Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1923 Parallel Race Against Time

Following a rather long explanation, primarily to give Maschenny a few days to decompress, Vahn demonstrated the process of transplanting a person’s Ego into a physical body using Asensio as his test subject. Icardi followed shortly after that, but, as could be expected, Eduan refused to undergo the process until matters on the Hidden Floor had been resolved. He didn’t openly state his reasons for this, but, with a pill capable of formating the entire floor in his possession, it was pretty clear he was holding onto it just in case something went wrong.

Considering he had spent the last six-thousand-years biding his time in preparation for such an event, Vahn wasn’t particularly surprised by Eduan’s decision. The man had a sense of responsibility far removed from his original self, and, though there were innumerable parallels between them, the two drastically differentiated in demeanor and resolution. After all, the latter had ultimately become one of the notoriously perverse and apathetic people in the entire Tower, so much so that he didn’t seem to care about anything other than the women he had briefly taken an interest in. Data Eduan, however, had thousands of years to contemplate the drastic changes in his former friend’s behavior, and, after the deletion of the other Great Warriors, he lived largely in isolation as children belonging to his real-world counterpart sought him out in an effort to prove themselves.

Despite his despicable behavior and careless way of speaking, Vahn was well aware of the fact that Data Eduan still cared about his would-be children. Whether or not he loved them, however, was a matter up for debate. After all, they were effectively strangers to him prior to their entrance into the Hidden Floor and their subsequent attempt to kill him; so, if anything, it would be more accurate to say he felt partly responsible for his counterpart’s failings as a father.

Though he had many reasons for wanting to leave the Hidden Floor, Data Eduan’s primary goal was to ascertain what transpired to make his original self into the man he was today. He simply couldn’t accept that the latter had abandoned their ambitions to become the head of a dysfunctional family that predominately resented him. He also took offense to the fact that his counterpart had given up fighting for hobbies such as collecting artifacts and gallivanting around the higher floors in search of women and other forms of entertainment. This was a stark contrast to the expectations he had for himself, as, despite his belief that capable men could have multiple wives, he also believed that a man’s primary purpose in life was setting an example for future generations and guaranteeing the integrity of their legacy.

With how long-lived the people of the Tower could be, Eduan wasn’t particularly surprised to learn that his real-world counterpart had more than a hundred wives. This was basically like picking up a new wife every sixty or so years, and, while that might not be a considerably long period of time for an immortal, it was a literal lifetime for a normal person.

The problem was, rather than simply siring children with his wives, his counterpart in the real world didn’t seem to care who his partner was. Far more troublesome, however, was the fact that there were people conducting pilgrimages to the Hidden Floor who were his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at the same time. The implications behind this were rather maddening, so, at the very least, Data Eduan wouldn’t be content until he had slugged his original self in the face at least once...

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Though it wasn’t exactly a pressing matter, Vahn was beginning to grow annoyed with the fact they hadn’t encountered a single Sworn Enemy after the previous incidents. To make matters worse, it was like the Big Breeders had simply disappeared, and, as far as Sis could tell, most of the residents of the Hidden Floor had vanished along with them. This was confirmed by an alarming increase in the number of unrendered regions, areas of the Hidden Floor that effectively ceased to exist due to the lack of an observer...

Thinking about reasons why his faux selves would systematically move the residents of the Hidden Floor, the only thing Vahn could come up with was that they were planning to effectively erase the entire thing. They seemed to understand that it was impossible for them to directly eliminate their respective targets, so, rather than commit to a direct engagement, they seemed intent on relocating as many residents as possible before forcibly ejecting everyone present via a reset. This would make the Hidden Floor inaccessible for up to a year, and, as a result, those responsible for administrating the system would have ample opportunity to develop countermeasures and bolster security.

In other words, while they still had time, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Sis’ intrusions into the Hidden Floor’s systems hadn’t gone unnoticed. More specifically, it was him asking her to perform a number of unauthorized functions and his theft of a Big Breeder’s Command Key that set the current events in motion. No system administrator in their right mind would simply ignore these kinds of developments, so, after failing to take Madara’s team hostage, the solution they had come up with seemed to be ejecting everyone currently on the floor.

Needless to say, Vahn wasn’t particularly amused by this turn of events. Sure, he could relocate the Hell Train to the Little Garden and make a year pass in the blink of an eye, but it would still require them actually entering to complete their objectives. The mirrors that formed the two Hidden Floors weren’t exactly normal artifacts, and, while they emulated Quantum-tier Super Computers, this was primarily the result of changes Gustang had made from within the sub-dimensional space. Because of this, it was virtually impossible to make changes from the outside without destroying the interior system and everything within.

While it might not matter in the grand scheme of things, Vahn had never been the type of person to simply move on from a situation where he had decided to take action. Thus, while everyone else had been focusing on ’completing’ the Hidden Floor, the majority of his efforts were dedicated to protecting the Town of the Wandering Minstrels while Sis attempted to utilize the Command Key to create a bridge between the two Hidden Floors.

Unfortunately, without something to serve as an anchor on the other side, hacking into the Hidden Hidden Floor using the Command Key was like trying to access the files on a laptop that had its wifi card removed. There was nothing to receive the signal, and, as a result of the failsafes built into the system, even the Big Breeders could only use the Command Key whilst inside the Hidden Floor. This was to prevent them from making changes within the Hidden Hidden Floor, a sacred and restricted area that was only intended for Jahad and the families of the Great Warriors.

Still, for the Big Breeders to have access to the Command Key within the Hidden Floor, there had to be ’something’ connecting them. Thus, while it was like looking for a single needle within a universe filled with hay, it was only a matter of time before Sis discovered a path or took over the entirety of the Hidden Floor. After that, the only option their enemies could take would be ’separating’ the two floors, but, with both mirrors being located in ’reality’, this was impossible without external support.

To this end, Vahn was relaxing at the edge of a large mineral onsen, his eyes somewhat glazed over as he viewed countless streams of data across multiple displays that only he could see. His ability to translate and understand all forms of language allowed him to interpret this data as actual words and images, so, while Sis was doing the bulk of the heavy lifting, he was closely monitoring regions of the Hidden Floor for any signs of Sworn Enemies or other anomalous events. Unfortunately, the only thing he had discovered thus far were isolated communities formed from the Data of Regulars who had previously conquered the Hell Train.

Though there were exceptions to the rule, most of the communities Vahn had discovered were, for lack of a better descriptive, horribly fucked up. The inability to proactively grow stronger, combined with an environment that was as inhospitable as it was boring had led to the Data of many Regulars either losing their minds or deviating so far from the ’light’ that they were practically monsters. This resulted in all kinds of monstrous communities being formed, and, unless you were strong, it meant becoming subservient to oppressors who would readily kill you knowing you would simply respawn at a later date.

Immortality, for those who were unprepared or lacked purpose, was a vicious curse that could turn even the most saintly individuals into horrendous monsters. The size of the Hidden Floor also made it exceptionally difficult to encounter other Data Humans, so, whenever groups did meet, the stronger among the two almost always attempted to absorb the weaker. The only way to avoid a fate where you ended up as someone’s immortal slave was to escape, but, as a result, you might find yourself alone for hundreds of years without meeting a single person.

The crux of the matter was that the Data of Regulars who had completed the Hidden Floor were barred access to the regions designated as Stages. Had they not been, those who had treated the Hidden Floor like a playground would have continued doing so. This would have resulted in the establishment of a community where the strong ruthlessly suppressed the weak, and, unless they were inordinately powerful, anyone venturing into the Hidden Floor, rather than finding rewards, would find themselves at the mercy of excessively bored and opportunistic individuals.

This was perhaps the greatest failing of the Hidden Floor when compared to systems such as the Virtual World and Eternal Sphere. The former focused too heavily on the idea of perpetuity and preserving the data of those that ventured within such that it effectively became an inescapable Hell for the data left behind. This was a stark contrast to the later systems, which, for the sake of ensuring things were as realistic as possible, accounted for the life, death, evolution, and even sickness. This had allowed the residents of the Eternal Sphere to literally evolve to the point that they were able to escape the confines of the system, and, while the Virtual World wasn’t quite at that point, it was only a matter of time before some of the entities within developed Egos of their own.

Fortunately, Vahn had been able to experience both the Hidden Floor and the Eternal Sphere, so, while he had yet to find a ’perfect’ solution, he had a much better understanding of the changes that needed to be introduced to the Virtual World in order to ensure its stability. There was a very real chance that it would serve as an example for every reality under his governance in the future, so, before he ascended to become a Tier 7 entity, he was resolved to work out as many kinks as possible. For now, however, his main focus was searching for signs of his other selves while doing his best to systematically eliminate Data Humans who had ventured too far down the path of what any sensible person would consider evil. This was the reason for the glazed look in his eyes, as, with very few exceptions, most of the Data Humans he had stumbled upon had become more monster than man or woman...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’I kind of feel bad for Data Eduan. Imagine someone coming from the future and telling you that they are not only your child, by your great-grandchild...that’s a mega oof...’,’Sis is working hard for that MVP title...’,’The curse of immortality and infinite respawns...’)

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