Most do not know why or how the universe was created. Many believe it to be a stroke of fortune, a birth from chaos.

But the universe was not born out of mere chance—it emerged from necessity, driven by an instinct for survival.

Before the universe came into being, there existed a green sphere, hanging in the void like a Christmas ornament in an endless abyss. It existed in the fourth dimension, with a surface teeming with activity. Up close, one could see tiny vines twisting and spiraling across its exterior, all stemming from countless plant-like entities called Aetherroots. Beneath this lay a pool of stagnant time that shimmered with strange light, bending inwards from all directions like an otherworldly funnel.

On this sphere, these two forces existed in a fragile harmony. The Aetherroots drew their energy from the time pool, while the vines shielded the time from evaporating under the harsh radiation of the void.

Nearby, a vast river flowed, carrying with it the waters of past, present, and future. Originating from the beginning of all things, it twisted across space before emptying into a boundless expanse known as the Ocean of the Future. At one point, the river branched off, burrowing into the green sphere's time pool and continually replenishing its evaporated waters.

The Aetherroots, the time pool, and the river coexisted in delicate harmony, each reliant on the others, where even a slight shift could trigger catastrophe. Now, that catastrophe was about to unfold.

Suddenly, the diverted river surged, flooding the time pool as a larger portion of the main river of time was redirected toward the green sphere's reservoir.

The once-still pool of time began to churn, growing turbulent. The Aetherroots, unable to absorb enough nutrients from the rushing currents, began to starve. The balance was irreversibly broken. One by one, the roots withered and died, their tendrils loosening from the sphere's surface, causing cracks to emerge.

The pool shifted into a slow-moving river, pressing against the sphere's surface with increasing force. The cracks spread further, until, with a final surge, time burst outward, scattering like dandelion seeds caught in the wind.

The Aetherroots had reached a critical juncture: adapt to the shifting forces or face extinction.

Faced with a sinking ship, the Aetherroots turned their focus to adaptation. The frail and weak-rooted plants died off quickly, leaving only the stronger ones, barely able to survive in the shifting currents. But adaptation was slow, and changes continued to unfold in the river of time. Its course to the ocean shifted, diverting even more of the main river's flow toward the Aetherroots' habitat. As this problem steadily worsened, evolution alone could no longer keep pace to resolve their plight.

Without a miracle or a stroke of ingenuity, the Aetherroots were certain to perish.

Fortunately, their salvation had been in front of them all along.

Despite the river's relentless flow, the sphere's surface remained intact, held together by a thin, rubber-like material. Created from the accumulated waste of generations of Aetherroots, this substance, known as the "Primordial Gray," was unique in its ability to interact with time itself. Flexible yet resilient, the Gray could be shaped and molded to redirect the flow of time, channeling currents into stable, manageable streams that supplied the Aetherroots with vital nutrients.

More than a survival tool, the Primordial Gray served as the backdrop of existence itself. Each subtle adjustment to its channels released energy that spilled into the third dimension, creating colors, shapes, and matter, like brushstrokes on a blank canvas, forming the foundation upon which the universe would take shape.

With this discovery, the Aetherroots adapted, sculpting the Primordial Gray like clay to craft intricate pathways that redirected the river's currents into slow, steady flows—ensuring their survival and establishing a framework upon which existence would grow.

Through trial and error, the Aetherroots had gradually mastered the art of shaping the Primordial Gray to manage time's currents. They refined its pathways, discovering the most efficient channels and creating resilient frameworks to direct time's flow. Each Aetherroot played a part, contributing to the development of an interconnected network that spanned beyond the original sphere, giving rise to stable structures that sustained their thriving existence.

Through this ingenuity and unity, their existence was no longer in jeopardy. Instead, what lay ahead was near-boundless prosperity. Fed by the steady nutrients from the great river of time, the Aetherroots flourished, expanding the reach of the Primordial Gray and, in turn, the universe far beyond its origins.

Now, in the present day, the urgency of desperate survival has all but faded. Instead, the Aetherroots were nearing the end of an era of unprecedented growth and expansion. Although the main river of time continued to divert more water into the newly developed Aetherroot habitat, the pace of growth was now a shadow of what it had once been.

The Aetherroots were now adjusting to this era of saturation and impending stagnation.

In this new era, a newborn Aetherroot was just beginning his journey.