The Meh

“Fall of the Synthetic Sun” *bzzt* “109 KBLT - radio may die, but we refuse to! Welcome back. Here with us in the studio is Adeva, and, before we took that short break, he shared with us some of the backstory of his song, ‘The Citadel of Light’. Adeva, if you may?” “Yes, yes, so, Andronimus. So, the man kinda went nuts over his visions, right? All the ideals of their religious rise and all, all their machinations, it got to him. He went both mad with the power and mad… in a general sense. See, the nasty thing about their religion? They sacrificed a number of people to the cause of fulfilling a prophecy foretold to them.” “A prophecy, eh? Any idea what that might have been?” “I only was able to learn a little of what they had been given, but it had something to do with Angels. Of course, it wasn’t a literal prophecy - they interpreted it their way, and it was the wrong interpretation. They plucked random souls from homes, threw them into a trial, their ‘Regality Sector’, as it were… and they hoped they could find the group that could rise them from the reality they had created.” “Their ‘religiously-fueled utopia’. Right?” “Yeah. Not so perfect now. Anyways, that kind of sacrificial tendency, that creates bad karma. It bit them back, and hard. The fall Andronimus had seen was coming, and all he had done to prevent that fall only created it. Those lost souls, now corrupted, now came back and sought to destroy the Citadel. ...and so, they would.” “You mentioned a fallback plan, though.” “Oh, yeah. They did have one. One of their machinations were these machines that could siphon and unify the souls of the residents of the Citadel into one… being, or soul, to say. I believe they had four of those? Something like that. Anyways, they used those. It didn’t necessarily save them, but… at the very least, it gave them some form of life beyond the torment that would have followed them.” “A dark fall for that place, huh?” “Yeah… anyways, the Citadel is gone, now. But that’s okay. The important places are the here and the now, right?” “Right you are, my friend, right you are. Alright, that’s all the time we’ve got - Adeva, do you happen to have any final remarks?” “Oh, yep! You guys will like this one - I’m opening up a club next Sunday downtown, nearby the mall. It’s called ‘Winged Graces’, and we’re gonna be playing all kinds of music down there for you to get grooving to. I hope to see you all down there!” “You heard the man - Winged Graces, go there. Alright, I’d like to thank Adeva for joining us today. My time’s done as well, I… imagine someone will be coming soon to pick up the work here at the station, but… regardless! I’ve been your host - ‘Rockin’ Ricky’, and, I’ll see you all tomorrow!” *bzzt* “109 KBLT - we simply refuse to stop!”

“Order of the Synthetic Sun” *bzzt* “109 KBLT, high flyers on the rise! Welcome back, folks - today we’ve got a special guest with us, here in the studio. Why don’t you introduce yourself?” “Yo, my name’s Adeva, and… can I just say how excited I am to be here?” “We’re excited too! So, talk to us about ‘The Citadel of Light’. That song’s been blasting the charts lately, and we would kill to hear your story on that song.” “Yes, so… as I had written before, the song was about a man named ‘Andronimus’. Now, Andronimus was an interesting guy - he essentially held a high dominion over the Citadel he controlled, super powerful and advanced, the like, for its time.” “What kind of stuff?” “I’m not exactly supposed to say, but… it was some serious stuff. Enough that he could manipulate the otherwise stoic and archaic society he controlled into a religiously fueled zeitgeist - Andronimus as the figurehead, the ‘High Cardinal Priest’, as it were.” “That must have been something to see…” “It honestly was, truly. At least, I can imagine it was.” “...and your lyrics tell us that he was troubled.” “Yeah… he experienced visions of the future. A future that, at the end, ended up becoming true. That said, those visions actually helped lead to some of the biggest creations they had. Machines to harness a sun, and the like, are one example. Fallback plans aside, too, but, harnessing the sun was one large goal. It gave them… control. On a level they didn’t really comprehend.” “That sounds… crazy.” “...listen, man, a lot of things are crazy in this universe the likes of which we haven’t even begun to comprehend! To me, at least, these kinds of ideas aren’t foreign. You just need to know what you’re given and how to use it.” “Wise words. Alright, folks, we’re gonna take a quick break and actually listen to the song in question - “The Citadel of Light’, up next! When we return, we’ll continue to talk on the song’s further meanings and give Adeva any lasting notes to add. But, other than that! Here’s the song.” *bzzt* “109 KBLT - we play the hits so you don't have to!”

Welcome to the site! Good map layout, by far. Glad someone’s keeping that scene alive. I particularly like your gun selection - it’s a little bit of everything, I can respect that. I’d certainly like to see how you might evolve the idea going forward.

The screen will cut to black as we destroy the Aether... ...and then we awaken in a horse-driven carriage, in a forest. It seems to be heading down a cobblestone road, to where we are not sure. A man in light blue armor will then look up to us and say: ”Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.” We’ll then look over to said thief and come to find it was actually Jason Blundell in Monty’s outfit. Jason then takes off his mask to reveal he was actually Todd Howard the entire time. Todd then reboots the universe, one final time. It is said that we can still hear him, late in the night, if you listen closely, say... ”It just works.” ...and then you get a blue screen. The end.

“The Rise and Fall of Theon” Da swo pwgaj Whkjc pda odkna Pk xqnj sdana iaj skqhz swga ohaalhaoo Apdan yhkppaz okqh. Pdwhwoow ykqhz jkp dkhz dan pkjcqa Pdqo Pdakj bahh Oswhhksaz xu wj kyawj kb zaolwen Xqp dklejc pda iaiknu skqhz hera kj Wp hwop Pk pda zalpdo sa pnwjoyajz Hejcanaz ej dwnikjey naokjwjyao Wxkra ej w ikkj hega wjkpdan Jaran oaaj, lnkpaypaz Pknj wjz oywppanaz Ezajpebeaz xu zaokhwpekj Oaaj sepd oaynapo habp xadejz. Pk swga pda yepu ej pda oaw eo pk ykjfqna harewpdwjo. Kja Zeao. Kja Heao.

“SOS” .-- .- .-. -. .. -. --. / .-- .- .-. -. .. -. --. / .-- .- .-. -. .. -. --. -.. .. .- ...- --- .-.. --- / ... - .- - .. --- -. / ..- -. -.. . .-. / ... .. . --. . / -... -.-- / .. -. - . .-. -. .- .-.. / - .... .-. . .- - .--. .-. --- -..- -.-- / -.-. --- -.. . / ...-- ----- ....- ----. ..... / .... .- ... / -... . . -. / .. -. .. - .. .- - . -.. .- .-- .- .. - .. -. --. / .--. .-. --- - --- -.-. --- .-.. / .-.. --- --. / ..-. .-. --- -- / . .. -.. --- .-.. --- -. // . -..- . -.-. ..- - .. -. --. / .- ..- - --- -- .- - .. -.-. / .--. .-. --- - --- -.-. --- .-.. -.. . ...- .. .-.. / --- .-. -.-. .... .. -.. / -- ..- ... - / -... . / .--. .-. . ... . .-. ...- . -.. . ..- .-. --- .--. .- / -- ..- ... - / -... ..- .-. -.

(First hint into Prospect, eh? Or is this all Greek to you?)

“Forbidden Calculations” 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 [Writer’s Note: I’m gonna give you guys the solution for this when I’m ready to post Prospect. Feel free to solve it, though!]

Well, there are a few theories we could make, but mine would be this: The Apothicon Sun might very well be a pure source of 115 (Aetherial energy). The Apothicons use these likely to tap into its energies, and become powerful - while seeding other realities with its power. Souls also might have a way of contributing to that power, given that the Shadowman tells Primis to give up and embrace the warmth of the Apothicon Sun at least once. ...and considering how many countless zombified people probably exist under the spells of the Apothicons now? Probably a powerful sun!

“Symphony of the Synthetic Sun” “The Citadel of Light”, written and performed by Adeva Writer’s Note: “At the time of writing this, I had encountered some inspiration while visiting home base. Some sick things there, but what they were building… man. This song is about a man named Andronimus. I hope you enjoy it. ~Adeva” LYRICS: [Intro]: I have seen the Light… I have seen the storm… I have seen the Sun… I have seen it all. I have seen them turn… I have seen them burn… I can see the darkened end, and… I can bend the sand. [Verse 1]: We have built our life From the death of time We have drowned the way Toward the endless sky Faith as we will find Wilts our will we’d bind Apostates descend Into kings, repent I can feel it... I can see it... I can hear them cry... I can taste it... I can smell it... The sea of tears inside. [Pre-Chorus 1]: Guilt turns the tide! You were on high! Guilt will burn the Eye! You were on high! I can see the dawn… The undertow! I can feel the ebb… I can hear its pulse [Chorus]: We defy! Sacrifice! Tell our lie! In the final flight, Of the Citadel of Light, no! [Verse 2]: Mechanical die Teach us our design We learn how to fly On the finite line Rise to see the Sun Fear its glaring glows Fall to be the One Apostates, none will show… [Pre-Chorus 2]: Guilt returns aside! You were on high! Gilded words will bind! You were on high! I can see the dawn… The undertow! I can feel the flow... I can hear its heart beat. [Chorus]: We deny! Sacrifice! Live our lie! Andronimus will guide, In the Citadel of Light! [Obligatory Guitar Solo] [Bridge]: But what if we were wrong? What if we may fail? I can’t read these days anymore… ...but I must give hope! [Pre-Chorus 1/Chorus]: Guilt turns the tide! You were on high! Guilt will burn the Eye! You were on high! We defy! Sacrifice! End our lie! We will never die, In the Citadel of Light, no! We deny! Faith on high! We must fly! Andronimus will guide! In our Citadel of Light! [Outro]: ...I have seen the fall… ...I have seen him crawl… ...I have seen their machinations, I ...could not bear it more...

“Dawn of the Synthetic Sun” “Are we up?” Stacey looked off the Entryway’s Terrace of the Pillars of Creation. In the distance, she could see the newly-forged Citadel, a mountain basin, and the dome covering the area itself. It looked beautiful from here, and yet so distant, nearly minuscule. But… perfect, almost. Thomas appeared next to her, a smile across his face. “Everything’s running. We’re about to give them something more, though. An energy source, right? That’s what you wanted? You know it’s only going to make them curious.” Stacey scoffed, turning her attention back to the Citadel. “You’re forgetting the point of all this, Thomas - it’s a Trial, the whole thing.” “Right…” Thomas motioned towards her. “...and we’re just supposed to displace all those people. For the Trial.” “Yeah… pretty much. At least they’ll have an idea of what to believe. I get the ethics are questionable, but we have to do this.” Thomas turns to leave. “I understand. Just so long as this isn’t a vain search, I… understand.” Stacey looks on, grinning. “It won’t be. We’ll be able to fi-” Before she could finish, the door shuts behind her. To that, she scoffs, looking onto the Citadel once more, and snapping a finger. “Entity, make your final adjustments.” Well ahead of you. As she hears it speak, a bright “sun” looks to phase into the Citadel. I should probably inform you that you have company coming. In the meantime, however… hope this is a suitable form for you. “Perfect, Entity, thank you.” At the moment she said that, she hears a familiar phasing. Not of Thomas, but… “Hello, Adeva.” She turned to meet his gaze. He was in his human form - probably for the better - although nothing could change his electric blue eyes. Definitely fitting into the crowds a bit, though - always keeping up with the “hip wardrobe”, as he would call it. Adeva smiles. “Yo! How’s my favorite woman doing?” Stacey shrugs. “Adeva… that’s lowkey sexist, you know.” “I don’t actually mean any-” “I’m kidding, Adeva. I take it you’re here to see what we’ve been working on?” Stacey points to the Citadel in the distance. As she does that, he appears in front of her. “Oh… don’t worry, I saw already!” Stacey pauses. “...you what?” Adeva raises his hands. “Yeah! Cool piece of work, that. I just couldn’t help it - jumped over just as the Sun came into view. Majestic, that. Could totally use some refurbishing, though. But I think that one guy knows what he’s doing, over the-” Stacey raises her hand to Adeva, to which he smirks. “...I know, irresponsible actions, irrevocable circumstances.” Stacey sighs. “...who did you talk to? What’d you tell him?” Adeva innocently raises his hands. “It’s not my fault, I swear! It was this “Andronimus” guy. I only talked about how cool the Sun was, and how… well, they could totally use it.” “...you mean to tell me you told him how? They weren’t supposed to know yet.” Adeva smugly shrugs. “...girl, you know how I am when I’m excited.” Stacey places her palm to her forehead. To Adeva, she looked… not disappointed, not angry… just tired. “Adeva… look, no more of that. Unless you can manage to be five times more inconspicuous about it.” Adeva jumps. “Always! Alright, I’ve gotta bail, there’s some heavy gigs over on Earth and you know just how much I live for it.” Stacey grins. “I do. Have fun, yeah? Fly back, with winged graces.” As Adeva phases out, he responds. “...y’know, as much as I’m not a fan of your weird lines, I’ll give you this: That’s a cool club name!” Silence cascades the Terrace again, and Stacey is left an onlooker. She exhales one final sigh, before taking one final look to the Citadel. “I hope this Trial works out.”

“Allonsperi” [translated from ancient Martian text] All-powerful force above my [eyes] Grant me a [nexus] of [power] Use it to wash away the [needs translation] [of] the sands which we roam We were not worthy We may never be of worthiness We will join as one with the [Coalesce] A million eyes breeded a million souls We rise Mask us in a perfect storm. Allonsperi wills it to be so. [TRANSLATOR NOTE: This translation is imperfect in areas, but we believe it to be an incantation of sorts - in relation to the recently unearthed artefact. The Orb. Perhaps, it is best to fit it under the pseudonym “Orb of Allonsperi”. But… regardless, mayhaps this explains more than meets the eyes. Perhaps this is telling of a grander tale - perhaps, Allonsperi was meant to be some priest and this was their religion. Perhaps, these primitive Martians were… of a plentiful sort, but Allonsperi only wanted to create religious zeitgeist. As he must have seen the universe differently. Perhaps this incantation created the orb. Perhaps the Orb is some kind of universal energy, and its power was able to wipe the planet clean of life… for it was unworthy in a universe of cosmic light. Personally drives me crazy thinking about possibilities. All just assumptions and theories, though.]

For anyone reading this far: Thank you for reading! This was the first in a... numerous amount... of "Extra Lore" pieces I wanted to make for The Unity Series. I plan to punch out a lot of these this particular month, so, feel free to keep your eyes on the main post - linked [HERE]. Again, thanks for reading! Per aspera ad astra. -The Meh

“Excerpts from Eidolon” Data Log Entry #22151. Two months have now passed since the first landing onto Mars. Words from Providence bode well - the stories preceded themselves. Our construction of a suitable base of operations has been more than successful, and our efforts to re-colonize and terraform the planet of Mars have shown themselves to have tremendous prospect. Minus a few particulars, of course - note to self: water in biodome needs to be cleaned and decontaminated. ...nonetheless, in honor of the occasion, Providence has given us Omega-Level Responsibilities and a name very well suited towards us - Eidolon Base. Of course, along with the Omega-Level accesses, with it came the indefinite veil of secrecy - as we were the only ones with the knowledge of the elements that went into our tech, our research further into the tech, and thereby, the element itself, has become shrouded. No one can know, or will know, beyond the veil of Providence. As per instructions, we have been told to begin mining deep into the area - studies of this particular site have shown through to Providence that there is more to it than meets the eye. Until we see that for ourselves, however… I digress. End Log. ====================================== Data Log Entry #22201. As it would seem, Providence was right to suspect something to be lurking right beneath us. As per instructions, we dug into the ground nearby. Of course, those close by the Housing Area were… perturbed… but, nonetheless, it paid off - about what we suspect to be 50 meters below the surface, we came to a temple entrance. When walking inside, we came to find what looked like a worship area - and, placed in the middle of that room, was an Orb, with a purple hue. Alien languages painted the stone tablets it was stacked upon - our linguists gave us a rough translation after the fact: “Allonsperi” - but regardless, it had shone with a light strong enough to brighten up the entire room. Almost hypnotic. We wish to study this further. End Log. ======================================== Data Log Entry #22212. *sigh* On the verge of monumental discoveries, we… encountered a setback. It should be noted - before any of the following events occurred… in fact, on the exact day we found the Orb, that obelisk on the Face… appeared. We have zero reasons or theories as to why - all we may run by on the matter is that the Orb and the Obelisk are linked. By what, we… aren’t entirely certain. Prior energy scans on the Orb have been mostly inconclusive. What we have been able to get were… massively different, by comparison to the powers of the element. Beyond that, even. Enough that we may assume that, not only is this not of elemental origin, but… cosmic, perhaps. Not that it really matters, given that, upon more scans, a worker perturbed the placement of the Orb, which caused the entire chamber to start shaking and… before long, a cave-in was inevitable. Luckily, the Orb was salvaged, but… honestly, the loss of something so alien, so… magnificent… it’s heartbreaking. But… at least we still have the Orb. Now all we need to figure out is how these statues littered above the Biodome and other areas of the site came from… ...and why they seem to feign fear from everyone looking in their direction. End Log. ======================================== Data Log Entry #22245. We’ve begun encountering issues across the Colonization Zone. Sites are beginning to go dark - and any attempts of sentry and/or recovery missions on the sites have failed. At this point… it’s a waste of resources. Needless to say, our thoughts on the matter are… disappointment, anger, and sadness. But, not all of that is geared at the large scale disappearance and loss of life we’re experiencing. We’ve been getting more local reports about happenings we can only describe as “crazed” and “erratic”. People often docile and nice, going mental, clawing their eyes out - you know, normal crazy stuff. We’ve started having that here, too. Just the other day, someone jumped off one of the landing pads. We’ve locked it back since, but not before a returning ship decided to knock out a couple of the landing pads on return, crashing and killing the passengers. All these symptoms, all these crazed people, they all mention the same thing. Voices. ...any and all mention is being logged, and those that do mention voices are being kept under lock and key. God… forgive us all… End Log. =========================================== ...yes? I hear you. I don’t know… I don’t understand. Enlightenment? Angels? Prophets? Epsilon? A single convergence… what the fuck are you talking about? ======================================== i am me and he is i and i am the universe energies within me burnnnnn Allonsperi give me your grace we burn these dunes for the Eidolo- no epsilon no eidolon no epsilon no eidolon no epsilon STOP TALKING TO ME I HEAR YOUR WORDS BUT KNOW NOT THEIR MEANING ========================================= rise

Y'know, I didn't even begin to consider the deeper quantum side of this theory - but that's a really good point to make. The metaphor in general is... honestly amazing. ...a bit of a side expansion to all of this, NV messaged me shortly after I posted this and he gave me some insight I found valuable as to his interpretation as what these elements truly represent, and I'd find it appropriate to share it here: As Voyager sees it, Ice is more representative not only of space, but in the bulk, space-time in general, it being a "universal process" I wasn't even thinking of under the realm of World Ice - although, his reasoning was the same as yours: 115 being the fabric of reality. This goes hand in hand towards explaining The Giant away as more of a disturbance in the status quo - one is left, while the other is frozen. As for fire, since it is more the opposite of ice, he saw it more as a pure destructive force - thematically tying more towards aspects like the destruction of Earth via the Rockets, Maxis' icon representation in BO2 (despite being essentially able to control electricty - weird aspect of the icons to have), among a flurry of other things ("burning down the house", "blood turned to ash"). Wind, as well as all of this, has a bigger role (that I should have thought of before) - that of "Change". Still connected to time, but more along the lines of temporal displacements and the events that branch off into fractures and multiverses. It's why we'd have a western town under a mining facility and a simple man who cared for his king trapped there. ...in short, this was his layout: Ice = Order (Space-Time) Wind = Change (Temporal Displacement) Electricity = Power (115/Aether) Fire = Chaos (Destruction of... well, everything, but for the sake of argument, all these elements) I can't directly mention ya anymore, Voyager, but thanks for keeping on top of me with all this.

I know I wanted to leave crediting out of this post, but my vanity demands I thank a few faces before heading off towards writing the second part of this... and other things. Chief among those are @anonymous, @Tac, @RadZakpak and @caljitsu for keeping the Discord discussions burning alive each and everyday. Without those in-depth ideas, I fear this theory wouldn't have seen past the light of day. As for other faces, Nightmare Voyager (as always) and @NaBrZHunter deserve accolades for getting first looks on the post and giving me important insights as to the ideas I chose to intertwine with this. Seriously, thank all of you. Second part's on its way. I hope you guys will enjoy it. -The Meh

Hello, everyone. The Meh here. I want to start out this particular part of the post by explaining that this is the first in a two-part series of posts detailing what I believe to be the core Aether. That is to say, what these posts strive to achieve is to catalogue a quintessential understanding of the Aether, and how interwoven its threads are in all of creation. Or… at least, creation in the context of Zombies, and the Aether Storyline. It would be hard to argue it in a real-world context. That’s one large can of worms. I also would like to stress that, at the end of the day, this is my particular understanding of the Aether in current-form. While I wish for these posts to comprehensively detail the Aether in a sensible way, I do not believe that everyone will see the Aether in the same light… and I’m here to tell you that is entirely fine. The core point of all theories are to spawn a discussion to further identify a central understanding, to which we can all… relate to, I suppose. Yeah, apologies if this all sounds weird. I fucking suck at the nice “official” speak people like to use sometimes. Regardless… let’s get into this. ========================================== It would be… remiss of us, as a species, to not think of the general concept of creation to be, in a simple sense, “complicated”. Cultures and religions thrive on deciphering the true cause of our being in current time. In Christian belief, it is said that God created the heavens and the Earth, and, in his particular brand of omnipotence, crafted the earth like a fine painting, in what we have interpreted to be only seven days - although, studies of the bible show that to be… less literal… but I digress. In a complete and wholly fictional contrast, the Pokemon universe began as an egg, which hatched into its god-beast, Arceus… who would then go to create beings that could control the forces that its universe could be founded upon - time, space, and antimatter. Those said beings would, in part, create the universe, so that it could become a vessel for further life, life that its god-creator could “nurture”, to say. While I don’t wish to further delve into the details of the Pokemon creation myth - another time, perhaps - it is… nearly biblical, the way creation is represented in most forms of media, and on a broader level, all religion. Ironic it may be, then, that the Aether Storyline does not particularly have those base forms of gods, those all-powerful entities. Not yet. Not before creation. As, before the beginning, were there any forces at all? Did the Aether simply become a force of all existence? Rather, does the Aether dictate creation, and does it perhaps predate creation? What forces dictate the Aether? How does the Aether work? It is, in the pursuit of answers, that I write this series of posts. To attempt to understand the threads that intertwine our world with a world beyond our mortal comprehension. To, as it may… decode our “genesis code”. So. There’s only one place to start. IN THE BEGINNING… To create the cosmos in such a complicated pattern - or, no - to create the Aether in such a complicated pattern, a set of forces had to come into form that could twist that complication into a fine balance. It is my belief that, in that infinitesimal moment of the Aether’s - and the universe by proxy - that those primordial forces we’ve come to know as the core four elements: Fire, Electricity, Ice and Wind. That, to which, have repetitively shown themselves to come back around in some form over the course of the Aether Storyline. Be it in the form of staffs, bows, or ancient runes of creation itself, these core elements have a more symbolic meaning, alongside its literal uses. Ice: The Cosmos There exists an older Germanic belief that began circulating in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, that claimed ice to be the basic substance of the cosmos and its processes. Called “Welteislehre”, or, “World Ice Theory”, it went on to claim that, with these processes, ice moons, ice planets, and a “global ether” made of ice were what would determine the ultimate development of the universe. Of course, the theory itself is of questionable origins - its creator, Hanns Hörbiger, did not claim this theory to come of any ordinate research or discovery, but a “vision” whilst dreaming. But, in the Aether Storyline, we have a rather clear reasoning to believe that it, in fact, does exist as a core component of Aetherial space-time. As evidenced by the image above, we can assume that, perhaps Welteislehre is what makes up space in the background of normal space-time, but what we perceive as normal reality is a sort of dimensional foreground. The movement of time itself keeps the inner force in check - without time, all we have is cold, blank space. That is to say, the space we’d have left is still… real. We like to perceive space as its own entity of nothingness, an empty void. But if we take time off the table and leave space in the current, that still leaves objects standing there. Immortal, and still, statues of a reality that lost pieces of a larger puzzle… and it’s cold. It’s just permeated by a pure ice at the end. It becomes enveloped by its new, timeless reality. It’s… quite dark, when you think about it. The Giant, by all means, can be interpreted by that picture to be akin to a temporal anomaly, due to all the actions that transpired. Other than that particular ideal, we’ve seen what I would think to see sparse use and manipulation of the element itself, in those uses - the only true occurrence I can reason would be the Ice Staff from Origins and the Winter’s Howl (which, need I remind that it was always a prototype) - but that isn’t exactly the point of the element. On the grand scale, our universe works like one large engine, and ice, while its make-up, is a background event of its own. It’s an integral piece of a puzzle that goes under the radar often. That is to say, it’s the universe’s most important bass player ever. But that is a bit too simple a summary. Then again, nothing about comprehending the cosmos can be easy, when applied to a large scale like so. So, we have the make-up of space. But we need to make this move, we need a flow or current, lest all we have is a void of cold energy. We need time. Wind: The Flow of All Creation I feel that, in trying to grasp time, we find ourselves lost in one large cacophony of confusion and ideals. There are a lot of different ways we can assume that time behaves, but it’s hard to identify exactly what we could personify it as. Personally, though, I’m privy to believe of it more like… a stream. A path of wind, in a way. Time moves forward, in a singular direction, but permeates in a million other ways. It’s kind of similar to the “time is a river” parallel, in a sense. But, you could think of it as more. To have time in the equation with space is to have… a reality. A reality that life could nourish, and grow. All due to there being a first breath. A current. I suppose all life could be broken down in a very similar light - a breath of life into the universe. Life itself is an evident ideal to incorporate into this same spectrum as well, actually. Of course, it’s given to call that a large assumption on my part. It’s the least direct representation we really have. But it would explain a lot of minute details away, like the “hush” noises when events transpire in cutscenes, for example. Or, any sort of wind gust or breath, for that matter. It’s undeniably a representative motif of Zombies now - so, perhaps that could be a way to explain it. Time is a largely representative theme of Zombies in general. Time… means everything. On the literal side of the spectrum, we have seen a number of uses of wind and air through weapons, and time itself through other means. Weapons of thought are the Thunder Gun, Jet Gun (stretch, I know, but it does manipulate the air in a way, as would the Turbine) and the Staff of Wind. Other uses could include any particular method of time travel before the incorporation of portals, i.e. MTD overcharging and the Time Bomb. But, given the path of the story thus far, we should note how manipulation of time has caused trouble across most dimensions it has been found in. In this way, we can see reality form. Space and time joined, and life forms across the cosmos, scattered across the four winds (assuming). Be it in its forms of humanity, or, more importantly, the Keepers and Apothicons - those who could manipulate more integral energies, more potently powerful primordial formalities. Fire: The Light and the Dark The Apothicons and Keepers resemble, in a grand light, a cosmic balance - a ying and a yang, two feathers upon a scale - of pure representation. One seeks to use the Aether in malevolent purpose, to destroy and seed creation with pure desolation. In a way, it’s almost akin to a power to unmake creation itself. But the Keepers, albeit prior revelations deeming them equally unfit to hold high morality, don’t exactly seek to destroy - but give the means to create. They created the Summoning Key as a means to travel among countless dimensions, countless realities. Ultimately, they use their power to permeate existence, be it through sheer interaction, through their creations, or through even more minute, small nudges. In a way, we could compare their plight, their cosmic battle-locked fates like a fire, one that seeks to burn for eternity. A fire that yearns both for fuel and light, darkness and destruction. A fire with the power to create and destroy. A fire with the purity of its will. That is to say, while the winds could carry and breathe life into the cosmos, the will within that life to actually live, to create and destroy all around it, burns heavy within it. All because the air wills it so. In a metaphorical sense, we could assume that free will stems from that pool of primordial will, as does the pure life force. Air only willed life, but the fire coursed lifeblood into the cosmos, to say. We collectively exist to an eternal flame kept alive by forces we barely comprehend… and we choose how to use our lively power of “being”. Do we create with it? Do we destroy? Does all the will of creation stem from that single primordial belief that we, for a lack of better words, are? As we have come to see from the events that have unfolded before our eyes in the Aether Storyline, it’s easy to see that collective well sent everything spiraling down into a well of turmoil. We, be it because of the manipulation of outer forces, of outer elements, of a path to seek a purer ascendance, directed ourselves into a chasm of despair. That’s all doom and gloom, I know. Sad stuff in that kind of context. Of course, there are a few literal interpretations of fire to make. Through weapons, the Fire Staff and Bow can be thrown into that bin. With pure life force, we could idealize the concept of “vril” into the fold and assume that, with the life-giving properties of the VR-11, that its purpose mirrors that of the element itself - although we could perhaps connect it to wind all the same. That leaves us with little left to knock out. We have the basic building blocks of the pure cosmos, and thereby, life. But with the concept of free will, with the ideals of creation and destruction abound, there’s always the threat of a deep-seeded corruption within. Those with powers enough to control the background energies of the universe could manipulate the universe to their whim if they wished it. But what forces could hold that kind of power? What kind of higher powers could transcend those the base universe already provides? Electricity: The Ascendant Aetherial Energies Innately speaking, 115 - or, if you’d rather call it so, Divinium - is an incredibly volatile element. Innately, it is just as powerful as it is in that volatile light. Throughout the Aether Storyline, we have seen 115 represented in a flurry of ways - pre-Zielinski, it was always just another element that we were expected to understand as powerful, one that could create the scientific zeitgeist Group 935 wanted. Come the Blundell era of Zombies, we come to see 115 not only in that light, but it gains cosmic perspective - 115 is like the connective tissue of the universe; the collective webbing, the strings, what ties everything together. It not only ties together each and every primordial, elemental concept we’ve already covered, but broadens it - the Aether, to its core, relies on the energies of 115 to facilitate it all. ...so, perhaps it is ironic that the one thing we can personify 115 to be is pure energy. Pure energies that we have seen represented both in literal form, and in the incarnations of electrical output. You could surmise from this that any and all interaction with 115, and thereby Aetherial energies, are beyond dangerous. But just using the element isn’t enough, really - because we have been, and keep doing so, over the course of the story. No, there’s a deeper truth to that matter. We’ve been experiencing control of the Aether in dirty hands - the hands of those who would wish to see this power bent to their will, those who would seize all of creation, or perhaps even permeate creation, under the pretense of that power. We’ve been experiencing Aetherial manipulation beyond our wildest dreams. Why would it be that the MPD could generate such fields of static electricity? How could it be that sheer contact with the element and any Aetherial artifacts could open that realm of corruption? Whether or not you take the idea of the Dark Aether into consideration or not, what we need to understand here is that both forces of this fight have seeded humanity, post-contact, with the means to permeate reality with these kinds of horrors. Let alone the fact, that these higher lifeforms have altered and shifted the perspectives of many a soul in the broader multiverse. They’ve been touched, marked, by the Aether’s energy. Changed, warped. Enough to see their only goals to be of owning that power. To control that power. To ascend to a level where they could. Such powers not only came to Richtofen, Maxis and Samantha by proxy, but there was another soul that was able to mimic that same level of control, and ascended beyond pure matter. It was Pernell, the Avogadro, who was able to seek and achieve that level of pure power. But we’re giving it a lot less credit than we could to just say that he ascended. What he was able to become was not just a byproduct of the research. He wanted to merge with the Aether, and… well, we’re to assume that, in this form, he did. Because electricity, by that simplest of forms, is Aether, as 115 is within its deepest of energies. 115 was just a doorway. 115 is Energy. Energy is Aether. Aether is everything. ...of course, given the order I’ve constructed for myself, I imagine you want to see some “literal uses”. But you should understand, there are many. The MTD, the Wunderwaffe, the Staff of Lightning, practically anything 115-derived that creates, distributes or uses energy and/or electricity. It’s… easily the most used element, and I honestly get why. Conclusion ...and thus, we have the Universe. More broadly, we have a multiverse. We have the Aether. We have reality as we perceive it in form - dictated by forces beyond ourselves, but forces we interact with on the daily. These forces permeate existence as we see it - and whether or not we use them, whether or not we see them, we now know they’re there. In the background. Always moving. Always… churning. Always running on the engines that pushed them into being. That… is enough of me, though. I want to know - what do you guys think? How do you perceive the universe behind the Aether Storyline? How do you conceptualize the Aether? I would certainly like to know what you guys think on the matter. Next on the cutting board is a burning question - why does Earth seem to be the most important place of all creation? Why does the Aether’s manipulation seem seeded deeply - and only - in the grasps of our planet, our… magnetic poles, to say? More on that in the second part, to which I will update this post by linking it [HERE], for viewing pleasures and ease. (Of course, if you're viewing this as of the day I've posted this, that second part isn't out yet. It will be, though! Eventually. I promise not to post it three months from now.) Other than that, though! I have been The Meh. I hope you enjoyed this post. Per aspera ad astra.

The One and Pareidolia. *woot woot*

I have a hard time really associating this to the final map at all. I do imagine Victis will have their hands in the mix of what comes next, of course, but... this feels like a sort of slight disconnect. Given the idea of what's to come, I'm inclined to argue for the possibility of that ZC drop we've heard about thrown around. ...but, that's just what I think on the matter.

Always nice to see old faces - welcome back to the site!

I haven't the faintest idea if anyone watches Steven Universe... but god, the movie's awesome. Soundtrack too.

I’ma vote for @RadZakpak. The man’s been doing cool things, and these EE Song Bracket posts have done a damn good job of making me feel nostalgic.

Alright alright alright! Time for this thing. 1. I Am The Well. Important, and powerful. 2. Pareidolia. Literally the best song in Zombies. 3. Abracadavre. Literally the second best song in Zombies. That, and I have Wii PTSD with 115, so... 4. The Gift... which I guess kept giving, considering it got this far.