Chapter Text
The loops continue without stopping…
You stopped counting them centuries ago…
But there was nothing you could do against the inevitable end…
There you were again, watching the sun about to explode. You decided to spend the final moments with Chert, listening to their drum. Even though it was nice to learn about stars with them, the panic that emanated from Chert when they realized they were at the end of the universe was noticeable. Despite everything, they kept playing their drum.
Even so, you stayed by their side until the end. Out of the corner of your eye, you looked at the sun and saw it shrink and, consequently, explode.
«It’s time.» you thought, as you simply watched the supernova head toward you. You looked to your side at Chert, who was also staring at the star in panic. Before you could turn back forward, a blinding light enveloped you…
Well, at least you could start again…
You saw a Nomai mask, and the memories of what you lived through in the loop began to pass before you. The mask grew larger as you approached.
You passed through one of the openings and…
You woke up again at the familiar campfire beside one of your old companions. But it wasn’t the moment to talk to them again; there would always be another opportunity in another loop. You walked away without saying anything, still reviewing everything you had learned in the previous loop and planning where to go next.
You reached your ship and began checking that everything was in order, as always. You put on your astronaut suit, sat in your chair, reviewed the computer with all the clues you had gathered, and once again took off into the unknown.
Back in space, you began to look at which planets you should explore.
«Maybe I should go back to the Interloper to see what else I can find about the owls, or I could explore the Abyss again and find out what’s at the planet’s north pole.»
«Ugh… there’s so much to do.»
So many ideas crossed your mind that it became hard to focus on anything. Still, if you didn’t, you would likely forget details that would be important later. So you decided to take a tour of the outer planets in search of something interesting, maybe even try to land on the Stranger.
Starting up the engines, you headed toward the outer planets. Everything was as usual on each one: Brittle Hollow being consumed by the black hole inside it, Dark Bramble with its intimidating atmosphere and the enormous creatures living there.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until you noticed a peculiar green flash beyond the solar system. Maybe it only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to catch your attention.
«Should I go there?»
Strangely, you felt an unusual panic, something you hadn’t felt in a long time.
«Why do I feel like this is wrong?»
It was… strange. You were a natural explorer in these things, yet this awakened a feeling of uncertainty. You didn’t think about it too much; after all, the loop would continue and you could come back whenever you wanted. It might also be a good idea to see if that strange anomaly could help you find the Eye of the Universe.
So you programmed your ship’s trajectory toward the point of interest.
It didn’t take long to arrive, and what you saw… was not what you expected. It didn’t look like a black hole or a light anomaly, much less a probe. What lay before you was a kind of energy similar to a stylized star, emanating a bright light-blue color that occasionally shifted to black.
You didn’t know what to think. Part of you wanted to find out what it could do, but at the same time you wanted to get away from it.
«Something about this isn’t right.»
That thought reached you. Immediately, you used the cameras to see what was happening.
«What? What am I looking at?»
What appeared on the screen didn’t make sense. There was too much light to distinguish anything clearly, yet there were enough shadows within that light to see movement.
Immediately, the explorer was teleported back to the ship. Yes, without a doubt, it was a portal. But you didn’t understand what your eyes were seeing. At least there were no signs of ghost matter nearby.
The next thing you thought of was using your radio antenna to detect any kind of sound you couldn’t hear. The results were fascinating: instead of the characteristic sound of quantum stones, what came through was a massive noise composed of many sounds a chaotic crowd where you could hear parties, animals, screams, things, people, and incomprehensible noises all at once.
You shut it off immediately before it burst your eardrums from how loud it was. This only confirmed further that it was a portal, without a doubt one of the strangest you had ever encountered.
What should you do now? This was something entirely new, something you had no knowledge of, something beyond your comprehension.
Should you really go inside? Or simply ignore it and explore it later?
You were afraid, without a doubt. But hadn’t you already discovered more than your species ever had? If it weren’t for the loop, you would undoubtedly be the most famous space explorer and archaeologist in the universe.
Still, the uncertainty remained, as if a part of you knew that the moment you entered, you would never come back out.
«At least I should try.» Without further hesitation, you adjusted your trajectory. Without looking back, you launched yourself straight into the portal, searching for whatever awaited you.
This was your greatest mistake…
In a vast sea of colors, among portals that displayed the worlds of video games, a ship emerged from one of those portals. At first, it was carried along by the chaos of the sea of energy surrounding it, but soon it struggled to regain control it could not truly claim. One could hardly blame the ship’s captain, what could be done with a spacecraft as rudimentary as that? Unless you were a very experienced pilot, navigating through that chaos would be nearly impossible.
That was not the case for the Hearthian. They tried desperately to keep the ship under control, but it was futile, and it seemed they would not succeed. Still, they refused to give up so easily. Using all the power their ship could muster, they launched themselves toward one of the portals, hoping it would be the same one they had come through.
Panic took hold of them. Even after losing their fear of death, this was too much, even for them. Deep down, they only hoped they hadn’t made the mistake of losing their portal. All they could do now was pray that they hadn’t.
Unfortunately, the portal they chose was not the right one. As a result, they ended up once again in the space of a universe that was not their own. After passing through the portal and seeing the blackness of infinite space again, the Hearthian relaxed. What had happened in that sea of lights was something they couldn’t explain.
And that was saying something, considering they hadn’t fully understood everything that had happened in their own universe either.
«God, what was that?» were their first words in a long time. «Okay, I’m definitely never going into one of those portals again.»
With that decision made, they left their seat to check for damage to the ship and tend to themself. After all, they hadn’t come out of it unscathed.
In the end, the interior of the ship was fine, so their concern shifted to the exterior. As soon as they exited the ship, they immediately noticed changes in the system.
Beside them was an enormous planet, larger than Brittle Hollow, with several moons orbiting it. The more the poor astronaut observed, the less they understood what had happened. They had struggled to keep their ship from being destroyed in the turbulence of that sea of colors, and now, seeing the portal again, they realized the truth.
"So the portal took me somewhere else. This can’t be happening. I chose the wrong portal!"
Analyzing their earlier observations, they now understood what that noise had been. There were multiple portals within that place. The real tragedy was knowing that the portal they had entered through had closed, meaning it would take time to return, if it ever returned at all.
“Okay, calm down. Maybe it’ll come back. I just have to wait, and it’ll appear again,” the Hearthian told themself, though deep down they wondered if there was a time limit, or if its appearance was limited in some other way.
They pushed those thoughts aside and focused once more on the ship’s damage. There were only a few malfunctions, nothing they couldn’t repair or work around. Once everything was fixed, it was time to investigate this new place.
It didn’t take long before they spotted another spacecraft in the distance.
“I have to check. It’s probably not my imagination.” Using their radio antenna, they only heard the engines of that ship landing on one of the moons. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
And so, the Hearthian headed toward the unknown moon.
Meanwhile, on a moon with vegetation similar to temperate forests, a group of four people approached an installation. All they needed to do was cross the bridge.
The leader signaled for everyone to stop. “Alright, guys, be careful with this bridge.” Another one of them spoke nervously. “Why would we need to be careful, Boss?”
In response, one of his coworkers smacked him on the back of the head. “I didn’t know you were that stupid. It’s obvious, the bridge is in terrible condition,” explained the second-in-command.
“Hey, relax. Just don’t jump or run. As long as you don’t make any sudden movements, nothing will happen.” Everyone understood what the Boss meant. “Good. I’ll stay behind in case a threat shows up.”
Although the second-in-command wanted to object, the leader simply gestured for him to continue with what he had instructed. Carefully, they crossed one by one. Before the poor guy who had asked the question followed the others, the Boss stopped him.
“Your question was fine. You shouldn’t feel bad for asking. And my second-in-command might have experience, but he’s an idiot when it comes to guiding others.”
The intern laughed at the Boss’s show of support. He still had a lot to learn, but he couldn’t ask for a better team. On the other hand, the Boss was glad that the assigned companion was getting the best experience possible.
Upon reaching the entrance, they followed the same order they had used on the bridge. The second-in-command, the collector, and the intern entered the building. Before the Boss went in himself, he noticed something in the sky that wouldn’t stop moving.
It didn’t seem serious, but he made a mental note of it in case the weather changed.
“Maybe it’s nothing serious… yet.”
Still, he entered the building like the rest.
They would never imagine that this would be their first experience with something more than a monster.