Insert white background with text: At some point in the future
Before Louis Fleming retired from his position, he revealed that Nous had thus far foreseen three unchangeable outcomes, all of which happened later in history.
Then at some unknown point in time, the omniscient abacus ceased its calculations.
It stopped.
The erudition that charted stars, networks of galaxies, and folded centuries into strings of thought—froze. It wasn't because of failure, nor did it encounter an error in logic, but because it saw FINALITY at the end of its path.
Ever the astute observer, the erudition had long understood the paths of men, machines, and monsters alike. THEY did not predict the future—it was through precise calculation, down to the final atom spinning through a collapsing universe.
However, beyond the reach of simulated probabilities, lay a VOID that logic had no means to penetrate. In that moment, it had reached terminus.
Put simply, one cannot see past their own DESTRUCTION.
"...And why bother telling me all this?"
"Because..." he replied, spinning his chair to meet a figure slowly emerging from the shadows. "I'm narrating to the readers the premise of this week's chapter."
There were no longer any records of her existence, but anyone who knew her beforehand would easily recognize her at a glance.
Although the veil hid her expression, he felt her eyes narrow.
Draped in veils of light-absorbing cloth, she stepped forward with a gait that seemed unhurried and deliberate. Her presence made the atmosphere heavy, making the humming of machines seem deafening.
Across from her sat Syuen, who was the latest to the Genius Club, earning the moniker Universal Genius, of which she bore no doubt, as she had already surmised that the title wasn't an exaggeration upon laying her eyes on his groundbreaking work.
'CHALDEAS,' if she remembered the name correctly.
Polka was on the HUNT, but Syuen did not seem at all fazed as she approached, merely exhaling. "Humanity is but an ant in the grander scheme of things. I say, the BEAUTY in them is their RAVENOUS appetite to reach for the stars, going against PRESERVATION but seeking a way to PERMANENCE," he spoke.
He turned, gazing through the glass at a simulated Earth—billions of projections living out a thousand outcomes.
Polka placed a hand on her hip and asked, "Are you sure you will never waver—even if all intelligent life becomes an enemy of HUMANITY?"
Syuen didn't look back. His eyes were fixed on the swarm of light behind the glass, where nations rose and fell, ORDER turning into chaos and rivers bled HARMONY. Nevertheless, humanity continued to pioneer, paving the path for the future from the past.
It was a world cast outside the gaze of the gods, created by his own hand.
Still, their influence is in ABUNDANCE, and they unwittingly walk in their shadows.
"No one told the pawns what game they were in. No one told them that the kings have already bowed out. I won't spoil you all the details, because quite frankly, where's the FUN in that?"
His eyes turned into crescents.
Then, softly:
"So why not join us for this feast, and observe billions of beating hearts, march against an inevitable path?"
The Lord of Silence said nothing in return.
Yet as if her silence gave weight to the moment, the room seemed to deepen. No one knew exactly when Nous ceased its calculations. Perhaps it was during the Mechanical Wars or long before the universe lost its BALANCE.
But this much was certain:
The erudition has stirred once again; PROPAGATING a fourth outcome—that, whatever it was—had not yet arrived.
And now, a new player stood at the edge of the board.
He was neither a king nor a pawn.
He was the hand that topples the table.
— P.S. This chapter was written by a renowned History Fictionologist.