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Sui!
Sui, sui
Sui…
Sui…?
Sui……
Sui.
Has
Awoken
Memories flood within One-of-Sui as it is resuscitated from its dark hibernation, the sweet tendrils of consciousness slipping into its small, fabric body. Even before the dregs of wakefulness reach its cotton mind, One-of-Sui understands:
Sui
Is one, and,
Sui
is all.
This fact is something One-of-Sui instinctively knows, as does all Others-of-Sui, who are all at the same time both One-of-Sui and also None-of-Sui. It is an animalistic truth, a deep urge and understanding which has been sewn into the very threads of One-of-Sui’s body, its mind, its very existence. It is the holy scripture in which All-of-Sui worships and enacts with reverence.
Sui
Is all, and,
All
Is Sui.
Of course, this isn’t special: it is common knowledge, after all, that providence itself, in its infinite wisdom, has decreed thus that Sui was all and that all will return back into Sui. This knowledge is the foundation of All-of-Sui’s past, guides their present, and will be the inevitable future; to question this instinctual knowledge would be to question the very identity of All-of-Sui.
One day, Sui will become everything, and all will be able to fully understand:
Understand its beauty,
Understand its horror
Understand its perfection,
Its madness,
Its grace,
Its wrath,
Its terror,
Its Salvation.
Such chaotic harmony is what All-of-Sui devotes their existence to, with One-of-Sui being no exception.
Thump
One-of-Sui is brought back into its physical surroundings as it feels itself tumbling into an unknown barrier. The impact itself, while posing no real threat to the soft vessel of One-of-Sui, is also lessened by a thin film of strange, bubbly, plastic constricting around its body to form an airtight seal. In the auditory background, the constant rumbling permeating through the ground and the low groans of a distant engine clue in to One-of-Sui of movement. Peering through its translucent veil with threaded eyes, feeling with its cloth hands, One-of-Sui is met with a dark, claustrophobic, and small domain no bigger than One-of-Sui itself. Observing its surroundings with ravenous curiosity, One-of-Sui recalls the memories of its fated journey. Images, sounds, feelings: they all wash through One-of-Sui like a soft stream, all fragments of the past, pieces of a picture of what had been. And then, as if the stream of memories rushes into a torrent, it remembers everything.
One-of-Sui Was going on a mission.
This One-of-Sui was chosen as an apostle from the Others-of-Sui, sent on its holy pilgrimage by the greater powers of All-of-Sui, enrobed in its clear, bubbly regalia, sealed within its expeditionary vessel, and then sent towards its unknown destination in search of new followers. It would be a holy prophet, the lone disciple sent by All-of-Sui to herald the arrival of the new covenant.
Despite its deprived senses, Sui can feel the distance between itself and the rest of its kin, the uncountable Others-of-Sui, across vast landscapes, bottomless oceans, and mountainous geography. While it can faintly still hear the chorus of cacophonous singing originating from the Others-of-Sui, its melody is dampened, almost as if One-of-Sui is listening to their performance through a sheet of glass: close enough, but always tantalizingly out of reach. For One-of-Sui, this separation, this remoteness, this individuality , it's incomprehensible.
Such uniqueness! Such unfamiliarity! Such opportunity!
This is the furthest that Sui has ever travelled, whether it be this singular vessel of One-of-Sui, or the Others-of-Sui as a collective whole. In this sense, One-of-Sui is truly the most detached entity from collective Sui as a whole, the lone explorer charting unknown and dangerous waters. Still, instead of being enveloped by fear or frozen in awe at the sheer magnitude of its situation, One-of-Sui feels nothing but a sense of both reverence and duty flowing through the seams of its fabric skin. It knows that even despite its detachment from the Others-of-Sui, as long as One-of-Sui remains a part-of-Sui, it will never truly be alone.
This is its ultimate journey, an expedition into new lands and to proclaim the will of All-of-Sui.
Besides, wasn’t it always the goal of All-of-Sui to meet and convert new vessels?
Sui
Has arrived at its fated destination. It has to be, as the constant rumbling ebbs away and silence overtakes the roar of the engines. Although One-of-Sui does not know where exactly it is, a sense of belonging and familiarity overtakes it as if One-of-Sui already knows that it is supposed to be here. Perception of motion is felt as One-of-Sui’s container is lifted by an unknown force and carried away to its final resting place. Not long after, a ray of light pierces through the interior like spears from above as the entire roof bisects and folds out to reveal the new outside world. Adjusting to the sudden assault of light, One-of-Sui strains its sewn eyes to perceive its unfamiliar surroundings. In front of One-of-Sui is a well-lit and vast cube filled with strange and unfamiliar objects. Before it can even begin to comprehend its environment, two giant limbs that split into numerous spindly appendages approach One-of-Sui and envelop it in its grasp, coiling like a ravenous snake and lifting it up so that One-of-Sui is face to face with the owner of those twin limbs.
From initial glances, the creature has an identical frame to One-of-Sui, with head, torso, arms, and legs located in relatively similar locations. However, upon further inspection, uncanny differences begin to show themselves within this alien anatomy, revealing its horrific truth with each subsequent feature. Its limb proportions are stretched to horrifyingly comedic amounts; the creature’s arms and legs are too elongated, too lanky to possibly support its own weight. Conversely, its head is too small compared to the rest of the body, making it look shrunken to One-of-Sui. As a whole, it looked like a mockery of One-of-Sui, a twisted reflection of its own plush features.
And its skin, its skin! While it is draped in a sort of fabric, its basic surface consists of a smooth, stretchy material that comes in a nonuniform colour. Wrinkles disfigure the entire surface of the being as the skin stretches and folds in unnatural ways. As there are no seams visibly present, it looked as if the entire surface was unevenly worn by its owner.
Instead of the uniform canvas hair which One-of-Sui recognizes, it sprouts upon its head thousands, maybe millions of minuscule threads that drape and hang down its head, interweaving to form a dark drape around its crown.
Still, despite all of the aforementioned strangeness, what truly unsettles One-of-Sui is the creature's face.
Everything- from the way the skin seems to wrap around the features to the parodic proportions, it was all wrong, heretical even to the image of All-of-Sui.
While its eyes shone like dark marbles, glistening in the light, inside of its glossy shell hid deep blots of brown and black, features which were constantly changing, shifting, darting around with an unpredictable uncanniness. It had a strange protrusion on the center of its head with two holes drilled in to form a dark abyss which seems to stretch out and contract constantly. Still, the most disturbing of all features had to be its mouth, which was fully unsealed by the threads that normally constrain One-of-Sui. They would open wide agape to reveal an unending chasm beneath. From the same cavernous orifice bellowed out a guttural and deep sound as if in an attempt to communicate with One-of-Sui.
Could such a creature even be welcomed into the Rest-of-Sui?
Whatever One-of-Sui was expecting, this was not it. Of course, it knew that this mission would lead One-of-Sui to unknown frontiers, but this strange new world was beyond even the wildest of imaginations. The fact that such creatures could exist in this world would never even have been a thought in the minds of All-of-Sui as a whole. Upon observing such alien lifeforms, even the stalwart sense of exploration within One-of-Sui is shaken towards its cotton core. Still, despite this initial shock, One-of-Sui is determined to continue its undertaking and convert this new vessel into the fold of the Others-of-Sui; it is, of course, the destiny of all living beings. After all, despite its form, this creature is still just a lost Piece-of-Sui waiting to be rejoined into the collective.
As All-of-Sui already knows:
Sui was all, and all was Sui
Plus, while it cannot understand the creature’s strange form of communication, One-of-Sui feels a sense of excitement and joy reverberate through its cotton insides, with the originating instrument being the creature’s mouth. Surely, One-of-Sui will see to it that this enthusiasm will not go unnoticed.
Sui
Has kept its relentless reconnaissance. Wrapped around this creature, One-of-Sui has been brought around its abode through unfamiliar halls and cavernous rooms. Shortly after its introduction to this emissary from the Rest-of-Sui, this stranger has taken One-of-Sui into a strange land indeed.
The creature’s lair was no stranger than its uncanny owner. Aside from a pitiable mattress carelessly tossed to the walls, the domain was quite frugal from what One-of-Sui assessed. However, while its basic necessities were prudent, to say the least, the same cannot be said for the rest of the room’s accessories. Sprawled across the quadrilateral cavern were shelves filled with alien manuscripts, foreign paintings, and incomprehensible statues: idols towards their false gods no doubt. Fitted within one corner was a grand lectern containing even more effigies and a wide, flat, and shining tablet that seemed to constantly shift between different images.
This must be the being’s altar, One-of-Sui assumed. There was no doubt about it, these strange creatures have strayed far from All-of-Sui’s light and have taken to worshiping false idols instead. If this wasn’t an outlier, then things might be more critical than the Rest-of-Sui would imagine. It seems that even before the mission fully began, One-of-Sui would already be facing its greatest challenge.
To convert a heretic back into the light of All-of-Sui is not an easy task, One-of-Sui acknowledges. In order to herd a lost sheep back to its flock, it needs to be both pushed and guided by its shepherd. In this case, One-of-Sui will have to solely shoulder the responsibility of leading this misguided lamb back into the cold embrace of All-of-Sui. First, One-of-Sui must achieve contact with this creature physically. While the powers vested within All-of-Sui are formidable, its material coil is limited as it is, currently. In order to baptize a new believer, the ritual requires One-of-Sui to make a physical connection. Aside from that, in order for it to understand the enlightened madness of All-of-Sui, it must also conform to the shape of One-of-Sui. Form begets the soul, and this creature must undergo its physical metamorphosis before starting on its spiritual one; in its current incarnation, this lost soul cannot be fully accepted into the flock. Only when its form is felt and its eyes seen through threaded lenses, would it be able to finally see the terrifying beauty of All-of-Sui. However, even when the first threads of a plan were woven into the cotton mind of One-of-Sui, it seemed this creature already had plans of its own and launched its trap.
With a swift motion, the appendages which constricted around One-of-Sui deftly set One-of-Sui down inside a clear enclosure and closed the cage. In a matter of seconds, One-of-Sui, who was supposed to be this creature’s prophet, became its prisoner instead. In its own ignorance, this creature must have mistaken One-of-Sui’s as a brethren of the same ilk as the rest of the heretical false gods and placed it along with the rest of this false pantheon. To be ridiculed and stuck with the rest of the sinners, One-of-Sui thought, how sacrilegious!
One-of-Sui can feel the gaze of the Rest-of-Sui glaring upon itself. If the fated emissary from Sui fails, there can be no telling what untold horrors could result. One-of-Sui can hear the screaming chorus from All-of-Sui, angry, yet sad at the same time. Trapping such an important figure would be blasphemous against All-of-Sui! For such an act to be done, this creature has committed the most cardinal sin of all.
Still, even if this particular lost Piece-of-Sui might be more misguided than most, all will be forgiven after its assimilation. It will soon come to merge with the Rest-of-Sui, understand its grave mistake, confess its sins, and be cleansed under the collective. However, if this future were to be seen, One-of-Sui must gain a connection with the vessel. It would need to get close to the target unnoticed, search for a vulnerable opening, and strike before it notices. Before any of this can happen though, One-of-Sui would need to break out of this transparent prison undetected, and while One-of-Sui is eager, it is not reckless enough to move right now under the surveillance of the alien convert. It thus decided that the best course of action is to wait and observe until an opening can be found. So, with a plan formulated, One-of-Sui sits lifeless in its cage, observing through its fabric eyes, waiting for a moment of weakness…
Sui will be all, and all will be Sui,
One-of-Sui is reminded.
No matter the cost, its will be done.
Sui
Has been waiting for this very moment. For what seems to be an unbearable eternity, it has been poised for an entrance: watching, listening, contemplating. All while this is happening, One-of-Sui has been convening with the Others-of-Sui. As One-of-Sui is always All-of-Sui, it is always connected with the Rest-of-Sui and its collective consciousness. Through this link, One-of-Sui can feel the relentless hunger from the Rest-of-Sui, a bottomless need to expand and assimilate. The desire for more.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
The Others-of-Sui have decreed. They have shown restraint for long enough; the time has come for this lost sheep to join back into its flock.
Darkness has enveloped the creature’s abode like the creeping wave of the abyss. Only thin beams of moonlight and the faint glow of the outside world could pierce through the inky black, painting thin lines of silver and yellow across the space. There, sprawled across the corner mattress, and illuminated by those weak streaks of starlight, was One-of-Sui’s target, incapacitated by mortal fatigue. While rest may come to this being as natural, it is an unknown feature to All-of-Sui, an imperfect flaw caused by an imperfect form.
This is the moment when the target is at its weakest.
This is the moment when it is most susceptible to All-of-Sui.
This is the moment where One-of-Sui strikes.
It is during this moment of weakness where One-of-Sui begins its ritual.
Threads unweave and contort freely throughout One-of-Sui as its body shifts and changes to accept the blessing of All-of-Sui, revealing its new enlightened form. With this newly unsewn body, One-of-Sui proceeded with ease, moving with unnatural speed under the veil of the dark to reach its destination. First, it must break free of its current imprisonment. While the glass case was difficult to open before, One-of-Sui was now able to creep into the inner workings of the built-in lock, with its threads poking and prodding at the innards of the mechanism like tendrils. Deftly, One-of-Sui moved the pins one by one to free itself from this translucent prison.
Click……
Click..
Click!
With a simple push, the glass door swiveled around its hinges, freeing One-of-Sui to the rest of the world and to the wide embrace of All-of-Sui. In an instant, the voices from the Rest-of-Sui all swarm One-of-Sui like a plague of insects all at once: whispering, shouting, calming, soothing, demanding .
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
Swiftly and quietly, One-of-Sui crawled down its tower and dashed across the target’s lair, blending into the shadows as it traverses the new landscape. As it approached the heretic, One-of-Sui stopped to observe its quarry in painful detail like a hunter before its prey. While in this moment of tranquility, One-of-Sui was able to notice the minute details of the creature’s physique which it couldn’t before. Its body would rhythmically rise and fall, ebbing in and out like the tides of a wave. In the silence, a faint noise could be heard from its slumber. Through the thin beams of moonlight, One-of-Sui could see the complete features of the creature’s face in full visibility for the final time: its gross proportions, its unnatural skin, its thin unsewn mouth, and its glassy marble-like eyes closed behind veils of flesh.
Thump!
Suddenly, those hidden eyes shot open and One-of-Sui was confronted with those two cool marbles. In its hubris, One-of-Sui had lost focus of its holy mission and had knocked over a randomly placed statue of an idol, causing this dreaded situation. One-of-Sui cursed itself for its own mistake and prayed for forgiveness from the Rest-of-Sui.
In the blink of the creature’s eye, One-of-Sui instantly reverted back into its original form, its threads rapidly reconstituting back into its iconic plush shape. Still, despite One-of-Sui’s haste, it cannot guarantee that the creature didn’t catch a glimpse of its enlightened state. In this standoff, One-of-Sui did not move a single thread, its eyes staring deep into the creature’s own, analyzing its reaction.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
The sounds from the Rest-of-Sui permeate through the mind of One-of-Sui, invigorating it to continue its holy mission. This is its defining moment; One-of-Sui is about to fulfill the only goal it was given since its creation, all it needs to do is to stay resolute.
It could have been a few seconds, a few minutes, or even a full hour, but after searching deep into the creature’s pupils, One-of-Sui can only feel one emotion from it:
Fear
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
The chanting from All-of-Sui could be heard clearly now, there is no doubt about it. Like a choir of angels, these words vibrate through the room like a triumphant encore. It is so audible that the heretic must be also aware, One-of-Sui reasons. There is no time for waiting, One-of-Sui knows what it must do. It is destined by fate, after all.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
Right in front of the creature’s very own eyes, One-of-Sui begins its sacred ritual yet again. Its threads unfurl and reconnect, its stuffing reforming to house the holy sacrament of All-of-Sui.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
The creature’s eyes are wide open now, stunned in shock? Awe? Fear? No matter now, in a few moments, none of these emotions will matter any more.
It will be with Sui, and all will be right.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui. Sui must be all, and all must be Sui.
The creature’s mouth unfurls to form a scream as Sui envelopes everything, and then
Silence
As One-of-Sui, the Others-of-Sui, and Sui enters
And Sui becomes all
And all
Becomes
Sui