In an almost empty space, a single slender figure rotated, floating with eyes closed and limbs slightly spread. A cold blue light separated the figure from the darkness, rippling away below as if on the surface of some otherwise still lake. But, if there was a horizon or end somewhere in the darkness, there was no sign of it from here.

Lashes fluttered as the figure's eyes opened, glowing pale in the darkness as luminescent text appeared in their sight.

[Loading Non-Player Character {Classification: {Native}} data … … …. Searching for character name … … Error. Value … … reloading. Name found: S[]/u*[]ter.]

Those long lashes, almost translucent under the blue light, dropped to hide the pale orbs beneath them. Blood, slaughter, and madness rose behind them, swirling higher as the systematic text continued unawares.

[Titles found. Loading titles … … … complete. Titles: <-The First->, <-Race Traitor->, <-Slaughterer->, <-Traveler->, <-The R[]e//n->. Searching for race … Error. Value … … reloading. Race found: Half-breed Gi Emperor ??[]ea?/rSl[][]t??. Racial Inherent basic status found: Pheromone. Calculating EXP … … Error. OSS override in progress … ….]

Madness subsided, lashes lifting to look at the systematic text again as something stirred in the darkness, quiet and young.

[OSS override complete. OSS assigned value: 27-8.8G {Rank {Ancient}}. Racial Traits found: Territorial, Chrysalis, Silent, Heat-sense, Temperature Immune, Hibernation, Night-Vision, Hunger Immune, D??[]hl//[]s. Classes found. Loading classes … … complete. Primary Class A[]?[]a: <-Psychopath->, <-S[]a??/er->. Sub Classes: <-Gi Warrior->, <-Solder->, <-Battlefield Photographer->, <-Tech[]i//l O//?a[]or->, <-Assassin->, <-R/y[][]?y->, <-Martyr->. Calculating EXP … … Error.]

That presence in the darkness stirred again, seeming to look at the situation even as other falls of text fell without illumination in the distance. There was constant motion elsewhere, yet a sense of oppressive resistance around the slim, floating figure that defied movement.

[… …. OSS override in progress … complete. Assigning values: {<-Psychopath-> E-0.0 {Inhuman}}, {<-Sl[]u//?r-> E-0.0 {Inhuman}}, {<-Gi Warrior-> {Ancient Gi Battle Regent}}, {<-Solder-> {Chief of Armed Services}}, {<-Battlefield Photographer-> {Recorder of Truth}}, <-Te[]hn??/l O[]e//t[]r-> ….]

That presence in the darkness seemed to suspect something, but only for a moment before a thread of pity and satisfaction, the feeling as if it was better this way, slipped out into the darkness. The slim figure's lashes rose a bit more, the pale orbs that were its eyes both too distinct for the otherwise featureless figure and as completely empty as the space around it.

Madness stirred beneath the paleness, drowning a thread of almost desperate sanity. That presence in the darkness, young and naïve, was somehow familiar, almost familiar, pulling at that last thread beneath the madness.

The systematic text continued. [Inherent base status unlocked: Internal Force. Duplicate found. Combining <-Pheromone-> and <-Internal Force-> … Complete. New base status: <-Chakra->. Calculating EXP … … Error. OSS override in progress … ... complete. OSS assigned value: 14-19n5.9g. Rank=I[]??. Inherent minor status unlocked: <-Psychopathy->, <-Mental Fortitude->. Calculating EXP … Error. OSS override in progress … … … complete. OSS assigned value: 18-47.9s Rank=Ancient. Inherent understanding status unlocked. Understanding status: <-Weapon's Proficiency->. Calculating EXP … … … … Error. OSS override in progress … … complete. OSS assigned value: 209-8.84s. Rank=Ancient.]

[Did fetching the base-copy through the stream fragment it that much?] that presence in the darkness thought, a clear enough string of meaning that the figure could hear it for the first time. [Or was the base-copy that broken to begin with? It couldn't have been pulled in through stream if not, but …] the thought trailed off into a feeling of consideration and a thread of worry, debating on hiding it.

The systematic text did not care, and the figure didn't seem too either. [Searching for profession … … OSS assigned profession found. OSS assigned value: {{Abyssal Regent} G7c}. Sub-professions found. Loading sub-professions … … complete. Sub-professions: <-Executioner->, <-Medical Aide->, <-Teacher->, <-Investigator->, <-[]//[]r/?->, <-Gardener->, <-Traitor->. Calculating EXP … ….]

The text continued, errors appearing and being solved by that almost familiar presence looking from the darkness, the OSS.

[Searching for character level … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … not found. Searching for applicable data … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … found. Calculating character level … … … … … … … … … complete. Character level: 12[]2. Calculating fame … … complete. Fame: 111. Calculating notoriety … … OSS override in progress. OSS assigned value = 29-4.93l. Notoriety: 0/14e98.2. Calculating major stats … … …]

[Calculating minor stats … … …]

[Calculating … … ….]

Those ethereal lashes fluttered down, shutting out both the systematic text and the OSS' presence from the dim orbs below. Whatever it was this time, the soul without a name had no emotion or interest towards even its own wellbeing. It was fragmenting, disintegrating, no longer whole—the OSS was correct to think that.

Madness rose again, swirling upward behind the figure's closed eyes like the shrieks of infernal interrogation and punishment. Blood seemed to fill the crevices in the darkness, seeping forwards to drown as the madness billowed up and threatened to explode.

The drifting thoughts of the OSS brushed past, somehow halting the madness and erasing the blood-taint. The thought dissolved before it could be understood, but the feeling of familiarity lingered.

Calm settled somehow over the figure, holding the madness at bay. Queen Matriarch. A purpose and an anchor found within chaos—a peace carried with naiveness. The calm held even after the OSS's presence faded from the space and left the indistinct figure floating alone, timeless in the void.

It could have been moments. It could have been years, or ages. The madness ebbed and flowed like the tide, but no longer threatened the figure's essence. The void shifted at some point, becoming a space where the figure hung with one or two more empty forms like it, the others having lost even the last fragment of their souls. Separate, yet somehow close enough to touch, others formed and were taken away in an almost unending stream, mere puppets even more soulless than the broken shells that the figure waited with. Then something stirred, a presence or a purpose entering the void.

Old instincts woke, a feeling of danger as thoughts came from the purpose. [There, that's the corrupted cache builds. Delete them all? What a *** mess … What is up with the OSS these days? *****. We can't rewrite it … Old idiots trying to mess with things they don't even have a clue … have to just start over. A pity, but …]

The mumbled thoughts trailed off into obscurity as something entered the void, scanning over what waited within before turning back. Instinctively, the figure acted then. It had to get away, or perish, and while before it had been more than ready to fade to nothingness, something cold and unyielding had risen at the muttered words it had sensed. Slipping away, it somehow crossed the boundary between the void and that other space, reaching out to the forming puppets there with the mere intention of hiding in their midst. Once it had reached out though, it felt something pulling on it and the next moment, it was within one of the shadowy, empty forms, taking it over while its core retreated into its depths to hide.

The thoughts of whatever presence had touched the former void continued, sparking with a brief surprise, but then the puppet that now was the figure had reached the end of whatever line awaited it and had disappeared from the voids entirely.

There was no immediate reaction in the world of the game Boundaries that stretched outside the void, and twelve months passed without incident.