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The universe is infinite and conformal in all directions. What do I understand in this statement? Only that there is no end to all this nonsense. That's what I thought when I served in the troops of the Pure Empire of Out. And so, after 10 years of service, I finally reached the rank of corporal and was assigned a four-dimensional dreadnought Soaring Glory.
The peculiarity of this dreadnought was its simultaneous presence in the entire time span of our three-dimensional universe. It was controlled by AI from the fifth dimension. How the Outs achieved such a privilege from the Central Computator is hard to imagine. For me, this meant that I could enter the bridge of the ship at the base of the Squeamish Eagle and move directly to the place where the ship fell into a black hole. Into my black hole. And no, no, not black at all. And not a hole. Into the most mysterious anomaly of multi-dimensions of the multiverse. All with the prefix multi. As a child, I loved cartoons. Animation occupied me more than other media, because it had access to the conventionality of space-time much like the one in which we live now. Perhaps I had a premonition of something.
The enthusiasm of all those who were sent on the Soaring Glory to the cold unknown of the anomaly was amazing. The Outs congratulated each other heartily. Among the high command, and even among junior officers, there was an opinion that they would finally stop being hostages of the Central Computator and build their own world, far from the immortal and multidimensional entities who left the only true path – the path of death.
Of course, if I was discovered as an immortal, I would immediately be sent to a pocket punishment cell and my rank would be taken away. But the documents that Cache provided me, who kept in touch with those Outs for whom Khton was freelancing, were so good that I myself sometimes began to forget who I am. This is not surprising, the propaganda machine of the Outs worked with a bang. Listening to their speeches every morning after the anthem, hanging on the crossbar, you will not notice how fast you’ll begin to despise the immortals and all this Angelic spawn.
It wasn't just the papers that influenced my secrecy. But also a Demon. A multidimensional code planted by a Rat in the imprint gave me the opportunity to temporarily age so that my tests would not arouse suspicion of the medical commission. In addition, I could become a blind spot in any tracking subnet, which allowed me to move freely in portals, being completely invisible to the Central Computator. That's why I decided to visit the launcher one last time before the jump.
There was much in this decision from the doubts that tormented me. What is inside the anomaly? Why is there no news from any multidimensional entity from there? I wanted to see the Silent One and hear what the Angel would say. After all, he was the one who encouraged me to jump.
I confess, I was seized with the strongest fear. Fear such as I have not experienced for several millennia. Far from it, I haven't experienced it since gaining immortality. Disappear into the primordial void, which has neither beginning nor end. How is it to stop being? I was sitting on the bridge of the Soaring Glory, watching its insides stretch out and fall into a black hole, and I was afraid.
This fear has haunted me all my immortal life. And separated from you. I have to find you. And if my desire is the same fear, just acquired a different form? Am I deluding myself that I'm looking for you just because I'm afraid to completely disappear from this world? Is my fear stronger than love? I'm confused.
That's how Silent One found me. He was woven in front of me out of sunlight, which at first made me think that the block of the ship had started falling on the Baby's event horizon. My body visibly twitched.
"I'd be scared too," the Angel smiled.
“Of you? Too much honor," I snapped, feeling like I was showing my fear.
But the Silent One smiled and sat down next to him.
“To jump. It's creepy for me to imagine what's there, too. Maybe nothing?”
“If there was nothing there, why all this?” I looked around the dreadnought.
“That's also true. But no one knows. That's why it's interesting.”
“And why are you afraid to jump yourself?” I asked, swallowing.
“I'm not afraid. I have already sent countless variants of myself there. If you can put it that way at all.”
“And what?”
“Nothing.”
“I see. And I, then, am another experimental variant.”
"You've always been smarter than you look.”
“And the Demon is also your handiwork?”
The Angel nodded.
“It allows your imprint to be more flexible, as you probably already noticed.”
“Why am I so sick of being a pawn in your games…”
“Because you are afraid to grow above yourself. All this time you could rise above the human essence, but you didn't want to. It's time to learn.”
I tried to object something, but an evacuation box with Admiral Ivanova appeared between us. Through the crack, her face, frozen in universal horror, was still visible. Rob was sitting on the crate, looking back at me and then at the Silent One in fright. The Angel made an inviting gesture to me.
“As you can see, you will have company.”
All sorts of variations of why I shouldn't sit on this “coffin” were spinning in my head. I questioned the reality of everything that happened to me. All this was another Angelic game in which…
“So I'm you?” I whispered with my lips.
But I didn't get an answer. The Silent One came up, took me by the arms, lifted me up like a feather and sat me down on an evacuation box.
“What's going on, boss?” old man Rob asked in a trembling voice.
“We all,” the Angel smiled, “try not to forget it.”
The words were ready to fall out of my mouth like a waterfall, but at the same moment we were shot, faster than from the launcher, right into the space of the event horizon closing in from all sides of the most inexplicable anomaly in the multiverse called the Baby.
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