《Overlap》Chapter 137: Worlds Beyond Worlds
Advertisement
What does it mean to live in a world beyond worlds? If somebody asked you this point-blank, could you answer this question, or another just like it?
"I'm serious. I've been making small mention of what you said earlier to my sisters, and now I have to know what this is all about Reed."
"We don't have to know anything to be happy, but I suppose there is not too much wrong with satisfying some curiosity."
"Quit being smug and answer the question. What does it mean to have a world beyond worlds?"
"Exactly as it sounds." By now, I knew what kind of evening we were going to have. Last month, I let onto Lumina that I was aware of something called Enclosed Space, and now she wants to know how it all ties in. Of course, I do have many of the answers now, after having long enough to mediate on them. That split-second feeling I experienced before can be mistaken for nothing other its true source; love. "A world beyond another world represents a level of fundamental existence which sits higher in evolutionary makeup and of awareness to its predecessor design. A world of lower evolutionary data would have the potential to be considered as Enclosed Space."
"What does that mean? Are you saying you and I are both in Enclosed Space right now?"
Daunting and freaky as that possibility would turn out, I was still certain we were not in enclosed space. "I doubt it, but the possibility cannot technically be ruled out. We might be inside of Enclosed Space, you and I both, brought into existence and this world from another soul of the higher ascension level, and furthermore, may their entire higher existence be part of an even greater level of Enclosed Space; the infinite inception. While possible, it isn't likely. What it does represent however, is that in a universe with infinite possibility, there is also infinite power within us all, less we define and limit ourselves to what we are merely capable of understanding in our feeling."
"Drop the Einstein talk and start making sense. You keep saying data, as if that is an important key word."
"That's because it is an important phrase. Information! Knowledge! Awareness... Data. All of these words mean the same thing, more or less. I've found out that the very principle building blocks of all existence is in fact, information. As such, this information can be defined by many specific sequences of data in multiple tiers of dimensional existence; a separation layer of evolution, if you will."
"So, everything is made up of data?"
"Yes. It should not be confused exclusively with digital and binary data. Both are parts of the bigger equation, but information, whether digital or not is still information. Without it, nothing would exist at all. Our entire universe is here not merely because we observe it so, but because the vast and endless streams of information around us, including ourselves, are part of the same system. All of it connects in one way or another, together and separate at the same time, like being one that is all, and all that is one. I'm not trying to make this sound like a big riddle, but I know of no other way to describe it to you."
"Sounds like you're sure though."
"It means everything Lumina. The revelation that I had yet to come to was to understand that all things are in essence, data and information, including all energy, all non-physical forces, even something like our thoughts and our imagination. Everything exists! I was thinking about it in the wrong fashion; that which we separate as mere thoughts is considered the opposite of reality, but reality itself was the wrong angle. Information was the key."
Advertisement
"And meditating got you this answer?"
"Kind of..." How should I explain this part? I know Lumina won't leave it alone.
"It either did or didn't."
Going back to that moment in time, reminded me when and why all of this started. I know now what touched me that day, what force reached out from the world beyond our own, what force seeped into me. "My meditation was only a means to understand what I've already felt before, that day when I sensed it. I didn't understand what I felt for a long time, even though I knew it was totally amazing."
"It?"
"I didn't tell you this earlier, because I knew you were unlikely to believe a word I say from this point."
"I would never be that ironic... What did you sense? When?"
"It was many months back, more than a year I think. I was walking in evening with my music, as I normally would, and of course, you weren't with me that day. For just the smallest fraction of a second, I felt something incredible surge my soul. I didn't know what it was, but it took the attention of everything; my mind, my body, even my very essence. In that moment, I felt one with everything, literally, as if I could be anything, anywhere, any time. It felt so powerful, but also so loving. Somehow, there was some kind of love and care mixed in with it all, and now I know why."
"... Go on. I promise, whatever it is, I can handle it."
"That force which reached out to touch me, was the energy extended from an angel, an angle of love, right from the source of the A5E."
"An angle? Like, a real angel? Are you sure?" The confused excitement in her voice was something I could detect. I don't think it made her happy to hear my words, but she didn't find them too hard to believe, going off her tone.
"Yes. I'm not talking about a biblical angel Lumina, rather a real one. And yes, I'm sure that this is what I felt. That energy and information from the A5E seeped into my brain, and I had merely needed time to decode its meaning. It wasn't something I could do with logic, only something I could do with feeling."
"What is a real angel anyway?"
"They're just like us; they were people once. Heck, they might even possess the capability to quit their role at will for all I know. Souls of the A5E, who have long transcended our physical world, spend their time observing all we are and all that we will go through in the scopes of time. They cannot directly interfere with us; they cannot do anything for us in any direct manner, until we join them in the A5E ourselves. Even so, while rare, some souls of the A5E spend their time exclusively watching over every soul with immeasurable love and care, sympathizing for us, wishing for us, loving everything about who we are, even in times when nobody else will love us. They do it for every living soul; no one is exclusive."
"That's crazy... You felt an angel? Or her love rather? Wait a moment. Every living soul? What about heathens?"
"I have to be honest with you on this one Lumina. What you and I think about heathens is no longer relevant to the bigger picture. The sense of justice itself is only an integral part of physical existence, and a limited one at that; thus, it does not apply to the A5E. In addition, regardless of what you think about heathens, angels of love do not exclude any particular soul from their embrace. I surmise, with such immeasurable love and an inability to directly interfere, they are likely more sad than they are happy, though still stuck in the ways of what they want to do."
Advertisement
I knew what I was saying was hard for anyone to swallow; it even sounds crazy to myself, but I am certain. There is so much information flying through my head and my heart; it wasn't randomly generated by my own imagination. This really is a piece of the ultimate afterlife, and only a tiny fraction of what data there is to be understood at that; less than 0.1%.
"So you're saying, it isn't in you to hate heathens?"
"I'm saying, that even should such a feeling resurface in me, it would be irrelevant to the process of strengthen my own soul, as it would be for you. I know you've made some progress over time, getting over what happened, and putting more productive and positive feelings above the negative. Lumina? You have the right to let a fire of vengeance burn in your heart if you want to. You aren't ever in the wrong to feel that way about a particular type of person... But think back for a while, and tell me... Does something of that nature seem like it would be a key component to an integral system of ethereal ascension, in other words, a critical component of the soul?"
"I... Hm... This is a first. I've been alive for countless years, but this time, I can barely understand what you're saying at all. How in the world did you become so put together like this?"
"Ironically, all I had to do was let myself feel what was beyond this world. I was scared to at first, but when I felt the love of that A5E soul touch me, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore. The world of the A5E is too incredible to ignore; it's far more expansive and infinitely amazing than this rock. I have not become more intelligent Lumina. All I did was become more aware."
"I see... So these are not ideas that came to you. Instead, they manifested from something you felt about a year ago, some force or signal from the sky?"
"Correct, and rest assured, I don't think this is from some weird kind of purge. Whatever this is transcends far beyond psionics as well."
"That's incredible. And you didn't feel anything else sense?"
"No, but I think that's because I didn't need to. This small push in the right direction was all I needed. I was already on the verge of a new awakening."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but... I've been thinking about this for a while, coming to my own conclusion as you yourself requested of me."
"And?"
"I don't know why, but I'm starting to believe you. Yeah, I get it. I love and trust my husband; I'm doing my best not to be biased about what I believe in for the afterlife."
"Take all the time you need Lumina. I don't need you to believe me, but I wanted you to know what was happening."
"I bet your insane Christian parents would not be too happy."
"Happy or not, I don't care. Nobody will force me to match my beliefs with theirs just because they say so. And yeah, I did leave Christianity without ever looking back. But you want to know something Lumina? I didn't leave the faith because I was never able to be certain."
"I thought before, you said it wasn't matching up."
"It never did, but all of that only made me question things more, becoming more agnostic. What actually drove me away was all of the horror truths that came out later, countless stories I kept hearing, which I did confirm to be true by the way, of people being served intolerance who diverted their own path. It happened to me too you know. That day, when I had to quickly choose between accepting Zero for her embrace to homosexuality, or to cut off all association and tolerance to her personal beliefs; that was the moment I left the faith for good. The core behind that was not merely homosexuality, but in the idea of freedom and tolerance itself. They claim to be tolerant, but the exact opposite is true instead."
"This much I know."
"Even my own mother, who knows I'm a good person, who knows I would never hurt anybody willingly, deems me a person destined to burn in hell, all simply because I don't follow her faith." My mother has known about my choice to leave the faith for years now, but recently, she's gotten crazier about pestering me to get back into it, which funnily enough only reaffirms how right I am. She refuses to tolerate my choice in the matter, confirming her belief to be nothing more than religion, bordering on the lines of a sick cult. She says she tolerates my choices, but her actions speak much louder in her constant, passive aggressive actions to force that culture into my face in every chance she gets. This too is now another reason why we are no longer close. Lumina might have started off being totally uncertain, but I know down to the depth of my very soul, if she herself were of any faith, she would never-ever chastise me for coming to my own conclusion about it.
It says more about people than it does with holy texts anyway, though I've read that dark book, and in no uncertain terms does it permit an inch of deviation from faith in Jesus Christ, as a means, an only means to reach Heaven.
I mean no religious person any offense, ever. We all have the right to feel what we want to feel, to believe what we want to believe; nobody, not even God himself has a right to force that belief upon us, less it remove the very essence of freewill, and vanquish all that makes us unique enough to qualify as a soul.
I don't think like they do. I know that the A5E is real, whatever we call it mattering not. All of us will reach its ethereal plane, no matter what we believe in the end. None have to follow a set of arbitrary rules and guidelines to qualify for the end, and in this instance, the tolerance is infinite, as all are welcome. As for bad guys, well, I know it isn't my place to say; that's where I leave it; I don't know, and I'm happy enough not to care. I won't let any hatred distract and hold me back from this. Even so, all of us should try and strengthen ourselves in all aspects, mind, body, and soul! Only then will we rejoice most in the power that we ourselves have.
God may have put us here, brought this universe into existence, and given us the power to exist too. It doesn't mean we are slaves, nor does it mean we have no power of our own. Of course, when I say that, it almost implies something bad about God, though I mean nothing of the sort. I still believe that God set the beginning into motion, to never interfere with us afterwards; and that the reason for doing so was merely a love for the creation that would be. In the end, accepting that without being certain matters not for where we shall end up; it isn't a core requirement to ascend higher, to become better. Doesn't that sound like a better system than all we have heard so far? It may not change anyone's mind, nor might it sway the views of those already invested in their current beliefs. It's okay. It will be good enough for me... And I think, Lumina is privy to the idea herself too.
"Your mother should accept all that you are, including me... I'm sorry I got mad at you in the past by the way, whenever you and her didn't get along. I see now why you've grown apart from her."
"It's okay Lumina. I understand it all. Besides, there's no need to think of it as if your mother is gone. She's one of the A5E souls herself. Yeah, I never met her or anything, but the point is, she's still alive; everyone who has ever passed is still alive in that plane, with amazing abilities, the ability to observe everything at once including us, and also the abilities to invoke personal Enclosed Space."
"How does Enclosed Space work anyway?"
"It would be a kind of world simulated, started from one or more souls at once. Once completed, only the creators of that world, and those invited to it from within, may enter. I don't know with certainty if new souls can be generated from within the Enclosed Space if given enough time and enough simulated vessels for containment."
"Wouldn't that make the creators of those souls gods themselves?!"
"Not really. They merely give new life a chance to exist from the depths of the power of A5E imagination. The bigger world still existed before that, from an even higher power."
"But what if that God is just another artificial simulated soul from an even higher existence?"
"Hah!" I finally had to laugh at the incredible possibility before me. "See now why I'm not too worried about it? Existence itself is infinite, eternal, and people like you and me are not going to meet our ends due to some stroke of bad luck. We will be together forever Lumina, in the A5E and then some."
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah. I'm honestly having a hard time keeping up with this much myself. It's a lot to understand, about how different data tiers separate to form infinity like that."
"I was just about to ask you about that. What exactly is AE data anyway? I think you skipped over that."
"Did I?" Hm, this might take longer to explain than I thought. I made my way over to the bench at the park under looking the vast sky above us, using its backdrop to fuel the energy to my previous thoughts and understanding. "Alright then. I'll explain this to you as well, but it will take a long time, and it won't be an easy explanation to grasp."
"That's normally my line. I can't believe you've become an expert in something that I'm not."
"It isn't a contest Lumina, but don't worry. I'm sure the day will come again when you get to publicly humiliate me some more."
"Yeah, that's the spirit."
"Anyway, as for that explanation about the AE Data Philosophy... Here goes."
Advertisement
Mage Among Superheroes
Turlough is a mage. He also happens to be an orc, generally lauded as being less intelligent than humans. He was unfortunately born with the Curse of the Barbarian, meaning that he can’t level up except through combat- which greatly hinders his ability to show he can be a proper mage. In a world with necromancers, dragons, invading armies, and all sorts of other monsters he would still be able to advance quickly, but unfortuantely… that world is not his world. An unprecedented peace reigns across the land, and in the last several decades there’s been little use for people capable of fighting- and thus little reason for people to fight him. So when he sees a portal in his master’s study he takes it, hoping to find a horde of demons or something equally foolish to combat at low level. But instead he ends up in a strange city full of skyscrapers and people running around in colorful outfits. Superheroes- and of course supervillains as well. What dangers and opportunities could await him in such a strange and unfamiliar world? Only time will tell. Inspired by many things in the superhero genre, and Super Minion specifically- though while the setting will share some standard elements, it is an original setting that will hopefully be as engaging as many of the other universes. Schedule: One chapter each Monday/Thursday, approx. 2000 words.
8 69Dungeon Master in a New World
Volume 1 complete.The most powerful person is not necessarily the smartest or the best. The most powerful person is the one who controls the smartest or the best.In an act of revenge for taking his beloved, Takuma destroys the capital city of Earth. But who is the one pulling the strings... and how many strings do they have?
8 66The Black Unicorn
The Sterile Queen Aveliene, the most feared of the legendary Wraithkillers, has been sent by her step-mother, the Eternal Elba, to look into rumors that the black unicorn has returned. After over a century of war, the Six Worlds lie in ruins, and an ill omen like the black unicorn appearing could mean that the troubles are still not over. A story set in the Six Worlds of Shtar, it takes place during the same time period as Echoes of War, but is a complete, stand-alone work.
8 132Choice: An Important Thing
Choice. An important thing is it not? We always make choices. Every day of every week of every month (of every year), we do “choices”. I want to show you how important it is and I would gladly welcome the attention. I heard somewhere that the best way to make someone understand is to just let them experience it, so, here’s your first choice. CHOICE 01 Would you play this game, or not? Take your time, I’m not waiting for the people who chooses the latter anyways.
8 231You Can Do It Chongyun! [School AU]
[COMPLETED ◌ March 16 2021](Warning, in this story both travelers have ships of both AmberxLumine, and DilucxAether. If you have a problem with such a minor part in the story please leave or ignore it. If you comment on it your comment will get deleted. Now, enjoy)Chongyun has a crush, and everyone except the one he has a crush on. His friends try to encourage Chongyun to ask Xingqiu out, but will he actually mange to do it? Valentine's Day will put this all to the test!
8 95KuroxReader (Another One)
You are Kuro's Eve. Do you think there's something going on between you and your SerVamp?
8 131