Pendulum

Divided by a geographical hemisphere, the Margite Empire and the Orgite Republic—both of the same species—shared one planet.

Each faction clung to one of either two diametrically opposed philosophies.

Margites accused the Orgites of savagery because they embraced conflict, debate, and diversity. The Orgites called the Margate brutish and thoughtless automatons, incapable of free-thought, holding onto eons of rigid dogmatism.

Over thousands of generations, global warfare nearly devastated the planet's surface and almost annihilated their entire species.

To save themselves, the two factions arranged a truce and created a game called Pendulum.

The victorious hemisphere, with the best technology, ruled as the galactic representative of their homeworld. The losing faction remained silent and vowed to develop a better tech to win at the next and only decisive battle for choosing a ruler.

Historically, the number of times either side won or lost—more or less—balanced out ...

The game itself played under a simple rule with one specific goal:

A pendulum hung centered in a circular chamber, held by a powerful superconductive magnetic force. Only the right amount of counter-force energy could make it swing. When the battle began, each side fought to move the pendulum against their opponent.

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On a Day of Choosing, both leaders set up their own equipment ...

The Orgite leader sat across from the Margite ruler and spoke, "Our newest technology harnesses the most powerful force in the universe. This time, you won't stand a chance!"

"We're well aware of what you've created," The Margite ruler smirked, "Ours is even better."

"Impossible," the Orgite scoffed, "No one knows our secret! Nothing is more powerful!"

The arena bell rang—both sides fired up their technologies ...

In a matter of femtoseconds, two tiny stabilized black holes spawned and immediately collided into one. Eventually, the one cosmic event transformed into a swirling supermassive blackhole.

It consumed everything within thousands of light-years.

A new galaxy formed—our own galaxy ...

Brought forth out of an ancestral struggle, a divisive nature of which we ourselves inherited.

At least, that's what the legends tell us.