(Chaos, January 13th,2037, Day 377)

Right after Adaline left I received a mental request from her which I accepted.

Adaline: By the way, if you need to get in touch just use the spell I’m about to gift you. A tiny variation on Telepathy that allows you to contact me where or whenever I am based on our quantum decay. It’s pretty handy for not accidentally contacting someone before you contacted them before when they might be traveling back and forth across a timeline.

Adam: Sounds handy, send it on over

The spell form entered my mind and was quite easy to figure out. Now that I had it, I’d be able to contact her wherever she or I was.

Adaline: Got it?

Adam: Yep, I’ll contact you if I run into trouble, though we both know even if I run into trouble I’ll be back.

Adaline: There is that. Be careful anyway.

Adam: I always am.

I felt the equivalent of a mental snort then the mental link disengaged and I was once again in my estate in the mountains near Alamogordo in the Dyson Sphere I’d created. Since I was here I was earning experience at an accelerated rate. I’d already done the math and knew that I’d reach Demi-God level 6 at 382 days, rounded up, just 5 days from now and I’d reach….Wow, wait a second. I double-checked my personal interface and noticed that I was now a minor-God Level 1. How did that happen? I checked my notifications that had been minimized for quite a while and was surprised, yet delighted by what I found.

Congratulations! You stayed true to your purpose by removing the Syndicate’s influence from this section of the Cosmos. As such you are awarded the equivalent experience for allowing the natural development of all sentient creatures on those planets. Award: 2,719,170,000,000,000 Experience, converts to 2,719,170,000 Divinity Points. Also, you are automatically elevated by one full categorization.

Congratulations! You have reached Minor-God Level 1!

I did some quick math. If I’d kept leveling in this region of Chaos it would have taken 637 days to reach minor-God level 1. It looked like it would take another 1.9 years to reach level 2 and 18.9 years to reach level 10. Of Course, I didn’t plan to sit in Chaos for the next 19 years. So I was now a Minor God and I had responsibilities to live up to, though I don’t actually remember ever accepting the role of a God. I guess it didn’t matter.

First things first, I looked over the new Divine interface and wasn’t surprised at all by what I found. Lots of menus and submenus. When I reviewed the interface through my access points I was even able to find some notes. A note that I found particularly interesting was,

Note: Beings above Ascendant Level 10 are considered for the most part “Fundamental.” Any changes to them may only be made by beings of higher rank that also serve the same purpose or a purpose that is synergetic with the being’s purpose. Changes made by beings of higher levels are not subject to review and approval. Changes made by beings from synergistic purposes of a higher level must be reviewed and approved by either Harbingers of Change or ERROR.

So how the hell had Apolyn caused an unknown number of Divines to just suddenly disappear? I began researching the changelog. I made it all the way back to when I’d introduced my nanites, 1.91 E7457 years in the past, and expanded the timeline, zooming out. E10,000, Nothing. E50,000, Nothing. E100,000 and the changelog started populating again. I zoomed in and found entries by ERROR or “*” whoever they were. As I reviewed the changelog I noted that the entries were small changes to the base code that I’d reviewed in Universal and Cosmic Access Interfaces. A tweak here, a line of code changed there. Nothing major but quite a few. Like the cosmos and the universes within were being fine-tuned. At E100,001 the Changelog stopped. There were no further changes nor were there any records beyond that point. Logically, that was the beginning of the Cosmos. I reversed direction and started coming back towards the present and found what I was looking for at E99,999 a couple of years after the last changes that had been made by ERROR or “*”.

I’ll admit it took a little bit to find the entries as they’d been archived and “erased.” Further investigation showed that they hadn’t been adjusted by someone with access. Whatever spell or magic that had been used had also made sure to hide the evidence of the changes that had been made which had auto-archived the changes and then hid their entries. Unfortunately for the person casting the spell that changed everything in a system that records changes, there will always be evidence. I reviewed the changes that had been made and copied all of them for review.

One thing I was worried about. If I went that far back and changed everything back there would be a crazy amount of adjustments to the timeline. With as many permutations as my mind and nanites could contemplate and test all at once, even I was getting a slight headache thinking about what I could do to stop this without changing things. That’s when I realized I couldn’t. so long as someone else could modify what I was doing with ill intent, any change I could make would be thwarted. I had a temporary fix going with the packet I’d sent in the past. Every time it showed a change I auto-fixed it in the changelog. I was about to nip that in the butt. Every change that had been attempted had been on the Universal scale in Universe 001. I reviewed the most recent changes that had been removed, made sure I had the user ID then went into the Cosmic Access Interface and locked out all temporal travel to that user. Then I hit enter.

Adaline appeared next to me and asked, “Adam, what are you doing?”

“I’ve recorded an attempt to change the timeline by that user at least once a day since The Change. I repair it every time he tries but he keeps on trying to remove me from existence, which is then rewritten automatically because of the Ability I have. I figured I’d step it up a notch and help. Also, if I have to explain myself, the purpose of Power does not necessarily involve time travel, nor does the purpose of Natural Selection. Except that in the case of Natural Selection preventing someone from changing the natural order of the Universe would be returning the universe to its natural order. Obviously, a divine that had changed the timeline as they have repeatedly forced others to cease to exist or to be killed without a chance of survival has altered the natural universe…

“Adam, “ she said, cutting me off. “You’re good. I just needed to understand what you were doing.”

“Oh okay”

“I do have a question for you though, are you going to go back and change everything from the very beginning?” she asked.

“I thought about it. If I do that though things might change to a system I don’t recognize.”

“Well, yes. Everything and everyone that exists would cease to exist. Sort of like what happened in Crisis on Infinite Earth that you showed me on the CW network. Except, that the energy released would have to go somewhere.”

“I’m not so worried about the energy release as I am about all the souls released,” I said.

“Oh,” she said pausing then she said, “Oh!”

“Oh, what?” I asked.

“We never talked about souls when we discussed the creation of the alternate Universes did we?”

“No, we didn’t” I agreed.

“Well, it’s no great mystery. You remember your teachings about how all the Souls go to The Eye right?”

“Yeah, they go to The Eye and pass on into whatever comes next.”

“Yes and no,” she said. “Yes and no in that, All sentients are born with souls. At certain strengths, souls undergo a transformation. The soul of a frog, for instance, is not the same as the soul of a deer or a human.”

“Okay, that’s simple enough to follow, so what does The Eye have to do with it?” I asked.

“Well, you remember your teachings about reincarnation and that some of the religions believe that souls keep coming back until they’re strong enough to go to the next level? It would seem that those beliefs are at least partially correct. The Eye acts as both a filter and a gateway. Souls that are too weak are redirected back where they are needed throughout the cosmos automatically. Remember that souls can be defined as a group of memories with the will to hold themselves together and move on. Souls that are filtered in this way only have enough strength to hold themselves together long enough to be redirected into a new existence with no memory of their previous existence,” she said.

“What about sentients, creatures that have the will and drive to hold themselves together?” I asked

“ Normally in a cosmos with only one Universe the soul would be singular and The Eye would allow the soul to pass on. As this Universe is fractured, every soul created here that has duplicates is fractured as well. A great example would be yourself. You have already died a couple of times and been brought back. Each time you die a small portion of your soul’s heads to The Eye and is held there in stasis until your entire soul is there. Some beings are so strong that there will keeps them in the Universe long past their death. Also, anytime a new Universe duplicate is created and every being is copied and their soul is divided again. Do you remember that movie “The One” with Jet Li that we watched? It’s kind of like that except that the only singular soul that’s getting stronger is the one in the Eye and once it achieves 100% The Eye allows it to pass through. Resurrections bring that portion of the Soul out of The Eye if it’s still there. In the long past, some resurrections failed, not because the caster was too weak, but because the soul had already left the cosmos and was on its way elsewhere.”

“Do you know where the souls go?” I asked.

“No, though I believe my boss might. There’s no way to tell. I am here to try to keep the order of the cosmos and fix any major changes that happen. That is what I agreed to when I took this vow. I know that my alternates are living and dying in alternate copies of Primore even now and part of me is in The Eye, in stasis but this portion of my soul. The portion from 001 that met you, is now a Harbinger of Change.”

“So anything I do, even changing the far past, if allowed, and modifying the cosmos on such a grand scale wouldn’t affect a huge number of souls because in most cases they are duplicates.”

“That’s not exactly correct. There are going to be some sentients that are recreated that do not have the strength of will that you or I do. In those instances, each copy of them that would cease to exist would have different souls and each of those would travel to and pass through the eye. Haven’t you ever noticed that there are duplicates of each of us throughout the world and universes Such similar individuals are the reason for this phenomenon. They might someday combine and their will might make them strong enough to pass through The Eye or they might gain enough strength individually and pass through as separate individuals, there’s no way to be sure.”

“That part seems awfully complicated,” I said

“The soul is. Also, the rules that govern souls come from outside, or above the Cosmic Access Interface. The rules for the Eye are not accessible to anyone that resides within the cosmos, not even my boss.”

“So there’s another level to this?”

“Adam, you’ve known that since you learned about The Eye.

“True. So what do I do now”

“Well, removing Apolyn’s access is a good start. I would also suggest that you consider very carefully any changes you’re going to make going forward.”

“Any changes I make to Universe 001 affect all others right?”

“Yes, what are you thinking of doing?

“Nothing too drastic, just reverting the leveling progression back to something reasonable and also permanently limiting access to time travel. Maybe something like it was before when Temporal Nexus formed with major changes preventing backward movement through time past those points. Of course, the Primary Temporal Nexus would be right after I institute the changes”

“What are you going to do about Apolyn?” she asked.

“Is there a complaint department, you know a way to lodge complaints against other divines that get them reviewed with possible consequences?”

“That would be the Adjudication system.”

“I would think that those entities that have been archived or moved on through The Eye would like to Adjudicate what happened to them,” I said.

“They probably would, but they’re not around and won’t be unless a change is made that brings them all back.”

“I think I have a plan. Thanks for the info Adaline”

“Your welcome. I’m off, there’s a mage trying to travel into the far future, talk to you later.” She said as she teleported out.

The first thing I needed to do was know my enemy. I had my nanites infiltrate and copy all the information on his interface, specifically looking for his date of birth. Then I opened a temporal portal to that location, located the nanites that had already infiltrated him, and set them to monitor and record everything he did. I closed the portal and connected with the nanites that had recorded Apolyn’s life, downloaded the information, and sat back to go through it.

As I reviewed the information I found the moment I’d been looking for and immediately understood what had been going on and why I’d had problems identifying their origin. Now that I knew what I was looking for I had my nanites do a quick search through Universe 001 and found the person I was looking for in an estate near Alamogordo on the Earth in Universe 001. I teleported to the front door and knocked.

A moment later a younger version of myself answered the door and said, “Hello Adam, I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“What do I call you?” I asked as I looked into a copy of my own eyes.

“Johnathan’s fine for now.” He said.

“Well Johnathan, it’s nice to meet you finally, mind telling me what’s going on?”

“That’s simple really, I’m the version of you in this cosmos that originated on Earth in Universe 001”

“So this Earth is in the same Universe Primore is in?” I asked.

“Yes, I grew here too.”

“Then why don’t you have access to technology like I do?”

“Because we never developed it here. This Earth never developed nanites or anything more complicated than the steam engine. The planet wasn’t cultivated but we had Dungeon access and the Labyrinth even opened a portal onto the planet. To say life on my howe was trying would be an understatement.”

“But why give Apolyn a Soul Stone and show him how to earn experience that way. Also, why doesn’t he remember you? He’s been going out of his way to destroy every trace of me since he learned of my existence. Part of those efforts must have targeted you. “ I said.

“True but, he was ultimately trying to destroy you. Like you, I am also immune to paradox or targeting through time. I don’t know your history but mine was…exciting.”

“Then how could you let him muck this up so bad?”

“If you’re talking about the Syndicate and their cultivations, I had nothing to do with that.” He said

“Wait, you’re not Adaline’s boss?”

“Adaline, who’s that? Oh, you mean that Adaline, the Harbinger of Change? No, I don’t know her and I’m not her boss,” He said.

“Hold, on, if you’re not Adaline’s Boss who are you working with?”

“The Labyrinth of course”

“Wait, What?”

“Yep, I work for the Labyrinth. It would seem that the Labyrinth has a long memory, one that transcends space and time and remembers you, or me and Apolyn. I was told to give him the soul stone that jumpstarted his efforts into becoming a divine.”

“You know those efforts have created a lot of problems throughout the Cosmos right?” I asked.

“I have been made aware.”

“So why are you telling me all of this? If you’re working for the Labyrinth, I would think it would want to keep its role in anything that is about to happen hidden?”

“Two reasons, the first is that the changes you’ve made to the Syndicate will affect The Labyrinth going forward and it wanted to know if that was deliberate or accidental. If deliberate it wanted to know why, if accidental it wants to work with you to find a solution that benefits all parties. The second reason is simply it wanted to meet you.”

“But you’re me,” I said.

“Again, yes and no. It seems to think you remember it from a time before something called ‘The Change’ happened.”

“I remember it, of course. But aren’t there multiple Labyrinths all interconnected?” I asked.

“No, there is only one Labyrinth. It is vast, some would argue infinite, but there is only one. It connects here and there to various dungeons and Universes but there is only one that it, or I, know of.”

Another change, but this one made sense. No one was trying to change something about the Labyrinth so why would it duplicate itself? “Okay, so how do I meet the Labyrinth?”

“Simple really, step through this portal,” he said as he cast a spell and a portal appeared.

“Where does it go?”

“To the center of the Labyrinth, or more appropriately the center of its consciousness.”

“If this is a trap, 2 seconds later you die, I say to my alternate self.”

“I have no doubt, I’d say the same thing. It’s not a trap and the Labyrinth would like to speak with you.”

I looked from my alternate self to the portal and then stepped into it.