Neu-Brosme the Ascendant Commander, Manu-Ad the chief investigator and law enforcer, Telyne-Rhad the lead navigator, and Paul-Iuar the Outshell Guard, waited in the color void left by the speedy disappearance of their planet Top and the other, smaller Ascendant ships. Neu-Brosme was a giant and hovered before the Quinspace Ascendant being that had appeared alongside four other beings that were amalgamations of creatures that the Ascendant had studied from ancient history. The Quinspace Ascendant being had been left alone, it’s compatriots went chasing the fugitive Ascendant ships.
“Our every move is foundational. We are everything that will be. And you have forced our unnatural evolution. I was nothing and now I am, and I am filled with power that I cannot comprehend. You too, I can see it.”
Neu-Brosme rolled her eyes, “I must look so eager to have these powers, you’re not the first to mention that. I know enough to be here before you and I think that I have something of consequence that you should know. Maybe you already know, maybe it has already happened, but something will speed up the rapid expansion of the universe, and where we come from, that is essentially a death sentence. You can help us. Can you help us?”
The Quinspace Ascendant was practically a mirror of Neu-Brosme and it was disturbing to look at it for as long as she was forced to. The Quinspace Ascendant seemed almost hollow, like it was parroting words but had no comprehension of them. It was an empty vessel.
“You do not understanding,” the Quinspace Ascendant said, “I am hardly able to comprehend you, with time that will be easier. For now, I am meant to erase your kind so that we may get back to our natural order.”
Neu-Brosme thought that this could be the answer to Par-Cell’s paradox, to allow these beings to slaughter them all at the beginning of time. And as she watched the Quinspace Ascendant seemingly spawn smaller iterations of itself, as though it was physically incapable of striking Neu-Brosme and her team directly, and those smaller iterations swarmed the team that defended themselves with lasers and transforming ships that they interlocked together in order to retreat, Neu-Brosme became aware of her body and it’s awareness as a separate awareness, like she was another version of herself in the present and spectating the conflict that raged and the dreadful slaughter was enacted as a feeling that somehow all of her Ascendant compatriots and even their planet Top was obliterated, and as a result, the future of the universe is altered in such a way that no sentient civilization will ever stand a chance to exist at the end of the life of the universe. Curiously, though, she had a feeling that the speed of the demise of the universe was the same as she had known it. Her awareness of that feeling, her repulsion to that reality, or maybe it was just a dreadful fantasy, caused Neu-Brosme to glow bright yellow and the glow spread to her compatriots who grew stronger in their combined ship that they quickly outgrew. They floated the Quinspace and battled the swarm of Quinspace beings, kicking and punching them to stardust. Neu-Brosme felt the energies of each being and she could pull those energies with concentration, or she could scatter them. She saw the horde, focused all of her being, and managed to dissipate a third of their numbers in the blink of an eye, and though the action weakened her and caused her to reduce in size, it scared the Quinspace beings and they retreated.
When Neu-Brosme regained consciousness, she was on the combined ship of her team. Manu-Ad greeted her as she opened her eyes.
“It seems that whatever is meant to happen will happen,” Neu-Brosme said soberly when she regained herself. “There is no intervening with reason. Those things are practically babies following orders. We will have to learn more. Get me a status report from our sisters. Any ship will do.”
Neu-Brosme took the helm of the ship as the team reviewed and synthesized the work of the Ascendant in the Quinspace.
PRL Serials 