Just as the Quintessence disappeared through the shining wound of Space, AEther, in its shock and horror at the sight of its sibling daring to brave the unknown, suddenly witnessed the appearance of what would eventually – billions of years into the future – be known as a spacecraft. AEther had been busy stirring sentience to life from the wounds of Space and in its existence, it had never witnessed anything larger than the wounds themselves. But when the spacecraft appeared, AEther marveled at the thing that was big enough to obstruct the view of the wound.
The craft was larger than the planet Jupiter (of the Milky Way Galaxy) and as it settled into its position in Space that was familiar and Time that was very much not, it seemed to solidify it’s form, as though the vision of it was the picture of a TV being brought into focus. It appeared as a massive sphere and AEther assembled in front of it as a latch at the craft’s north pole opened on the enormous metallic, black surface that was reflective and shiny next to the bright wound. From a distance, the craft appeared to be textured and as uneven as the surface of a human brain.
When the latch was finally opened on the north pole, a being emerged from the opening and stood tall on the surface of the craft, the shine from the wound casting a long shadow behind it. The being was small compared to the total size of the ship, but it was obvious that the being stood tall on two legs with enormous red wings spread from its back and large horns that branched up from its head that was solid like a boulder. The being was muscled and did not wear clothing, but it had a short coat of pitch black fur that matched the intimidating hue of its shadow.
From AEther’s vantage point, it appeared that the being had no face, just the jet black form of its body and the dark red wings and horns. But AEther could sense that the being was one of it’s creations, made from the wounds of Space just as the few beings AEther had managed to create to that point on a miniscule scale. This being was both horrifyingly foreign, and comfortingly familiar, as though the being stood before AEther as a testament to its potential to create significant sentience capable of truly slowing Time to the relief of Space.
“This is it!” AEther heard, though it did not understand the words as the speaker intended them. The dark being with the wings and horns had screamed down into the opening of it’s ship, and AEther understood the feelings of elation that the being was expressing, but the actual words of the being were as insignificant as the sounds a rabbit makes to a human being on the planet Earth.
“This is where it all starts,” the being continued, and AEther felt the relief, like setting out across a desert for a promised oasis and finally coming to it after a treacherous journey. “This is where we correct the mistakes of nature. Onward Ascendant! We will leave our invisible footprint on Time and we will make things much better.”
AEther’s horror was renewed as the craft lunged forward toward the shiny wound. AEther cried out in the way that it does, pleaded for the craft and the being that stood atop it like it saddled a great steed made of hard black metal, to go no further. But the being, and whatever compatriots that the craft carried, were unable to speak the language of AEther and could not heed its warnings.
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