"Long story." She said, suddenly a giant Null slammed her across the way into a nearby cage. She didn't seem phased as she pulled herself out of it.
"What gives you the right to bring these codeborn beings here!?" The one that smacker her yelled.
"Because I'm tired of letting you sorry sacks of garbage sit back and watch the same series of Resets happen. Since I joined there has been fucking Six million, half of that I had to reset, and so many more before that. This shit needs to stop the fuck now." Jenny asserted.
“Wait wait wait, you motherfuckers had to do that how many times?” I asked in honest shock. “And literally none of you did anything to actually fix the problem?”
"They know the issue, but are too lazy to find an answer." Jenny spat.
"Because it's an impossibility." Spoke another, Female Null.
"Have you met these people?" Jenny motioned to us. "Let me leave, and I'll prove you wrong."
"Ha. There's a laugh."
"How about a little bet then." Jenny said. "If I manage to correct the issue before the next End Glitch, I call the shots. If I'm a failure, reset me with the rest of creation."
"Heh. Sound like I've already won. Fine, deal. I'll see you at the reset." The female Null said, the rest of them all vanishing, just us, the glitches and Jenny left.
“And apparently they hasn’t learned or realized you're stupid good at betting.” I pointed out.
She turned to face me, giving me a smile. "Which is why I'm banking on you three pulling off a Miracle of beyond impossible feats."
“Don’t worry, you know we will.” I said with a smile. “So...a Null huh? How’d that happen?” I asked curiously, looking over Jenny to see how she changed.
"Heh…. Believe it or not… before I became a Null I was… The Mother, for about three years… then the reset happened and… given some luck they saved me, made me a Null… never agreed with their ideals or job. Which reminds me, care to take a guess at what causes the End Glitch?"
“I mean, I do have my guesses but why don’t you tell us cause I sure as hell could guess for hours and probably not get close.” I said honestly. “As you said yourself, it’s happened six million times...and that’s six million times I’ve tried to stab Void Mother and only gotten a massive hole in my chest.”
"So million since I became a Null. It's happened WAY more times before I became a Null. But, that aside, the End Glitch happens when the storage fills. Basically our Existence gets too big, too much data and it can't be stored anymore. So all of reality glitches. And it keeps happening sooner and sooner each reset from what I've seen."
“It’s because Void keeps what it takes.” I said. “Even after each reset...the Void always keeps what it holds, I’ve seen it myself…” I sighed out.
"Actually… no. The void Also gets reset… it's actually...Grey, that's taking up all the space. Roughly at the moment… half of what our storage drive holds."
I blinked. “That’s...not right. I swear, I saw tons of things before this Cycle right?” I asked, turning to Cript. “You’ve seen my memories, you’ve probably been to Void more times than I have…” I said, scared at what this might entail.
"While true Cycles and Resets are different. A reset cleans everything, and a cycle created a new reality from the ruins of the old. If grey is not getting erased in that, then countless resets worth of Grey from each of it's discoverers and such… has just been piling up endlessly."
"And given its nature of, expanding, growing even without a king or owner of any kind." Lord added.
“And what?” I asked, already seeing one possibility this is going with. “What’s going to happen to Eclipsa? What’s going to happen to her if this is all Grey’s fault?”
"That… I have no idea. But, I have an idea as to how to fix it. We need to find, or make, a new storage drive."
"Both will be torture hell itself would Ban." Lord sighed. "But it's our only options. If Grey can't be deleted then we'll have to move it."
"That could work… which means…" Cript and Lord shared a look.
"The fucking Ethernet."
“Couldn’t we just…make Grey itself into its own Storage Drive?” I asked curiously. “Using itself in a loop of fueling itself to power the storage, but also it keeps itself contained as it is it’s own storage space?” I suggested.
"We can… but, doing that inside the storage drive we live in is risky as it's something never done before, and one mistake could format is all again, or worse, break it and we are all screwed then." Cript said.aid.
“And no one has decided to do this...why?” I asked curiously. “Like...seriously, if I could come up with an idea to solve the problem in less than two minutes, how come the ‘higher ups’ haven’t figured that out in an Eternity?”
"Because they are assholes who, in their words, 'exist only to eliminate glitches after they appear, not to prevent them from appearing.' Bunch of lazy pricks is all they are."
“And...there’s no one else to either keep them in line or actually thinking of answers?” I asked, wondering how the hell Truth could run this entire thing.
"Nope. Truth runs the calculations and all that crap, and they mostly just self govern themselves."
“Well then he sure sucks at his job if he couldn’t think of that simple as shit answer.” I pointed out.
"Simply said, yes. In practice it's not easy. Which is why we best try both options." Lord stated.
"Meaning we'll need to talk… with all of you." Cript said.
“Oh boy...can’t wait to tell the others this…” I sighed out.
To be continued...