CHAPTER 142: THE GOD CUBE [2]: KRYLINS

[That’s... The god Cube,] the system said as they looked at the cube formed from the gathering of stars.

It hovered in the void, turning slowly on its axis as lines of light carved itself on its surface, revealing internal mechanisms beyond comprehension, infinite gears and circuits, all spinning together.

[Before you existed... before humanity drew its first breath, this universe was filled with nothingness. The universe sought direction, a path to evolve along. To ensure that the chaos of creation would not collapse upon itself.] The system, through Athena, continued as it turned to look at him.

[So it formed us, the god Cubes, artifacts of pure law. Each was a fragment of its will, meant to guide existence along a chosen path. And I... was the one created for technology.]

Ethan’s brows furrowed, "you’re saying you’re a god?"

[No.] The System’s voice lowered. [I am a tool of one. A relic of a higher logic. My purpose is to advance any world I touched toward a technological singularity until every atom, every thought, became a part of the great Machine.]

"Then why are you bounded to me right now?" Ethan asked.

Instead of a reply, the system turned back to the and suddenly, the scenery started changing again.

No, instead of changing, it seemed like time was moving faster and soon enough, the cube was fully formed and it’s visible internal parts were encased in a metal like material.

Glowing blue lines run all along its surface as it continued spinning. Around it multiple galaxies formed, rotating around it as if it had some kind of gravitational pull, and Ethan finally had a sense of scale for it.

The cube was massive, extraordinarily so, as it could be seen that it completely dwarfed the galaxies around it.

Ethan watched the universe build itself around it..... A sight, impossible to comprehend by the human mind....or any normal mind at all.

But a change began happening in one of the galaxies... The stars that made it up started shifting and changing, glowing and dimming until multiple outlines were formed from it.

Ethan squinted as he slowly began making out what the shapes near its center were.

Ships.

No, not normal ships but colossal ships that moved with impossible speeds across the void, each one shaped like a living creature.

They moved with both a goal in mind and formation, slowly inching farther and farther away from their galaxy.

The System’s voice explained softly beside him. [They were the Krylins. The first civilization to truly find me.]

The fleet grew larger as they approached. Some of the beings that emerged were reptilian in nature. They had scaled skin that shimmered in the darkness and glowing eyes.

Others took humanoid forms, while some resembled creature’s from Earth’s mythologies, yet they all carried a similar energy and apparently, the same goal.

Take the god cube.

Their ships stopped a small distance from the cube, allowing the largest one to move closer.

Its hull opened like a blooming flower, revealing what seemed like a cannon normally seen in sci-fi movies.

Before Ethan’s minds had the chance to process everything he just saw,the cannon thing fired directly at the cube.

At first, nothing seemed to happen as time continued fast forwarding, but after what seemed like years...or was it decades, and at this point, multiple larger ships had joined the first in firing beams at the cube.. endless.

And finally, a change was seen.

Space suddenly started trembling, and visible a wave exited the cube unto the ships.

The moment the wave hit, most of the smaller fleets immediately turned off and slowly drifted away from the others.

But the larger fleets?

They powered down for a second, only to immediately power up again and continue the endless assault of beams on the cube.

Ethan silently watched, still seeing no change on the cube despite the beams hitting it but the moment he looked up, he realized that he couldn’t be more wrong.

It was subtle, but he could definitely tell, the cube was shrinking.

This continued for an even longer amount of time, with the cube releasing waves of energy at the ships, shutting them off for a second only for them to power back on the very next second.

It reached a point in time where the waves no longer affected the fleets anymore and that’s when Ethan knew that this race would successfully achieve their goal.

And they did.

Soon enough, the cube had shrunk all the way down, becoming no larger than a rubik’s cube.

But the Krylins didn’t celebrate. Not yet. They watched in reverent awe as their largest ship the extended colossal tendrils that wrapped around the cube.

The moment contact was made, space started trembling and a pressure so large fell on everything around.

Even Ethan, could feel the crushing weight from the cube’s pressure even though he wasn’t supposed to.

But the Krylins, on the other, persisted.

The ship refused to let go of the cube as it slowly reeled in the captured cube.

The moment contact was made, reality itself wavered.

The serpent-ship’s hull split open, revealing an enormous chamber, one filled with tech Ethan or any earthling could ever recognize.

The cube was slowly pulled into it, vanishing behind layers of containment of glowing seals before the hull was shut.

Dozens of alien figures stood silently in witness of their success. They had done it, they had gained the power of the universe fortold in legends.

They had gained the god cube.

It started from one ship, a low pound against the metallic floor as if drums were being beat, followed by the next and the next until the void the ships occupied was filled with the sound of their feet...hoves? Umm.. limbs? Pounding the ship’s floor.

This was their celebration, a celebration of their victory and achievement. An achievement that would grant them the powers of the god cube.

[They wanted my power for themselves, so they placed me in a lab to study how to extract it.] The system said and the scene changed.