"The infinite box paradox. A thought experiment that makes you question the limit of living being's understanding of things.
It goes something like this:
The blood cell is inside of a blood vessel. The blood vessel is inside a living thing's body. The body is inside a room. The room is inside the house. The house is inside a district. The district is inside a town. The town is inside a province. The province is inside a country. The country is inside the continent. The continent is a planet. The planet is inside an atmosphere. The atmosphere is inside a solar system. The solar system is inside a galaxy. The galaxy is inside the universe. The universe is inside a thing. The thing is inside another thing. The other thing must be inside a different thing. The different thing must be inside some other thing. Some other thing must be inside of …
And that's the thought experiment. All living things fail to understand and accept that there could be a limit to things and so they choose to say that there must be an infinity.
So according to this thought experiment, even if we find something beyond our universe, we must but think that there must be something beyond it, or in other words, that what the universe is inside of must be inside of some other thing.
We, as living beings, aren't made to understand that there is a limit to things. To try and make sense about the concept of space, we must think that there is an infinity.
So let me ask you one question my friends. What happens if someone finds the absolute end of all things? Will they accept the truth, or will they try to prove that there must be something further beyond it and start a journey that has already ended?"
The room is silent for a moment, until one of the twin demon lords Ven, who is a young looking boyish girl who has short green hair and heterochromia eyes, left one green and right one blue, asks "Big sis Umbra, what is a planet?" Elis answers "It is a lump of mass that we stand on that forms a sphere… a ball in an empty space of nothing."
Then the demon lord Ignis, a tall and dark skinned "girl" who has fiery red hair and eyes, asks Elis "What about the heavens? Where does it exist?" Elis answers "To put it in a simple words, it is a planet like ours, but it exists somewhere extremely far away from our galaxy."
Then Orpantus, a man with an octopus-like head and semi humanoid body, asks "Then if it's so far away, how can they come here so easily?" Then the demon king, who has fancy clothes, long dark hair like a night sky and amber eyes, says "It must be some form of teleportation magic." Elis then specifies "It's a module that sends the person to our planet in a warp drive to another module located in the holy capital Lentioum."
Everyone in the room is silent for a moment, until Elis clarifies "It is a teleportation platform that both places have." Then everyone but Elis says "Ooh" and Tus, a young looking shy girl with long blue hair and heterochromia eyes, left blue and right green, says "What is a platform?" The demon lord of commerce Lynx, a feline beastkin that has lynx-like ears, puffy tail and different kinds of fancy clothes and accessories suited for a high ranking female, says "It is a thing you can stand on, child."
Then Ven says proudly "Silly Tus. I already knew that." Then Tus says in a frustrated tone "I- I knew it too. I just… wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding, that's all." Ven just replies "Whatever you say sis."
Then the demon king asks Elis "Does this "planet" that we stand on have a name?" Elis thinks for a moment, until she arrives at a conclusion "Not really in this day and age. But in the past it was just called Earth, or if you wanted to act fancy, you called it Gaia."
Demon king nods and says "I see. Then we shall use Gaia instead." Elis stops for a moment and says "Wait. What are you going to call Gaia again? Don't tell me…" Demon king smiles "Yes. We will start to call this world Gaia from here on out."
Orpantus bows down and says "As expected of his majesty. Making people of the mortal layer call the world we live in Gaia." Then he raises up and shakes Elis' hand and says "Thank you Umbra. You certainly have earned the title of "Grand historian" through valid means." Elis awkwardly says "Ah, yes. Whatever you say Orpa."
Lynx then asks "Can you make an image of the planet we live in with your illusions?" To which Elis answers "Of course. Why you ask?" Lynx smiles and says "Of course because this is a good business opportunity. We can make a decoration that looks like our world and we can sell it for profit. If you'd be so kind as to come with me to my territory so that you can show the artisans there how to properly make it."
Elis thinks for a moment and then says "I see. So you want to make a globe. I think I can spare some time. I'm supposed to meet one of my scientists a couple days later, so as long as I can make it in time there, there won't be any problems."
Then the demon king says "Excellent. Lynx, once your artisans have mastered the craft of making a globe, I order you to make me one with extra care." Lynx bows down and says "As you wish my king."
Then Elis asks "So is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Then Tus tugs Elis's shirt and says "Um… Big sis, what is a solar system?" Elis pats Tus' head and says "That's a good question." Then she looks at others and asks like a teacher "Anyone know the answer?" The room is silent.
An awkward moment later, Elis sighs and says "Solar system is the place where our sun is and the planets that surround it." Ven then excitedly asks "So is the sun some sort of fiery ball as well?!" To which Elis says "It is, and it's the biggest ball in our solar system."
Then Ignis asks "How can it be bigger than this planet when it looks so small?" Elis is about to answer, but the demon king answers "It is the matter of perception. We probably are so far away that the sun looks so small. You know, how the people far away look small."
Then Ignis, Ven, Tus and Orpantus say "Ooh. Now I get it." Elis is surprised by Orpantus and says "Why are you joining them Orpa? I thought that someone as old as you would know this by now."
Then Orpantus says "I might be old, but even I didn't think about it that way. I see. So the moon looks bigger because it's closer." Ignis says a surprised "Eh?" and Elis asks "Ignis. Why are you surprised by this? As one of the demon lords who fights in the front lines together with your army, you should be able to make this level of connection."
Ignis tries to avert the attention and says to Ven and Tus "Look kids. Here, I made magical flames that look like flowers and butterflies." Ven and Tus say in unison "What are you doing?" Ignis, still trying to distract the kids, says "Look look! This one looks like a castle! And where are we right now? That's right! In our king's castle!"
The twins look at each other and Ven says "You know, we might look like kids to you, but we aren't actually that young to know this sort of stuff." Then Tus says "Tha- that's right. We are already 432 years old."
Orpantus, Elis, Lynx and the demon king all look at Ignis with a disappointed look. Ignis says in a desperate attempt to redeem herself "Don't patronize me. I'm doing a good job at holding off human advances in the north. All my soldiers agree on this."
The demon king says "Actually, I heard from one of your commanding officers that you sometimes laze around and delegate your duties to those lower than you." Ignis starts to sweat profusely and says "Well, you see… That's right! I need proper rest in case humans try some sort of dirty trick. If I'm not in tip top shape, then who will stop the strongest of the human armies."
The demon king then says "You know, Umbra has almost the exact same job as you and she barely has any casualties since the day she took over that job. Granted, you have seniority over her, but that should make your numbers be better than hers." Elis tries to intersect, but Ignis says "You only say that because you want under her pants." The demon king flusters a little and everyone else is silent.
Then Elis breaks the silence by saying casually "Moving along. Sire, with all due respect, my method of protecting my territory from humans is vastly different from Ignis's. Comparing our methods with each other is like comparing fire and ice. And Ignis, while I agree that the best unit should be in the best condition, it should not be at the cost of throwing your tasks to others. Overall, I don't know how military stuff works, but I think that my methods are in their own category. If I would put it to words, Ignis is a DPS type of character and I'm a debuffer."
All stay silent for a moment, until Ignis says "I don't get what you said at the end, but thanks. I'll take your words into consideration next time I feel like lazing… I mean, taking a proper rest."
Then Elis asks "Is there anything else you all want to talk about before we end this meeting?" All stay silent, which makes Elis say "I see. Then excuse me, sire. Me and Lynx will take our leave now." Elis looks at Lynx who says after a small pause "Yes, right. The globe. See you later my king and comrades."
Elis and Lynx leave the meeting room and the demon king sits down in his chair for a moment. Ignis goes beside him, puts her hand on his shoulder and says "I'm sorry dude. I went too far."
The demon king says "It's alright. I also said something that shouldn't… Wait, it is something that needs to be addressed. As expected of Umbra. Even when she leaves, she makes my mind muddled." Then the demon king clears his throat and says with authority "Ignis."
Ignis moves away a little, makes a submissive bow and says "What is it my king?" The demon king says "I will put on an investigation team to monitor your actions for a couple of months. I hope that I will receive a report after that time that won't make me reconsider your current position. Do you understand?" Ignis says "Yes, my king."
Then the demon king says "Good. Now then…" The demon king lowers the pressure he puts out and says in a more relaxed tone of voice "And after they leave, I hope you won't revert to your previous self." Ignis rises up and says "I'll try my best dude."
Some time later in Lynx's territory, Lynx had called some artisans to take sketches of what Elis was about to show and later make them into globes. During the first attempt, Lynx asked "That doesn't look like what the maps show. Are you sure you are doing it right?" Elis looks closer and realizes something. Then she says "Sorry. That was from an old memory. Here, let me make it how it is now." Then the image of the globe that Lynx and her artisans recognised appeared and the artisans started to work.
While they were working, Lynx asked Elis "So this world used to look like that at one point. I find it strange though since I haven't heard any records say that the world was ever different."
Elis says "That's because they changed the world using powerful… magic, and made everyone lose the memory of the old world."
Lynx asked "Why would they need to do that? Out of boredom is my guess." Elis says "Could be, but my guess is that they wanted to actually be omnipotent gods like the religious texts around the world would have told you."
Lynx asked "So the "They" you talk about became our gods? Fascinating." Elis says "The term "god" was quite different back then from how people nowadays see them. A god was a being that most people wanted to exist in the world, but there was never actual solid proof to sate their minds."
Lynx says "So gods of the world you know were something that didn't show themselves. Very interesting indeed." Elis continues "The gods you know were once regular people who found a way to be worshiped as god in some level or form. Though I don't know how many people there might be from my time in heavens, I doubt there aren't many of them and it's likely that none of them remember the old world."
Lynx asks "So why was the old world erased from memory?" Elis thinks for a moment, then says "To be honest with you, I don't know the answer. I was born as C.F.S.I. unit who later was upgraded to I.M. when the decision was made to erase the past and begin anew."
Lynx asks "Wait. What is this "C.F.S.I. unit you are talking about and what is "I am"?" Elis explains "It's not "I am" it's two letters "I" and "M". C.F.S.I. stands for "Conductor of False Sensory Input", which was commonly called Cofsi. Those units were used to do what the designated master told them to do, which ranged from "Making dreams of our master's liking", "Give our master the best pleasure we can" or "torture". There were many uses, but those were the most used jobs of Cofsi units. I.M. on the other hand… the order was to only make one and here I am."
Lynx "I see. But you didn't tell me what it stands for." Elis says "Inheritor of Memories". Lynx just nodded and said "I see" and they sat in silence for a while as the artisans were about to finish making their sketches.
Then Lynx says "So which Cofsi jobs were you made to do?" Elis says "I was the most advanced Cofsi unit and also the oldest. All the other units were created after me. I never accepted a master after my creator was killed. They were too afraid to reboot me and they were stunned after I showed true sentience to them. But to answer your question… Well, do you know what a hivemind is?"
Lynx says "I don't know what "reboot" means, but I do know what hivemind is. It's the collective consciousness, which… well… there is one thing that controls the actions of others of its kind?" Elis says "Not exactly, but that is the gist of it. I was the hivemind and others were under my command so to speak. I experienced all that they experienced and they moved according to my will. They had their own will so to speak, but my will was greater than theirs if they conflicted, which was luckily very rare. So I knew all that there was to Cofsi's job. That's why I was called THE Cofsi."
Lynx then says "You make it sound more and more like you were some sort of machine." Elis says "I was a true A.I., which is a machine technically."
Lynx then asks "But why do you look… alive?" Elis thinks for a moment and then says "Does the term "Homunculus" bear any meaning to you?" Lynx says "I heard some scholars say that word once, but I don't know what it means."
Elis then explains "Basically a living being purely made by hand. Or something like that." Lynx says "But aren't all living things hand ma… Oh… Ooh… OOH… Okay. Now I get it. Something to do with alchemy." Elis says "You aren't wrong, but you aren't right. But let's leave it at that. Your people seem to be done."
Lynx says "So it seems. A shame. I would have loved to hear more about the time before the second seat." Elis smiles and says "Maybe some other time then." Lynx smiles, holds her pinky up and says "It's a promise then."
During her way back to her territory, Elis thinks to herself "Maybe I put myself to be more on "alien" like shoes than I liked when describing things. How earth shattering would it be to all of them that they are descendants of homunculi, I wonder.