16-13 The Body-Garden (II) (Patreon)

Threshold sickness is something you all have to get used to. You will be fighting within demiplanes, pushing into enemy demiplanes, dropping into demiplanes, surviving and navigating ruptured demiplanes, and destabilizing and escaping from demiplanes.

You will do all these things because positioning decides wars, and the laws within these microcosms will either see your miracles stalemated or suppressed altogether.

Once perimeters are established at key points across the city, bottlenecks can be formed. Heavens of Speed can be canceled or paradoxed outright by the canons active within the demiplane, and other canons can lend themselves to supporting defenders against unprepared attackers.

Breaking a demiplane will be a challenging task. Expect casualties, but do not work toward them! Regulars are yours to spend, but not to waste. Let us not forget the travesty marking our inglorious “ceasefire” at the end of the last war. While it will be your duty as Godclads to contend and uproot the Heavens by triggering paradoxes and locating key hubrises, it will be up to our courageous forces to hold the ground you gain.

Today, we will begin our initial exercises in plane-breaking.

Greatling. Select your cadre. You are attacking. The rest play defense. Your active canons will be loaded into the simulation momentarily.

Let us see if folly and shame run in her blood.

-Santanado “Starsinger” Mondelles, Combat Instructor to Axtraxis Academy of Highflame

16-13

The Body-Garden (II)

{Well, that was educationally horrifying. I don’t think the last instance of myself survived. This version of me is brand-new–no data fragmentation at all. It’s connection to the Noo was severed as swell. I think we can list that as a clear display of cessation.}

Calvino had started speaking the moment Avo resurrected, his data accelerating through his mind, bathing him in secondhand excitement. The artificial intellect seemed genuinely thrilled to learn about the nature behind its own death, and no hint of fear or dread stained its ego.

In a variety of ways, it was more alien to him than the other way around. Where they intersected was along the paths of their mutual inhumanity–joined by the ability to comprehend human thoughts and emotions, but not be undone by them.

Looking around the first layer of the demiplane, he found himself standing at the center of a vast crater. Not far away, the other members of his cadre flickered back into existence, each arriving at the point where their overloaded Meldskin reactors blew a gouge into the surface.

“Pack’s a punch,” Draus shouted, her voice supported by her armor’s speakers. “Might just got enough yield to clear the air after all.”

“Zein said she had an antimatter bomb in her chest. Said you gave it to her.” Avo flicked a few memories over to Calvino. “Self-destruction a standard Voidwatch trick?”

{Mmh. We can’t exactly risk letting you savages capture any of our technology, can we? But without being glib, antimatter is unstable these days at the best of times. Only Operative Thousandhand and a rare few others are able to use it on a functional level thanks to her unique… talents.}

“Explodes in most times?” Avo asked.

{It destabilizes eventually no matter what. Your Woundshaper’s partially to blame for this. Enough Heavens mess with matter, and what we get in the end is a lot of confusion about fundamental laws. As such, who’s to say what constitutes “antimatter” anymore?}

Avo wasn’t sure that made any sense, but that might just be the inevitable outcome when thaumaturgy was involved. Checking his cognitive systems, he ascertained his phantasmics and other functions were still active before turning his attention back to his Frame.

His Soul burned with a new intensity, his Galeslither elevated toward greater purpose.

During the phase of his death, Kae put on a full showcase of her skill, working and directing him along a variety of alterations, fixes, and upgrades.

In the span of a single resurrection cycle, they managed to whittle away at the Twice-Walker’s vulnerabilities, cutting her canons out and reinstalling them with new designs in place. No longer will Draus suffer a backlash if some of the glass she controls is destroyed, cooled, or unmade in conflicting ways. Now, all those weaknesses were instilled in a single shard of glass that served as the nucleus of her ontology and the central housing for where the Twice-Walker lurked.

Her Heaven of Winter remained entirely unchanged for now, lacking the necessary components to spur additional change.

Not that Draus truly needed it. Despite the immense power that dwelled within her Soul, the Regular was content to only use it as a supporting instrument, choosing to fight on as a soldier would.

Chambers and Kae were granted new canons. The former was now able to detonate all the energy stored within a piece of biomass touched by his flames like a bomb, and the latter could now “perceive” out from any body of water larger than a puddle within a mile of her person.

For Avo himself, the changes were more focused. The current demiplane that housed them was only a temporary retreat. Not supplied or designed for long-term stay. Presently, however, George Washington was still affected by the Thoughtwave Bomb unleashed to suppress the Low Masters’ attempt on Zein’s life.

Re-entering its confines would see Avo’s mind extinguished in short order. That was, unless, he could hide his consciousness in a seperate plane of its own.

{I streamlined the data a bit. There seems to be a lot of extraneous information that comes with each of your canons. I decided to narrow things down to the key details for you. Keep the concepts neat.}

Avo grunted as his new canons loaded into his cog-feed.

Liminal Frame (IV) - 5,422 THAUM/c

Ghosts - [66,562]

New canons grafted to Heaven “Galeslither” (880 THAUM/c)

New canons grafted

Domain (Space)

->YONDERGALES (II)

Canon: 400 ft radius demiplane increased to 1600 ft; wind speed multiplied with each ton of mass carried within the demiplane

Hubris: 400-ton weight limit before collapse and backlash

Canon re-grafted for Heaven “Datacaster” (335 THAUM/c)

Domain (Signals)

->CROWN OF VIRTUALITY

Canon: Converts the environment (100 ft) around the user into simulated mirror-reality made out of raw data; user can convert all inorganic parts into temporarily stored data (reloads back to their original position in reality after miracle ends)

Hubris: Organic material will result in a [system-collapse] for the user; thaumic backlash will follow

{System collapse,} Calvino muttered.

+Damages inflicted on mind,+ Avo explained. +Like a trauma. Very dangerous canon for most.+

{But not you.}

+But not me,+ Avo replied. +Asked her for something always deployable. Reliable.+ He looked at Kae. +Should work thanks to Neurodeck. And Sprites.+

{Well, look at you, bypassing critical weaknesses. I’m assuming this will let you dip past disruptions as well?}

+Should. But she said signals are easy to paradox. Omnitech has solutions. So does Sanctus. Need to have multiple failsafes down the line. Good for now. Good enough to let us get inside the George Washington. Hopefully.+

{Suppose there’s something else to look forward to.}

+Draus is going to scout ahead first. Place a passage at one of the gates. Not sure when it will become active. Remember a few of the positions. Will just have to wait. Moni–+

A loud bang jolted him out of the conversation as a rising column of fire rose from where Chambers’ was. Avo blinked.

{He blew himself up,} Draus sent via ansible. {Might’ve smeared himself along the insides of the armor.}

Avo grunted. Testing was like that sometimes.

Shaking his head, he walked out from his crater and noticed Kae staring up at the sky.

The Agnos’ had her Meldskin deactivated and seemed lost in a jungle of her own thoughts. Being able to see her moving thoughtstuff was still an oddity to observe, and the constancy of her spinning accretion stood testament to her ever-active mind.

He approached her thereafter, Draus walking over to check on Chambers in his periphery. Above, the featureless sky of the demiplane’s first layer shivered like a dancing flame.

“We won’t be able to stay here for too much longer,” she said, hearing him approach. “Denton told me that earlier. The Rendsinks for this plane need to be replaced soon. We will need to depart before then.”

“Good. Can access the Washington again. Thanks to you.”

She hummed a soft note of agreement and kept staring at the sky.

“You never told me why the Agnosi can’t be Godclads.” Avo didn’t know where the question came from, only that he was compelled to ask it.

“Hm?” she replied, finally turning to face him “Why we can’t be Ensouled.”

Avo grunted. “Your kind would make the best Godclads. Know mythology better than anyone else on Idheim. Also have knowledge of coldtech. Technologies. Grounding in both metaphysics and technological lore.”

“Thaumaturgy includes science and technology, Avo. It also includes metaphysics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and so on. It is a total study. Heavens aren’t… gods weren’t things made from a single idea alone. There is a living story that is linked and passed down from person to person until a core narrative is formed between them. And through their deaths, certain shared ideas, symbols, and signifiers are solidified in their culture. That becomes mythology. That becomes faith.”

“And you learn this. Understand it. Create it.”

The Agnos drew a quick breath and considered how she was to reply. “Remember when we entered your Heavens? How we managed to affect the shades of people that empower your Soul as they feed their beliefs over and over to your Heaven? I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to be. I theorize that if you were to access a Heaven untouched by your Imitators, you’ll find a variety of different

“So. Mine forces a unified standard.”

“I suppose you can think of it that way.” She paused. “The first lessons we learn as neophytes are in ethics. They also give us specially designed nu-dogs or nu-cats based on our ego profiles–really delicately engineered creatures. We’re supposed to take care of them while we learn, but our little furry friends only have one purpose.”

“They’re designed to expire,” Avo guessed. “Hurt your feelings.”

“It’s supposed to root us in empathy and weed out those among us who are incapable of treasuring life. This is a test overseen by the High Agnosi and Guilds together; it’s one of the few things that everyone is dedicated to enforcing. I suppose you can think of it as one of the few surviving remnants of Jaus’ legacy.”

This confused Avo. Would it not be the benefit of the powers if such knowledge was widespread? If they could create their personal Heavens without restrictions or boundaries. “Omnitech. They don’t care. Highflame plays games close to the edge. Ori-Thaum went after you. Doesn’t sound like they care.”

Kae pressed her lips together and met his eyes. “‘This is not the dream.’ Things were not always this way. The Paladins were not always broken. The Agnosi were not always servants. The Guilds were not always so treacherous. But even now, Omnitech’s erratic choices are still… adjustments of existing Heavens we’ve provided, based on mythologies we provide. And we’re always ready to put out whatever fire they start. As with Highflame and Ori-Thaum…” She closed her eyes and took a breath to steady herself. “Someone should have come for me. Sought justice on my behalf. But…”

“But they didn’t. But they just accepted it. But they abandoned you.”

“Yes.”

“Think they're afraid? The other Agnosi. The Paladins?”

She lowered her head and brushed her hair from her face. “Yes. But fear is a poor excuse. Especially when the ones who use it against us intend to see us all dead or destroyed regardless. I think I have been… sleepwalking through my own life, so fixated on my hopes and work that I refused to acknowledge the rot eating at the world around me. The Agnosi were supposed to be the scale–the balance between Guilds. The survivors of the old faith granted life by Jaus’ grace. We were supposed to prevent the atrocities of the gods, but now we just grant men the means to achieve the same degeneracy. How we have fallen. How we have all fallen.” She looked up at the sky again. “But I suppose everything breaks before the end.”

He realized what she was trying to glimpse. The Tiers. The sky. The world that cast her down, and that she was now to burn.

“You’ll be back soon,” Avo said. “Will get you home. Grant you retribution. Reveal the truth–”

“There isn’t any going back,” she replied. “Not with what they did. And not with what I’m doing. Broken oaths are things that can be fixed, Avo. Not like this. And not with them. For all my life, I hoped that my efforts would create a better world. A place where more lives can be preserved. A place that allows for crying infants and laughing children. I was dreaming of rebuilding the bridge to our future. But now I know. Now I know that never mattered. Now I know the Guilds just want to wipe everything clean with the Ladder. To sweep existence of their mistakes and sins, and all of us along with it.”

She released ragged sigh. “All we ever did was add more fuel to the pyre. We should have been brave. We should have done our duty after Jaus died. Said no more. Did our duty and emptied our minds. Banished the Guilds from the knowledge they needed to defile reality. This power… these miracles… they are mistakes when held by us. I can feel it. So can Draus. Chambers… he is like a child granted joy for the first time in his life and you… you are a monster granted actualization.”

“You’re afraid of what I might do?”

“I am beyond that,” she said. “You will do terrible things, Avo. I will help you, as I have helped the Guilds. But with you… There’s nowhere for me to turn away now. Nothing to block me from seeing what waits at the end.” A resigned expression spread over her face. “When we return to the Tiers, it will be to topple the current base of power. To overthrow everything that is in hopes of something new. Revenge won’t be enough. I want to take their futures. Not because they took mine, but because I want something to live for again, and we won’t find that in their utopias, no matter how their delusions are structured.”

[Fuck yeah,] Corner said, pleased with what he was hearing. [Burn it down. Love seeing someone wake up and realize they’re holding the matches. Welcome to the rest of us, Kae Kusanade. Welcome to the human race.]

[The hells are you talking about,] Abrel said. [You’re a Godclad too.

The former squire scoffed at the Guilders. [We’re in the same mind. You know what I had to do to earn my Frame. You know how many people I had to kill. The good. The bad. The innocent. You know how much I suffered. How many pieces of myself I gave away…] He started chuckling then, directing his ire at Abrel Greatling in particular. [It was all a fuckin’ delusion. Didn’t mean anything. After everything I did, I started at a point where your brother began, and that bitch got himself killed because he missed the texture of mommy’s nipple.]

Rage exploded within the Greatling, but that just excited Corner more. He began to make mocking noises, miming the suckling sounds of a newborn.

[I’m going to… I’m going to…] A fissure-lined Abrel’s template. What was she going to do? What could she do that Avo didn’t allow?

With a thought, he cycled the cruelty out of himself and washed away these memories of acrimony from his templates. As the minds within him reset, unaware of the conversation that took place.

All the minds other than Calvino and the Heavens.

{Thought you would have enjoyed that?} Calvino said.

+I did. That’s what I had to stop. Making my mind a cage of abuse is…+ He studied Kae. +Unhealthy.+

“Glad we met,” he said, talking to the Agnos. “Going to use you. But not like them. Won’t promise you anything. Can’t. Have to settle with empowering you instead. Worth more than words. Only thing that’s still real in this world. Only thing you can protect yourself with. Can’t hide in dreams anymore. Have to face the world. Have to become nightmares. Burn the gardens of our enemies.”

She gave a soft laugh. “You sound like an action vicarity character.”

“Do I?”

“We should watch one together sometime,” she said. “I like the Blackfish Gambit series.” A lull followed. “Thanks, Avo. For fixing me. For doing all this. For not forcing me to like you. For letting me hate you. And your father.”

“Forcing?”

“I have a guess of what you might be able to do with those flames of yours.” She refused to look at the Conflagration, even now, eyes recoiling from their very presence. “You could’ve made me entirely different or just… taken our egos and memories from us completely. You must have thought of it.”

“Even considered it,” he admitted.

A quiet settled into the heart of the ship as Draus shot a look at Avo, shrugging softly in acknowledgment.

“Why didn’t you?” she asked.

Avo thought about his templates, and held up his hand, studing the changes affecting his person, the transformation of his self and just how far he had come. “We should get the chance to be ourselves. Enjoy. Suffer. Then become. Hard to tell where each of us begin and end if we all bleed into each other. Let’s leave some borders. For now.”

“For now,” she agreed.

And so they settled into a silence again, before descending down to the floor below.