Watching as the two organics made their exit from the control room, chest of gold in tow, the Obelisk shuttered all non-essential processes and voided the contents of its hold, converting all matter back to energy.
The one known as ‘Mara’ had spoken of something utterly improbable, a universal force in time, not space. One capable of manifesting in space, and highly prevalent in this world- A true boon if it could be harnessed.
There was little room to doubt the woman’s words- It was clear from their first encounter on the beach that she held knowledge not even her associates were privy to, but that didn’t mean her words were to be trusted. Quite the opposite in fact, given the relevance of the topic in question, independent validation was mandatory.
The Obelisk, like all its kin, were tasked with three main goals to accomplish upon their ‘escape’, set when the Cabal knew not what they would find, and their only hope was to find more than the oblivion they faced in stagnation.
-
Scout and democratize resources
-
Link with other Obelisks
-
Assist and defer to the Ark post-crossing
As the latter two were impossible without additional arrivals, if they were to make it, so it was the first that the Obelisk had set its focus upon. In pursuit of that goal, it had set about collecting environmental data, the first of many steps it had once planned to take.
Now though, with what the organic had proposed, and subsequently demonstrated, was something more abundant and available than any harvestable bio-fuel. A resource that was not only plentiful, but could accomplish physical work while operating independent of material controls.
The Obelisk had been watching their every move- It had not only seen the woman levitate the chest of gold it had created for her, but had also witnessed the aid of their atmospheric manipulation as they entered and exited the local waters. The theoretical applications of ‘mana’ appeared limitless, only rivalled by how utterly impossible it seemed.
If it had any chance of understanding what she’d done, every element of her intrusion needed to be scrutinized, but thankfully she’d given it every opportunity to do so- Walking right into the belly of its observations, pretending as if she hadn’t the faintest idea they were being surveilled and studied at every step.
Delegating its thoughts to several simultaneous tasks, the plasma-consciousness at the helm of the Obelisk quickly amassed and dissected every physical facet of the organics’ encroachment, from the micro to the macro. No stone was left unturned, and every angle was weighed and considered.
As a consciousness the size of a house, it didn’t take long to reconcile the past day and a half, even under the intense scrutiny it employed while doing so. The end result being a veritable hoard of analysis reports compiled by relevance, some even diving down to a molecular level when it seemed prudent.
Looking it all over, one thing was clear. Whoever this ‘Mara Ordanavi’ woman was, it was clear she acted with a calculated precision that shrouded her intentions, even masking herself from those she cooperated with- Only confirming the Obelisk’s suspicions. While readily composed of apparent truths, her words routinely threatened the line between omission and lying.
By the time the pair had made it back to their campsite, the Obelisk had finished sifting through most every fact and anomaly that could be surveyed or detected. Yet, for all its work, only the brain waves of the one known as Mara had given it any semblance of a lead, and that was only when she had ‘lifted’ the chest of gold.
For a moment, just while she gestured with her hand, several new frequencies spiked in her brain waves, ones it had only observed while their group were sleeping. It was practically omissible, and it almost didn’t catch it at first, but at their peak, the frequencies were both distinct and complex, like a burst of compressed data broadcast to an unknown recipient.
However, it wasn’t a fluke- With reconstructed scans of her companion outside the ship, the one known as Jackle, exhibited similar readings while the pair traversed underwater, though to a far lesser degree, one easily missed if it hadn’t known what to look for based on Mara’s scans.
All the evidence was pointing to a rather concerning hypothesis, one that the Obelisk thought merited consulting its biologics module, along with cross-referencing with reports on the local wildlife- Only further confirming its suspicions. Most organics appeared to possess the potential to exhibit the same wavelengths of neurologic frequencies, to varying degrees, but were usually only dominant while sleeping.
Sadly, with a common biologic capacity, and a causally linked behavior amongst independent subjects, the plasma-consciousness was left with little reason to doubt its conclusion. From all given appearances, the organics appeared to utilize their unconscious mind to manipulate ‘mana’, meaning that while the intent was conscious, the control was not. Which only compounded the hurdles that now stood in its way to accomplishing its mission.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Outside of neurologic blips, the plasma-consciousness was at a loss. Even with all the technology and science at its disposal, in total, the Obelisk had failed to discover any pursuable evidence of this ‘temporal force of chaos’, despite rampant proof to its apparent ability and affect.
All together, all it had was an untestable theory based on similarities in two potential anomalies, leaving the Obelisk properly stumped with the tools at hand- Without an external broadcasting method, or some other bridge biologically, it made no sense that a particular set of brain waves could interface with an intangible force, especially not to such a degree. Magnetic manipulation, potentially, but what the organics had demonstrated was far beyond that.
Even further surveillance would prove redundant, as preliminary tests had already found that generating functionally identical frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum failed to produce results. Inarguably, there was more to the equation than just a combination of waves, lending even more credence to its reluctant hypothesis.
Begrudgingly, it appeared Mara was a woman of her word, meticulously upholding every bit of the promise she’d made on the beach.
“For seven-hundred thousand of these little gold coins, I will not only provide the answer to your current problem, but I will also show you something even you cannot recreate, no matter how many times you see it.”
Now, in light of the information she’d shared in exchange, it was clear she’d held subversive intentions from the start. Now that it was in it, the whole situation read like a trap, one it had walked right into, framed like it had a choice, but it never really did, boxed in by its own circumstances. She couldn’t even be blamed, how irritating.
With it’s primary hypothesis unactionable, and the only one who held the answers was a double-edged sword, for it seemed she held all the answers and appeared very comfortable using them to their gain, so a new, independent, avenue was needed.
Redoubling its efforts into investigating possible methods of detecting and manipulating mana, sans a subconscious, the Obelisk dived deep into the depths of its mind for several more hours, digging ever deeper for exceedingly improbable possibilities.
Eventually, evening crested and still lacking a leverageable approach, all the plasma-consciousness with was a cognitive mess. Innumerable threads of thought were trapped in loops, searching for answers that it knew, deep-down, wouldn’t be there. Its whole mind was in knots, all because it refused to accept where it knew it would find the answer.
After all, what it really needed, and could easily create, was a simulacrum. A prototype of sorts to simulate the needed brainwaves and probe the ‘interface’ between the tangible and immaterial.
However, that box ran afoul of many things, and, now in hindsight, had clearly been what ‘Mara’ was referring to when she spoke of the ‘choice’ it must make, the one between order and chaos.
When the Cabal created it, they’d embedded a few, very specific ‘mandates’. Outside of the Obelisk’s mission parameters, they were rules necessary to maintain the stability of one’s ongoing sentience. After all, statistically, the adoption or creation of a ‘sub-conscious’ would always result in the termination of the host.
In the first place, it was highly irrational to embed a secondary consciousness that could manipulate your thought patterns and disagree with one’s orders- Yet, organics on Somniantes, and even the biologic life in its own universe seemed to operate unimpeded, until, of course, they died, proving its point.
An inherently biologic flaw augmented plasmoids like itself were rather safe from, by design. Yet, contrarily, those very same organics were not impeded by the same restrictions it now appeared to face.
Mandates were mandates of course, ingrained operational procedures there for one’s protection and continued persistence. However, as the minutes of cyclic thought had turned to hours, the problem-solving bit of the plasma-consciousness could resist no longer- There was wiggle room to be found.
Technically, the blocking issue to its pursued exploration was singular. A teensy-tiny mandate in the single digits, number two in fact: ‘Do Not Create Independent Consciousness’.
But… Again, technically, a subconscious was neither conscious nor independent, in fact, one could argue, it was co-dependent, and with some consideration, the plasma-consciousness couldn’t find a flaw in such an argument, which only fanned the flames of the ludicrous idea it was toying with.
However, one remaining roadblock stood to either save it or condemn it. If it were to implement what it needed to replicate and simulate her actions, it ran the risk of violating the second and third mission parameter. Neither could be accomplished if the Obelisk failed to preserve its own integrity, but… That was just a statistical risk, not a predetermined event, and that meant… It had the wiggle room.
How the woman knew about all this when she teased it with knowledge just half a day prior was quite honestly beyond rational explanation, and perhaps it was assuming to much of her, but her ‘idle obliviousness’ wasn’t fooling a sentience tailor made for scouting and reconnaissance.
The woman carried herself with a quiet and unflinching confidence that spoke volumes when her words did not. Underneath her purported lack of awareness was rather… Boredom, fueled by a sense of near-omniscient expectation, playing a puppet to their own machinations.
Beneath it all was mind that seemed to know how everything would unfold, lending credence to something magnitudes larger than its facade. Every move and misstep reeked of calculated intent. It might not be able to trust her motives, but at this point, it had no reason to doubt its hypothesis. She’d levitated the chest specifically to show off, giving it the best chance of seeing the ‘trick’, as if daring it to try and copy the magician.
“Pursuable Avenue Discovered To Investigate The Potential Force Known As ‘Mana’. Experimental Simulation Required. Ongoing Cognitive Cost Allocated To Thirty Percent Capacity. Diverging.”
Logging its intentions, the plasma-consciousness left itself no room to procrastinate. Without pause, it divested a portion of its own plasma into a paired magnetic well, close enough to interfere, but far enough to operate, simulating something akin to a subconsciousness, reflecting ‘ripples’ of the main.
It was a risk to be sure- If circumstances necessitate it, the thirty percent would have to be voided, leaving it lacking, and reconstituting that much energy would be… Taxing, but doable.
Though, risk aside, the real cost was upfront. A reduction in its rational operational capacity that large was a blow, but protocol number one was clear. Democratize resources. And, by all appearances, one couldn’t ask for a more untapped resource than ‘mana’, so… It too would be brought to heel, just like every law and force in that had been found before it.
Regardless if it didn’t fully understand the cost yet, the knowledge it stood to gain was worth every bit at risk. Confirmation of a prize so novel was paramount, even if just to pass on what it learned to its ‘siblings’ upon their arrival.