Pel expected a violent experience. And it wasn't an unfounded expectation. First, this region of space was chaotic from the outside, accepting no intervention and not being a place someone could survive. And second, he could feel its nature. It was like an eternal storm as it persisted through the eons.

Yet, walking in, Pel got sucked into a relaxed state and lost control of his free will. His mind fogged as all his resistance dissipated. All his power was meaningless when all this chaotic energy chained him. Even his visions stopped completely, and the future became unknown.

Stuck, Pel had no free will.

The seer experienced every moment but could not move on his own or make a conclusive thought. Although he could see and feel his surroundings, Pel couldn't judge them. He could only observe this sea washing him away while it tried to shape his surroundings.

And it took a while. Pel's conflicted mind seemed to affect these chaotic phenomena. However, his surroundings eventually calmed down and solidified into a clear picture, showing Pel something he wanted the most.

Standing there, he began to see the image of his dying friend.

The washing sea revealed Higgs' decaying appearance. It also reshaped itself immediately but kept adjusting the experience as if it kept falling to draw Higgs in.

Ben remained there, unmoving.

And despite not thinking about it, Pel knew why. At that stage, Higgs held onto only a single memory, going as far as dissipating the fake imprints that gave him context.

Did he know it? Pel couldn't ask himself, but he wouldn't have been surprised, either. He would instead remain like this, staring.

Pel watched the chaos unwillingly reshape itself into the single memory Ben held. He observed the chaos slowly calming down due to the lack of options. And most interesting, he stared at Ben, who looked around confused and had his refined soul slowly dripping through his pores.

Unknowingly, the bowl in Pel's hands also became empty, but he didn't care about this detail and focused instead on his friend. And he smiled when Higgs finally responded to his surroundings.

Ben stared ahead as an interstellar probe slowly floated toward him. He wanted to say its name, but his mouth couldn't make a sound. Ben was overwhelmed by this feeling, as familiar as the probe itself. This overwhelming stuckness from being locked in a dream while being merely half-conscious.

When the probe arrived by his feet, Higgs extended his hand, stopping it. He then looked at it attentively, walking around it, crouching by one of its sides, and eventually removing a golden record from it. Although his eyes were unfocused, Ben acted without hesitation, and the probe, as if understanding his intent, reshaped itself.

By the time Ben Higgs placed the gold record on the improvised player, the refined soul leakage had already contaminated it. Blobs of deep black matter kept dripping into it, but Ben didn't react and just played it. As the needle ignored everything as it caressed the record, the sounds filled the surroundings in a magical form. And Ben stayed there, crouching, staring at the record spinning, listening.

The greetings.

The sounds.

The music.

Nostalgia and tears flowed from Higgs' face, dropping into the golden record. While at the side, Pel merely observed every one of his friend reaction.

By the time that needle played that one disk to completion, Higgs seal had fully broken off. And as a result, the single memory that Ben had hidden deep inside his seal began to burn.

Immediately, the surrounding changed, and they found themselves inside a hospital room.

Pel was by the window, and Ben lay on the bed.

The probe floated above the young Philip, the golden record still in his hand.

The kid looked at it. But in his eyes, the reflection showed something else; a notebook playing a video while in fullscreen.

The record vibrated, emitting new sounds, while Pel stared at the kid's glowing eyes.

- 1977

- NASA LAUNCHES VOYAGER I & II

- TWIN PROBES BOUND FOR INTERSTELLAR SPACE

Due to Pel's incredible sense, he could see the video that was supposed to be playing in front of Philip. And he could hear the golden record faking the sounds perfectly.

A rocket.

Space.

A song.

A somewhat silly memory of a remix of the original sounds they heard from the golden record not long ago.

A few minutes later, the video stopped, and Philip turned and stared at the ceiling. He extended his arm upward and began closing and opening his hand.

"Hello," Philip spoke, the sound breaking the last layer of illusions.

The hospital room disappeared, and they found themselves again in this vast emptiness. However, something changed, and one of Higgs' eyes focused again. He looked at the record carefully before caressing it and putting it back.

The surroundings noticed the anomaly, so the chaotic nature began a storm again. However, a small bubble formed around Ben, protecting him until he stood up and pushed the interstellar probe away.

But as the object floated away through the storm, it again overwhelmed Higgs and tried to drown him.

Yet, nothing.

The chaos had no control over Higgs.

Standing there, he looked around and whispered, "That's not it, either." Then, he crouched down slightly and tried to jump. Although his body didn't move as he remained stuck to the ground until the end, he disappeared.

Being left alone, Pel looked around.

Standing there, he began to see the image of his dying friend.

The washing sea revealed Higgs' decaying appearance. It also reshaped itself immediately but kept adjusting the experience as if it kept falling to draw Higgs in.

Ben remained there, unmoving.

Stuck, Pel had no free will.

The greetings.

The sounds.

The music.

"Hello."

"That's not it, either."

Standing there, oddly stuck, smiling comfortably, enjoying his friend's consistency, Pel began to see the image of his dying friend.

---

The dimensional seed fell like a fruit, quickly reaching the ground formed by the roots of the massive tree. It then began to corrode the roots slowly.

But before it succeeded, a human appeared by it.

Their hair was so long it connected back to the stump as if they were roots, too.

"My brother's bet?" His groggy voice echoed.

He then looked up as his completely white eyes tried to pierce through the haze. Yet, despite hyper-focusing, he couldn't see it.

"You left?" He concluded, turning his eyes back to the black orb.

Energy spiraled around as he calculated the best approach.

Once he finished, his arm pointed at the seed, causing thin branches to sprout from the thick root making the floor.

An insane amount of thin lines grew toward the orb, but they dissipated whenever they got close to the sphere. However, since the objective wasn't to destroy the seed, the attacks focused on one side. And slowly but surely, the orb began to float again.

Once the ball left the indentation, the human sent it flying in a single attack. But it was no simple task. The energy needed to send the seed flying left an immense wound behind.

While the human disappeared back into the stump, the tree began to wilt. First, in the direction the orb flew, all the roots died. Then gradually, a third of the trunk's width and height withered, all the way up to the first branches that contained fruits.

As a result, this whole lower region became a wasteland.

Then, after some time, the few withered branches also fell to the ground, but for the tree, fortunately, the corroding seed was far away, and it wouldn't struggle, at least for now.

On the other side, the flying orb cut through almost everything. But it did slow down after every collision with a chaotic bubble. So, losing speed to the chaos, it eventually couldn't pass through one of the bubbles and stopped and floated there, unwavering, slowly corroding its surroundings.

And at first, the curious existences around didn't know what was happening, but its origin and the surrounding area gradually began being known as Heaven's Oddity, the disgusting soulless nest.