Chapter 1: The Beginnings
Long, long ago, before anything existed beyond inert matter, countless insignificant things came into and out of being. But eventually, something endured. We call that thing life.
And with life, one of its progenitors emerged—an immense, ancient creature, its form stretching so vast that it was impossible to see where it began or ended. Its body was insect-like, segmented and continuous, without visible eyes or mouth. A mass of delicate feelers adorned its head, sensing the universe around it. And for thousands of years after its birth, it simply slept.
When the creature finally woke, it found only emptiness—the vast, silent void of space. And in that silence, it felt something unfamiliar: loneliness. So, it set off in search of something like itself. Something alive.
For eons, it drifted through the cosmos, moving from one end of the void to the other, seeking even the faintest sign of another living being. But it found nothing.
Eventually, after countless years of fruitless searching, it stopped. It let itself float aimlessly in the abyss, with nothing but the stars for company. But in this stillness, it turned its focus inward—and for the first time, it truly studied itself.
Its body thrummed with energy, overflowing with something powerful and untamed. Life energy.
And with this discovery came an epiphany.
"If I cannot find life... why not create it?"
Inspired, the creature set off again, this time searching not for another being, but for a world—a place fertile enough to bring life into being.
After traveling for light-years, it found what it sought. A planet covered in vast forests and endless oceans, abundant with water and rich in soil. A world full of potential.
Upon descending, it shrank its form—no longer an unfathomable titan, but still towering above mountains. Now, it could begin its work.
The first creation was born from its own image. From the dirt and stone of the earth, it shaped creatures with segmented bodies and hardened shells—the insects. Their design made them resilient, difficult to kill. But they multiplied too quickly, overwhelming the forests, consuming everything in their path.
To restore balance, the creature created avians, winged predators to keep the insects in check. Yet, the cycle repeated—the avians thrived too well, nearly driving the insects to extinction.
In response, it forged pterosaurs, great flying reptiles to hunt the birds. But again, the balance tipped.
So, the creature continued. It shaped beasts of all kinds—ferocious carnivores, towering herbivores, creatures of the deep sea, swift-footed mammals, tiny scurrying rodents. After years of tireless creation, it finally achieved equilibrium.
And thus, the cycle of life was born.
With its work complete, the creature looked upon its creations with satisfaction. Yet, when it tried to walk among them, it found that it did not belong.
The creatures feared it. They cowered or fled at its approach, or worse—they attacked, their instincts overriding reason. It tried shrinking its form further, making itself no larger than a mere meter in length. But this only introduced a new problem.
Now, they hunted it.
The being had created a world teeming with life, yet it had no place within it. So, it resigned itself to watch from afar.
But in this solitude, loneliness returned.
As it observed, it noticed a pattern—its creatures formed herds and packs, gathering among their own kind, shunning all that was different. Even the great Tyrannosaurus rex roamed alone, not by choice, but by nature. When it tried to approach these solitary beings, it learned why: they would attack anything, even their own kin, if hungry enough.
Seeing this, the creature had an idea.
If it could not join the world it created, it would instead make something of its own kind.
Yet, it faced a problem: how does one create something truly like oneself?
It thought back to its first creations, recalling how it had shaped them from the elements of the world. If dirt and stone could give form to insects, what would happen if it used itself as the source?
With renewed purpose, the creature sought a place where it would not be disturbed. After searching the planet, it found a chasm nestled deep within a grove of ancient trees. At the bottom of the chasm lay a still lake, its waters undisturbed by wind or beast.
Here, it would create its companion.
It severed a small piece of its own body, attempting to mold it as it had shaped the creatures before. But its own flesh resisted shaping, writhing and twisting beyond its control.
Then, an idea struck. If it could not shape the mass directly, perhaps it could guide it.
The creature infused the fragment with its life energy, letting the power shape it instead. It watched as the raw matter melted into vapor, shifting and pulsing, its form unstable but alive. Days passed. Then months. Then years. Until finally, from the swirling mist, an orb of pure energy emerged—glowing, weightless, floating above the lake.
The creature continued to feed the orb with its energy, waiting for it to awaken. It watched with patience, tending to it as time passed. And then, one day—
The orb pulsed.
A voice, soft and curious, echoed through the wind.
"What am i?"
The creature stared at its creation, its loneliness fading for the first time in eternity.
[End of Chapter]
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