Chapter 38: Black Hole

Everyone in this crowded, dirty street was a suspect but not yet guilty.

‘Your concern for murdering others, I understand,’ Pneuma acknowledged. ‘Your world was mostly at peace in your country. You have not known the brutality of war firsthand. Now you must come to grips with death daily. Knowing that the bosses of the instances are sentient beings kind of makes that more of a challenge. But you have so little influence over the Subsystem; you need to just focus on what you can control.’

‘My other concern we haven’t discussed yet,” Trint began, “where do we go to hide next? They have people that can travel to any iteration, and I have no idea where I can go? I feel like a cornered rabbit in a fenced-in yard, and no matter where I go, their dogs can track me down.’

‘Well, they won’t know where you travel when you hit a pool of ascension or if you want to stick to this iteration, they will be able to follow,’ Pneuma stated. ‘So a transport pool is out of the question. We can go up or down then transport from there to another city and try to lose them there. A group of vendors and merchants is coming up that seem to be intently scanning the crowd. Further up, there is a massive build-up of people, and they may be stopping people and causing the crowd to bottleneck and slow down.’

‘But we are getting closer to the transfer pools,’ Pneuma continued while Trint worked through the crowd. ‘We need to work around them and get to an ascension pool. Find one that you arrived from and see if your privileges let you go back down. We should get you a merchant class if this doesn’t work. Maybe a Sovereign merchant can do more crazy things.’

Trint considered those choices and plans. ‘Yeah, we should consider that for later.’ Trint made his decision. ‘Right now, I want to get to an ascension pool. Hopefully, they won’t guard that knowing how low my level is. Although now they know I am here and still under-leveled. They probably will block those too. Hopefully, they are just spread too thin.’

They worked their way through the crowd trying not to stand out. Trint hid in the crowd that was pushing towards the central district.

As they were nearing the center with its significant buildings and structures, Trint and Pneuma started seeing people that were clearly either very wealthy or were wearing gear from a higher iteration. The gear had prominent and sometimes glowing runes on the surface. The material for the metal armor was not basic. They began to see more and more of them. And as Pneuma and Trint started watching anyone who fit that description, a few began collapsing in formation following Trint. They maintained a reasonable distance, but as one, they began forming into units and first pairing up, then the pairs grouped into a v formation to wedge through the crowds. Trint currently had three such wedges following him. One on each side, approximately twenty feet over, and one directly behind. He would guess there were some on the side streets too, and he had to assume the worst.

‘They are waiting ahead,’ Pneuma confirmed what Trint feared. ‘They know or strongly suspect us. What do you want to do? It will get bloody, and a lot of this crowd will die if they start throwing attacks at us. If you fight back, you will kill some people or be less efficient against a stronger and more numerous enemy. You need to decide. Fight, Flight or surrender.’

Neither of them liked their options. But as Trint scanned the crowd, his thoughts lingered on the innocent people, and knowing they were likely to die; he almost was willing to surrender. The killing would be his fault, and he could prevent it.

‘I didn’t ask for this Pneuma,’ Trint’s conviction was strengthening, ‘But I can’t give up my family. I am even more curious why my new family just didn’t raise me to their iteration. Is this all a test? Are they manipulating me? Either way, test, manipulation, challenge, I don’t care. I can not surrender.’

‘Whether I want to or not, I’m with you, Trint,’ Pneuma affirmed his support, ‘I don’t know what happens to me if you are sent to restart. I have existed long enough to imagine I will continue with or without you. At this point, I want to stay with you. I have grown to understand and appreciate you, Trint. Your motivations, desires, growth as you prove yourself, and determination you never had in your old world.

‘You are worthy of respect,’ Pneuma challenged him to believe, and the more powerful you grow, the more your actions will have consequences. The more your influence grows, the more people you will impact. You can choose to maintain your identity or be swept up by your responsibilities. I will help you do whatever you want. In the end, I am a guide and partner, and I hope you will see me as a dear friend and family. When the time comes, I will explain my own goals and dreams. For now, I exist for yours. Let’s get out of here and try to minimize casualties. Remember, this isn’t your fault.’

Without a good response, Trint chose to act instead. The time for stealth was over, and it was time for speed. With everything Trint had, he silently but rapidly strengthened his body without transforming. He was able to add just a thin layer of Spirit as armor around his legs, torso, and arms, leaving his head unprotected under the hood he wore.

While adding this new armor set, he did what he could to make it not project any energy. It was akin to spiritually wrapping his arms around himself. Anyone with a strong Spirit vision shouldn’t be able to see the power he was using.

Trint made these changes in the course of a couple of steps down the street. As soon as Trint made the changes, he darted down an alley. Then using his Spirit, he formed claws to extend his hands and scaled the alley walls. Reaching the top of the roof, he spared a moment to glance back down the alley. That confirmed he was being followed but also gave his pursuers the moment they needed to see his escape route.

Trint ran from rooftop to rooftop. Pneuma updated Trint’s view with directions, feedback on pursuers’ known locations, and some suggestions for what might be needed at any given moment. They had progressed from Trint questioning every little thing and were now a coordinated team.

Trint and Pneuma were in harmony and making significant progress. They were weaving through districts and changing streets while crossing above buildings. The finish line and escape from the iteration were now in sight.

Neither Trint nor Pneuma expected things to be simple, but they were still caught off guard. Trint was crossing a gap between buildings in a single running jump, not losing stride, and suddenly a hand reached out of a window he was passing, and Trint instinctively slashed at it.

The shocking thing was that Trint drew no blood. The hand simply closed into a fist. Rather than find a door, the hand’s owner walked through the wall. Stepping through like it was no more substantial than a sand castle. They simply pushed through and dusted themselves off. Their density and power were on another level than anything Trint imagined.

‘Trint, this is bad,’ Pneuma sounded afraid for the first time. “Keep running, and don’t stop any exit from the iteration you see; take it.’

Suddenly, Trint was thrown from the roof and across several buildings. He would have landed in an open courtyard, but with the crowds, he flew into a few people and was stopped by another wall.

He was surprised and a little dazed. He never saw the hit, but it had come from behind him. Just as he put a hand down to stand back up, his hand was kicked out from under him. He had been looking and spiritually sensing the immediate vicinity, and he never saw movement until the moment the kick arrived.

Trint landed on his back. Finally, seeing a person phase into a physical form. Trint was looking up at a creature of beauty and power. There was a density to the Spirit this person possessed that was far beyond his own. There was also a pressure he had never felt. As he perceived this person, he realized that everyone in his sensing range had fallen. Some close to him, he could tell their hearts had stopped.

‘Trint, this is one situation I think you should try to negotiate,’ Pneuma was stone cold monotone. Like his strings had been cut, and he was not himself.

“Ah, finally,” The voice was male, but this person was closer to an angelic being in Trint’s eyes. They were not a strumming their harp kind of cherub but an archangel level of power and perfection.

“How may I help you?” Trint decided to feign courtesy. Despite being knocked a few blocks away and then kicked while he was down.

“Yes, courtesy is the currency of the powerful,” If everyone is forced to be kind to you, though, then you are the one in control,” The man lectured. “You know your mistake by now, I imagine, yes?”

“You should never attack someone from a higher iteration?” Trint guessed.

“You are less than this iteration’s minimum,” the attacker stated. “I show you as an under-leveled being even in i7?” He questioned the validity of his what he was seeing. “Well, no matter your level, you should know that mine is higher. My name will mean nothing to you, but you will learn it eventually. Do you know the difference in power between the Spirit Realm and the Ancient Realms?”

“Maybe you should ask that thing inside you,” the man said, “Your family always did have an issue with counting on their own power. I’m sure they gave you one of those worms.”

‘Pneuma, what is he talking about?’ Trint pried at Pneuma. ‘Why won’t you tell me what to do here? Any suggestions or strategies? Why did you clam up?’

‘Trint, it’s time to relax,’ Pneuma reassured. ‘This is not just a high-level soldier. That is an i2 Shade Slayer. They are the royalty of one of our family’s rivals. He is surely a Soul Master and Ancient Killer. The glowing tattoos on his neck indicate the people he has killed, and the ones on his bare arms are the number of people he rules.

’ But there are only three on his neck, and I count seven on his arms that I can sense.’ Trint was confused.

‘Trint, those each stand for a trillion. He has killed or reset over 3 trillion souls. And he rules at least 7 trillion. This isn’t a random soldier; this is the Blackhole. Nothing leaves his grasp. He crushes his enemies, and you either surrender, or he will just reset us.’ Pneuma had lost confidence in their hope of escape, and not any fault of theirs. The enemy standing before them was just about infinitely more powerful than them. There was no way to cheat this battle. Trint’s expression softened from anger to quiet resolve.

“Ah, I see you have a worm,” the man laughed. “It would have recognized me, yes? Then call me by my actual name, Baruch.”

“Alright, Baruch, what now?” Trint trusted that if Pneuma said to cooperate, he should do just that. He didn’t have to like this situation, but they would go along till they could get away.

“Yes, follow me. We are going home,” Baruch bent down and grabbed Trint by the neck. In his grip was a band that was like adhesive tape. But his skin started to burn as it stuck to the back of his neck. Like thousands of microscopic needles were injecting him, he felt something enter his Spirit.

Trint entered his Spirit plane. Looking around, a green fog was flooding the area. It rushed towards him like a tidal wave. But it crashed against his spherical cage. Somehow he was safe inside it for now. The fog was unable to get to him.

Trint focused back on his body. Baruch raised Trint, and Trint realized this man was over 8 feet tall. And he lifted Trint like he was holding a can of soup. But Trint’s head might snap off his body if he chose to squeeze more. Trint now dangled from Baruch’s giant hand, held out in front of him. Baruch decided to hold Trint by the back of the neck like a farmer would a chicken to avoid getting pecked by the beak while on its way to slaughter. Maybe Baruch had some reason to beware of chicken.

Baruch walked in silence the remainder of the distance to the ascension pool. Elise’s forces and other separate groups were the only people standing in the distance. One unaware of who held Trint, rushed but unseen to everyone but Baruch; the person was crushed as if gravity imploded in their location then immediately exploded. Everyone near them was covered in gore, but they were unaffected by the gravitational attack. After that, no one moved forward. Elise signaled her people. They were the first to retreat, followed by the other groups.

“See Trint,” Baruch’s relaxed expression showed no remorse. Not even annoyance. “Power defines everything in the iterations. If you don’t have it, you are defined by those who do. That person was less than a bug to me. They will never ever be a threat to me in all time or existence. You will never, let me repeat, never be a threat. I won’t allow it. My power defines you as less, and my power will determine you stay that way.

“Let’s go, I hate the Spirit Realms, and it is your fault I’m here,” Baruch immediately appeared before the ascension pool. Trint felt like he had already ascended; the movement he just experienced as Baruch moved at full speed was tremendously disorienting.

’ Trint,’ Pneuma sounded apologetic, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get you strong enough or find a way out. I promise that I will find a way to get you home and to your wife and kids.”

‘Pneuma, stop’ Trint didn’t want to think about them, but now he couldn’t stop. His mind replayed his wedding, his first date with Cara, their silly humor and nicknames. It hurt too much.

‘I don’t blame you,’ Trint confided. ‘There will always be people who have power and shouldn’t. A system only works if the powerful people are also good. If I ever get the chance, I will change things and make sure people like Baruch are put in their place.’

‘You know I miss my family,’ Trint emotional was reeling. ‘I never thought I’d see them again, and since being here, I went crazy killing things and people. I just kept saying I’m doing this to get back to them. But I knew it would be an impossibly long time before I saw them. But I was convinced that if I kept going, I would eventually get to them. Now I see it was next to impossible.

‘Still, if there is any chance, I will never give up that I promise you, Pneuma. And I promise the entire system as my witness, on my family Name I swear I will see them no matter what, I will kill anything and sacrifice whatever I have to to get to them. Even if it means I lose myself, my identity, my sanity, my everything. I stake my soul on it.’

“I knew you might have some surprises,” Baruch smiled an amused smirk as he continued to hold Trint out at arm’s length. Trint’s body was glowing like he was radioactive. His body was producing a fantastic amount of light and energy.

“Why make a named system contract right now?” Baruch asked. “Care to tell me what you just wagered with the system?”

“No,” was all Trint said. Conviction now locked as if the system had added the enormity of the iterations to his resolve. As if even the man holding him like a doll was nothing more than a hill to climb to see his family.

“Fine. System, return trip to my last location in i2,” Baruch directed.

Trint saw Baruch start to phase away, and at that moment, they both knew things did not go as Baruch had requested. In the nearly frozen moment, before he disappeared, shock and anger were evident in Baruch’s dark eyes.

Sovereign Status Acknowledged

Sovereign Privileges allow the following access:

Ascension to i2 as requested

Ascension to i6

Return to lower iterations: you may choose one of the following:

i8

i9

Additional Sovereign Privileges available at this time:

Subsystem Access Granted:

Travel to Subsystem

Warning: There are no returns to the system without System Administration privileges.

Current status is not sufficient for return.

Please select your destination:

Choose an iteration

Remain in the current iteration

Travel to Subsystem

Trint was not a gambling man. He was out of the game. He quit after losing too much money at Texas hold ’em. But this was a gamble no matter what he chose. He decided to go with what his instincts said.

“Let’s go!” Trint’s conviction was like a tectonic plate.

He might move, but he knew he would not be stopped when the world pushed back at him. He would cause ripples in any iteration he touched. With his own determination and the system reinforced resolve, Trint selected;

Travel to Subsystem: Selected

Then he was gone.

End Book 1: Sovereign Cipher