Strange Cosmology

by Alex Raizman

  “Why do you think I’d give you some kind of fate worse than death? Bloody hell, get up already.”

  They rose to their feet, trembling. A child began to weep, and its mother held it close. The child wasn’t the only one crying; the adults were just quieter about it. One of the Sur-nah-him collapsed, sheer terror overwhelming the poor man. I have to prove to them that I’m better than what they’re used to, Crystal realized.

  Going for the blunt option, she snapped her fingers. “I just cured all of you of your various illnesses and filled your bellies. Feeling better?”

  The one who had been speaking looked down at his hands, his eyes widening. His skin looked less sallow and drawn, and his formerly malnourished frame had filled out in an instant. Shaking, he opened his mouth, but couldn’t seem to speak.

  “What’s your name?” Crystal asked, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. Show them you’re reasonable. Show them that they can trust you.

  “Xurir,” he said, and Crystal’s internal translation told her that the word definitely was his name, but also translated to something similar to “Wretch”.

  “Well, Xurir, today’s your lucky day. We’re going to make some improvements so your life is less miserable, yeah?”

  Xurir stared at her like he understood the individual words she was saying but could not comprehend what they meant in that combination.

  This was going to take a while. “Xurir,” Crystal said with as much patience as she could muster, “I want to help you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  She threw up her hands, ignoring the way it made the others flinch. “Does it matter why? Because if this is a pride thing, love, your life is so sodding horrible that you need to ditch that pride but quick.”

  Xurir shook his head. “I do not know pride. But you are a Goddess, yes? Goddesses do not ‘help’. They are like The Feasting Morass, or The Rains of Burning Ice, or The Maws within Mountains: they destroy and kill and take. They do not ‘help’. Not unless it leads to later torment.”

  Crystal felt her nostrils flare and had to remind herself yet again to not let guilt turn into anger. Crystal, love. Get ahold of yourself. You’re missing a pretty big clue here. The rage subsided as she tried to figure out what she was overlooking. He said “goddesses” do this, “goddesses” do that, with such conviction.

  “Xurir. Why, and how, do you have any idea what goddesses act like?”

  He took a deep breath, drawing his arms around himself like he expected her to smite him at any moment. “I…that is, we have met the goddesses before. They created us, and we are their playthings.”

  Crystal’s rage had finally found a target. So...there are goddesses already here, are there? We’ll just see about that. In the meantime, she needed to assure these people that she had control of the situation.

  “Xurir, I’m the goddess responsible for them.” Crystal wasn’t even remotely sure that was true, but since they existed in her nanoverse, it was technically accurate enough. She was responsible for what was happening here, and that included these so-called goddesses. “They will be brought in line. Take me to your city. I have much to discuss with the Sur-nah-him.”

  Still trembling, Xurir nodded.

  ***

  While they walked, Crystal did her best to put the Sur-nah-him at ease, with only marginal success. Xurir, at least, had finally agreed to walk at her side instead of behind her and seemed to have become more comfortable answering her questions.

  “What is the name of the city?” she asked.

  “Na-hara,” he said.

  That translated to “Refuge”, which wasn’t the world’s most cheerful name but could be a lot worse. Perhaps it was a city of comparative wonder and comfort that the Sur-nah-him could recline and relax in, one part of their life that wasn’t terrible. However, she was puzzled by the location. They were crossing a vast salt flat, and the distant city seemed to be built in the very center.

  “Why did you build it here? There’s no food or water near the city. That has to make things more difficult.”

  “The Hungering Crawlers cannot survive the Great Drying,” Xurir explained. “When they try to enter, they long before they reach the city.”

  He pointed into the distance. Crystal squinted and saw one of the giant centipede-thing’s bodies being picked apart by flying creatures.

  “We must carry everything to the city,” Xurir continued. “It is difficult, and many die, but the city protects our young and weak.”

  Crystal tried to imagine the work involved to haul enough food, water, and supplies to sustain the population, and couldn’t quite fathom it.

  “Is that what you were doing when I found you?” she asked. “Are you a foraging party?”

  “Yes. I have returned safely forty-three times.”

  His voice was devoid of pride, or any other emotion, but Crystal still had the sense that this was an unusual accomplishment.

  “You’re a hero, Xurir,” she said softly.

  He shrugged. “I am a gatherer. It is my purpose to gather until true death finds me.”

  Crystal lapsed into silence, brooding. She wondered how the other Sur-nah-him in Na-hara spent their time. It was possible that, since the foragers saw to their needs, the others pursued art or knowledge, creating a vibrant culture supported by the sacrifices of men like Xurir.

  She doubted it, though, especially as they drew close to the city. It was a ramshackle collection of towers made of petrified bone and sunbaked dirt. Since the salt flat was the only protection the city had from the horrors of their world, they had clustered as densely as they could in the very center.

  Na-hara was not a place of wonder and comfort. When they entered the city, Crystal saw that the buildings were in even worse shape than they had seemed from a distance. Every Sur-nah-him she saw had haunted, sunken eyes, and she realized that the foragers, despite their pitiful state, were the strongest and healthiest members of the population. In general, the city’s population were listless and apathetic, at least until they saw her. Then they scurried away, around corners and into buildings, hissing “Goddess! Goddess!” as they went.

  I should do something, Crystal thought, but what could she do? From the way he kept glancing at her, even Xurir still seemed convinced she’d destroy him on a momentary whim. By the time they had wound their way up a series of rickety bridges and reached the upper-central district, the pathways were utterly deserted.

  Even the relatively wealthy and powerful hide from me, she mused. That shows how bloody scared they are. Here’s the thing, though-how have they all identified me on sight? How do they know what a goddess should look like? What the hell has my adversary been up to?

  Crystal was convinced that her opponent was behind the Sur-nah-him’s specific terror of goddesses, just like they were responsible for the corruption of the cosmos and the planets’ ecosystems. They seemed to have considered even the smallest detail in their campaign of rot and despair. Yet, if she had created demigods within her nanoverse, they would never have had this kind of power.

  So far, whoever was behind this had stymied her at every turn. There were too many unknowns, too many variables, and so far, her belief that she could just set things right had been proven wrong time and time again. She had been popping in and out of her nanoverse whenever she thought she could spare the time, while the opposing force had clearly stayed here, supervising and adjusting their corruption for centuries. No wonder they had been able to counter her every move.

  It was time to root them out and take care of this mess once and for all. The Sur-nah-him, she thought, could help her do that.

  “This is the home of our king,” Xurir said, as they approached the city’s central tower. Other than its height, and the half-heartedly carved double doors, it wasn’t any more impressive than the other structures. This was clearly the formal entrance to the king’s residence, and Crystal was mildly amused that the king forced people to climb all the way to the top of
the city’s bridges to see him, instead of letting them enter from the ground level and ascend inside. Ah, royalty. At least some things never changed.

  Instead of entering the tower, she walked closer to the edge of the bridge. From here, she could see the entire salt flat, and how many of those giant centipede monstrosities had attempted to cross it. She’d counted a dozen in various states of decomposition when Xurir interrupted her thoughts.

  “We have informed the king of your presence, oh mighty goddess.”

  Time to see what passes for a king around these parts, Crystal thought.

  She strode inside, taking stock of the room. Sur-nah-him lined the walls, prostate with their hands over their heads, shivering with terror. The king, identifiable by his tattered robes and proximity to the oversized wooden “throne”, looked like the lord of the beggars.

  “Oh, bloody hell, get up, the lot of you,” Crystal snapped as her patience with their sniveling demeanor finally ran dry.

  At her command, they shambled to their feet. It was like watching the dead animate.

  “Look, I’m getting really tired of this. I’m going to make your lives suck less, yeah? And while I’m at it, I’m going to kill the gods that are ruining your lives and probably make some new ones that also suck less. Maybe we’ll even get both up to ‘good’. But if you keep sodding looking at me like I’m going to snap your necks, there’s a good chance I’ll bloody well do it, yeah?”

  She took a few deep breaths, trying to quell her frustration. It had infected her speech, she knew it, but oddly that seemed to help. While they still looked frightened, the Sur-nah-him at least seemed less uncertain. Crystal pursed her lips. These “goddesses” had these people so cowed that they needed the threat to be on familiar ground. She pointed at the king.

  “You. Xurir’s been dealing with my cranky ass all day, so it’s your turn now. What should I call you?”

  The king swallowed roughly. “I am Uepth, your worshipfulness.” Crystal’s brain translated his name as “offal”, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

  “Great. Uepth. We’re going to start with the goddesses, then work on you lot.” She walked over and sat on the throne, which seemed to set them even more at ease. “You all deserve to have lives that aren’t defined by fear and terror. Why? Because I’m your real bloody goddess, and I say so.” The Sur-nah-him traded glances, and Crystal wasn’t sure if she should cheer or slap them all. These people wouldn’t listen to her if she was being reasonable. If she was issuing commands, they’d believe she meant it, even if it went against what they believed goddesses wanted.

  Crystal put that in a mental box labeled “Future problems.” Nothing would get better here until these entities were dealt with.

  “Now,” she said, “how do you contact the goddesses?”

  Uepth gulped again, before timidly speaking. “We…we do not, your worshipfulness. They come, as you do, when they will. It is not for us to call upon them.”

  Crystal could nearly hear his unspoken “and why the hell would we want to?”

  “Okay, fine. Fair. Then let’s see what we can do about your lives.” Plus, if they’re as nasty as I think they are, this should draw their attention. “What do you need most?”

  Uepth blanched. “We need to...suffer for your amusement-”

  “Enough!” Crystal snapped. “I command you to tell me exactly what the greatest ills that your people suffer are. Fail me in this, or tell me what you think I want to hear, and I’ll turn your teeth into insects that bite your tongue with every word you speak.”

  Part of Crystal hated that she was resorting to absurd threats, but it seemed to be the only way to get them to listen. Only Xurir, standing a few feet away from the king, looked thoughtful.

  “Yes, worshipfulness!” Uepth stammered. “My people starve and thirst, your worshipfulness. The foragers can barely find enough food and water to stay alive, and parents give up food so their children might live while they starve to death. The Feasting Horrors are numerous and often devour our foragers. This land keeps us safe, but it cracks our skin and the rain sears and scars if we’re caught out in it.”

  Crystal nodded. “Any other major problems?”

  “Well...that is to say…”

  “Spit it out, love.”

  “The Crimson Storms can crack our stones, so we must rebuild regularly. We’ve tried other cities, but all fall prey to the Feasting Horrors. And when a plague hits, it kills so many…” Uepth trailed off, shaking so hard, he seemed about to break his bones. Then he whispered, “I pray that you consider that sufficient suffering.”

  Holding his gaze, Crystal held up her hand and snapped her fingers. Every Sur-nah-him in the room shuddered. “You now need only half as much food and water to sustain your bodies.” The Sur-nah-him looked at her with wide eyes. It was midafternoon, they’d all probably already eaten today. Poor buggers probably feel full for the first time in their lives.

  Crystal snapped again. “I’ve wiped out the megafauna, what you call the Feasting Horrors. Last time I did this, I left a niche open for new ones to fill. This time, the apex predators are smaller and can be killed with bow and arrow. One creature will approach your fires when you go out hunting. Give them food, and in time, they will help you find game.”

  Another snap. “That fixed some of the aberrant weather. No more acid rain and these Crimson Storms are just going to be regular hurricanes.”

  The Sur-nah-him were gaping openly now. On a few faces, including Xurir’s, she saw the beginnings of real hope. Crystal stood up and pointed to a row of windows on her left.

  “Now, everybody go look outside. Smartly now.”

  As a mass, they rushed to do her bidding. Crystal followed at a more leisurely pace.

  “All right, loves, watch closely.” She snapped her fingers again.

  The salt flat rippled and bulged, and then water erupted from the ground. It spread and deepened everywhere around the city, creating a massive lake. The city itself now stood on an island, and normal, healthy plants sprang from the ground and grew to maturity.

  She pointed, explaining the landscape’s new features. “Fresh water. Grain. Fruit orchards. Got it?”

  A few of the Sur-nah-him nodded, but most stood frozen.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” One more snap and a land bridge rose from the depths of the lake, connecting the island to the mainland.

  For a few minutes, the Sur-nah-him stared at the changes in stunned silence. “But…why?” Uepth finally asked.

  Crystal sighed. “Because I’m a benevolent goddess. Because I let you lot suffer too long. And because I think it’s going to draw those other goddesses out of hiding.”

  “They come!” one of the Sur-nah-him shouted, pointing.

  Crystal actually laughed. “Damn, I don’t think I could have timed that better if I had tried. Kind of nice when things work out your way.” She looked where the man pointed, hoping the Sur-nah-him would not notice that her brave words were hollow bravado. Now that the confrontation was at hand, she thought she might be almost as frightened as the Sur-nah-him were.

  Purple and blue lightning bolts slammed into the land bridge. Crystal gritted her teeth as she sensed the power, the source of the echo she’d felt in the Phoberia, the same force she felt pushing back against her at every turn.

  A little bit showy, aren’t you? Crystal thought. Then again, if you wanted to cow the locals, big displays were often the best.

  Once again, Crystal reminded herself that she was so far out of her depth that she was swimming over an abyss.

  “We are doomed!” Uepth wailed, covering his head with his hands and running away from the windows. Other Sur-nah-him followed, and the city below filled with screams.

  Crystal shouted, “No, you’re not! You have me, and I can-”

  Her words were drowned out by a final lightning strike that brought the screams to a crescendo of torment. The light was so bright that it made spots dance in front of Crystal’s visio
n. When it faded, three figures stood at the end of the bridge, clad in black and purple armor and radiating confidence.

  I’m going to crush you all like the bloody insects you are, Crystal thought with a snarl. Whoever these people were, now that she had them in the open, she was certain that she could defeat them. I’m not distracted now, you wankers. Congratulations on earning my full attention.

  Then the figure in the center held up her fingers and snapped. The lake drained, turning back into salt flats, and the new trees and plants grew writhing tentacles. Crystal’s jaw dropped. It was exactly how she made changes in the nanoverse, right down to the showy little snap she loved. There was no bending of reality, no twisting equations or formulas. The enemy had simply reached out and imposed her will.

  Just like Crystal did. Her confidence vanished.

  They’re... they’re actually as powerful as I am.

  Crystal teleported in front of them, then snapped ostentatiously. The grasping tentacles withered, and water again poured out of the salt flat.

  Take that, you presumptuous beasts, she thought. Now I have to get them away from the city, or the Sur-nah-him are doomed.

  “You!” the goddess in the center exclaimed.

  “What, did you think I’d let you run amok in here forever? Now, who the bloody hell are you, and -”

  One of the three extended her hand and sent a pillar of stone shooting from the earth, creating an echoing boom as its speed broke the sound barrier. The pillar grew sideways and slammed into Crystal’s head. If she’d been in the Core, it would have left nothing but a bloody smear on the stump of her neck.

  Crystal rubbed her jaw and tilted her head forward, cracking her neck as she moved her skull and spine back into place. “Okay, fine. You know what? I’m sodding done. You suck, and you’re making my nanoverse suck. Let’s fight or whatever, and I’ll pick the answers out of your corpses.”

  ***

  “I still can’t believe you lied about why you and Jacqueline broke up,” Isabel said, as Ryan watched the various lifeforms appear on his screens in his staging area. According to Athena, his nanoverse had entered the “Biogenesis Era,” when ninety percent of the intelligent species that would ever exist were being born. Over the course of the next hundred million local years, new sapient life would stop forming as the old sapient life stabilized and took control of all available resources. He’d hoped watching them would distract him from what he was about to do.