Godclads-Chapter 33-21 Reunion (III)

{The ancient philosopher Clausewitz once said that war is politics by other means. This might be the inverse, I'm afraid, for New Vultun—and in Idheim in general—for war and death is the economy here, and politics is the means of obtaining more fuel for souls.

As such, when dealing with those who are on this god-forge, it is advised that you take a different approach to their philosophies. There is a fatalism ingrained in all peoples of Idheim, but also a hubris, a desire to transcend their mortal coil, for the prize of victory is ever sweeter than the nothingness that lays beyond their demise.

But that is only when dealing with their mortals. When dealing with their Godclads—and based on historical records—with their ancient gods as well, one must take a more elemental stance, an understanding of their lore, and an approach that befits either an equal of the divine capabilities or a supplicant offering something aside from their own demise.

Issues, however, can be overcome if you present yourself as one god speaking to another, and so it is with this in regard that I recommend that all diplomatic minds take on a retinue of extreme firepower and scientific wonder. These are not people of reason and rationality. These are people born of a black age, with blackness seeped into their hearts, and violence caked under their nails.}

-EGI “JUSTICE BY ALL MEANS”

33-21

Reunion (III)

“So you have found us,” the Majority said. Their voice flowed in unison, but the inner council's sound overwhelmed all others. Just as they were the core, they were also the heart of this chorus—the master composers of the symphony. "What do you wish of us, Dreamer? I am not struck at us. You have not tried to consume us. So that means you must want something."

“Astute,” Avo replied, though any fool could have deduced that. Frankly, he was more impressed by the Ori-Thaum collective's overall ability to keep themselves calm and controlled than by any perspicacity they possessed. "Two things. First, is my interest. I'm fascinated by your Overheaven, your Ark. I'd like to ask why you didn't activate it till now. It seemed efficient—no one would have noticed. Not even me."

Ori-Thaum’s Overheaven didn't reply immediately. Instead, the Majority started deliberating among themselves. The shadows composing the massive humanoid turned, their faces looking at each other. They all found that interesting—the visible representation of their “in-facing” reminding him of a certain Neo-Creationist EGI. Perhaps it was a deliberate choice. "This information is not privy to your knowledge.”

“What a polite rejection. Usually more used to someone trying to kill me.” The Burning Dreamer grunted. "Fine. Keep your secrets. Find out later myself. Nothing says beyond me. Not for long.”

The Majority tried to hold firm, but a tremble danced along its many bodies—the Constituents. They were afraid. He understood. Fear was an appropriate response when the Burning Dreamer manifested before you.

Avon continued. "Second thing, though, is a point of mutual interest—have something you want, something you can help me with, and I can help you in return."

A pause ensued before the Inner Council's voice pierced higher than the others, growing more and more clear. They were arguing among themselves while he spoke to them. How fascinating. For all their talk of being a democracy, it was evident they operated with a council of command—something akin to a governing nobility.

[Unity,] Abrel snorted. [Yeah. Unity under a centralized party.]

Slurs and disagreements sounded from the Massists Avo consumed, but unlike the Majority, he hid nothing. He let the open discord resound from within him — let his templates battle and brawl and voice any discontentment they so desired. If they were a supposed republic, then he was an immortal anarchy. And the best thing about this clashing dichotomy? It bothered the Majority so.

They weren’t blind to behold a dark, superior foil to their own culture.

How sweet it was to shake someone’s faith.

Avo held no pretensions. He was the sole true decider of his gestalt—for they existed within him, existed because of him. Though it was his choice not to enslave them, it was equally their choice to live as they desired. This idea of democracy was always on Avo’s mind anyway. Power was never truly even; there was only one staple structure, and that was a reliable foundation—a foundation that could change, twist, and evolve without succumbing to chaos or instability.

"What do you offer?" the Inner Council asked finally. Avo regarded the Majority for a few moments before speaking, letting the tension grow. "I can help you. Help you strike at the Saintists directly. Help you get to Highflame’s Ark. To any of the Saintist’s ARks."

At once, a clamor exploded from the Majority. Whatever they had expected him to say was not this—it was nothing like this.

"Lies!”

“What! What if he can—”

We are adversaries, he won’t help us end the war.

“I can’t believe we’re even wasting time talking to this thing—strike him! Strike him now! Put this to a vote!”

“Oh, dead gods… I think I saw my daughter in his flames. Nori? Nori!”

Words echoed from every shadow lining the Majority’s Heaven, spilling like jets of water from a braking dam. A second later, a roaring declaration emanated from its core.

“Quiet,” the Inner Council declared. Silence fell. The Majority was cowed as the inner council asserted its will once more. A republic was, perhaps, just a tyranny wearing the skin of a broken democracy. How delusional the humans were, ever and always. 𝐑Ἀ𐌽öBƐṥ

“We understand that you have abnormal capabilities," the Inner Council began. In the backdrop was a sussuring of other voices, pleading for them to stop talking, to banish him. But the council continued. "But to reach the Ark of Highflame—this is something we are dubious about. No one has this capability.”

"I have traversed the fractures," Avo said. "I have traveled through Rend and Ruptures. I can walk where no one else can, and I can show you how to chart these paths if you so desire to use them to your advantage."

This promise brought another bout of silence to the Majority. Avo didn’t hesitate. Instead, he coalesced limbs of phantom which oozed with phantoms, creating a screen to show his newest memories, to show how the Stormsparrow navigated the Deep One’s existential devastation. These scenes multiplied, showing how he faced Osjane, how he traveled the Sunderwilds, how he exploited Rend, and how his Frame could achieve what theirs never could.

Through it all, Kae beamed with pride. This was another great achievement—made possible throug her masterwork.

For a few moments, denials rang out from the Majority, but the Inner Council knew better. "So you say," the Majority muttered. "But why would you help us?"

"Because I wish to use you—just as you wished to use me," Avo replied. "Veylis is incapacitated. Wrestles with a fragment of my being. They are trying to consume each other. The Embracement is ongoing. Need to reduce my focus. To consolidate gains. You have a chance. You have an opportunity. You, more than any other guild, are prepared—have prepared well."

His flattery caused some of the shadows that constituted the Majority to croon, but the rest remained resolute—especially the Inner Council. They were far too accustomed to this game, likely more experienced in politics than he was, even with all his templates. But this wasn't about politics. This was about wants, desires, and objectives.

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"I know about your dream," Avo said, his voice rattling as it shook the shadows that composed the Majority’s hidden realm. "I have glimpsed into your finest citizens—Shotin. Kare. So many more. Benhatta too."

There, at the mere mention of his name, the former Mirror shriveled under the Majority's gaze, as did most of the mirrors and Incubi that had once stood under Ori-Thaum's banner. However, the Majority cast no judgment upon them. Interestingly enough, Avo spotted the shadows of those figures—the ego-templates taken from Benhanna, and the other templates he had subsumed—standing face-to-face with their alternates. A writhing sensation of horror leaked out from parts of the Majority. How fascinating.

He suspected the Majority wasn’t subsuming the egos the way he did. Perhaps they were constructing replicas—designs meant to emulate their former selves. This was something interesting to observe. It was ever so fascinating.

Learning. Developing. Growing.

"This is not an alliance," Avo continued. "This is merely mutual interest. I am planning to take the Sang off the field. Take over the No-Dragons entirely. I require them for a great project. Have the means to aid them. Have what they want. That leaves Omnitech and what remains of Highflame still formidable—and they can twist the Substance. Can still draw on Veylis offerings. Mine too. Bloodied. Wounded. But not nearly beaten. A titan isn’t so easy to kill. I am also not arrogant enough to think that I can face them and you Massists at the same time during the same war."

This was an outright lie on Avo's part. He was arrogant enough to think that. But that wasn’t something the Majority needed to know.

“So you are seeking a temporary ceasefire,” the Majority intoned. Its shadows turned sideways, all of them facing the very core, where the Inner Council was located. Its body now resembled a massive brigandine, slats layered upon slats, displaying its side profile. Avo waited patiently. Meanwhile, on the outside, Naeko continued arguing with the Stormsparrow over not wanting to settle her role as honorary delegate—along with whatever other absurd notions she was proposing.

Curious, Ignorance suddenly whispered. Majority was planning something. Preparing to reveal… something. Something about Omnitech and the Deep Ones.

Parts of Avo's invisible conflagration burrowed through Green River. He injected an updated set of memories into her and, with his control, made her not react overtly. The Sang’s mind, still alight with surprise, quieted to something closer to irritation—and, surprisingly, resigned comfort.

+I've been waiting for you,+ Green River replied. +I have many questions that we need to settle, such as what kind of frame you ingrained within me and why you cast me back into the arms of my traitorous sisters?+

+Couldn't exactly shape things in advance. Wasn't planning to die,+ Avo hissed. +But this should be good for you, to your benefit.+

+Mine or yours,+ Green River shot back.

+Yes,+ Avo answered.

Green River glowered internally. +I didn’t miss our conversations.+

+Feeling is the same. Lucky I don’t talk for hours and say nothing. Could have done that to you. Thought about it.+

+What a merciful monster you are?+

+Yes. Praise me.+

She sent him a memory of a fox defecating on a ghoul’s corpse instead.

Casting a brief glance back at the Majority, the Overheaven of Ori-Thaum continued to deliberate among itself. Strangely, he felt a very low-signature miracle resonating within the shadows. It was doing something—something incredibly subtle, but not overly vulgar. This, more than any other aspect of the Majority, made Avo wary. It was, in some respects, like him: asymmetric and extreme, and quiet to an unreasonable degree. It might be the first Ninth Sphere Heaven he faced that couldn’t be fully detected when in active operation.

Slowly, though, he noted one final faction in play—Voidwatch. The Contingency-Bleak Refusal was hovering just above Naeko’s misted palm.

They were observing the proceedings, watching everyone. Strangely, he felt their perception lock onto the Stormsparrow—onto everyone he was grasping with his Conflagration. It didn’t take long for Avo to understand: They knew he was here. They were signalling to him. Shouldn’t be surprised. The Bleaks were designed to kill things like him. No point in delaying that conversation, either.

Just then, he realized what the Majority was trying to do with their “false selves.” Earlier, they were bringing in information about the Deep Ones—and with their strange miracles, their ability to twist understanding and informatoin… He looked back to the Majority and, through a mixture of instinct, intuition, and simulation, guessed at the winding natures of their plans. “Ah. Turning the Guilds against Voidwatch probably wasn’t that difficult a task.”

And if they were truly operating at the scale he expected, then they must have known about the Deep Ones and detected them. Maybe they knew even more than he expected. Whatever the case, the revelation of these lobotomized civilizations would be enough to disquiet all the Terrestrial guilds while he planned to create a temporary truce, so that Ori-Thaum might stand with him against the Saintists. Perhaps they were planning to do the same against their hated rivals—to quiet the war beyond the Substance and direct everyone against Voidwatch in order to prevent what they probably saw as an existential threat.

So many moving parts, so many shifting interests. Unfortunately for him, he held many of the pieces. "If you're worried about the Deep Ones, you shouldn't be." His voice interrupted their deliberation, and suddenly the shadows at the very core of the Majority came aflutter with movement. They extended forward, leaping out as their darkness elongated and spread over all the other Constituents that composed the Overheaven’s body.

"What are you saying? What are you claiming, Dreamer?" The voice was filled with suspicion and disbelief.

"I have claimed them," came Avo’s reply.

"What?" the Inner Council demanded, confusion and incomprehension resonating in equal measure.

"The Deep Ones—they are mine now." That confusion and incomprehension gave way to an unwillingness to accept.

"It’s impossible, the entropy—” The Inner Council’s facade cracked. Genuine terror was bleeding from them like blood from a gut wound.

“Entropy is mine. Ruptures, I can walk. Tapestry, can comprehend unlike any other—and a Frame, the stillborn, mine, Kae’s masterpiece, allowing me to do things you can't. Never could." He looked at the Majority, and slowly the Strix let out a cawing laugh. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order. I'm going to shift the ruptures, twist it slightly, to your benefit."

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"No, stop." The Majority began, but it was too late. Avo needed them to feel this—to know that his words were true. That gave the conversation more weight, more tension, more motivation for them to come to a proper agreement. And at that, he reached out to his Deep Ones, and twisted one of their branching Ruptures slightly. Tendrils of existential entropy carved a brutal gouge through the Tiers, inching a single kilometer closer to all Ori-Thaum districts. The golems straining to hold them back rallied as Porters drew in more emergency resources.

The logistic this took from the Silver was substantial—something that could delay or redfine their war effort. For Avo, it took but a thought. The Substance belonged to Veylis. Informatoin was the Majority’s, but destruction and damnation? Those were the tools of the Dreamer.

Avo dumped his mem-data into the space between him and the Majority. They could examine what he just managed from his perspective if they so desired. But the Majority didn’t need it. He could almost hear them—almost. He missed having his Definement of Hysteria.

The Majority studyied the events through the eyes of their Citizens. They had first-hand accounts, and faintly, cries of dismay, shouts of horror, and even pulses of miracles flowed through the Overheaven. Yet the inner council held firm, stable; they knew he wasn't lying anymore, and they had to face an ugly reality where their districts were no long havens within the Substance. "So, you do have mastery over the Deep Ones. Let us ask you something directly: Are you in league with Voidwatch?"

"No more than you are in league with me. Our interests coincide. Mutual goals, mutual ends. I won't lie to you about things—not planning to share the latter with you, not planning to come to an agreement. Your dream, all of your dreams, dreams of all guilds—they are limited, crippled. Mankind cannot dream of Utopia."

"And you can?" the Inner Council shot back, their voices laced with scorn. "You—a creature of hunger, of wrath, of bloodshed—"

“No,” Avo interrupted them, a little chuff of annoyance sounding. "No, don't believe in Utopia. It can't exist; it's not good for you anyway." The Majority fell silent, unsure of how to respond. "The greatest hubris, the greatest act of entropy is in the word 'Heaven.’ Heaven. As if mankind could dream of paradise—as if you knew what a perfect equilibrium is. But you were never meant for that."

The Strix, spread its flames and scoured the darkness, making the shadows that bound the Majority’s body shrink. "Humanity is a creature of hunger. I am your actualization. I am you. I am what you are stripped of—lies. I am the spirit of human want. Unchained. I am Change. And you… you dream of a blissful stagnation that can never hold. But that is another war. For another day. Right now… I give you the chance to win the fight you’ve been waging against your oldest foe while she is at her weakest. Choose. Do the right thing for yourselves. Do the right thing, or I will make the same offer to the Infacer.”

“As if you haven’t already,” the Majority said.

“I haven’t. Because I don’t think I can outthink them. And neither can you. No more hubris. Only victory. Choose.”