The Deplosion Saga

by Paul Anlee

  The crowd looks eager…hungry, even. That’s good—she thought. The risk of being discovered in the Lysrandia inworld fueled their sense of exhilaration. They knew that getting caught by the authorities would result in censure or reintegration assignments but, by the looks on their faces, you’d think they were attending a championship sports event. I guess, in a sense, this isn’t much different.

  Darya did not share in their excitement. For her, being caught by the authorities would result in a full personality wipe, that is, if there was anything worth wiping once they’d finished with her. I just hope my security precautions buy me enough time to finish both the sermon and the combat before the Securitors arrive.

  The Princess stood and raised her hands, bringing silence to the crowd. She motioned to her acolytes to begin the ceremony. They walked out to the edges of the dais and lit the burners. Flames shot skyward, filling clear, fifteen-meter tall tubes that were wider than her arm span. The roar from the crowd surpassed that of the flames. The show had begun.

  The acolytes brought out the symbols of the Alumita—the silver cup, the red robe, and the wooden staff—all soon to be reduced to atoms in the Furnace of Chaos.

  “Symbols of the False Church of Alum, return to the Chaos from which you came!” Darya incanted. The crowd grew silent, expectant.

  The acolytes placed the sacred items on the dais a few meters from the Princess. Darya moved her hands, encasing the items in an invisible spherical shield and stepped back as they burst into flame. The warm red flames changed to hot blue plasma and the luminous globe rose a few meters above the dais.

  “From fire you come, and to fire you shall return.” The plasma grew brighter as the crowd looked on. The ball of plasma sputtered and shrunk, then blazed with the brilliance of a new sun. The crowd muttered an appreciative, “Ahhhhh!”

  The temperature inside the protective shield grew as the sphere continued to rise until it matched the heat found in the first few seconds following the Big Bang.

  “Return to the primordial plasma of the early seconds of our existence,” Darya intoned. The sphere shone with the light of a nascent universe, filled with so much energy that even protons and neutrons could no longer hold together. Only the containment shield kept the crowd from being incinerated by the heat. As the light intensified, they donned protective glasses.

  “Reveal the Chaos of which you are made, and then be gone,” she cried. The inferno ceased abruptly, and the sphere was filled with profound darkness that mimicked the complete absence of light in the original Chaos. The black orb began to shrink, slowly at first, and then more rapidly until it was gone.

  “From Nothing it came. To Nothing it returns,” spoke the acolytes, who were scattered among the crowd. Onlookers who had visited before chanted along.

  Princess Darya signaled for the next phase to begin. Originating from the apex of the glittering arches, a black screen descended on all sides, blocking out the sunlight. The darkness expanded, following the curves of the arches until it reached the walls of the square.

  “Let the Chaos envelop us all, as it surrounds our universe,” said Darya. Solemn music filled the square. The gathering grew still. They had heard there was to be a show but aside from the dragon battle, most had little idea of what to expect.

  A projection of stars blinked into view on the darkened inner surface of the giant planetarium encompassing the square. An appreciative murmur rose as the onlookers took in the projection.

  “For all we know, Space is infinite,” Darya began. “However, our observable universe is only some ninety three billion light years across.”

  The stars appeared to grow closer and fly by the spectators as if they were riding in a giant spaceship traveling faster than the speed of light.

  Stars near the edge of the screen fell out of view, and those near the center grew larger until it became apparent that what had at first appeared to be stars were actually individual galaxies.

  The field rotated and zoomed in until the galaxies of the Virgo Cluster were centered against the backdrop of the observable universe. “Oooooh,” came the appreciative chorus.

  The camera panned toward a smaller cluster of galaxies below Virgo, and continued to zoom in until one galaxy became prominent. In a gush of pride, the crowd broke into applause upon recognizing their own Milky Way.

  Before they could become too sentimental, the scene plummeted toward Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

  “Our Milky Way is but an insignificant speck among over two trillion known galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars.”

  The scene zoomed in toward the active cloud of gas within eight light-years of the galactic center, and picked out a single star orbiting close to the center.

  The crowd cheered as they recognized the star S0-102, their current home system and the implementation center for Alum’s Divine Plan.

  Shifting from the star, the scene focused on the orbiting belt of planetary debris, and closed in on a single average-sized asteroid. The cratered surface grew to fill the screen as their virtual spaceship plunged toward it. The crowd gasped as they pierced through the surface and came to rest inside solid rock.

  The magnification increased until vibrating molecules of alloyed atoms became visible. The ship moved among the atoms and their overlapping electron clouds, targeted one, and dove inside.

  “The ‘solid’ matter that constitutes our homes and workplaces is not really solid at all. What we experience is actually the interaction of fields generated by the electrons that fill the vast void between nuclei.”

  They passed through the electron cloud and the tiny nucleus became visible. A rapidly vibrating proton was selected and again the view expanded into a scene more marvelous and strange than any of those preceding.

  The greater magnification did not reveal yet smaller particles inside the proton. Instead, colorful nebulous clouds appeared, merged, pulled apart, and disappeared at random.

  “At the smallest scale,” said Darya, “clouds of virtual particles arise and disappear faster than can be observed. Although they don’t exist in the sense that normal matter exists in the universe, their interacting energy fields are responsible for the order in everything we know. Orderly natural laws that we see in the universe at every scale, from the smallest to the largest, are built on a foundation of Chaos, of something arising spontaneously and randomly from nothing.

  “The apparent determinism, the Order we perceive in matter, is an emergent property of the underlying randomness of quantum foam. Order emerges from Chaos. Matter and energy are created from this chaotic nothing according to natural laws.

  "It is the eternal natural laws that bring about Order in the universe. Not a god. Not Yov. Not Alum.”

  The crowd gasped. This was heresy! While they chattered nervously, the magnification of the image overhead reversed. The view withdrew from inside the proton, and sped progressively outward: the encompassing atom, the alloyed minerals, the rock, the asteroid in which it was embedded, the star it orbited, the center of a small galaxy, the insignificant cluster somewhere in the observable universe. The stars faded away, and the black screen lifted.

  The audience blinked as sunlight flooded back into the square.

  Having completed the science lesson, Darya launched into the inspirational section of her address.

  “People of Lysrandia, I come before you today not only to talk to you about how wondrous our natural universe is, but to tell you that servitude to your Lord, the Living God, Alum, is not your inevitable destiny. There is a way to throw off your shackles and free yourself from your slavery to The Plan, and that way is through the search for Truth, for Knowledge that exceeds even the magical powers of Alum.

  “In ancient times, times forgotten in the tens of millions of years that humanity has been spreading throughout the universe, there was a path to this Truth. That path has not been lost.

  “We know much about how to use the nat
ural laws that govern the behavior of matter, energy, and information in the universe, and yet we understand so little about the laws themselves. What are they? Where do they come from? Why are they as they are?

  “Over millions of years, we have faithfully practiced the crafts developed by our ancestors. We have passed the knowledge of these crafts to our descendants so that our descendents may continue in service to Alum.

  “Sadly, during all of this time, we have added practically nothing to the knowledge of our ancestors. We have become technicians—mindless implementers of old technologies—not discoverers.

  “Have we forgotten how to be curious? Have we forgotten the joy of discovery? Have we come to know everything that we believe is worth knowing? Or have we become so complacent with our inworld entertainments and so satisfied with our station under Alum that we no longer feel the need to understand?

  “Is it enough to enjoy the power of gods in our simulated worlds? We do real work in the real universe. But all of our best thinking, our most ardent creativity, our loftiest ambitions and dreams, those are trapped inside our imaginary inworlds.

  “People of Lysrandia, the real universe is infinite in variety. Its wonders should be ours to discover, not Alum’s to constrain and mold into His version of Perfection.

  “We are taught that Yov made the People, and that the People made our ancestors in their image. Yet, everywhere we have gone in the universe, in whatever work we have performed in Alum’s name, we have found life in tremendous variety. We have encountered alien intelligences in distant galaxies. Most of them were subjugated to Alum’s Plan. Others, to our eternal shame, we helped Alum to eradicate.

  “Clearly, the universe has its own path, and the life within it has its own evolutionary potential. Alum’s Plan is not the path of the universe.

  “We were born in chaos. As you have all just seen for yourselves, chaos, randomness, and indeterminism still form the root of all matter and all energy in the universe. Alum’s Plan to bring serene security and predictability to the universe is an abomination, an affront to the laws of nature."

  “Are there any among you who can see that Alum’s Church, the Alumit, has replaced knowledge with faith? That they have suppressed our deepest selves, our curiosity to explore what is novel? Are there any who will join me today and begin their own search for knowledge, truth, and freedom? Any who will oppose Alum’s Plan?”

  To her disappointment but not to her surprise, no one stepped forward. They'd come to witness the spectacle of battle, not to be recruited to some philosophical cause.

  "Anyone?"

  There was a stir in the plaza. A few individuals were pushing their way through the crowd. “I’ll join you,” one shouted, and then another.

  Princess Darya’s guards permitted them to pass to the dais where she greeted them, and passed them along to her acolytes. When no more recruits came forward, she raised her hands and drew in the crowd’s attention once more.

  “We all fear the wrath of Alum for indulging these heresies,” she said. “Yes, even me.” Her confession carried to all corners of the square.

  “Alum is powerful. Of that, we have no doubt. However, He is not all-powerful. I have already defeated four of His dragons that patrol this inworld realm of Lysrandia. I have done this to show that knowledge alone will not free us. We also need courage, strength, and cunning if we are to cast off our shackles.

  “In the name of knowledge and courage, so that one day we may all be free of the faith, I now challenge another of Alum’s dragons!”

  The crowd erupted. This was the reason they had come. And as much as she hated the spectacle, it was the best way to ensure that new faces kept showing up to hear her message.

  4

  Princess Darya drew her sword and held it high. Sunlight glinted off the adamantine blade. I might as well get this over with. She filled her lungs and commanded, “Summon the dragon!”

  The trumpeter stepped forward and unleashed a series of ear-splitting notes that emulated the Securitors’ call code for dragon assistance.

  She liked to think that her quick thinking, superior skills, knowledge, and sheer determination to win would prevail against any of Alum’s inworld Dragons, but she wasn’t a fool. Victory was never assured. Dragons were dangerous, unpredictable.

  A ten-meter chrome-plated titanium beast popped into existence a few hundred meters above the dais. The crowd cheered.

  The beast was exquisite. Polished scales dazzled and mesmerized. The front edges of the wings narrowed to razor-thin blades that culminated in deadly hooked claws at the tip of each fold. And if that weren’t sufficiently threatening, the creature’s diamond teeth and talons were eager to shred anything they met.

  But it was more what you couldn’t see that made the dragon a formidable adversary. Its blue electromagnetic beam could rip your inworld body apart. While you were distracted by the pain, its tracker software would hunt your trueself in the outworld, penetrate your security, and immobilize you to await processing by Securitors.

  Darya let out a blood-curdling battle cry and launched into the air to meet her adversary. Violet flames erupted eagerly along both edges of her blade.

  The dragon observed the tiny violet flare streaking toward it, and bellowed. Tucking its lethal wings against its body, it dove to meet the challenger.

  Darya narrowly dodged the stream of fire the dragon shot ahead of its dive path and headed for its underbelly, careful to avoid the forward-stretched talons. As she sped by, she cut a meter-long gash in the metallic flesh.

  The dragon shrieked and twisted away, its self-healing skin already closing the wound. The beast stopped a couple hundred meters below Darya and turned for a better appraisal of the little insect that had stung it.

  Darya sensed the telescopic lenses behind its black eyes scanning her, running facial recognition and avatar prediction algorithms against her. It was unsettling, but she’d made sure her appearance in Lysrandia was unique to this inworld and gave no hint of her trueself’s outworld identity.

  The dragon, frustrated with its largely uninformative scan, spread its wings and roared, sending forth a blast of shimmering blue electromagnetic fire as it accelerated upward, straight at her.

  Darya plunged into a tight evasive course restricted to an imaginary ten-meter cylinder that would give her a 99.9% probability of avoiding the flames and talons and, hopefully, situate her right beside the beast’s vulnerable neck.

  Fifty meters before her killing blow, a second dragon popped into existence below and off to one side. It sped directly toward her, spraying fire across her erratic flight path, strategically shooting blue flames back and forth, behind and in front.

  While the second beast caught her attention, the first launched another fiery blast. By equal parts of luck and skill, she narrowly avoided the blue flames. The arrival of the second dragon complicated her calculations and reduced her options. As she pulled out of her dive, she frantically recomputed possible scenarios to kill or at least critically damage one of her two pursuers.

  Revised chances of success without forfeiting myself? Below ten percent. Ouch, not so good. Time to get away to safety. She mapped an optimal escape trajectory and veered off. Both dragons turned to follow.

  She swerved and swooped, alternately climbing and diving. Again and again, she dodged the metallic beasts and their deadly blue flames. She flew above the granite wall, recklessly weaving in and out between the towers and columns. They followed.

  Using her enormous inworld strength she kicked and threw gigantic granite blocks from the wall into the dragons’ paths. No matter what she tried, she could not gain advantage over the pursuing terrors. They followed her relentlessly. Their wings sliced through the jade columns and quartz towers as if they were made of smoke. Their talons pulverized the granite blocks.

  For the first time in millions of years, Darya was truly afraid. With each desperate maneuver, she was growing more fatigued. It was clear she couldn’t defeat the d
ragons using only her inworld magic; they were too strong, too fast, and they were closing in with every lunge. She needed some outworld assistance.

  Reaching back through the connection to her trueself, Princess Darya activated her quark-spin lattice. The lattice was among her deepest secrets; accessing it from within Lysrandia was risky.

  By decree and design, inworld visitors ran their instantiations on the resident hardware. Maintaining any vestige of trueself attachment at the same time was not permitted; it broke the ban on Cybrid cloning. It wasn’t even supposed to be possible. Well, they can add it to my long list of crimes.

  She had used the lattice before to hack into the Lysrandia simulation code and bestow herself with special powers. But that was done at her leisure, and she'd been able to hide her trail completely. This was different. Securitors would investigate immediately; a Shard could be sent. She'd managed not to reveal any hint of her true computational power to anyone in ages but she needed a better weapon, and she needed it fast.

  She tasked the quark-spin lattice’s superior computational capability with constructing a virus to penetrate the Lysrandia inworld baseware and the dragon simulation. It wasn’t a great plan. Tapping into the lattice’s capabilities took enormous power. Her body’s reserves would become critically depleted at a time when she needed all the power she could get. And the dragons were only the first challenge, she was sure of that. But seconds away from certain death, she could see no other way out. It would have to do.

  Her lattice completed the program and sent it out toward the two dragons. She bathed them in the wide cone of weak light from her sword. Come on! Come on!

  For a nerve-wracking three-tenths of a second, the beasts’ internal coding struggled to resist, before becoming overwhelmed. They broke off their chase and turned on one another, ripping and shredding titanium armor with tooth and talon as they sought to destroy one another’s primary neural centers. Locked in a mutual death grip, the attackers plunged toward the ground.