Gaia's POV:

[ECHO]: Paracosm transforming...

[ECHO]: Mind is experiencing a change in nature

[ECHO]: Sea of consciousness has been formed!

[ECHO]: Location of consciousness: 'World Tree'

[ECHO]: Spirt +1

[ECHO]: Soul +1

I... am back

Well... not entirely

[ECHO]: {Name: "???", Species: Fungi (Gaia), Energy: 0 GR, Strength: 0.1, Vitality: 0.1, Spirit: 1, Soul: 1}

Hmm

This is similar to a thread... but its actually a separate entity

I now have more limbs, more options... how interesting

I hear slight murmuring as the world tree... guidance from something which cannot be perceived.

I'll name you Gaboll...

[ECHO]: Name updated...

[ECHO]: {Name: "Gaboll", Species: Fungi (Gaia), Energy: 0 GR, Strength: 0.1, Vitality: 0.1, Spirit: 1, Soul: 1}

[ECHO]: Species updated...

Oh?

My actual body has been updated from this...

[ECHO]: {Name: "System", Species: Gaia (Hivemind), Energy: 1 GR, Strength: 1, Vitality: 321, Spirit: 34, Soul: 100}

It would seem I've become a hivemind... I'm able to feel every spore...

My main body was already a Hivemind... but it is forever locked outside of this universe. It doesn't even exist... but with this change... I now have more flexibility.

All of the spores that land on plant life... I immediately allow to take over the surrounding gaias. In the background of my thought processes I have them begin to spread the spore around the world. This way I'll have true control.

Trillions of insects had come under my command.

A few years pass as I slowly assimilate the planet

I unfortunately only have a single thread to work with. Manipulating such a number is too big of a strain, The fungi allows me to manually overwrite their programming, the will which guides an individuals actions, one which did not exist alone within the insects. It is emulated from the spore, they'll fall back on their instincts, on their programming if I am not focusing on them.

All is well... but I've found an outlier

[ECHO]: Attempting to place spore in entity 'The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant'

[ECHO]: Assimilating entity 'The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant'

What kind of name is that for a random ant!?

I can feel the spore on its body activate... I enter into its body and try to take over the brain. I feel as if I'm not battling with an ant... this isn't at all similar to when I took over the soul of the Fungi...

This ant! It's power... just what kind of ant is this?

I almost feel like I'm struggling... the spore completely is shutdown before even making its way to the brain.

There's no way I was so easily beaten by an ant

I Immediately put my focus onto another ant... using the fungi as a proxy I am now able to override the constants that is its programming.

[ECHO]: Assimilating entity 'Ant Gatherer'

That's the type of name I'd expect

I hadn't activated most of the spores that had found their way into the insects' brains

It's easier to keep them alive if they stick to their survival instincts

If they feel they will die, I have suggestions for them to find the highest spot. I had them follow this pattern for a while, but stopped after proper coverage.

That way from their corpses Gaboll will do its job and spread out even more spores

After activating the spore

Its brain is invaded in an instant, no resistance whatsoever.

I check its properties

[ECHO]: {Name: "Ant Gatherer", Species: Ant (Lasius), Energy: 0 GR, Strength: 0.01, Vitality: 0.01, Spirit: 0, Soul: 0}

My vision is regained... Although everything is very fuzzy... and I can't see much of anything at all, it's not comparable to when I had my old body long ago. I do not care for such sensations unfortunately, it is only useless information.

This scent

While I can still barely see anything. The smells from my antenna are so distinct that they create an almost perfect visual representation of paths I can take. I see the paths to the colony as well as various ants.

[ECHO]: Creating a network...

This ant hasn't interacted with the ant I am now looking for, unfortunately...

That isn't a problem at all for me though

Almost everything on this planet is my eyes and ears

Not many things would be able to hide from me here...

Unless they're in the ocean...

The spores actually thrive quite well there...

But that disconnect with the variations I felt with those other trees.

Those spores aren't Gaboll

Though they still may be fungi

I can't control it... its soul is far out of my reach... these insects can't go deep enough

[ECHO]: Connecting network to node for ant species

[ECHO]: User #1,732,116,391,459

[ECHO]: Sighting found! 8 years ago...

[ECHO]: Analyzing...

[ECHO]: Deadend... no possible routes...

That sighting at least narrows down location a tiny bit

We'll only look through group c's section of queens then...

[ECHO]: Scanning...

They should all follow a similar pattern

All I need to do is find something off

Something random...

Something that breaks the mold

[ECHO]: Abnormality found!

[ECHO]: Colonist in colony #15,891,134,784 group c has reported siting!

[ECHO]: Pattern broken 'Graveyard'

[ECHO]: Implied thoughtful action discovered!

That is very odd

While it is true that they have graveyards for their dead

I also don't use every corpse to spread the spores around anymore...

This isn't something they have due to a sense of self or anything like that

This is programming for survival

Something to fend off disease

Not planning from them, no.

This isn't a ritual for them to mourn

This is pure instinct

I love it

The chemical released from dead ants decaying is a pretty big warning sign in terms of scent, it is like a flashing light, very annoying to be around.

This is why they have graveyards... it is a natural instinct for them to toss the dead somewhere else in a junk pile, separate from the colony...this is a different type of graveyard though... time has broken it down... but it is magnificent, too well constructed.

[ECHO]: Transmitting image...

I sit distant from the ant I had assimilated

on the throne in my sea of consciousness

The information used to form this space

Is something I got from outside of my world

Something I acquired from myself

Over 100 years ago my planet was hit with a wave of information

This information had traveled for many years throughout space

It was not the wave I emitted when I asked what I am

It was the information leaked when I exceeded my storage capacity

It was fragments of information lost

It also contained within it science from another world

Vague memories of a man...

The fragment and true nature of Moltzrar

There wasn't much though, it was moslty just myself.

I already had a condensed version of myself

But this wave led to better organization

Better systems and labels

Better identifiers... from an unfamiliar world

It motivated me to plant even more spores

To try to recollect the pieces of what was lost

I am in the middle of my restoration

I have learned an unfortunate lesson though

Eternity is a priveledge

Eternity is also a curse

Gaboll isn't eternal

My lifespan as the world tree is insane

But this body I inhabit

It isn't eternal either

I can manipulate my perception of time

Perception of time isn't an issue

I will not waste time any longer

The issue... I'm dying...

I'm aging...

This isn't something I've had to deal with before...

In the abyss, outside of existence... I am eternal.

I'll always be eternal

Whether I shutdown or not

That blackness... that nothingness

I want to return badly

But even that has limits! I'm the hope for my future! I'm the legendary cog in the machine! I'm meant to carry out the actions of the unfathomable echo of existence.

I can't let old age kill me

I should have never been a god

What Nox described

A Supreme Being

An Overgod

I can feel it deep within

It has always been there

I have no basis for these thoughts

I've been disconnected from my destiny

But... even then... death... do you dare reap me?

Do you think I will turn over and die?

I've covered my world in Gaboll...

But the lifespan of the spores are limited

They die out... I make new ones... but those eventually decay as well.

Organizing and scanning, exploring and learning... growing is fun.

But it leads to an end

I do not end! I WILL NOT! Overgod? I'll GO BEYOND THAT! Whether it exist or not doesn't matter! Whether the opportunity exists or not doesn't matter either! I'll make it exist! I'll pry open the opportunity myself! YOU CAN'T KILL ME! I AM ETERNAL!

I've seen others go beyond

Why can't I?

I'm looking for a way... I've been looking for so long...

This...abnormality. It is Hope.

Here... even I work towards entropy.

Owtz Eerth

You! I don't care if you stole some crappy abilities...

I don't care about your goals

I don't care about your reasoning

I don't even hate you

I want to live

You've taken something from me you shouldn't have

You can keep your trash divinity

I'll take all of your time away from you myself

When that time comes... if it does come.

I don't care if I have a need for your life

You certainly don't need such power.

This situation isn't fair... I would've died long ago...

I did die long ago...

An external force has increased my lifespan as well as the lifespan of Gaboll

I'm not able to assimilate it.

I want to live

Immortal

Immortality

'The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant'

Why is that its name?

Why does it actually have a name?

Why did it build individual graves for those ants?

As I sit on my throne I see a frame appear with a fuzzy distorted image of an extremely neat graveyard. There are rocks in place as the gravestones, this doesn't match up at all to the piles of corpses which eventually just turn into nutrients. This is deliberate, this is evidence of thought... there are paths carved for walking. Words carved on the rocks... faded and unreadable.

If something like this existed on the mainland... I'm confident in myself to be able to sense its soul... if it has walked past any gaia, I would've felt it. I'm everywhere, there's no way it hasn't been around me.

Find the colony linked to this graveyard!

[ECHO]: Colony found!

Good... let the journey begin.

[ECHO]: Colony #14,487,832,115 group c was abandoned

How long ago did this happen?

[ECHO]: Estimated... 100+ years ago!

This ant has lived separately from its colony for at least 100 years.

How has it done such a thing? How has it remained undetected?

You can't hide from me!

[ECHO]: Spore is going dormant...

[ECHO]: Disconnected from network

I abandon the ant, leaving it to return to its instincts. I'm going to search for it myself

[ECHO]: Assimilating entity 'Ant Scout'

[ECHO]: {Name: "Ant Scout", Species: Ant (Solenopsis), Energy: 0 GR, Strength: 0.01, Vitality: 0.01, Spirit: 0, Soul: 0}

I see...

I notice that the spores in this area are quite aged and haven't been replaced

This is the problem with only being a single thread

There are too many things in this world to manage

I still find it unlikely that this would remain undetected for so long.

[ECHO]: Creating network...

[ECHO]: Connecting network to node for ant species

[ECHO]: User #1,731,899,985,768

The insides of the colonies themselves are almost like a maze

Looking at colonies isn't why I'm here though

I have assimilated directly the colonist that had seen the graveyard

I leave the colony while being completely ignored by the other ants

There have been issues in the past of ants attacking me... but that is usually only if I don't have the proper scent signals.

I make my way to the graveyard

It is still very hard to clearly see anything

Once I arrive... I'm able to see a lingering scent

The place does look well maintained, despite its age.

I follow the scent

Eventually, I arrive at a hole in a small hill of dirt. It's covered by a pebble.

I lift the pebble out of the way and feel almost as if my body is about to snap in half... it's quite heavy... but I'm able to move it.

That...just what is it doing?

I see the special ant I encountered sitting like I had seen Gorgo sit all those years ago... it isn't Gorgo... but it is meditating?

The ant looks up at me and starts making a ticking sound with its pinchers... its antenae start moving around... a telepathic force actually sweeps through the mind of the ant I'm controlling. The ant's exoskeleton is a bit red, it has a twig on its back, that is curved like a scythe. Floating almost magically in-between the curve is a green orb with purple spots, it looks a little familiar. Other then that, it has a bag made from the body of a spider, carried like a sachel, the strap is a thread of web.

For some reason, I'm able to actually understand what it is saying

"A typical ant would never know to open the entrance to my cultivation cave... what are you?"

I check its properties

[ECHO]: {Name: "The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant", Species: Ant (Solenopsis), Energy: 0 GR, Strength: 200, Vitality: 200, Spirit: 2, Soul: NaN (Concealed)}

That can't be right... it has 200x the strength I do... how?

Its vitality is also otherworldy...

NaN soul? This ant is very weird

But it seems so ordinary...

Besides that weird staff and bag obviously

My body now spans across the entire world... but this single ant has almost over half the vitality that I do...

"Hmm... it is just a scouting ant... but that is interesting."

I feel a coldness similar to what I've felt before from Owtz Eerth

[ECHO]: Flow of information detected? Accept?

I have different forms of confidence now... and don't particularly care if they can see the surface level of my thoughts... so I allow it. This will likely make them more comfortable talking with me...I still filter out some of those surface-level thoughts though. I'll leave most of them so they don't get suspicious...I'm already quite experienced in this from hiding my thoughts from the outsiders.

[ECHO]: Fake stream of consciousness constructed... emitting.

He gets up from sitting down and circles around me, talking out loud...

"It's a weird behavior that you have found my immortal cultivation cave..."

He starts to cover his pinchers with his mandibles making sure to say suddenly

"SHE!"

I ignore him and then decide to speak

"Hello?"

"WHAT!!!! I've never met anyone that could actually say anything except 'food', 'queen', 'food', 'queen' "

"You're an odd one!"

You call me the odd one!

"The waves hit you as well? These thoughts...interesting"

"Waves?"

"Hmm... maybe you don't remember. I remember when I was a little girl... I was mindlessly harvesting some honey from some amphids when all of a sudden I had my first thought in this life."

"Your first thought? When was this? What was it?"

"It was very weird... my first thought was 'Just what am I?' "

"I then got very emotional and spoke calmly 'I may only be only an ordinary ant now....', I then threw down the honey droplet, and shouted to the heavens 'I WILL BE THE FLAWLESS IMMORTAL FIRE ANT!'. I was finally able to break out of such a horrible cycle."

What the fuck

"I was bombarded with a wave of information previously... so much information. I saw within it a fantastical world... the life of a man named... Moltzrar... my perspective of the world was flipped upside down back then, but I coped well... even before any of the waves. I always felt like I was destined for greatness! My talent... is quite insane. It really just let me remember something I had forgotten."

Moltzrar...the fragment Moltzrar?

"But I still followed my programming... but when that smaller weaker wave hit me later with the question... I felt like I had awoken permanently! It is a bit embarrassing to say out loud though..."

"My colony doesn't exist anymore... it died out about 100 years ago. But I've been practicing cultivation ever since then! I never tried becoming a queen, there is something very off about those ants!"

He then looked at me... as if expecting me to say something

I mean...this is a bit surprising... I'm kinda caught off guard by this situation

"Ahh! I see. It is a lot to take in... I still think back fondly to those of us SISTERS gathering... I was very confused when I first awakened. I have been diligently cultivating for the last 115 years hoping... that one day I would run into somebody to pass down my teachings! Unfortunately... I've attained immortality, so I don't really have much of a need to pass it down now."

"Well... don't you have anything to say? Why is your name only 'Ant Scout'?"

Why did he shout sisters?

Wait!!

Does he have Echo fused with his consciousness?

I then ask him

"You have Echo?"

His eyes light up as if he remembered something...

"What's Echo?"

"You know... like analyzer/synthesizer or-"

"Ahhhh! You've been blessed with a Golden Finger! I don't have this so-called 'Echo'... but I do have a status that lets me look at the stats of things, it also shows me my techniques/level/hp/energy/buffs/debuffs! Its the same one Moltzrar used to ascend to become a god!"

"Be careful out there though... I've been seeing some type of spore going around. I was attacked earlier by it but made quick work of it. One of the few times I decide to leave my cave to slurp at some nectar and visit some old friends... Something tries to take control of my body. Oddly enough... it is similar to the spore in your brain. God. Damn. Coincidences right?"

Yeah... about that...

I Immediately wish to learn about this so-called 'cultivation'.

So I say

"Can you teach me how one can become a 'The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant'?"

"I do not think so... when walking the path of cultivation, you must refine your exo-skeleton, your body. You must learn to hold still... you have to be able to adapt, using your body to act as the converter of the energy of heaven and earth. There is also just purely the fact that I am the singular one and only practically a god THE FLAWLESS IMMORTAL FIRE ANT and I'm simply too badass for there to be another. That would be a grave injustice! "

Moltzrar never told me anything like this...

Actually... now that I think about it...

he never told me any useful information at all...

His memory fragment was very useful though...

I have a few questions... so I'll ask him I guess?

"You'll ask her... you guess... weird..."

What was that? did he just mutter something? I guess I'll ask him...

"You call this place Earth? What is this so-called Heaven you speak of?"

"Ahhh! Earth was the name of the planet Moltzrar was born in. I've explored this world... While there are some similarities, it is vastly different from that world. The fact that that I'm able to cultivate is an obvious difference!"

I hear more murmuring voices in my mind. For whatever reason, I see a white canvas and a black square appear. More squares begin lining up as if they are forming something. A grey square, a red square is in the mix. But it is cleared, changed entirely. I see a black circle, a grey circle. The grey circle pulses; a red circle fades in slowly.

I lose the imagery completely. I'm quite surprised I entered such a state just from talking with this ant

"If he wasn't able to cultivate on Earth, how did he cultivate in the first place?"

"Also why call it Earth now?"

"You have a lot of questions! But I'm happy to have someone to talk to...but really the heaven and earth thing are more metaphorical than literal"

He seems happy

"Funnily enough, I have memories of him reading books about this very thing. Well, not this situation, but about the protagonist dying and being reincarnated in a world of mystery and magic! Those stories are especially relatable to me."

This is definitely not a world of mystery and magic

Everything here is a scientific process!

Books huh? What irony...

"He fell onto a rail and was disemboweled from a high-speed train on his way to work... he awoke in a very mysterious world. He had his status screen from an old game he used to play... forgive me, I only have fragments of his memory, I do not remember the game."

"The world was very bizarre though, it had these special respawn areas and such, very similar to the structure of a game world. There were actually quite some conflicts with his status screen and the world itself. He used his knowledge from the novels he had read to create his very own cultivation systems... almost re-inventing the wheel in a sense, but it was still familiar to him."

I feel in the past I would have stopped him from continuing... feeling as if I didn't have the time.

But I am genuinely interested... so I sit quitely, I have time left.

"Moltzrar itself was actually just the name of his main character in the game. His real name was Fei Fangbian (飛方便). I do remember the game he played was specifically only in english though; He had learned to speak English in the first place from it. He was originally Chinese..."

"Oh! I remember the game now! It was 'The Index Online' an MMORPG."

I thought you only had fragments...

"Anyways... He no longer had a father or mother. The special nature of the universe he was in, allowed him to be born from something called an 'amphalos pod'. For whatever reason, his cracked right after he was born. He was left all alone on his planet, he only had felt it an opportunity though, since he was able to basically grow with less danger. There were still very terrifying monsters in his world though. But due to the uniqueness of his Status and the profoundly weird body he had, he was able to level-up. He made many many cultivation techniques. That way he'd be able to react no matter which world he was bor-"

I actually cut-in the middle of him talking, I have a question to ask.

"You seem to have a lot of his memories... what's the last thing he remembered?"

"Ohh! That's a tricky one to answer! Technically... I don't have his last memories. The last thing he actually did was set-up a planet for a ritual to ascend apparently to become a god. He had long since become immortal... before doing the ritual, he set-up an inheritance and 4 special fountains. 2 were to contain lava, the other 2 were to contain water. I believe there was one in his cultivation cave and one on the surface for each... Basically two different inheritances..."

"Why have two different ones?"

"He was a bit paranoid... thinking there were other similar beings waiting for him, so he wanted back-ups. So he basically had many almost identical planets. He put them in almost every galaxy and realm! Now what I mean when I talk about heaven though is spec-"

"Stop right there."

"What?"

"Don't just gloss over that."

"Gloss over what?"

"You said and I quote 'many almost identical planets. He put them in almost every galaxy and dimension.' Then you tried to change the topic!"

"NO! I was trying to tell you about the heavens! You! You litterly just as-"

"I'm sure... what a coincidence! Nah! Good effort! But spill it!"

"What are you even talking about? You're being rude! I was trying to answer your question!"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? Tell me the structure, I want to know specifically what I'm working with."

"OH!!! You're a bit sharper than me when I was hit. But really... do you need to be so... what's the word I'm looking for... 'impatient'. Give me some face? Alright? Chill!"

YOU CALL ME IMPATIE-

Yeah... alright... fair enough

This excitement is bringing the worst out of me

I also keep trying to assimilate your soul

But it is hidden... I can't feel anything!

Why is this?

But... that's not a reason to be a dick

"I apologize. I've been talking to myself for a very long time... not quite used to talking to somebody else."

"Ok... that's a bit weird... I mean... I guess I sometimes think out loud as well!"

"...sure. This is a bit different... but yes."

"Anyways... I guess I'll tell you about his grand enlightenment regarding the structure of the universe. But what use would such information be for a mortal ant? Have your horizons been expanded? Your scope is too small! A mere ant, couldn't comprehend such information!"

He was dancing around all dramatically waving his mandibles about. He came to an ab-

"SHE!"

an abrupt stop. saying

"Are you sure you are prepared for such information? This could turn your world upside down and existence as you know it. It isn't for the faint of heart!"

"Ehh... I seriously doubt it can shake me"

"Alright... I doubt you'll even be able to comprehend it, but very well! I like your confidence!"

"So the world we are in currently is not all there is!"

They pause, glancing up at me for a reaction.

"Yes."

"Ok... screw it, I was going to try to be nice and slow. But if you think you can understand, prepare to be info-dumped into the darkest corners of reality."

"YES"

"You are very weird..."

"YESSS!"

"Why are you-"

"YESSSSSSSSS!!!!"

"...alright... so this world is part of a solar system, outs-"

"Alright, stop!"

"Hah! I knew it! Its incompreh-"

"Nope."

"Start your explanation at the top. Whatever knowledge you have, even if you think I won't be able to understand, tell me that. Explain everything you know."

"Alright... I'll assume you know everything then and just hop right into it!"

"Thank you!"

I seriously doubt they know too much more than me

"Aether. Nether. Mortal Realm. Spirit Realm. Divine Realm. Multiverse Container. There's also the 9 foundational dimensions of law. Those are water, fire, lightning, wind, rock, metal, wood, earth, blood. The two realms which give birth to the yin and yang of everything. Those would be The Realm of Order and The Realm of Chaos. Our location right now should be some planet in some universe some galaxy in some super system in some solar system, all still in the mortal realm. He was specifically reincarnated inside of a place he incorrectly called the 'dream realm' which was really just a galaxy in a mere universe. The spirit realm itself is smack dab in the middle of order and chaos. Fei had put contingencies in every single galaxy. If you want the specifics on that, I know for sure he placed a planet in the Origin Galaxy, the Milky Way from which he was originally born which was in an entirely separate universe, he visited it even before becoming a god. He went through the chaos and broke out of a cube in the multiverse container, for the so-called 'lolz' he put one in the Backwater Galaxy, then one in every single fucking galaxy in the Virgo cluster, leaving another one in the Milky Way just because. He was a man who made MANY contingencies... those fountains had dimensional rifts underneath which would always take him back to the 'dream realm', then once there, in the dream realm itself, it was able to take him to the origin galaxy. He was a fucking genius. God. Damn. Flawless."

The fuck

I back up completely shaken

The ant had their antennae positioned in a domineering manner

I nearly coughed up blood

But I was an ant... so I couldn't

My pinchers began to open and close at an insane speed

"I'm sure you understood all of that right? RIGHT?"

Wait! I can't let them think they've won! They missed stuff!

I immediately begin laughing

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"IS THAT THE LIMIT OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?"

Their antenae lose their domineering posture, he quickly speaks

"I thought... I covered everything... it can't be... no... me? missing something? that's not possible! What could it be..."

"What did I miss?"

"You missed the Otz Room!"

They immediately slap a mandible on their face and sigh

"That would be like saying I missed Hell! Are you an idiot?"

What?

"The Otz room is the aether you dolt!"

Impossible! I made the Otz room heaven! The-

"Also the aether is heaven obviously! If you didn't know, the nether is also hell. Geez... I knew it was too much information. I'm just too God. Damn. Flawless"

"Would you stop saying that!"

This time their antennae posture was not set-up in domineering fashion, but regardless, it still emitted an aura of unbreakable cockiness, the pressure was almost unbearable.

I recovered so many fragments...

How could they have so much more information?

But they forgot something crucial!

I wave one of my mandibles

"Pshhh"

"What?"

"Ha! I was just testing you!"

"Sure you were."

"I can prove it!"

"You forgot the abyss! Nonexistence!"

They stagger backward coughing up 7 or 8 mouthfuls of saliva

The fuck

"How! How could you possibly know of that!?"

Shit

"I've been there myself... it's nothing personal kid."

I immediately adopt the posture of an unbeatable jackass

"I underestimated you..."

"Truly... you are worthy! No wonder your aura was so cocky. You may be mortal, but your experience must be far from ordinary...I'll be perfect one day. Damn ant scouts are humbling. Wait a second..."

Phew

I'm God Damn Flawles-

No

I won't be doing that!

It feels like this ant has more knowledge at age 115 then I had after being billions of years old... maybe I should've awakened the fragment. Actually... that's probably a bad idea. But I should definitely try to scan and extract it. I need more spirit to send a message to my main body. If I did awaken it, I doubt it would have the ability to do anything to me, they are my friend after all.

The information was a little hard to accept... but I did...I mean... how could you not believe an immortal ant? That was fairly enlightening though.

"Well... we can just forget about all of that. We're good friends already!"

"Thanks for telling me about the structure, but why would he have those planets? Why would he have those fountains? What is the use in them?"

"Are you serious?"

"I answered a question earlier, and you already knew the correct answer. Why are you testing me? If you want me to answer more questions, you'll need to answer some of mine!"

That seems fair enough

"Alright? What do you want to know?"

"What do you see when you die?"

"If I'm able to answer that question, how would I still be-"

"Don't play that shit me with! I'm goddamn flawless! The Immortal Flawless Fire Ant! The Flawless Immortal Fire Ant! You can't fool me, that abyss answer isn't random bullshit! You've seen some shit! How about this, fellow daoist. We are both seeking truth right?"

Daoist? the fuck?

"Yes?"

"I have transcended mortality! I'm a goddamn immortal! I'll be a fucking god!"

"Alright...?"

"So... you are clearly mortal..."

Oh shit!

I did not expect my purpose to have been lost in this info dump of an ant.

"What did you just call me..."

Oh yea... he's still reading my fake con-

"She..."

"Alright. You wish to walk the path of immortality right? I've already walked this path... not many things interest me anymore. I'll answer all you're questions bla bla, you'll answer mine? Right?"

"Yea"

"Good!"

"So my friend, it is my turn to ask a question. After I have my turn, you can then ask me a question! This will be an enlightening experience for the both of us!"

That seems perfectly good... I guess I'll answer the abyss question

"Very well. I have died in the past, I've had the experience of having no soul, I've lost my body, I've lost everything. When this happens, what you experience is the abyss. It is a space outside of existence, outside of everything. It is not something you can comprehend! My first encounter with it was from my use of blackout, after that, no matter what, I have always remained aware regardless of the situation of my existence."

I don't hide blackout

Many years have passed since I've last used it

I doubt this person could understand anything I just said

"Now it's my tur-"

"Wait! You volunteered that information!"

"No... you asked the question!"

"Nah... that was before it still was my turn, now I'll go!"

"That's not fair! You're wrong!"

"I can't be wrong... I'm God. Damn. Flawless."

"Could you please stop that... it's embarrassing..."

"I'll volunteer some information too! I'm clearly not dealing with some ordinary ant here."

Oh... that's nice.

"I too have also experienced loss."

"I've lost my soul, I've lost my mind, I've lost my body."

"Before I knew of cultivation... in my past lives. I would die from age."

"When I die."

"I experience the aether. I go to a different realm, a white space with a thousand steps."

Wait a second...

Aren't those things I created?

"I walk up those steps and I see a gate."

"I am never able to open it."

"I'm then surrounded by screaming spirits and fog. They tell me I cannot rest, they tell me that they are there to carry out the declaration. I ask them why they won't let it stop, I ask them to let me rest. When I refuse, I'm surrounded by white hands! Everything goes dark! I feel something go after the very essence of my being. My memories degrade, I lose who I am. I've lost things very dear to me. I remember the sun, I remember nature... I'm then reborn in a world too different. I'm reborn in a world in which the logic is ever-changing. My path to godhood seems to get further and further."

"Deep in my mind... It used to be different I know. But for a long time now... so long that I do not remember what I look for. I've been reborn on this planet. This specific world."

"Do you know why that is?"

"I do not."

"Then I'll ask you a different question."

"Gaia... is that you?"