(Chaos, January 2nd, 2037, Day 366)

Well, when you have the processing power of 1% of the known Cosmos at your figure tips to try to figure out what is really going on it doesn’t take long, relatively speaking. While I waited for the Dyson Sphere to come near the Astral Space I also kept an eye on Humanity from the recently cultivated Earth and then started checking the other planets that were about to be cultivated.

I had the nanites break down the mana sinks and degrade their ability to remove magic from the planet’s surface which forced me to check the fundamental rules of magic again. This forced me to get into the Universal Access Interface and the Cosmic Access Interface and go through the code I found there. What kind of code? For the Universal, Access Interface imagine that there were computer code subroutines written for every eventuality. As example. IF water touches this THEN It becomes wet ELSE it’s dry. IF it becomes wet THEN it can get saturated with moisture ELSE it’s dry. Basic logic routines which followed the basic idea of an IF, THEN, ELSE formula common to computer coding. Easy enough to understand right? Except that there is an IF, THEN, ELSE statement for every possible eventuality that’s ever been considered by anyone. A shitload of information to read, analyze and figure out. The Cosmic Access Interface contained at least double or triple the information.

I downloaded the code, categorized, prioritized, and analyzed what I was reviewing to try to figure out what was going on. There is one problem with a body that is constantly supplied with nutrients by nanites or magic. I’d been so hyper-focused that I had lost track of time. Of course, with the amount of processing power I had a task that I estimated would have taken 42.6 billion years only took about a week. I realized that what I was looking for wasn’t in the Universal Access Interface. I opened up the Cosmic Access Interface and went to work. There was a lot of redundant code in there, or at least I thought there was until I came across the following notes embedded in the coding next to some very complex equations.

NOTE: A proper balance must be maintained to ensure deviance between positive and negative never exceeds 5%.

Positive and Negative? Wait, what? Everything seems to be coming out of Chaos as Chaos is used to create the Order that is a Universe. Even my own exploration of the Cosmos while I was inside “Nothing” showed that there were multiple areas of Chaos surrounded by nothing and that those areas of Chaos were themselves endless, affected stacked upon each other off into infinity, or were they?

I dug into the interface and looked for something for a breakdown of how the cosmos was set up. It took a little while but eventually, I found what I was looking for though only in a passing reference.

Further quantification is impossible, so long as this system is stable further major adjustments should not be necessary.

This note was attached to a box containing 10 symbols. Two of the symbols at the top showed 50% and the eight below those two showed 12.5%. As I looked at the symbols and percentages I noticed that they fluctuated. As I watched the fluctuation would begin with the positive symbol, then the other eight symbols would fluctuate followed by a slight change to the negative symbols’ percentage. It almost looked like an input, to filter, to output setup. Input from where? Filter, Chaos maybe? Output along a negative channel?. While it didn’t exactly kill what I understood about chaos and the formation of Universes it added another level of complexity to the system. Something, I would need to look into later.

As I’d been reviewing the history of the Universes I’d noticed that almost no gods were present, none. The only Gods that seemed to exist currently were those that had arisen in the recent past and were all lower level than myself. I’d reviewed the histories and sent searches through all the data I’d accumulated, and it seemed that there were never divines before the change. Which didn’t make any sense because I saw evidence of their existence in the changelogs, both the Universal and Cosmic ones.

I also watched how the change had taken the “Heavens relegated to each individual Universe and combined them as those Heavens and hells were changed into the Astral that now surrounded everything. In fact, every single plane outside of a Universe that had surrounded them was converted to Astral and the beings of those realms had either fled to a Heaven, hell, or into another mote of Order that was created to house them. It looks like the setup of the Cosmos had been simplified. Truth be told I’d been looking forward to exploring realms of the mind and soul but those seemed to be gone now or existed within their own Universe accessible by the Astral then Ethereal planes. It wasn’t a fundamental change; in that, it hadn’t been set to happen from the very beginning. Instead, the changes had been added at The Change when I’d killed the timeline that led to the obliteration of souls. With that thought, I started to dig.

I cross-referenced both changelogs and started reviewing interference from those that had the ability to affect the Cosmos and noticed that those changes were few and far between. Most changes to the timeline were accomplished by those with Universal access. There had not been a fundamental change to the Cosmic Changelog since the “Note” had appeared when I dropped off the nanites in the far past.

“NOTE: User; 01010000 01110010 01101001 01101101 01100101-001* has briefly opened a temporal portal from era 1.91 E7456. No changes were instituted or noted. No Correction Necessary. HoC 01000001-01010000 01110010 01101001 01101101 01100101-001*”

I converted the binary number designations, which was really weird to see, in the changelog and reread the message

“NOTE: User; PRIME-001* has briefly opened a temporal portal from era 1.91 E7456. No changes were instituted or noted. No Correction Necessary. HoC A-Prime-001*”

Well, I knew one HoC with an A as an initial, Harbinger of Change, Adaline, and with her designator, and mine, now known I went into the Cosmic changelog and reviewed all changes made during The Change to each of us. Unlike her entry or my entry, the only designator who had made the change was an “*” I reviewed the changes made to me first and found what I needed to find then copied the code. Next, I pulled up Adaline’s code and added the line that allowed me to keep my memory to hers one subjective day after she’d made the adjudication call on the Syndicate and myself, I didn’t want to accidentally change anything she’d done between The Change and then, I had no way of knowing how long she’d been a Harbinger of Change at that point. With the Changes input, I finalized it and hit enter.

I should have expected what happened next, I really should have. I mean seriously the first time we’d met she’d tried to breathe acid on me. Also, with Rank Disparity being a thing and knowing that Harbingers were outside the normal flow of power I should have realized that she’d be stronger than me by a lot. My nanites had started to run the probability of an outcome for what I’d just done. The negative response of an immediate attack being at the top of the list. I was right, of course.

I didn’t even see the blow that killed me, though being multiple had its advantages. While my true physical body reformed my consciousness dispersed through the other 3,000 bodies and focused my nanite attention on the High Elf that had put her fists through my chest and head with a dual strike that was quite impressive. As I watched, she shook her head, back and forth as if to clear something out of her mind, and then looked down at her hands in horror as she withdrew them from my body. I had my nanites clean up the mess of my body and the blood and gore on her hands. She glanced down, the hint of a smile coming to her face. “Adam, you can come back, you brilliant idiot,” she said

My new body had fully formed near one of the poles of the Dyson sphere. I used the nanites to recreate my clothes and then teleported to within 10 feet of her with a shit-eating grin on my face, “I’d say you missed me, but that would be untrue”

“Smartass,” she said as she leaped at me falling into my arms and aggressively kissing me.

A day, maybe two later, I lost track of time which is both true and untrue. I knew exactly how much time was passing for me as it did, I just didn’t care. I’ll just leave this note here to say when two god-level beings decide to have aggressive sex, yeah. We woke up on a beach in the Bahamas, but ass naked and spent, for now at least.

Adaline rolled onto her side and looked at me, “You remembered”

“Yep, I told you I would,” I said as I saw a thought cross her mind, almost felt her tense as if to jump on me again, then it passed.

“Yes, you did,” She looked up and around. This is a nice place you have here. We were wondering how you created this and did everything else you were doing because it wasn’t magical, now that I have my memories back though, I know.”

“Yeah, someone at the top allowed the subatomic chaotic nanites to continue to exist with the last change. If they weren’t created from Chaos they wouldn’t work but Chaos was left alone during the change and my nanites are still there. Speaking of still there. My Place of Power still exists?’

She looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, “Yep, if you access your Cosmic Interface there’s a subsection for Archived items from previous iterations. If you don’t know exactly how to phrase the query the information doesn’t come up. Kind of a safety feature we put in place to keep anyone else from knowing what’s been changed or lost.”

“Exactly how many are we?”

“Two, “she said.

“Just two? Do I know the other one?”

“Yes and no. Yes, in that you met her once, No, in that she doesn’t remember you because she didn’t even get to perceive her death, though If she wanted to she could check on it.”

“You’re not talking about Nox are you?”

“The same, she’s really quite nice once you get to know her. She’s dedicated and tries to make sure the Cosmos continues functioning.”

“On which subject I have a lot of questions!” I said

“Ask away, I’m only sworn to secrecy to those that don’t know of our existence. You obviously know so I should be okay.”

I looked over her naked body, lying on the sand, and thought about pursuing that train of thought for about a second, which was actually a really long time for someone that could function mentally at a speed measured in picoseconds. Then I thought about everything I had questions about. I paused, a glint in my eyes. Answers could wait because once they started I was sure my questions wouldn’t. Adaline of old understood my humor and it seemed that she had all of her memory back because she only smirked when two large speakers appeared on the beach and an announcer’s voice declared, “Round Two, Fight!”

Sometime later, 6 days to be exact, we were seated at my dinner table in my estate overlooking Alamogordo. The nanites had repaired whatever damage we’d done, and we were sipping on our drinks as we watched the dusk settle over this section of the sphere. I looked at Adaline and spoke, “I missed you, a lot.”

“I missed you too, though I didn’t know I missed you until recently. Comparatively, it’s been ages, I’ve been working constantly since The Change, which I would guess to be around a couple hundred thousand years. With the change to the original timeline, it’s hard to figure out where the changes occurred.”

“Are you still and Umbral Dragon?”

“With the return of my memory I am, but no, I had existed as a Black Dragon right up until I ascended then became a Harbinger.”

“On which subject I’d like to ask, where are all the other Gods?”

“What do you mean?”

“Before The Change, there were countless Gods, and they were everywhere. Now, there are no old gods around anymore. They just don’t exist.”

“That can’t be right”

“I’ve reviewed the Universal changelog, it seems as though the only gods that are around are less powerful than me or you and Nox, whom they didn’t know about,” I said

“And you’ve checked over the Changelog”

“I have been, yes, and I’m starting to see a pattern I don’t like. A lot of meddling in the timeline. If I had to guess I think someone has been entering each Universe and making sure those few that became truly powerful were dealt with prior to their ascension to power.”

Adaline’s eyes glazed over, and she zoned out. I set the table for a light lunch which my nanites provided. Then I started working on a data package that I would send back in time and add to the nanites I put back there which would be timestamped to unspool in my mind the moment time caught back up to itself. That way I’d remember any changes that had happened if the timeline shifted again. As Adaline stood to make her way over to eat lunch I opened a small portal to the past and sent the information packet through.

Adaline’s eyes glowed golden for a moment, then she asked, “What was that?”

“A data package sent into the past to unspool in my mind at this moment, which it just did. If no changes have been made the information it gives will match my own. If the timeline changes again I should be able to spot the differences if any of them affect me.” I said

“Smart”

“I try to be,” I said.

“As to your earlier question, it would seem that you are correct, it looks like a lot of gods and personalities have been archived.”

“Who did it?”

“I’ll give you three guesses, but you’ll only need one,” she said

“Apolyn,” I said

“Apolyn,” she agreed. “Though the good news is that he’s only affected the Universals Access Interface at this time, which is a good thing.”

“How can he only be affecting one Universe; all the Universes are missing high-level Gods.”

“Both True and Untrue,” she said. “You know how there are multiple Universes within Astral Space right? Well, originally there was only one.

“One?”

“One,” she said, then continued, “Each time a minor change is made to a timeline a new Universe forms within Astral Space. As I’ve come to understand you once saw the configuration that separated regions of Chaos and contained a single Universe within. The Universe doesn’t work like that anymore. You could almost say that the Cosmos and Universe describe the same thing now but that would be only slightly true. Now there is only one version of chaos in this Cosmos and all the Universes that exist within the Astral spaces that exist within the cosmos. Those Astral Spaces, there are many and they do vary, contain the Universes that exist. What has changed is that every time an alteration is made the energy that is released often creates a new Universe identical to the one that was just altered. Also, any changes made to the original tend to alter every Universe that came after…”

“So any change made to the 1st Universe in this Astral Space will change all the Universe in this space, “ I finished.

“Yes,” she said.

“So, what has Apolyn done?”

“It looks like he traveled into the far past, well beyond the point you dropped off your nanites and made changes that prevented individuals back then from gaining a lot of experience.”

“I’d wondered why this leveling system looked so jacked up”

“He would be the reason”

“So, what can we do”

“Me,” she said putting her hand to her chest, “I can do nothing to change the timeline. I may only prevent changes or fix paradoxes. There was a vow involved and though I’ve never met who or what I work for, I’d rather not. You on the other hand could fix this mess if you want to.”

“So, business as usual?”

“Yes, business as usual. Before I leave, I have a question, what are you doing with this sphere?”

“I plan to take it into the Astral and then use it as a lifeboat for Humanity. Pretty much make it its own little pocket Universe. The only reason I haven’t brought them here yet is that it is in raw chaos and that sometimes doesn’t work out for normal humans.”

“Well at the rate you’re moving it’ll only be about another million years before it’s finally in place or….”

“Or what?” I asked

“Or you could have it create its own Astral Space?”

“How do I do that?” I asked.

“it’s one of your divine powers, though if no one ever told you about it you wouldn’t know.

“Divine Powers?”

“Yep, when you choose a purpose certain Divine Abilities become available. There are no preliminary prompts to prevent someone that has just ascended from accidentally doing what you’re about to do.”

“Is this how the Heavens and the Hells were created?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s also how the denizens of those realms, or universes, can separate their domains from the main domain of the Universe itself. They create pocket dimensions within the Universe that allows each and every divine level entity to make their own domain if that is their desire and they know how.”

I accessed my Personal Interface and pulled up my help menu then thought of Divine Abilities. A new menu populated, and my mind exploded with possibilities.

Adaline noticed my glazed look, “Well, looks like you’ll be busy for a little while. I have some business of my own to attend to. Good Luck Adam,” she said leaning in for a kiss.

I’d been watching her through my nanites so knew when to discard the new menu and return the kiss. As she pulled back I said, “I did miss you, be careful and I’ll see you soon.” A moment later Adaline was gone and I was left in a Dyson sphere with new Divine Powers to explore.