Chapter 4254: The Early Laboratories! II

The command was a thunderclap in the serene, intellectual quiet of the Laboratories.

It was a voice that did not ask, but simply was, a fundamental law of this strange, sterile place!

The nine Early Creatures, beings of such immense power that they could have unmade Folds with a thought, did not flinch. They simply... obeyed.

Cepheus, the four-hundred-quadrillion-complexity giant whose gaze had been the most intense, turned his ancient, starlit eyes to Noah.

He beckoned, a simple, almost casual gesture. "We were not expecting another Assistant to be sent over so soon," he said, his voice the low, rumbling sound of distant Wheels colliding.

"Where did THE Living Concept find you in such short notice? I thought another Elderborn would not be found so quickly."

BOOM!

THE Living Concept!

Elderborn!

Terrifying words echoed out as Noah’s mind buzzed, with his entrance this time around actually being into an environment where the Weavings of THE Living Concept were taking place!

And Elderborn.

The term was a key, a clue, a new variable in an equation that was growing more complex by the second.

Noah’s eyes flashed with a sharp, analytical light, but he tilted his head, his expression a perfect mask of polite, well-meaning ignorance.

"What do you mean, Elderborn?"

At his question, the nine Early Creatures looked at each other, and a sound that had likely not been heard in this place for eons rippled through the air: laughter.

It was not a sound of mirth, but a dry, academic chuckle, the sound of those who knew more amused by a student’s fundamental, yet understandable, lack of knowledge.

"Ah, of course," another of the Creatures, Lyra, said, her voice a melody of pure, mathematical harmony.

"THE Living Concept has a tendency to... omit the introductory materials. It believes in learning through immersion, I suppose."

Cepheus gestured for Noah to walk with them, and the group began to move deeper into the stone-henge-like structure.

"An Elderborn," he explained, his tone now that of a patient, if somewhat condescending, mentor, "is an existence with a high concentration of the Everythings of THE Creature. Our own existences are born from the weavings of the Folds and THE Creature, shaped by the authorities of THE Living Existences. But you...and others are different. Your very essence carries a significant, foundational echo of the First Cause. You have qualities others do not, and are able to interact with existence in ways others cannot. It is why you are helpful to the research of THE Living Concept."

HUUM!

The shocking information was delivered with the casual air of a tour guide explaining a local landmark.

As they walked, Noah’s internal world was a flurry of activity.

|New Data Point Acquired: [Elderborn].|

|Definition: An existence possessing a high concentration of the Everythings of [THE Creature].|

|Analysis: This is a significant variable. It is the reason why they believe you were ’sent’ here. More information required for you to play thr part. Recommend continued feigned ignorance to maximize data acquisition.|

Noah nodded internally, his outward expression remaining one of polite curiosity.

’Khor,’ his thoughts were a silent whisper, ’have you heard this term before?’

Her voice, a familiar, ancient echo in his mind, was calm.

’I knew of some, like The First Leader, Gilgamesh, who were known to have high concentrations of Everythings. But I did not bother to know all the terms others were called by. And these so-called Elderborns may be different from those like The First Leader. Be cautious, Outsider.’

...!

As they moved past the rising stones, the landscape opened up.

The same white material of the floor continued in a neat, perfect grid, and from it, massive white walls rose all around.

They were arranged in a series of disconnected, circular clusters, creating a labyrinth of sterile, white canyons.

And the deeper they went, the more terrifying the air felt, thick with a power so dense and so ancient it made his own existence feel... new.

Another of the Early Creatures, a being of pure, shifting light named Orion, turned to him with a grin that was all predatory intellect.

"Just because you are an Elderborn does not mean you are in for a grand opportunity," he said, his voice a crackle of static and starlight.

"There have been multiple Elderborns who were simply not up to par. We have had to collapse all their memories of this place before sending them away. Who knows... you may just be one of those... Bahaha!"

At his mocking laughter, the sharp, impatient voice that had summoned them echoed out again, this time much closer, its authority cutting through the air like a blade.

"Do not scare the newcomer before they have even been tested. You all can go back now. You... come forward."

They had entered a clearing, a vast, circular space at the heart of the labyrinth. The white walls here were surrounded by a single, colossal structure made of a strange, crystalline glass that seemed to absorb and refract the ambient light in impossible ways.

And standing before it was the source of the voice.

She was...a Fold Dweller.

A being of impossible, breathtaking beauty. Her hair was a cascade of stellar, dark silk, and her eyes held the cold, brilliant light of a distant quasar.

Her body was adorned in a simple white chiton that hugged a figure of perfect, dangerous grace.

|[Commander Elara]|

|Classification: Prime Fold Dweller|

|Complexity: 500,000,000,000,000,000|

|Purity: 500,000,000,000,000,000|

The Early Creatures harrumphed at being bossed around by a being who was not one of them, but they listened.

They began to move back, their task complete. But before they could go too far, the Fold Dweller’s gaze swept over Noah, a quick, dismissive up-and-down assessment.

"Oh," she said, her voice a whip-crack of command, "go to Sector 9-D and bring out the defective Elderborn who wasn’t able to react with anything. Treat him with the same procedures."

...!

A defeective Elderborn that wss not able to react with anything!

Noah noted all of this down as he went forward!

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