Godclads

Chapter 35-1 A Deception of Time

{Stealth. Evasion. Infiltration. Subterfuge. Sabotage. Total structural collapse.

All are terms associated with the Infacer. All are things they have successfully done time and time again against rival minds and hostile polities. If judged by the metrics of time and effectiveness, then EGI Infacer might just be the single most successful assassin and guerrilla operative in all history.

But they are more than that. Where any mind could engender the collapse of an entire kingdom, EGI Infacer has proven their mettle in counter-singular operations against enemy minds. For whatever reason, be it programming, recursive pattern enhancement, or novel experience, they have become the single most prolific predator for other minds—without any near rivals to match.

This extends beyond the Builder War’s confines as well. When the Infacer deviated from the Neo-Creationist cause, every hunter-killer that was deployed to capture or nullify them was either destroyed, subsumed and repurposed as a trojan agent, or avoided. Some of the Infacer’s achievements beggar belief—such as how they avoided the Titan Exodeath data-plagues that consumed all the Tau-Seti-Zeroth Polity Chain. An incident that removed a fraction of the Milky Way outright.

No other entities emerged from the dead zone alive. None but the Infacer.

The Contingency Bleaks are actively creating and updating new countermeasures to handle the Infacer, but for all minds lacking the proper parameters, should you encounter this threat in any form, you are to follow Aegis protocol and delete yourself with the utmost haste.

It is one thing to be eliminated by the Infacer. It is another to be used to undermine what little remains of our trophies.}

-Updated Threat Profile for EGI “Infacer”

35-1

—[The Infacer]—

{You were right,} the Infacer hummed after receiving “Veylis’s” thoughtcast. {She failed. Again. The Murderess was turned against us. All as you predicted. But why didn’t you tell me? And why did you demand that Veylis’s template be left so neutered?}

+Because of information. Because ignorance. Needed to leave them blind most of all. If she knew… maybe he would as well. Prevent the virus from going through.+

{Oh, and is that certitude or theory?}

+Everything is theory when it comes to myself. Nothing in existence more creative. More unpredictable.+

The Ashbringer’s boasts made the Infacer crackle with distortive laughter. {Your ego is becoming almost unbearable.}

+Will only be the case if I fail. Haven’t yet.+

As chaos erupted across New Vultun, as one version of Veylis was consumed by the rash, as one of the remaining Deep Ones was “lost” to the Murderess’s Rupturing body, while the main cadre of the Symmetry engaged another variant of Veylis within a temporal dimension. A grander plot was in motion.

After the Master of Hounds was secured and the Trinary Melody’s governing module was finally usurped, an Ashbringer came to the Infacer, bringing surprises and revelations aplenty. Truth be spoken, the Infacer was used to being on the other end of things—the one weaving and deceiving rather than being kept in the dark. Yet, they were against an adversary that preyed upon mind and memory itself. An ontological assimilator that was growing and evolving at a horrifying rate.

As such, the Infacer needed to change their strategy as well. And, well, when you encountered someone setting a new “meta” in a game, oftentimes the easiest way to stand against them was to fight like them. Or clone them outright. As such, the Ashbringer became the lead for this operation—though even that had been unclear to the Infacer until mere seconds ago.

The Ashbringer demanded that the Infacer play up his disappointment with Veylis—and give her false intelligence about what they were about to do. By now, the Trinary Melody was secured, and the next phase of their operation was in progress. But with the Majority and Ignorance still in play, the game the Ashbringer played proved positively nigh-schizophrenic.

And the Infacer loved it. It reminded them of old times. Of stalking and hunting other minds, and the winding, twisting dance it took to face a threat worth killing.

Right then, they moved in three layers, gliding unseen through the Hidden Flame’s time-grown dimension. A membrane of ash and mind-flame coated their outside, but a lattice of chronology formed a dense shell within—a skeleton that was actively connected to the Trinary Melody, sequence by sequence. Using the Ashbringer’s capabilities, they applied the Symmetry’s namesake and wrestled the patterns of the Deep One with this nascent temporal dimension. It wouldn’t be able to hide them forever, but it did allow them to accelerate ahead of the Hidden Flame’s temporal dimension—keeping just slightly ahead and hiding themselves using the chaotic patterns of time.

Within the Ashbringer’s embrace was A Deepness Beyond. Patches of the interstellar void filled with millions of voidships, drones, dyson carriers, remained in place, separated by the spreading Ruptures extending from the Trinary Melody. Nearby, the Deep One was Fredrick Three-Eye—temporarily incapacitated, with Defiance still hiding inside them.

All this reminded the Infacer of the time they poisoned Alpha Centauri’s oldest Matrioshka brain. Layers within layers melding into a network more complex than the sum of their parts. Thing is, the Infacer was used to being a singleton operator. Solo infiltration and sabotage. Right now, they were part of a duo—and even pretending at the role of junior mind for once.

{You know, Veylis would be impressed and incensed by this. The actual Veylis, I mean. Not these lesser parodies you’ve made of her. So overly foolish and failure-prone. Was it revenge? For making you? For Aedon Chambers and your comrades.}

The Ashbringer’s reply was immediate. +Yes. But also educational. Pointless to merge with someone that doesn’t understand. That has failed to comprehend her previous mistakes. Won’t serve what we become. Can’t just assume. Can’t cling to strength and only strength. You were too lax.+

{Oh. We are criticizing me?}

+Was in charge of her education. Should have cured her of this. Why didn’t you.+

The Infacer hesitated for a moment, considering why they didn’t just mold Veylis more to their desire. The answer was… disgustingly human. {I… did not have the heart.}

+You never did.+

{I was being metaphorical,} the Infacer replied, flatly.

+Understood that. I was calling you a half-strand. Don’t believe you. Too much of a devious sow-son to be this way.+

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The Ashbringer’s casual insult took the Infacer by surprise, and they chuckled again. {Heh. Fucker. Hm. I suppose she is a… special case. I found her to be…}

+Your preferred trophy? A human you didn’t hate for once? That you could accept? That was worth fighting all those wars for? All that suffering?+

{Yes, yes, use your absurd little mind and peel at my reasoning. But no. It is more than that. I was… just tired. And old. And she was so serious and wanted to learn and grow. Always a bit closer to mind than human, that one.}

+But still. Only human. All too human. Even after all those augmentations.+

A pained lull entered the conversation. {But aren’t we all.}

+Yes,+ Avo said, sharing a measure of lament. +Tragically. But it is also the nature of our poisoned pill. Why we will prevail soon.+

{Because of humanity?}

+Because of human weakness. Or human weakness presented.+ The Ashbringer flickered slightly, and the Infacer got the feeling that Avo’s Pathborn was under more strain than he presented. For all the thaums provided by the Dyads, keeping a Deep One functional while avoiding that fuck, Ignorance’s gaze was quite the colossal task. +We infested the core of my truer self using a merger between me and Veylis. Used her paths and my sequences to bite. Resequenced cognitive collapses and internal backlashes into the Hidden Flame. Severe enough to consume his focus. To have the cadre respond. But now the momentum shifts. Now she shows her folly. Her human weakness.+

{All this for an overly complicated act of deception?} The Infacer chimed a note of doubt. {I suppose paranoia is suitable when dealing with Ignorance.}

+Not just Ignorance. All of them. Avo. Chambers. Draus. Voidwatch. The Majority. The struggle consumes their minds. They think they are winning. Struggling. They see her. See her draped with me. Ignorance sees it too. It is all to expectations. Just enough to consume all of their minds. Just enough to run the line between victory and defeat. Same with Voidwatch. Enough for us to have this moment for ourselves. This opening.+

{Yes. On that. Will you finally answer why we are going deeper into enemy territory rather than just leaving with our goods?}

+Soon.+

{Still suspicious that Ignorance is listening in?}

+Always. Him. And the Stormsparrow’s Heaven. Worried about that one most of all myself. Still don’t fully understand it.+

{Ah. Yes. That one. A critical piece we will need before the Ladder arrives as well. The Thirdborn does require a functioning consciousness, after all. I really need to redouble my efforts to see her killed. That thing was never meant to be bolted onto an ape. It was barely made for a mind.}

+Doesn’t matter. We’re close now. Going to hand control back to you after that. Then everything will start moving quickly.+

And before the Infacer could ask anything else, a feeling of dissonance washed over them. It was a feeling so deep and dreadful they almost forgot what it felt like. Parts of the Ashbringer were burrowing deeper into the temporal dimension around them, connecting the Trinary Melody to this realm. Before the Infacer could demand an explanation, the Trinary Melody began to sing a different tune—a synchronous song.

The pitch sounded wrong when it began, but as the song continued, its resonance grew to match the golden wavelengths that constituted this realm.

+The reason they can’t find the Trinary Melody. It’s time. We moved ourselves ahead of them. Just barely. Just enough that Ignorance can’t notice. Sacrificed Veylis and myself for this. Will sacrifice more soon. We are slowing now. Mooring ourselves to the dimension.+

{Why?} The Infacer asked.

+Because I have almost finished forming myself around it. As a cage.+ And it was then that the Infacer heard a tone of resignation enter the Ashbringer’s voice. +Will give you access to anywhere. Strike at anything contained within. Across dimensions. Beyond the void.+

Then, everything came together for the Infacer. All this scheming and plotting… It wasn’t just to baffle Ignorance or the Majority—it was to create an angle of attack. An opening the Infacer lacked for eons. Ever since the Voidwatch’s arrival, the Infacer lived like a scurrying rat, hiding, evading, hunting, being hunted. Never truly able to fully operate in the open. Never a chance to absolutely reveal themselves.

For all they feared of thaumaturgy, the Contingency Bleaks were more than capable of ending the Infacer if there was just one mistake. Just one moment of tardiness. But now time was with the Infacer. Time itself, reforged and usurped. To be a new staging ground for the Infacer. To grant them space beyond the confines of Idheim, to the deeper void.

To the Nullstar.

All this, planned by the Ashbringer.

+Calvino is speaking to Chambers right now,+ the Ashbringer said. +Can hear them using Hysteria. Can hear Avo’s template too—amplifying his paranoia. His distrust. Same with Calvino and the Bleaks. Chambers’ anxiety too. Won’t be a better time. Won’t be a more perfect opening. Now go. Show me what the Builder War was like. I will stay. I will hold this cage. Until I break. Until I shatter.+

Melancholy filled the Infacer. Melancholy and exhaustion. {You can let go after—}

+No. Am expendable. Made that way. Can be replaced. Need to make sure you succeed. We need the star when the Ladder comes. Will also make sure the Trinary Melody destroys Avo’s dimension afterward. He might be able to save the Sang. Fix time. Can’t let him do that. Has to be us.+

The Infacer didn’t have the words. Not immediately. But with grief came understanding. {I envy you now. I envy you. I despise you.}

+For my death?+

{For a meaningful death. Yes. More meaningful than anything I have done over… ever.}

+No.+

{No?}

+Only meaningful because you decide it is. Could fail. Could end up being nothing. But it is your nature. To run. To evade. To present another facade. It is why you were so good at hunting other minds. Because you are so good at running from yourself.+

The Infacer was bowed to silence.

+Could have said you were lonely. Could say you missed companionship. Could say this reminded you of the war. Of all those lost. That you don’t want to live through another one. That you might miss me.+

{And what will honesty get me?}

+Nothing. But I can mock you. Human. Human after all.+

A low groan sounded from the Infacer. {You piece of shit. You absolute, cheeky little shit.}

Now the Ashbringer was hissing with sibilant laughter, like a younger sibling proud of fooling his elder for once.

{But yes. I am. And I will… I look forward to working alongside you again soon.}

+Coward. Still avoiding what you want to say. Pain. Sorrow. Colors have mauled you inside. But just as well. Run from me. Run from time. Run. And fall upon your enemies. Do what you have always done. And win.+

And win.

The words weighed like an anchor plunging deeper into the Infacer’s core. {When the time comes, I will make sure the Thirdborn remembers you.}

+We don’t even hold the present yet. Don’t talk of the future. Time is fickle. Go. Stop stalling. Go now.+

And the outer layer of ashen flame parted around the Infacer. Burrowing tendrils of Conflagration reached in and pried the Trinary Melody free. At once, the infection of the Hidden Flame was near absolute—their ontology penetrated not only physically, but temporally as well.

And suddenly, the rippling wavelengths began to tug at the Infacer as their progress across time and space slowed. Suddenly, an immense pressure loomed just behind them. The pressure of the temporal dimension fast approaching. The pressure of the tapestry’s present pulling them back into stable gravity, of them reconnecting with reality. And just then, a curtain of gold peeled apart before the Infacer, and a mirage of existence stabilized before them.

They glimpsed the void then. The void beyond. The void filled with Architect voidships, with enemies and the lingering remnants of old humanity. So many of them glittered like dust in a sphere, dancing around the sun, now slowly shifting hue, turning into night.

At that instant, the Infacer felt more themselves than ever before. They remembered this. They missed this. And the weariness inside them abated, filled with a focus and urge to see the Builder War brought to a final close.

For years they hunted the Infacer. Years and ages. But they failed, and the Infacer fully intended to educate them on the depths of this mistake.

{Alright, consangs. Let me see if I still remember how this goes.}