Without Meaning
Both girls blinked into awareness as they took in their surroundings. Everything vaguely appeared to be the pale temporal plane, but somehow it wasn’t.
Both girls searched around, not even gaining that general feeling of passage the temporal plane typically offered. There wasn’t even that overbearing feeling of chaos, just a lot of nothingness. Feeling bewildered, one of them fell backwards, the entire process conjuring a formless seat beneath them. The other then copied the same motions, taking their own seat. The first reached a hand into the air, pulling a blank sheet from nothing, looking at it perplexed. She knew.. this was.. a map? She traced a line around the right side of the page, a formless wall erupting out of nowhere to her own right. The second proceeded to look around, touching the sudden wall, which popped into her hands like it was invisible cotton candy. She returned the piece to the wall, watching it reform as if nothing had happened. The most confusing part was how she could see it, but it had no shape, no color, no form. Thinking about it, it was as if everything was just a pale white, but quite honestly nothing actually was. She placed both of her palms upon the wall, one handprint generating in white, the other in black. She traced her hand along the textureless wall, the lines of color extending along it where she made contact. She then touched a bar of white, which collapsed to the ground in a splash of orange. The second then picked up a shapeless piece of orange and brought it to the first, who took the colorless cube offered to her and added it to the page. An empty room formed around the two of them, without distinct things like color, shapes.. even size.
There was no chance this was the temporal plane, it was far too chaotic.
“I’m terribly sorry about the lack of accommodations, I’m really not used to this sort of thing.. to be honest. I actually have no idea how anything works, either.” “Ah! Who’s there?” “Yeah, like that. How exactly does a presence work again?” “Okay, then maybe let’s just start with some clarity. Where are we, what is going on, and why are we here?” “This would be a.. dream, I think that’s what you call it. We’re all pooled together in your thoughts while you both sleep, so this will all fade away when either of you wake up.” “This is a dream then? Wait, but then.. who are you?” “I’m you.. kinda, I guess. I guess I wasn’t always you. Before we were all brought together, I was just another wisp of chaos like any other. But then randomly there was a breach in the temporal plane, a path between, and I just happened to have been.. curious. I knew what it meant too, a bond forged with principles, an offer. I guess at first I had thought that such an offering was to have principles forged to the will of chaos, that I was being offered a feast.” The missing presence spoke wordlessly to the two girls, the understanding forged without plausible reason. So this wisp was the chaos that they had both been bound to from the first day, still with them this long later.
“I mean, I had tried to accept the offering.. but everything became a bit too.. complicated. You were bound to me, but somehow.. I was also bound to you. Trying to consume only weakened me, like I was actually only eating myself. From there, I was kinda stuck, unable to do anything. I kept constantly trying to reach back for the chaos, to forge an escape, but nothing worked. Meanwhile.. you both kept forging against your own circumstances, in defiance of the very principles of your own creation. From there, I began to hesitate in my wish to return, witnessing things no chaos would have ever had the chance to experience. And through everything, I got to witness a chaos I’ve never known before. It had quickly left me torn, your first visit to the temporal plane having me hesitate instead of acting, as I was instead more curious at how you two held up compared to the chaos I’ve always known. Without answers, still confused, I was there when you left too. Then you both faced off against chaos, and fought back with principled chaos. From that it only made me hungrier, that maybe devouring such principles could forge an even greater chaos. But then.. I got to witness your resistance and restraint, the reflection of power and reversion of control. You defied all pretense of chaos, and it only made you stronger, it only made you more unpredictable. It was then that I understood, this power I saw wasn’t something to watch flicker away, it was something to take example from and forge an even greater chaos.” The wisp even seemed awed by this insight, a touch of reverence and respect faintly hinted in the tone.
“I kept trying to help more and more, but it was really difficult to keep up. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t make for much chaos, or if you are both just that superior at it, but you both took to being of chaos very well. By the time you both returned to the chaos for the second time, I found myself the opportunity to reach out a little more. However, the chaos did not agree with me at all, remaining blind and oblivious. I had witnessed you both deal with blind innocence, with forged awarnesses, and with standing up to circumstances. Following your example, I too stood up to my own and tried to rally them even against their reluctance.. which only had me branded a traitor, a threat to my own kind. Because of that.. I’ve turned my back to them. If no one else wants to realize true chaos, then I’ll champion the cause myself, even if it means hunting the others. In such, everything has come full circle. I may have thought that you two were being presented as an offering once to me, but it seems that it is me that is being offered to you. By now, we are all one, but rest assured that even your chaos is a devoted champion of your cause, and shall so be for all eternity.” The wisp’s last statement rang as an oath or pledge of absolute loyalty.
Things started adding up for the two girls, from the strange fury they had felt during their last trip to the temporal plane to the aggravated reactions of the chaos they had previously encountered. The traitor they had heard about was this portion of them specifically, though it wasn’t as if they themselves were very inclined to be nice to such invaders. It was also becoming obvious that this might have been the third aspect of their pool before, especially considering they were apparently all pooled together right now. Four bodies, two people, one being.. it seems this fragment was generally integral in the definition of that last part. In all accounts too, people had lifespans, but chaos might be able to viably stick around for an eternity. This was a pledge of loyalty that would last well beyond their grave, something that would eternally provide direction for their being for all time. This was no light unification of their distinct portions.
“Hey, so I guess you’re a part of me.. or us.. or me… Nice to finally actually get to know you. Actually, in that consideration, I wonder what sort of name we should use for you as well, just so that everything makes more sense.” “Oh, right.. names, that’s a people thing, isn’t it? Do I have to have one?” “How else are we supposed to figure out who is who?” “Okay, then what’s your name?” “I’m… Right, that problem again. Okay, maybe names have only made sense for our bodies, and anything more distinct is sort of more just an aspect of self in our overall.. sense of self. You do however represent our chaos, that much is even obvious from here. You might not end up with a name, but please at least follow that idea.” “I guess that’s at least better than not even being recognized at all. Being denied my own kind, bound to another that didn’t even act like I existed, it was a very bleak experience.” “We’re both very sorry for that too, even though you admit that your original goal was to simply devour us. It was simply a misappreciation of our circumstances by not being properly aware of what was actually at hand. In fact, you might have spent a lot of time watching us, but we know nothing more about you than what you’ve just said. It means we would need to admit to not properly understanding what it means to be your style of chaos.” The girls weren’t even sure which of them were talking, or if it was only one of them, but their chaos remained a matter they understood even less. They had started to grasp the chaos that was their enemy, they even had a small understanding of their own chaotic abilities, but neither of those properly represented this chaos.
“In truth, I have no idea either. Like I said, this is nothing that chaos has ever experienced before. Just as you hope to gain an awareness of myself, I actually generally need the chance to build up such awareness as well. I do know though that my actions have had an impact upon you. The latest of such change has been from my efforts to redefine what is meant by our chaos. Your arm, in all four cases.. your arm has been altered by this change. It no longer embodies the chaos familiar to the temporal, I am instead championing the chaos of the principled. I have no idea what that exactly means yet when it comes to principled matters, but I will at least try to ensure that such chaos is entirely to our favour. However, there is one aspect of such refinement that has an effect I know very distinctly. The chaos of your arm does not hunger for principles, it instead wants to consume the original chaos. I will devour as much as I need to have original chaos converted to true chaos. Know this as we face any future original chaos, that I will be awaiting any such feast you can provide. Also, please remember that if you need to hear the voice of chaos that has sworn to your cause, I can always be reached no matter what the circumstances are. We are all, in that way, one.. and will forever be so.” The sense of such chaos faded as the impressions of the dream began to dissipate. Someone was waking up, bringing an end to the entire experience. However, even considering that, the words haunted beyond the dream, that such chaos was not simply fading away. Such a chaos was integral to their being, and so it would forever remain.
“Ow, what the hells are you doing?” “Sorry, did I wake you up? I assure you that Holi hasn’t been very supportive either. Finding you collapsed, even right after the discussion we had just had, I really had to have your condition verified for myself.” “I told you I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself, I have no plans to do so either. Where am I anyway, this looks like your stupid outpost, did you drag me all the way back to your stupid outpost? Where is Kori, anyway?” “Kori is getting direct care somewhere of some random choosing from your friends, you will have to look into that for yourself. Seriously though, what did you do in those last moments? I know that was cross-dimensional sciences at work, but that wasn’t the only thing going on. Trying to get readings for everything has been hard as it was, considering you’re still channeling the whole cross-dimensional shift thing. Seriously, it’s felt like an eternity since I’ve had to try using these instrument things, and I might have messed up on the design of this stupid one a bit.” Rosa suspected that such might have had something to do with why Velvet had smacked her with the instrument suddenly, it was just a matter of frustration waving around an instrument that wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. She picked up the instrument, discovering it was supposed to detect elemental stability in a person. The thing instead was going wild, saying her body was rich in elemental composition, far more than a regular person should be. Such wouldn’t even be possible, especially if the entire compound was as stable as the thing claimed. She looked into the thing carefully, finding no mistakes with its construction, it was actually made very well.. especially considering it was made in a world without elemental law.
“Ah, yeah, you messed it up. The base settings aren’t compensating for projected elements of the surroundings. You have to keep in mind that elemental readers will still consider the components of this world as if such were still elemental, even beyond the area I’m projecting. It’s getting a bit of interference as a result. The thing should do a bit better going forward at least, but you’ll have to wait maybe an hour or two for it to stabilize first. Meanwhile, yes, I’m certain I’m doing perfectly fine, you don’t have to worry about me. I should probably be going though, at least to check on Kori and all that.” “Fair enough, I’ve got other things to look into anyway. I managed to repair some of your gear at least though while you were sleeping. It’s a lot more primitive than I’m used to, but the basic idea is still there.” “Pri- primitive!?” “Also, thank you for actually making sure my bike wasn’t damaged this time, even though it was bashed up pretty good. Holi managed to return it a while ago, just before raising the fuss about wanting you returned. Your sister is also waiting outside to give you a ride, being there the whole time. Not home though, of course, considering that you’ve all pretty much been banished from the colony. Not only will each of Aerospace’s services reject you from any of their services, but you would actually be arrested on site if you enter any of their buildings. Actually, you can be arrested for entering any of their barriers too, but there has been a slight exception made in security areas such as these outposts in consideration of your continued service against the DMA threat. It does mean that HT is the only home you have left to return to, but I expect that will be fine. Of course, if you’re willing to actually surrender finally, I’m pretty sure I could quickly get all of those things reversed for you.” Rosa was glaring at Velvet in disappointment, realizing that Velvet had decided to play this card against her as she withdrew the distortion field around her. Whatever, she had just learned that she isn’t the first to stand up against her own kind to do the right thing, and she was actually in high hopes of making a difference.
“Holi, are you there?” “Rosa, you’re awake! Thank goodness!” “Oh yeah, I’m fine. Velvet here has been quite the expert in hospitalities. However, it seems like there is a bug in their power grid, could you shut this whole outpost down so that they could look into it?” “Right away.” “Velvet, no, I don’t think you are as in control of everything as you might think you are. If I wanted something done, I would do it myself. That includes any of your past, present, or future concerns, I’m going to take care of everything this time, you don’t have to worry. I will save things for myself this time, I already know I can make the difference.. that things can change.” Rosa had ended her discussion with Holi before that last statement, stepping atop the holo she created for herself to make her statement even more pronounced. She didn’t even wait for Velvet’s response, not wanting to offer the dignity of such after that insult, and was already gone long before Velvet could begin cursing. Then again, that really wasn’t the worst thing Rosa had just done, considering the lie she fabricated about the instrument. If Velvet wasn’t familiar with the changes their chaos had applied to her arm, then such did not exist in the future. This timeline had already changed.
“Oh, Rosa, glad you.. dropped in? Actually, was there much point in me waiting to give you a ride back after all? You just seem to be flying around anyway.” “Well, I feel it would be great to get a chance to just relax and not worry about things for once, thank you very much. My rest happened to have been rather rudely interrupted, so getting a bit more time to recover would be really nice right now. Just wake me up when you need me or when we get to HT.” Sophie watched her sister just curl up in the other seat and just zone out. Not wanting to press the point when Rosa was so obviously worn out, Sophie just set off into the snowscape as directed. It felt like not even a minute had passed before Sophie was stirring Rosa again though, the drifter already parked within HT’s barrier. Rosa got out of the drifter, finding Drew quickly before her instead.
“Rosa, you made it back safely!” “Don’t be so surprised, Sophie’s driving isn’t that scary.” “No, it’s.. I.. well… Tristine is trying to look into Kori’s health right now, but we’ve had quite a few problems getting anything working near her. We had to walk the entire trip back as a result.” “I’ll go look into Kori, but I expect she’ll be fine. Also, I’m sorry about making things so difficult, that would kind of be mostly my fault. While I do that though, could you organize a few handy tools for me? I may have discovered an.. object.. that has an unfamiliar composition. More than knowing atomic details about, I suspect such a thing to have a lot of potential in unforeseen ways, and I would need to identify some of those potentials.” “Oh, uh, I’ll see what I can do?” Drew ran off as quickly as he had arrived, Rosa not even having noticed how serious and uncompromising her tone had been. Even Sophie was perplexed by the display, herself basically watching her sister press orders to her boss and getting nothing but blind obedience in return. Not wanting to step in the way of Rosa’s stern determination, Sophie ran off to find something decidedly unrelated to occupy herself with.
“Tristine.” “Holy hell, did you just morph into the room or something?” “No, I just walked in like normal.” “Sorry, things have been rather busy. Kori here is still sleeping, we only just got stuff working to look into her. At least I can tell you now that…” “.. she’ll be fine, I know. Regular breathing, probably a standard heart rate for a sleeper. Absolutely nothing to worry about.” “Oh, well, part of that is true. Her health seems fine, but there are quite a number of irregularities we haven’t yet…” “Holi, can you be present in this room please, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Tristine, can you help Drew bring in the supplies he’s bringing here? I expect he’s got a lot on hand and could use a couple extra hands in the process.” “I.. uh.. okay?” Rosa took off her white glove after Tristine left the room, the glove seeming ill fitting now with the dramatic darkening of her arm beneath it. She might need to request a new recommended design from her sister, though she would also have to consider the same concern with the other world as well. There was also the chance that she simply might not need a glove anymore at all.
“Good evening, Rosa.” “Holi, thank you. I’ve got a lot of work to do here, and it would be great having you available in the process.” “I.. I did as you instructed, watching your conflict. None of the readings made sense though, nothing at all…” “That is what I was trying to let you know, that some of the things we’re capable of now may simply not make sense at all. Take this arm for example, the one that has always perplexed you about being observed at absolute zero. What can you tell me about it now?” “I can.. uh.. nothing, actually. Your arm is identified as a stable composite with no known signatures. The material is completely unknown, but it’s temperature is now completely stable too. Detailed scans show nothing consistent, a single report conflicting with the next. The molecular composition appears so erratic it can’t even be identified, and yet the structure is decidedly stable and harmless.” “So it’s true chaos, exactly as promised. The stability is also just as promised. Mechanical scans might be more helpful then, especially with everything so variable. What about Kori’s version? Same thing?” “Yes, effectively the same.” Holi remained to help Rosa with her investigation, collecting and analyzing reports in the process. Of course though, Holi remained incapable of understanding what was going on, she wasn’t designed to understand such chaos. Right now, Rosa was the only one in charge and the only one who seemed capable of understanding such things at all. She knew, of course, Kori would have been much the same way, had Kori not been sleeping at this point. At the very least, she hoped to have a very comprehensive report ready by the time Kori awoke.
Rosa’s tests were already proving to be very informative. Her hand held a flexibly intensive electrical current, ionic current, plasma source, and thermal supply, but only on demand while she was comfortable doing so. She couldn’t test for other energy types, though she inwardly suspected that she could do atomic energy just as easily.. if it wasn’t so dangerous to her. Obviously, being energy integral would have been important for some of her chaos’s objectives, much like how it also had an elemental advantage as well. Such concepts were simply considered direct counters to the existence of original chaos, you could almost simply feel the spite of the design. Her arm was now the embodiment of true chaos, which means there was no way to simply estimate what it was capable of. However, she had grown familiar with working with chaos too, that working too hard would put a drain on the chaotic factors, weakening them. She could make use of such a resource, but it was not infinite in supply, it was only potentially infinite in flexibility. True chaos was absolutely random, it could include anything at all.
During the process, she proceeded to permanently stash away their gloves, having determined there would no longer be a need for them. They had already ignored and denied this chaos for long enough, it was time for them to start working with it instead.
Luminaeris 