Fibonacci

Lo-Nine

Shindow

The winds of magic whipped around her. As did the ash and debris from her whirlwind of destruction. She may have been small, but she was mighty. And she was still tapped into Gideon’s substantial QSD power. She just gave up on the ‘how’ simply wrote it off as the Watchers mischief. The split dimensions added a unique twist to the whole visit, as did the anomalies and enemies.

She summoned a rod of magic iron, lancing it through the skull of a Brawler. It dropped to the ground with a thud, adding to the layers of ash.

“That Amy again! Stupid smoothbrain! How did she find this place? It must have been whoever had dreamed of us! Well, when I see her, I’ll show her a thing or two! Or ten! To the power of forty-nine!”

She greatly anticipated a second meeting with the flunkie angel. She’d beat her so bad, Amy would be eating her own cheese in a depressive funk. She had vaporized a horde of Brawlers, Crawlers, Rakes, and avoided the Pale Jammers, the main tell Amy was here.

She flowed along, her sensors scrambling to piece together the layers upon layers of radiation and anomalies. It was a patient in a mental ward for all the schizophrenic good it did, misleading and telling her out and out falsities. As soon as the others vanished, she knew exactly what to do. Keep moving forward and hope she’d run into them again. It was lonely in the black darkness of the outer edges.

“Light.”

A globe of an LED intensity glowed above her as she rushed along, searching for the others. Pulse rifle fire screech-cracked in the distance. It wasn’t a Primetech made weapon. There were others here. She rushed around a group of green robed people, too short and green to be humans.

They shied away from her, knives glinting in the light.

“Oi! It’s a pixie that is! Stay away! Get back!” one shrieked at her.

Chances of conflict, eighty-six percent. They have nothing to really stop me so we’ll just move on. I’d like to study them- if I find any peaceful ones.

She let them be, blowing a raspberry at them as she zoomed along the darkness.

“Gideon! Baxter! Steak! Patricia! Saddiffer!” she cried.

She tried to communicate with Gideon’s QSD, even with the barest trembling of quantum trinary got no response. Not even her entangled q-bits were working, which was all but impossible. Except where the Watchers were concerned.

She reached a wall of black stone and began tracing it with her left hand.

“This can’t just be a dead end…”

She continued along her path, listening to the cries of anguish and the chatter of pulse fire. She caught sight of a dark recess in the distance. She rushed to it, peeking down the hall.

“Hello?”

She focused the light deep into the corridor, catching sight of nothing. She tentatively flowed around the corner, heading into the dark. She couldn’t see the ceiling, no matter how far the LED globe shined. Black polished stone glinted back at her.

“Curious. The only thing my sensors can gather is this bedrock is somehow alive.”

She traveled for a time, catching sight of a strange cable near the ground. He zipped to it, scanning the wire.

-Dugrum silk

“A Proturan! Gideon told me about a hermit that helped Soltana a while ago… Is it the same one? Who knows?”

She floated down the hall, spotting more silk tripwires, thin as a strand of hair. She had to fly low, dodging the weavings of fibers up above. Spider behavior told her those were dragline silk threads, taught and capable of sending precise information based on the disturbance. She eventually came acros weavings of spiral silk strands, covered in sticky fluid. She was careful not to disturb any of the threads. She entered a room filled with sand and hexagonal pillars, wrapped with spider silk. The room was packed with thread.

“Wow, I’m guessing there’s probably a half a dozen or more…”

After all, a single Dugrum spider couldn’t possibly thread an entire room by themselves.

Stranger things have happened, she reminded herself.

She dodged and weaved through the threads, up into the cavern. She glanced around, spotting an exit.

“Good thing I can fly or I’d be in trouble! I hope Gideon isn’t going through the same trials.”

She daintily made her way through without disturbing the thread. She had caught sight of the hair-width draglines everywhere, the alarm bells for spider architects.

“I bet even an almost ephemeral AI like myself would trip it…”

She meandered through, taking her time with the webber’s traps. She heard howling anger down in the caverns below and the warbling coiling of thread all around her.

“Looks like they caught some smooth brains. I need to hurry!”

She spared a process to scan the crystal halls as she navigated the silk. Whoever sculpted these corridors had an eye for art and symmetry.

“I guess the Watchers know their minerals… How else could they get perfect crystals relief art like this?”

She took dozens of images for posterity. She had a whole new perspective on Humanity’s supposed bane. They had a taste for art, science, story, play, and more. If Aoife was any indication, there was more in common with the Watchers than not. Why all of the shenanigans, though, was beyond her.

She entered a room cube shaped room wrapped in piping and fixtures. Strands of thread littered a corner, as if the Dugrum had set it and then gave up. She scanned it, discovering the pipes were made of silver, gold, copper, platinum, bronze, and brass, all organized in a very familiar pattern. It all appeared to be arranged in organic arrangements; flowers, branches, trees and vines, dotted with holes. Apart from the stunning design, the room was empty. She glanced at the floor, seeing it was oddly patterned into squares that spiraled outward, growing larger from inside to out.

“What does it all mean?”

She took off her glasses, rubbing them into her robe. A single note started to play in E-Major. The pipes began to sing. It was quiet and repetitive, announcing itself every second. It was a pipe organ. She calculated the note from her memory banks and predicted over seventy-five-thousand potential matches began with that exact tune. It kept playing, alone and persistent.

It was waiting for her.

“But what should I do?” she put her hands on her hips.

The single note, the organic shapes with predictable patterns. The oddly squared floor. Then it clicked.

“Aha! Is it that easy?” she snapped her finger, knowing exactly what to do.

She sang the next note in perfect tune. Nothing happened. The single tone continued. It was playing zero.

“Hmmm… Oh, how about this?”

She decoded it. She sang the next note. She added a one.

It played a two. She played a three.

Five.

Eight.

Twenty-one, which was two and one.

Thirty-four.

Fifty-five.

They dueted together with a song of creation. The background source code of the universe. Music created with Fibonacci. The room made sense now, from the tiles on the floor, to the designs of the plant shaped pipes. She duplicated herself a dozen times over, creating a choir to sing along. She was caught up in the music. The pipes glowed and the entrance she came from closed shut, revealing an exit on the other side. The music stopped and Shindow squeaked in surprise, too caught up in the music to notice.

“Well… Goodbye room! It was nice knowing you…”

She really wanted to spend time with the Watchers. She flowed to the next room, spotting a strange creature pointing a rifle at her. She raised her hands, eyes opening wide.

“Oh, whoa! Hey! I’m peaceful! Don’t shoot!”

She turned to the side, suddenly shy. The spider chittered back at her, as if contemplating her appeal. He huffed, rolling all eight eyes before vanishing the rifle away. That caught her more off guard than the ornate gun shoved in her face. She sensed no technology- no quantum storage or any signs of inventory. It simply ceased to exist. The creature splayed its limbs, barking back at her. It was the Dugrum. She had never physically seen one before. They as a race all had similar colors of shaded greys. Except this one was periwinkle. It blinked in a wave as it skittered cautiously towards her. Its eyes darted, as if taken off guard by her presence. It wore a simple satchel over its abdomen.

“Hello?” it asked with a smooth voice.

“You’re the Dugrum! Are you Soltana’s friend?”

It cocked its head, blinking furiously at her.

“Yes?” it responded tentatively.

She puffed out some air, adjusting her glasses.

“Oh! Sorry, I’m all in your face here- and… She cut herself off, putting her hand to her mouth and clearing her throat, “I’m Shindow!”

She held out her hand.

The Dugrum blinked at her curiously before extending his own slender fingers, just touching her own. Little did they know they’re fates were entangled by that one handshake.

“I am L’yophin,” he greeted warily.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting my first Proturan! L’yophin- great to see you!”

His mandibles curled into a smile.

“Shindow. Yes. Mm. Are you the ones? The ones we are to meet? Where is Soltana?”

“I don’t know… And Yes- we’re it! Now where are the others?” she glanced past him, seeing nobody else.

“Can’t say. They all vanished? So many demons…” he muttered.

“You too? Well, let’s group together and find the rest! Deal?”

“Very well,” L’yophin agreed.

“Now…” She muttered as she examined the room, “how to move on?”

She glanced at the walls, scanning for patterns. Strange designs lined the walls, but it was all patterned.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I can see it,” he replied, “I can see the number of the Ancath- the number of my gods. Dezu,” he chittered.

“Number of Ancath? Oh! Triplicate race- right! What number? Because I see one myself!”

He nodded, clasping his front limbs together.

“Three, point one-four, one-five, nine-two…”

“Pi?”

“Ah- yes, that is what Humans called it. Dezu- the number of the gods. As hidden as the wind, as vast as the universe. Unending mathematical perfection.”

“Right? Like Fibonacci from the last room!”

“Raizu. The orchestra of the gods. Seen in nature and space time. These Watchers- I wish to meet them now.”

“You’ve got that right! Come on, if it’s like the last room, we just need to put on a good show!”

She glanced about the room, spotting different objects. They were instruments.

L’yophin skittered to the wall, grabbing a cello. He scowled at it as he plucked the strings.

“Chromium string? Mm- not good.”

“Not good? That looks expensive- wait!” Shindow cried out as L’yophin used his precise fingers to easily snip through the metal strings, snapping them with a twang. He finished de-stringing the cello before using his rear limbs to thread spider silk through his hands, weaving a set of new strings of varying thickness within moments. He tuned them tight and taught, running the bow over it. Her processes shivered at the haunting tune. The music was deep and different than any metal string could produce.

Music made by spider’s silk.

She looked over the instruments, finding the perfect follow.

“A bassoon!”

She touched it, storing it into Gideon’s QSD.

-1 Bassoon-

“Oh wow, QSD still works,” she muttered, “I hope he won’t be too surprised by that!”

She held out a hand, summoning her own particly projected bassoon.

“Let’s show them what a real Pi-ano can do!”

“Don’t,” L’yophin warned as he snapped all eight eyes at her, furrowing his brow.

“Ok! OK- no puns… Ready?’

He crossed four of his legs, sitting down and gripping the instrument. He thrummed the cello, testing it- weighing it. He let out a grunt in satisfaction.

“How did you learn how to play one of those?” She asked.

“Never touched one before. Saw them with humans. Always wanted to play.”

His spider mandibles flicked to what she guessed was a smile.

“Hopefully this won’t be a complete disaster!” she giggled.

“Seen people play. Not too difficult,” he retorted.

How can one learn simply from watching? Dugrum are so cool...

She just had to assign a digit to a note and start from there.

L’yophin began plucking a tune, slow and methodical. She assisted, becoming a melody to his lead. The spider closed his eyes and touched the bow, playing the first digit.

Three.

One.

Four.

One.

Five.

Nine.

The room began to glow steadily as their pace increased. The song ebbed and flowed from playful beginnings to sad revelations, to exciting climaxes, and finally, a calm farewell. She had never felt such music before. AI and Proturan. Two different worlds meeting in the strangest of places. Nothing could have prepared her for this sort of encounter. While unexpected, it was everything she hoped for. She eyed L’yophin, seeing all but two eyes closed in tense concentration as she playfully worked her bassoon in concert. A third instrument began to work alongside them.

A violin.

She grimaced at the demented tuning of it. The music halted. They both turned, seeing a Pale Jammer playing a Stradivarius poorly. She looked on in shock at the sudden appearance. It’s zipper maw had a bloody hand sticking out. Its stomach was bloated with fresh meat. It swallowed, letting loose a bellowing shriek.

“Ah! Where the hell did that come from! L’yophin, run!” she cried, channeling her magic.

And she failed, unable to feel a connection to that all new mana source.

L’yophin got to his feet, spinning and smashing the cello into the head of the demon, sending it reeling to the floor.

“My gun! Why can’t I call it?” he gruffed.

“It jams magic and QSD! Oh dear- how do we fight it now?”

The Dugrum skittered to the far wall, gabbing a trumpet before ascending up to the ceiling.

“Just need thread!” he shouted.

The pale jammer rose to its feet, discarding the instrument.

“The real question is how the hell did this smooth brain pass the first room?”

It rushed at her, all four arms open and grasping. She easily flowed around it, zipping and dodging as it swiped impotently.

“Gotta be faster than that!” she taunted.

L’yophin began threading a net, deftly assembling it. In his two other hands, he crumpled the horn into a metallic ball, wrapping it as the core of a monkey’s paw in his other limbs. The Pale Jammer rushed to the wall, leaping to get the spider. L’yophin swore, abandoning his net and letting it fall as he skittered away in time.

What do I do? What do I do?

She flew as far away from the jammer as she could. She tried to channel her magic, finding it cut off like an unplugged outlet.

“Argh! Come on!”

She began flashing and strobing, rushing around the demon to distract it. She was wholly ignored for the fresh spider meat on the ceiling. She was powerless. It was just like the time with the Compiler. She could only watch. L’yophin had completed a monkey’s fist flail and swung it hard from the ceiling, catching the Pale Jammer as it lept, knocking it head over heels.

“Smash him, L’yophin!”

Another idea occurred. She could do more than just watch. She split into two. Four. Sixteen. Sixty Four. One-twenty-eight.

One hundred and twenty eight Shindows crowded the room, all swarming at the Pale Jammer. Lights blared, taunts resounded, and jeers echoed off the walls, confusing both the Jammer and L’yophin.

“Ugh! Not helping!” he barked.

He swung with his monkey fist, slamming it into the face of the demon. It lay on the floor, screeching and flailing its limbs, black blood pouring from two serious head wounds. Shindow and L’yophin took advantage, the AI flashed and shimmered around it while L’yophin built a hasty net.

The Pale Jammer recovered unsteadily to its feet as the Dugrum dropped the webbing, catching it in the sticky stilk. It stumbled and fell again, sticking to the floor as it thrashed. L’yophin kept feeding more sticky webbing onto it and in minutes the demon was fully stuck.

Shindow merged back into a single particle projection, eying the trapped demon with concern. L’yophin skittered over, tearing the webbing from the floor and spinning the demon into a cocoon before hanging it to the ceiling.

“What now? It’s still blocking us and the room isn’t open!”

L’yophin rubbed at his scalp, eyes darting around.

“Mm. Instruments broken. And I am… No singer,” he fidgeted with his front hands.

“Well… The last digit we left off at was… We were on the fifty-third octet, on the final note, which was...”

She cleared her throat with her hand to her mouth before barking a tune, keyed to the number four. The room ceased glowing as her sensors blared over the spatial anomalies. The entrance sealed as the exit opened.

“Fifty-four octets- that was a lot!”

“Mm, almost too much. But it was good to conduct with my first AI.”

“Likewise- with my first Proturan that is.”

They left the wrecked room and the dangling demon behind. They entered a large spacious room filed with chairs, tables, and a grand fireplace. It was victorian and elegant in design from the trims to the molding. She felt at peace here, even before she scanned the room. Books lined the walls, tall enough for the rolling ladder to be necessary. It reminded her of Father’s first mansion.

A metallic being robed in white was sat on a white couch, all four hands clasped.

“Patricia!” Shindow cried, getting the Anform’s attention. The round head and star shaped eye snapped to her.

“Good Shindow, you are well. And who is this?” she asked.

The spider was still huddling at the entrance, his movements tentative and unsure.

“Mm. I am L’yophin.”

“A Dugrum! I have never seen such coloration before. You are a wonderful specimen.”

L’yophin snapped his eyes to Shindow, appearing to be uncomfortable.

“Are you always so forward?” he retorted before skittering near the fireplace.

He glanced back to Patricia, eyes softening.

“Mm- thank you.”

He summoned his rifle again, placing it on a nearby table.

”In case of those Pajle Jammers,” he muttered.

He then reached into his satchel and began assembling a long rod with a chamber at the end. He stuffed it full of dry grass before igniting the end. It was a metal pipe. He sat on one of the large chairs, sinking into the fabric before breathing a sigh of relief.

“Ah. This place is not… so bad.”

Shindow floated over to Patricia.

“How did you get here?”

Patricia clasped her hands together, gesturing with one.

“I had to solve mathematical equations that increased in difficulty. I was then accosted by child-sized creatures in green robes. I had to slay them in self defense, although it pained me to do so- I had ever seen those types of life forms before and wished to study them.”

“I saw some like that too, but they were terrified of me for some reason.”

“There are other parties here, including the Dugrum.”

“I am L’yophin,” he greeted quietly as he drew from his pipe, breathing out a ring into the room.

“I am P4T-02 or also known as Pat or Patricia. It is good to finally meet you. Gideon has briefly described his dreams. I am curious of your coloring, as I was led to believe greys were the common shade.”

“Mm. Right. Introductions,” he muttered before sighing, drawing deep from the pipe. Shindow suspected it to be some sort of carcinogenic substance as his eyes appeared to glaze over.

“I am L’yophin, Dugrum, friend of Soltana, and now Faekind.”

The room went silent apart from L’yophin’s pipe smoking and the crackling fire.

“Faekind?” Shindow asked.

“Mm. Yes. I am part Fae now after misadventures in the Underrealm. Faeries and their kinds are common.”

Shindow floating over to him, sitting on the arm rest as he peered down at her.

“Ok! You need to tell us everything- right now,” she demanded with a large grin.

He grumbled before blowing another smoke ring.

“Very well. It all started with… Well- let’s start with my hermit life and mining in the Underrealm. That day. Very special. That very special day.”

He cleared his throat.

“When I met her. Under the solid layer of rock I found her.”

His eyes glanced past them both, looking far away.

“That was when I met Soltana.”

He told them his story.