Jack.
Jokul.
These nas felt foreign in Anaximander’s mind, labels that belonged to soone else, designations that carried weight he had spent eons trying to escape. He shook his head as if he did not want them, as if he did not recognize them, as if the being they referred to was a stranger wearing his face!
THE Creature’s gaze softened at this response, understanding filling his multicolored eyes as he continued speaking with the patience of soone who had all the ti in Existence.
"Your experint in defining yourself was a grand one. You lived a life of hardship as the scientist and explorer Anaximander, without any of your mories, without any of your knowledge."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"But your existence is filled with weavings of undifferentiation. Your existence, by nature, is undefined."
At such words, Anaximander beca utterly still and serious, the proto-matter around him ceasing its serene flow as his attention focused entirely on the being before him. His ancient eyes held defiance that burned brighter than the frost he had just released.
"My existence may be undefined."
His voice was steady despite the turmoil that must have been raging within him.
"But my Way, my self, it is defined. I like Anaximander. I like who I have beco."
He straightened, his scholarly robes settling around him with dignity that transcended his undefined nature.
"Sotis one has to take a step and say who they are. To define themselves and remain what they are, fully and truly."
His eyes t THE Creature’s without flinching.
"And I am an explorer. I am Anaximander."
BOOM!
As he said this, the frost in this region receded and disappeared as if acknowledging his declaration. He tapped out with authority that made space itself respond, and the Crack of Observable Existence above them shook with resonance!
Imnse seas of proto-matter, more than ten tis grander than before, gushed out from the crack and landed on Anaximander with force that would have annihilated lesser beings. But he absorbed it all without faltering, his existence drinking in the undefined potential while his definition remained firmly in place.
He had made a choice, like many in Existence made their choices.
To be what he wanted to be rather than what he had been born as.
To define himself rather than accept the undefined nature of his origins.
THE Creature had also made his own choices across the eons, so right and so wrong, so that he regretted and so that he stood by despite the consequences. He looked at the most recent choice of his friend with a smile that held genuine warmth.
Every choice was a path taken.
And every path was a river of endless possibilities.
As he thought of this, THE Creature couldn’t help but look out in a different direction entirely, his gaze piercing through the spaces between spaces toward destinations that only he could perceive. His booming voice echoed out as it spoke to no one in particular.
"What choice will you make?"
It was a simple question, and it was unknown whether it was aid at THE Living Paradox who held a Claim through thods that many didn’t fully understand, or THE Secretive Eon who sought to unite all of Observable Existence, or THE Primordial Chaos who watched everything from his corner of reality, or perhaps soone else entirely that THE Creature was thinking about right now.
---
Eons passed and eons gone.
Far in THE Infinite Unfurling, past a Crack of Observable Existence, inside THE Prima Indifferentia.
In a region where proto-matter had taken on properties that shouldn’t have been possible even for undefined substance, an ancient creature made its ho among formations that defied description.
The proto-matter here was molten, shining crimson-gold with heat that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with concentrated potential. It curved in millions of Mobius strips that twisted through dinsions that hadn’t fully differentiated, creating an environnt of endless loops where beginning and end lost all aning.
The ancient creature itself was sothing between a serpent and a concept, its form stretching across hundreds of miles while simultaneously occupying a single point in space. Scales that shifted through every possible color covered its body, and eyes that numbered in the thousands dotted its length, each one watching a different aspect of the molten landscape it called ho.
It had been here since before THE Infinite Unfurling.
It would likely be here long after.
And right now, it was watching a small crimson-gold seed that spun perpetually in the middle of this place with happiness that radiated from every one of its countless eyes.
The seed was no larger than a fist, but it burned with authority that made the surrounding Mobius strips of proto-matter bend toward it in reverence. Routinely, the seed would release a flash of light that carried the quality of undifferentiation, pure potential in its most concentrated form, and the ancient creature would absorb this light as it made its existence feel that much richer.
It had enjoyed this sensation for cycles.
Sotis, the continued sensation sothing brought was grander than consuming it in a single gulp. The creature had learned this lesson long ago, and so it had been content to simply bask in the seed’s emissions rather than devour it entirely.
So the creature continued to enjoy the sensation this seed granted, its countless eyes blinking with contentnt that spoke of simple pleasures appreciated across unfathomable spans of ti.
Unbeknownst to it...
HUUM!
A storm of proto-matter arrived nearby, settling into the molten landscape as if it belonged there. The storm had been asuring this situation for several seconds, observing the ancient creature and its treasure with attention that went beyond re curiosity.
The storm of proto-matter was naturally Noah, and his gaze was sharp as he looked at the terrifying scene ahead of him from within his concealnt.
|Environntal Analysis - High Value Target Detected|
|You are observing an ancient entity designated as a Primordial Serpent of Undifferentiated Coils. Its power should rival or exceed weaker Absolutes, though its combat thodology would be fundantally different from differentiated beings.|
|More significantly, you are observing the object it is benefiting from.|
|Object Classification: Spark Fragnt of THE First Cause|
|This is a fragnt that contains re echoes of THE First Cause that initiated differentiation, but it is a fragnt nonetheless. Consuming or integrating this Spark Fragnt would provide trendous advancent to your foundations, potentially accelerating your growth by factors that cannot be accurately calculated.|
|The Primordial Serpent has been passively absorbing emissions from this Spark Fragnt for eons rather than consuming it directly.|
|You could potentially integrate it where the Serpent could not.|
|However, acquiring it would require either defeating the Serpent or stealing the Fragnt without detection.|
|Neither option carries favorable odds given current power differentials.|
...!
A Spark Fragnt of THE First Cause.
The very thing that THE Primordial Paradox had ntioned when describing the resources of incalculable value that could be found in THE Prima Indifferentia. Not the full First Cause, of course, that would be sothing beyond even Absolutes to claim, but a fragnt containing echoes of the mont when differentiation began.
Noah’s foundations trembled with hunger that had nothing to do with his Derivative Civilization of Infinite Hunger. This was pure desire, the recognition of sothing that could elevate his existence in ways that normal resources could never achieve.
And at this mont, as he was thinking about how he might acquire it...
|Critical Alert - Threat Approaching|
|Infinite Undifferentiated Fate has sensed the fate of collapse drawing closer from a specific direction. THE Undivided One, Bazuman, continues to track your existence through thods that your concealnt cannot fully prevent. That relentless fucker is coming, and its arrival is estimated...soon?Soon.|
|You have limited ti to make a decision.|
|Attempt acquisition of the Spark Fragnt and risk confrontation with both the Primordial Serpent and Bazuman.|
|Or...well, there isn’t truly another viable option.|
...!
He had never escaped the attention of an Undivided One that continued to chase him across THE Prima Indifferentia with persistence that bordered on obsession.
And a treasure lay right before him that could help cent his power even more, continuing to allow him to build a foundation that might just allow him to go against Absolutes even without having beco one himself.
The Spark Fragnt pulsed with another emission of undifferentiated light, and the Primordial Serpent’s countless eyes blinked with contentnt as it absorbed the offering.
Behind him, sowhere in the churning expanse of THE Prima Indifferentia, Bazuman was approaching with million crimson eyes and endless jaws.
So when it ca to this pivotal mont, Noah knew that his ti in this temporal traversal might be nearing an end. He had already gained so much, had already transford in ways that he couldn’t have anticipated, had already beco sothing that had no precedent in Observable Existence.
But he was also greedy.
And greed, properly directed, was just another word for ambition.
"In for a penny, in for a pound."
...!
He moved!
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