Liberi Reader

Theresis falls in the ocean of information. The massive quantity buffets him, assimilating his cognition.

He can feel his mind grow slow, but he still tries to follow the guidance left behind by Theresa—

Guided by his sword, the information flow reconstructed by Theresa clashes with the preexisting one.

The massive collision lasts only an instant.

The surface begins to surge. Then, the sea splits open, as if sliced by a sharp blade.

A dark abyss appears in the Assimilated Universe. The sea of data stirs and roils.

Waves crashing against waves, drowning out one another.

Even as his mind grows numb, Theresis can sense the will gazing upon him weaken rapidly.

But suddenly, all the violent scenes come to a screeching halt.

She opens her eyes and sees the small, frail creature.

Theresis does not comprehend the space before him. Perhaps it is simply another illusion of a dying mind—

Until he hears a familiar language that he can understand.

He meditatively swings his sword, guiding the chaotic information through the pure-white space...

Theresis closes his eyes and raises his sword.

He lunges without hesitation.

The sword-wave cuts through the figure, disappearing without a sound into the pale white wall in the distance.

Another strike.

Theresis holds nothing back. The white wall begins to crack.

Once again, Theresis senses the surging tide of information, remnants of the broken tower that Theresa weaved.

Theresis swings again.

Golden seawater shatters the pale wall, rushing into this seemingly boundless white space.

The tide swallows all that it sees, but parts before the figure of Priestess...

Like a static comet, leaving behind a black tail of calm in the sea of surging fury.

The waves converge upon the last area, slowly submerging Priestess's figure.

They also close in upon Theresis.

The Sarkaz swings his sword at the creator one last time, before the torrent of information engulfs him.

The wind brushes past the throne. The sovereign's gaze moves away from the depths of the void outside his domain.

Silence is broken.

Priestess's figure, shattered by the golden waves of information, disappears without a trace.

The sea of data dashes against Theresis even more furiously.

His mind grows crowded. His body begins to crack.

The waves of information take away the blood that flows from his wounds. Originium crystals multiply in every cell...

Theresis is completely inundated.

Blood-red seawater gushes from the bottomless abyss, melting into the golden sea.

The sea of data in the Assimilated Universe turns a dark red, like blood, the color of the Sarkaz.

Finally, a tiny figure rises from the sea.

He wants to share his joy, but there is only the sound of the waves in the boundless void.

He can no longer hear even his own heartbeat. There is only him here.

There is no longer any meaning in staying here.

He will return alone to Terra, to the land that belongs to him—

The rhombus in the void grows faint and broken...

Priestess's consciousness once again falls into slumber.

The spread of Originium has been far slower than expected, and she has unexpectedly lost part of her control over it.

As her consciousness fades into darkness, she turns her gaze to the land known as Terra...

She sees the one they call Doctor walking with the Cautus and AMa-10 into the dark passage that leads to the underground throne room—

She sees the city of Londinium cry out in pain in the fires of war—

...She sees death—

A disintegrating Cautus, whose information is melting into the Assimilated Universe's sea of data—

Then, she reaches out.

'Miss.'

—The Cautus answered this question many times when she lived on the ship that housed the gods.

There is no future in the fragments of time reconstructed from information.

Her best friends soon forget her existence entirely.

She can know all there it is to them, but she will never truly be part of life here.

'I'm just a traveler lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the distant past.'

They will not change.

They are simply recreations of data.

The Cautus looks out beyond the porthole and counts silently. When the count reaches thirty, life from the star will once again shine upon the surface of the broken planet.

A scene that she had never seen on that land. A scene that she does not wish her brethren to see.

In the blink of an eye, the Cautus finds herself back on that pale soil.

Priestess welcomes her with a smile.

The Cautus shakes her head.

The deck is completely silent.

You turn around and notice the absence of the elite operators and Ascalon—

Black Originium dust accumulates on the deck. Tiny Originium clusters grow like wild grass.

You can see them spreading as far as one's eyes can reach, gleaming enchantingly in the sun.

The sight before you is inconceivable, different from any Catastrophe that you have witnessed before.

You look down at the deck, now completely covered in Originium, and see only your shadow.

You turn around to see a stunned look on Kal'tsit's face.