At the core of Infinity by nothing existed a state known as the Convergence Hall. It was not a room. It had no walls, no ceiling, no floor.
It was a condition a synchronized compression of infinite forms into something that could perceive itself. When Hourons entered the Convergence Hall, they never appeared the same way twice.
Some manifested as humanoid silhouettes. Others as rotating equations, collapsing symbols, light lattices, or pressure fields that bent cognition itself.
These forms were not identities. They were concessions temporary shapes chosen only so communication could occur.
Today, the Hall was unusually still. Not because it was empty, but because everyone was listening.
At the center of alignment stood R1009. Where others allowed their manifestations to remain abstract, R1009 had chosen clarity.
Its presence was sharply defined. That choice alone drew attention.
"You continue to generate Mega-Omniverses every cycle," R1009 said.
Its voice simply appeared inside every Houron's awareness.
"But none of you are noticing what is happening beneath them."
S2006 adjusted its recursive layers a sign of mild curiosity. D8638 slowed its probability churn. C4920 stabilized its shifting identity states.
"What deviation?" D8638 asked.
R1009 expanded its presence. The Convergence Hall darkened then fractured then reassembled into a projection.
What appeared was not a universe. Not even a proto-omniverse. It was a forming place unstable, incomplete, vast beyond scale.
Dimensions overlapped without hierarchy. Time flowed forward, backward, sideways and sometimes not at all. Physical laws flickered, attempting to anchor themselves, and failing.
"This is not a Mega-Omniverse," R1009 stated, This is the stage before definition."
C4920 analyzed the projection,"Its scale exceeds known constructs."
"Correct," R1009 replied, "This place is not being built by any of us."
After a pause,"It is emerging."
Silence rippled across the Hall. Emergence was rare.
"Origin?" E1117 asked.
R1009 paused not in time, but in intent.
"Unknown."
The word caused measurable distortion. Unknown meant something the Hourons could not instantly overwrite. Something that resisted direct authorship.
"What are you proposing?" S2006 asked, its voice fractal and layered.
R1009 answered without hesitation,"Custodianship."
The projection shifted, revealing deeper layers regions where even Houron-level perception blurred.
"You wish to claim it as your Mega-Omniverse?" D8638 asked.
"No," R1009 said,"I wish to enter it."
That response carried weight.
"To enter," C4920 warned, "means compression. Limitation. Identity loss."
"To enter," E1117 added, "means memory fracture."
"To enter," S2006 concluded, "means exposure to irreversible termination."
"I'm aware and I accept that," R1009 said.
Hourons did not truly die under normal conditions. They dispersed, reassembled, and redefined themselves. But this place
this place did not obey normal conditions.
"If you die there," D8638 said, "your access will be severed."
"And the place?" C4920 asked.
R1009 looked directly into the projection.
"I have named it," R1009 said.
The Hall reacted. Naming was an act of authorship. The word settled into the structure like a seed.
"This place will be called Aether," R1009 continued,"Because it exists between states between meaning and absence."
The senior alignment layer activated. S2006, D8638, C4920, E1117 and others beyond numeric designation evaluated outcomes not in probability, but in consequence density.
"The request is granted," the Convergence declared. A condition followed.
"If R1009 perishes within Aether," S2006 announced,"custodial access will revert to the collective Hourons."
R1009 acknowledged.
"And upon rebirth," D8638 added,"once identity reconstruction is complete, access will be returned."
After a pause.
"This place belongs to you," C4920 said,"only while you exist."
R1009 compressed its presence not in fear, not in excitement, but on purpose.
"I accept."
The agreement locked. The projection collapsed. But the name Aether remained etched into infinity by nothing itself.
One by one, the Hourons released alignment and expanded back into infinity returning to their creations, their systems, their endless works.
Only R1009 remained. It observed the direction where Aether continued to form nameless no longer, lawless still.
R1009 understood something the others had not yet articulated. Aether was not a creation. It was a trial. And whatever emerged from within it would not remain contained.
This was not the beginning of the world. This was the beginning of Aether a world near perfection, but never perfect.