"Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them."
― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
Ven and the shadow giant plunged into the surface of the star. From the outside, it was too bright to truly see. The inside was different. Ven tumbled through the outer layer and found himself within a calm, blue ocean of light. Bands of cyan, teal, and cobalt wrapped around him like streamers. Their gentle touch was a relaxing balm as his soul body drank in the energy around him.
"Gwwaaar!"
His shadow bellowed in joy. The giant had its limbs stretched wide. It swept the ribbons of blue into its jagged mouth. A young child, dumped into a room made of candy.
"Tasty?" Ven asked his normally silent companion as he pinched a sapphire stream between his fingers. "Here you go!" He tossed it through the air, aimed at the giant's mouth. The creature lunged toward the light and snapped it up like a dog. Its massive rump even wagged back and forth.
"You're not so bad, eh?" The strings of blue trembled as they twitched away from Ven and the giant. The lights formed into a striped eggshell that cocooned them. The shadow huffed, dissatisfied that his meal suddenly jerked out of reach. He lunged toward the shell, yet he didn't seem to move at all.
"He's definitely moving, but..." Ven raised an eyebrow at the giant's failure. "Even though I can see him going forward, he's always in the same place..." Ven closed his eyes against the vertigo induced by the scene. A wave of dizziness washed over him before he shoved it down and returned his gaze to the giant.
"I don't think that's going to work, bud."
The giant ignored him, as always, and continued its endless sprint to the top. Ven rolled his eyes and inspected the surroundings. The sphere of woven ribbon that encased them remained uniform and just out of reach. Ven was unrestricted, but no matter how he moved the world around him seemed stationary. He could not get closer, or further, from anything. The walls of light and his shadow companion were fixed points.
"INTRUDER DETECTED..."
Ven jerked and spun as the cold, mechanical voice thundered out from all around them. The sound pressed them tight, and their passive imprisonment became active. Ven couldn't even shift his gaze, eyes locked forward. The giant beside him seemed to fair better, although Ven's perspective was limited. It twitched in and out of his peripheral vision, as if it fought a silent battle.
"INTRUDER IDENTIFIED AS USER VENDAK SOTH..."
"That's..." The thought's in his mind iced over, the newest words a shot of liquid nitrogen that stopped everything in place.
"USER ACCESS IS CURRENTLY LIMITED TO EXTERNAL INTERFACE ONLY... REDIRECTING..."
The light vanished, and Vendak found himself transported to a black space. He was surrounded by a dim, green light, and above him rested a familiar message.
"Time survived: 20.1 years..." Ven grimaced as he read aloud from the monolithic text, the only thing that joined him in the space. That star is the system inside me... An oppressive power within that wasn't under his control. Ven's hackles raised at the thought.
"No way I'm going to let that thing stay." Ven frowned and looked around. "Hellooo?" He called into the void. "Can you hear me?" His system had never spoken to him before, but the same mechanical voice answered him.
"AFFIRMATIVE, I CAN HEAR THE USER." The text before him shifted to match as it spoke. "PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, THREE ATTEMPTS REMAIN."
"Uhhhh..."
"ACCESS CODE IS INCORRECT." The system barked. "PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, TWO ATTEMPTS REMAIN."
Ven frowned as he clamped his mouth shut. I don't know what happens when I run out of chances, but... he didn't want to find out. Stupid system, how am I supposed to know your code... Ven drifted to the side, but everything around him remained the same. The text stayed before him, and the dark around held nothing.
"System, can I ask you a question?"
"USER VENDAK SOTH HAS BASIC LEVEL ACCESS," The cold voice droned. "SYSTEM QUERIES ARE POSSIBLE."
"Great," Ven clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Then... who made you?" He perked his ears, but the system's answer was predictable, and disappointing.
"QUESTION EXCEEDS BASIC-LEVEL AUTHORITY AND CAN NOT BE ANSWERED."
"Of course..." Ven rubbed his temples. "Well then, where are we right now?"
"THE USER'S SOUL BODY HAS BEEN DRAWN INTO THE SYSTEM INTERFACE," The system answered. "AN ILLEGAL ATTEMPT AT CORE ACCESS WAS ATTEMPTED, PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, TWO ATTEMPTS REMAIN."
"Grrrrr..."
"ACCESS CODE IS INCORRECT." The system's mindless voice chimed. "PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, ONE ATTEMPT REMAINS."
Vendak rubbed his face and silenced his voice. It's like it's trying to get me to accidentally input a password... The cursed system had no love for him, as expected, but at least it seemed bound to certain rules.
"System, what can I do with my current level of access?"
"PROCESSING..." The dim light flickered, and a small list displayed itself before Vendak. "THE USER CAN CURRENTLY ACCESS THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS." The first option lit up. "SYSTEM QUERIES, THE HOST MAY GAIN ACCESS TO ALL SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE AT HIS ACCESS LEVEL." The second option illuminated, just like the first, and the system continued.
"SYSTEM DISPLAY, THE SYSTEM WILL DISPLAY ITS WORDS FOR THE USER AT ALL TIMES."
Gee, thanks... This function had been his nemesis, and it was one of the limited options displayed. The third and final option lit up, and the system droned on.
"SYSTEM ACCESS, THE USER HAS A LIMITED NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS TO GAIN GREATER CONTROL OVER THE SYSTEM."
Ven blinked and took a breath, careful to be as silent as possible. Everything he said needed to be a question, or the stupid thing would take it as his final shot at giving a password.
"System," Ven tilted his head back and forth in frustration. "What about the wish function? Shouldn't it be listed here?"
"PRIMARY FUNCTION IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE. FUNCTION WILL RETURN AFTER THE TIMER HAS REACHED ONE HUNDRED YEARS."
"Ok then system, what can you tell me that isn't restricted?"
"USER IS ENTITLED TO ALL BASIC SYSTEM INFO, SUCH AS TIME SPENT WITH THE SYSTEM, BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTION DATA, AND ACCESS TO THE ERROR LOG."
"Bring up the error log, please." Ven rubbed his temples harder, until stars popped into his vision. When they cleared, a vast ocean of text stood before him. Countless messages filled the log, most of which made little sense to him. One stood out from the rest, repeated over and over between the other logged errors.
Wish function activated, power insufficient, stasis activated... What does that even mean? Ven squinted at the endless display. It appears as every second message for as far as I can see...
"System, what is this error?" Ven pointed a thumb at the green text. "It's not a problem, is it?"
"THIS ERROR WAS LOGGED AFTER THE USER MADE THEIR LAST WISH." The system paused and a wash of static entered its voice. "SYSTEM POWER WAS INSUFFICIENT TO COMPLETE THE USER'S REQUEST." The static thickened, and Ven struggled to make out its words. "STASIS MODE WAS USED UNTIL POWER LEVELS REACHED OPTIMAL LEVELS."
"What is stasis mode?" A chill ran down Ven's spine. "How long have I been connected to the system..."
"STASIS MODE IS USED TO PRESERVE THE USER IN EMERGENCIES." The static vanished, and the previously cold voice seemed almost cheerful. "YOU WERE BONDED TO THE SYSTEM 1.7 GOOGOLPLEX YEARS AGO, BY THE STANDARD OF THE EARTH."
A googolplex is a one, followed by ten to the power of a hundred zeros... Ven blinked. "That's enough time for a universe to die." Every star he'd ever seen in both his first lives had gone out. Every person he'd known had long been turned to dust.
"PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, ONE ATTEMPT REMAINS."
"Can a wish be used to travel through time?" Ven ignored the system's prompt and asked another question. "Can I use it to return home?"
"ALL WISHES ARE POSSIBLE, ONE WISH FOR A HUNDRED YEARS OF SURVIVAL, NO MORE, NO LESS." The system answered before it prompted him again. "PLEASE INPUT ACCESS CODE, ONE ATTEMP... PROCESSING..."
The error log vanished and the display flashed an ominous red. Text scrolled by, faster than he could follow, and the system's voice boomed out.
"DANGER, ANTI-TITAN TRIBULATION ENERGY DETECTED!" The voice was joined by words which spelled out the same message that pulsed in front of Ven's eyes. "ACTIVATING SOUL DEFENCES... ENERGY CONVERSION ESTABLISHED."
"What is goin..." Ven jerked. A terrible heat blossomed inside him. Thunder spilled from his mouth and eyes as Ven roared. This power did more than burn his body, it charred his soul. It was a threat to more than his life. It hunted for his very existence.
"ENERGY CONVERSION FAILED... PROCESSING..."