Cosmonogic

Chp. 13: Final Quest

All that Rake was able to see was blinding light once he reached his destination. A singular dot emerged from the multitude of stars surrounding him; the dot soon multiplied endlessly until blackness was all he could perceive. It soon became apparent that he was being surrounded by a hive of Mimics so dense that they blocked out everything, leaving him in a circular despair of gloom.

Dawnblade was more like a whip than a sword now. Her energy binded each silver shard loosely where it was once located; Rake soon took advantage of this looseness and slung Dawnblade around across his endless array of assailants. It hardly made a dent.

Rake erupted sending surges of red lightning across each of the Mimics. The fiery show that followed was phenomenal. Still, once it died down it was as if he were surrounded by the exact same number.

One particular Mimic approached much faster than the rest. It soon became apparent that it was Beetle himself. The swarm halted, and the two of them levitated in open space surrounded by a sphere of hivemind.

"Explain," Beetle stated simply. The raspiness in his voice was ever-present.

Rake was beyond words. In his mind, Beetle killed his brother. Dreamsight caused the scene to repeat over and over in his mind.

"You have new power," Beetle observed. "Interesting sword there," he added on.

Rake lashed out with Dawnblade. She wrapped around Beetle's neck; the surges of electricity that she sent down his armor caused him to shriek in pain.

Suddenly, Beetle ceased his screaming. The true version of himself lost its complexity and reverted into a simple Mimic.

The rest of the Mimics began closing in once more.

"Coward!" Rake shouted. His eyes burned red, a tribute to the fraction of Sydni's power still residing within him. He manipulated gravity, forcing each of the Mimics in on themselves. Still, they were endless. Every time he imploded a group, more appeared. They continued growing closer, until they stopped just before him. The sphere was now barely large enough to contain his body.

"Ready to talk?" the complexity of Beetle's real self returned to one of the Mimics staring him in the face.

"You killed my brother," Rake seethed. He shoved Dawnblade up Beetle's face, who merely swapped to a nearby Mimic.

"I will not hesitate to kill you as well, as soon as I recall the memory of actually murdering your kin," Beetle spoke with a certain distaste.

"You murderous coward!" Rake soon found himself encased in a solid green light. It pulsed with energy, singing him each time he banged against it.

"I didn't kill your brother!" Beetle's hand shot through the barrier, grabbing Rake by the neck. "You, on the other hand, better start talking," he pressed his armored mug into the barrier as well. It was dark green with two thin purplish-black stripes running down the middle, a voicebox was equipped where his mouth should've been. The eye pieces were curved and pitch-black, making him out to be a twisted, technological terror.

Resisting the urge to pummel him, Rake snarled, "I saw you do it."

"How, exactly?" Beetle challenged.

"I picked up an artifact that let me see visions of the future in my dreams," Rake confessed. "I saw you do it," he uttered painfully, not knowing what to believe.

"Artifacts are viable to manipulation. Did they happen to be teal eyes" Beetle asked, apparently knowledgeable on the subject.

"Yes," he admitted. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Your memories didn't come back?" Beetle seemed confused.

"You know about Rakaro?" Rake returned to a maddening rage, banging against the barrier. Chains of green light restrained his arms and legs as Beetle dipped his face back into the barrier.

"I created Rakaro. He was meant to return your memories. It was difficult to pinpoint your location, so I placed Rakaro on your home planet. Believe me, it wasn't easy discovering where your new form originated," Beetle spoke in a less-raspy tone, borderline sympathetic even.

Rake stopped pulling against the chains, and allowed himself to levitate aimlessly. "How do I know what to believe?" he stammered.

"I have your memories, Caitlin. I started uploading them the second we got here, so that we wouldn't lose anything in our journey," Beetle entered the barrier with more of his body, the chains disappearing.

"Was any of this life real?" Tears streamed down Rake's face.

"Everything was real, Caitlin. Every person created in this world is just as complex as someone in the real world, your brother included," Beetle reassured her.

"Please stop calling me that," Rake choked. He didn't know what to believe. He didn't know whether he wanted to remember, or wanted to remain blissfully unaware that he was missing part of his apparently female life. It was probably too late for the latter.

"I wish that I could forget all this," Rake's wrists pressed against his forehead as he struggled to wrap his mind around it all.

"Please," Beetle pleaded with him. "I can't lose you again. I hate how making this world has caused so many of us to split apart. We were supposed to do it together."

"How many of us were there?" Rake wondered. Part of him wanted to hear Beetle out. After all, he did spare his life what seemed like just yesterday now.

"There were fifteen of us in the beginning. There are eight left now, nine now that you're alive." The barrier disappeared; the Mimics began dispersing.

What lay before Rake's eyes was astonishing. The planet had three massive volcanoes sticking out of it; each of them looked somehow similar to volcanic test tubes. The planet spun around, siphoning off energy from the stars surrounding them.

"I shouldn't be alive right now." Rake looked directly into one of the stars, suffering no pain from its glare.

"It's very clear that the power-transfer made it over. Rake, you're a Creator. You were literally one of the ones who made all of this possible," Beetle motioned to the cosmos surrounding them. "Please, let me give your memories back to you. I promise they won't override any of the new ones you've made."

"Fine," Rake relented. The prospect of being a god over this world seemed as terrifying as it was appealing.