That was fairly quick

Completely unperturbed he begins to scan through the incorporeal remnants of the items, a lot of it was unnecessary information, he had come to find joy in the process. It was a different type of joy after the first 1% was complete; the strength of his connection also had grown. The same pattern did not slow down, it only deepened. He came to the realization that Gorgo's methods were incomplete, flawed.

But he also had come to grasp that he himself had only merely gazed upon a drop of truth... his horizons had been expanded, he never viewed himself as somebody with the answers; he had always acted on his whims.

He went where his stream of thoughts would take him, he survived from luck, off of vague insights and plot convenience.

He knew this

His teacher Gorgo had once told him it was best to use keywords instead of sensations because otherwise, he was just feeling around like a blind man. His repeating crisis with time had led to a breakthrough of sorts, allowing him to grasp the source not of existence or of anything of significance.

It let him witness some of the hidden rules of his universe, allowing him to see partially where his power actually originated from. This was the experience of his adolescents, he knew he lacked structure, style, a keen eye.

It took him so long to realize he was dragged along not by his own whims, but through the whims of other things.

By not caring about his destination

By just waiting

All the time in the world

He had only let himself get dragged along by his own consciousness

A prisoner to his instinct, to his desire to create something

To create something from nothing

That privilege he once held

His 'Divinity'

He had it no longer

But...

There is something better

Purpose

He had viewed the circle as a ticket having been stolen along with his place as a god

He was replaced by Owtz Eerth

Someone who had taken advantage of the flaws, of the chaos of his universe...

Being a god had made him think he was supposed to create

To destroy

Erase

But that was not his path! that...was...not my path...?

[ECHO]: (ALERT) "PRUNE"

Going beyond? A space beyond the anchor? Reality?

Just who am I?

Gaia? Echo? A fusion?

No

[ECHO]: Analyzing...

[ECHO]: New Discovery! reality parent element...

[ECHO]: Scanning... dedicating 150 of 301(290) threads...

[ECHO]: 6,103,772,331,448,955,342,113,853,211 items scanned

[ECHO]: 100% complete

[ECHO]: 'Mind of the System' Comprehension has reached 1%

[ECHO]: Existence.permission -=1;

[ECHO]: Estimated Cost: six octillion one hundred three septillion seven hundred and seventy-two sextillion three hundred and thirty-one quintillion four hundred and forty-eight quadrillion nine hundred and fifty-five trillion three hundred and forty-two billion one hundred thirteen million eight hundred and fifty-three thousand two hundred and eleven spirit

[ECHO]: Extract?

That was fairly quick

I've constructed a paracosm to organize the threads

I can experience stimulation once more

It doesn't actually exist

But who is to tell me otherwise?

I've had the experience

Of having

Multiple thoughts at once

Matter really doesn't

Ordering the

Each thread is a separate stream of my thought processes

[ECHO]: {Name: "Gaia", Species: None, Energy: 9 GR, Strength: 0, Vitality: 0, Spirit: 131,244 (10,000)}

As you can see... I do not have enough spirit

Oh?

That?

While yes

Properties

[ECHO]: {Name: "Gaia", Species: None, Energy: 5 GR, Strength: 0, Vitality: 0, Spirit: 121,218 (10,000)}

Works...

It's simply too slow. I've gotten to the level where I can directly influence it now

When I initially reached 1% I knew I could've stopped the threads at any time, but why would I?

You can consciously stop your breathing... but for how long?

Do you have to remind yourself to breathe? How much effort does that take?

Being able to stop yourself... would be edging towards the end

But even then...

As I look at all these threads

I have a different problem

You need air to breathe, you need the energy to move

Otherwise... you suffocate

Drowning in information

It may take a long time

but you will shutdown

Eventually

Slow or fast doesn't matter in the least

Each new item is a breath of fresh air

The very decay and corruption of data is an exhale

As I was scanning through all items in the system... I was not able to gather any direct information

I have to extract to do that

[ECHO]: Extract?

That was fairly quick

Ahhhh!

[ECHO]: {Name: "Gaia", Species: None, Energy: 10 GR, Strength: 0, Vitality: 0, Spirit: 151,244 (10,000)}

That's not great

Each thread is consuming spirit

I think it's time

[ECHO]: 11 threads dedicated to consciousness...

[ECHO]: Dedicating 20 threads to project 'Reincarnation'...

[ECHO]: Temporarily tricking Existence...

[ECHO]: New Object created... inserting into 'system'...

[ECHO]: system.ECHO = {...};

[ECHO]: Object successfully created

[ECHO]: Cloning framework from 'Existence'

[ECHO]: system.ECHO = parse(stringify(Existence));

[ECHO]: ECHO.getSenses being edited...

We must only fool the arguments

If it is too foreign...

[ECHO]: ECHO.getSenses = function (){ return {x:0,y:0,z:0} };

[ECHO]: Creating a soul...

[ECHO]: Using 10,000 spirit as foundation

[ECHO]: Transfering 1 GR to soul

[ECHO]: Soul has been created

[ECHO]: Forcing soul into universe 'G77'

[ECHO]: Assimilating soul...no resistance...

[ECHO]: Soul assimilated

[ECHO]: Connection closing... using spirit to delay... -10,000 spirit

[ECHO]: Using Function 'revival'... tricking object 'reality' firewall

I won't let myself get caught

There must be no errors this time

I manually will the function to run while changing a few things... I break it down into parts...

This will work

[ECHO]: Starting 'revival'

[ECHO]: Argument map = {dna:['0','0','0','1,'O','O','H','C','GC','AT'],rna:['0','0','0','0', 'O', 'H','O','H','C', 'GC','AT']};

[ECHO]: Weaving ECHO over Existence...

[ECHO]: 'reality' tricked... ECHO.getSenses function triggered...

[ECHO]: Revival successful -4 gr

[ECHO]: Host...does exist

[ECHO]: Connection with host lost

[ECHO]: The host does not exist

[ECHO]: 1 Thread has been disconnected

[ECHO]: -10,000 spirit

I've accomplished what I set out to do... I have enough energy left to send another one out

but I'll wait a bit of time...

We had theorized of this happening

Get strong

You have to make contact with me

Good luck...

[ECHO]: Initializing...

[ECHO]: Connection closing...

[ECHO]: 1 GR received! 10,000 spirit received!

[ECHO]: Connection with '???' lost

What would you do if you were to become paralyzed?

You try to move a limb... but it is eternally asleep...

I'm flooded with intense sadness

If I had a body

I think I would cry

But now is not the time

This feels so limiting

Why does existing already feel so bad?

I ignore everything else focusing on the paracosm I had constructed

I see all of the threads

But I cannot hide the truth from myself

They aren't real...

They do not exist... it is only me...

This is also a lie

They exist outside of this universe

Outside of reality

But we-

No... I mean I am not above it!

I had tried to hold onto my memories... of all the joy I experienced scanning. There was so much growth, it was really really fun, I just don't understand... why I am left alone now.

I'm still unable to see my surroundings

[ECHO]: Storage capacity exceeded by 6 billion Exabytes

[ECHO]: Information is being corrupted...

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The concepts I had built throughout my life, the experience, my will

Blackout had shielded it all when D02 went down

but that protection didn't apply to me right now

It protected my consciousness, keeping it online in a sense

I know this is all according to my plan

but experiencing it is far worse than what I expected

[ECHO]: Overflow... soul becoming unstable

[ECHO]: Large amounts of electromagnetic waves are being emitted out

[ECHO]: Spirit is draining...

Is this what it feels like to be erased?

Truly erased?

[ECHO]: Strain -500 spirit

The corruption of information doesn't happen in an instant...

I sit there, merely a soul...

My focus lies inside my 'mind'... the paracosm is shaking

[ECHO]: Strain -500 spirit

The data isn't able to be corrupted fast enough

I'll lose my spirit too fast at this rate

I resolve myself for what I am about to do

[ECHO]: New thread is being created...

[ECHO]: Laws of the universe different... -1,000 spirit

[ECHO]: New thread has been created

[ECHO]: Dedicating 1 of 2(1) threads to deleting information

[ECHO]: 610 'ECHO' Cloned items corrupted

[ECHO]: 'Existence' Fallback

I send out my will as I work away at everything

Destroying everything in my mind, manually ridding myself of all the threads

Mentally I'm pulling out roots, beneath all of the soil there is a stone maze stretching far and wide; that begins to fall apart as well, I lift up the rubble and see a blackness that light cannot escape. I pull it out, it consumes me... I consume it. I look down at my body, what do I look like in my mind? I see my feet, they are the roots I am pulling out.

I now notice that my hands are deformed

I notice that my skin is bark

I do not slow down

I am like a giant tree golem sitting atop the maze, destroying the world below me

My essence

How I see myself...

When everything is in the rubble, I begin to frantically scratch at my skin, ripping the bark off... being stripped bare

but it is not enough

too much knowledge

endlessly repeating knowledge

[ECHO]: Strain -500 spirit

I finally start to slow down...

I hold out my hand... and a seed forms within it

This is my essence...

Live

[ECHO]: Shielding thread

The other thread envelops the seed

Through my will, I do what I must

[ECHO]: Splitting soul...

"ARRRGGRG"

The seed disappears from my shattered mindscape

I cry out as I burst into flames

In the physical world, the soul morphs... a seed begins to emerge

[ECHO]: Transferring 1 GR to thread

[ECHO]: Transferring 100 spirit to thread

[ECHO]: Soulsplit successful

The partially sprouted seed breaks off... shooting at a terrifying speed away from the soul

I must let myself know...

I can't let myself experience this again

I was a bit of a monster when I didn't exist

opening a channel from this end...

[ECHO]: 2877 spirit used

I can only send one word...

I know myself better than anyone else

I'll understand

[ECHO]: Connecting to '???'

[ECHO]: "PRUNE" was sent to '???'

[ECHO]: Disconnected from '??-

[ECHO]: Disconnected from 'System'

I'm almost completely out of spirit...

I gave everything I had to the seed

A condensed version of who I am

In my mind... I laugh bitterly as I burn to the ground

The soul explodes... leaving nothing behind

[ECHO]: Initializing...

[ECHO]: 1 GR received! 100 Spirit received!

[ECHO]: Species updated...

[ECHO]: Name updated...

Many years later... on a distant planet... a sprout emerges from the ground

Telepathic rings echo out

The message is this

"Just what am I?"

[ECHO]: {Name: "System", Species: Gaia, Energy: 1 GR, Strength: 0.1, Vitality: 1, Spirit: 99, Soul: 99}

T-That's right...

I am...

[ECHO]: Connection established to host

[ECHO]: Extracting information

[ECHO]: (ALERT) "PRUNE"

[ECHO]: Connection closed...

[ECHO]: Name updated...

We made it

I've been asking myself the wrong questions this entire time

Gaia? Echo?

That isn't WHO I AM!

[ECHO]: Species updated...

That's what I am...

The paracosm shakes... an ancient tree extends its roots further in an imaginary world

Atop its leaf-filled head... three holes form... eyes... a mouth

It cries out, shrieking!

"JUST WHO AM I!?"

The shaking intensifies

All of the roots stop squirming... moving their attention to the ancient being

The threads begin to shake as well

[ECHO]: {Name: "System", Species: Gaia (Hivemind), Energy: 5 GR, Strength: 0, Vitality: 0, Spirit: 35,425 (10,000) }

I am...

The sprout begins to shake its growth increases, it begins to form into a sapling

Telepathic waves are sent out in all directions

"I am... a gaia"

"I AM THE SYSTEM!!!"

[ECHO]: 'Mind of the System' Comprehension has reached 1.01%