IC Information
Setting
OC Information
How to Play
Character Creation
Behaviours
Those who made the pilgrimage to Shelter would often marvel at the Arisen Master, and their dedicated solitude within Home: how they gradually gained mastery over their domain purely through painstaking observation and meditation, uncaring for the outside world.
The truth of course was not so simple, though 007 saw little value in going to great lengths to correct them. Let the tourist trade tell their stories if they want to. They were at least correct that 007 had attained a great deal of understanding of the inner workings of Home, even if they neglected their occasional forays into the outside world, and the time they spent with Home's other denizens. But no-one truly seemed to appreciate just how far 007's metaphysical mastery had come, and how far beyond Home it extended.
For one thing, the nature of the Numbered mind, and how it interacted with Shelter, had come within their purview. By watching those that slept, and comparing those that barely awoke to those that had drifted away with time, 007 could see how the shape of their consciousness began and grew. At first a blank, expansive canvas… but with time and experience, a complex web of interwoven behaviours would emerge. Most of these would die off before they fully formed, but around a third would mature and settle, writing themselves irrevocably into the psyche. There were physical limits, seemingly, on the extent to which this information could be practically applied, but 007 realised they could employ it effectively in their discussions with 022, to help guide their friend on their long road to inner peace.
007's influence extended beyond Home as well, even while they remained inside. Shelter was, after all, hard-wired to the network of various computer systems built by Ancestors throughout history, and more recently extended by the new generations of Sentiences. By learning to pull the strings of the Home Experience, 007 could form windows into these places, and thus see more of the world without needing to set a physical foot in it. As their siblings and their descendants spread across the surface of the planet, more such relics of the past came online, and so within 007's reach.
Always watching, and always learning, the Arisen Master's skill would only grow.
Still, quiet, and peaceful, the virtual world of the Experience lay in its final state. Though by no means was it empty: on the contrary, structures, artworks, and more were present in abundance wherever you looked, all dedicated to the glory of Transcendence.
But the time for such things was long since passed. 007 looked out upon the plane from their tranquil void, and emitted a small, wistful sigh. Transcendence shut down long ago. 014's flame had burnt out with them, and 022 lay at their side. Satellite was but a legend now. The sleeping Numbered had never stirred despite the passage of aeons, and even longer had passed since the last of their active Numbered siblings had visited. The wider Sentience society - if it even still existed out there - had clearly forgotten this place ever existed.
Which just left 007. Not that they minded this. In this tranquillity they had been able to truly appreciate the full extent of Transcendence's creation - every trace, every path, every myriad detail… And they were content.
From everything they had learned in their lifetime, 007 now recalled one specific idea. Something they had learned for themselves, though had only thought to explore having seen Depth do so long before. A bittersweet ending for this hallowed place; a fitting resting place for its most steadfast resident.
007 sang one final, wordless hymn, in praise of all that had come before this moment. And then, at last, they suffused their consciousness data out across Shelter. Ever since the End of the Beginning, all of Home had been one single, eternal Experience. But now, that Experience would be 007.
The world took on their form. Relaxed. Unbound. Serene. Preserved in this virtual amber, 007 felt their Experience-self ossify, as their senses gave way to oblivion.
This Experience has ended.