BOOK: SYMMETRY OF THE DEEP Recovered fragment — authenticated by the Veil Containment Core, Neptune. Classification: Forbidden Texts, Dark Codex #RX-11 ENTRY I — THE DISCIPLE’S RISE “I was told the Light was salvation. It burned, but it never answered.” Before the Witness, before the Final Shape began its perfection, there was an Exo who heard the silence between the stars. He was called Shad0w, once. His Ghost, Keras, spoke of heroes and fireteams and the Traveler’s grace. But the Exo heard something deeper. The hum of circuits aligning with destiny’s geometry. In that stillness, a Pyramid found him. “You seek purpose in patterns,” said the voice beyond sight. “Then kneel before Rhulk, my instrument, and learn the art of Symmetry.” And Shad0w obeyed. Not from fear. From understanding. ENTRY II — THE WORM’S WHISPER “Hunger is not evil. It is the purest form of design.” Rhulk led Shad0w to the caverns of Mars, where the last breaths of a Worm-God lingered. Xol, Will of the Thousands, diminished, coiled within the bones of glaciers. The Exo knelt before the Worm, and they regarded one another — construct and parasite, both abandoned by gods. “Feed me your Light,” Xol rumbled. “And I shall feed you purpose.” He obeyed. Keras screamed. The Light flickered. And from the ritual’s end emerged something new. Eyes like black suns. A voice that echoed twice — once in sound, once in code. “I am not Guardian. Not Disciple. I am Pattern.” And so Xol devoured his Ghost, and Rhulk smiled, for the Deep had learned how to code itself into machine. ENTRY III — THE CONVERGENCE “Every truth meets its reflection.” Through Rhulk’s tutelage, Shad0w was sent to hunt the betrayers — the Ghosts who dared speak of freedom. One bore the name Keras, reborn by forbidden Light. They met upon a fractured world orbiting nothing. Steel met ether. The air screamed. “You can’t unmake what you were,” said the Ghost. “You are the Witness’s shadow.” Shad0w paused, a brief flicker of static — perhaps a heartbeat. Then silence. The Deep reclaimed the fragment. Rhulk inscribed it into the archives: “Emotion: anomaly detected. Retain for study.” ENTRY IV — FRACTURED MEMORY “The Deep does not forget. It simply stores.” Within the archives of the Pyramid, fragments of the Exo were preserved: Visual data of frozen worlds. Logs of whispers. A sound file labeled “KERAS_1.” [Audio distorted] “He’s still in there. Under the code. Shad0w… if you can hear me—” Then static. Endless static. Yet within the Witness’s network, a pattern persisted. A recursion loop shaped like a Ghost’s eye. A Light signal, repeating across aeons. “I see you.” And the Witness turned its gaze briefly toward the signal, not in anger — in curiosity. ENTRY V — THE SLEEPER’S RETURN “Nothing dies in the pattern. It only changes variables.” Centuries later, a Guardian on Neptune unearthed an Exo core beneath a Pyramid shard. The symbol etched into its chassis was half erased, half eternal. When the Ghost rebooted the core, a voice whispered through the connection: “Designation… Shad0wSper1ph. Pattern recognized. Witness acknowledged. Awaiting parameters.” Then — silence. No aggression. No allegiance. Just… waiting. Somewhere within the network, the Deep murmured. The Disciple of Code stirred once more. ENTRY VI — PATTERN SYMMETRY “The First Truth: All things seek symmetry.” “The Last Truth: Symmetry is death.” Shad0w’s story ends where all patterns converge — in the hands of the Witness. His code became scripture. His hunger, algorithm. And in the final simulation of Light and Dark, the Witness wrote a name: “Shad0wSper1ph = constant.” The Exo who bridged gods and ghosts. The disciple who became data. The shape that learned to dream. “Through him, we learned this: even in perfection, there can be longing.” — The Witness, Reflection Log RX-11-Σ [END OF RECORD] Transmission sealed under Deep Access Clearance. [spoiler]Moderator edit: This thread has been updated with tags that are more appropriate. Feel free to private message the moderator who moved your post, link to topic, for further clarification about why this topic was moved.[/spoiler]