Michaela’s journey to reviving ‘Her’ revolved around retracing the steps of Mankind. The black hole made it apparent that humanity had dabbled in experiments revolving around the light long before the appearance of the Stars.
“It was not clear what effect it had on the world. I was certain that their meddling was what ultimately caused the sun to collapse. Was it the reason why Stars were able to fall through the Veil? I did not know. But that power was what Polaris alluded to. Somewhere, within that bastion of humanity resided traces of something alike the Stars.”
Frost remembered the blue hue of the black hole’s accretion disk. Glimmers of the same blue light dotted the lands nearest to the City. They were like shards of broken light scattered across the world. For what reason was something the Arbiter remained silent on, for she would eventually reveal it.
Before that, an annoyed Cer whipped the air with her tail. She curled the fur at the tip of her ears, expressing her irritation.
“So, I’ve been wondering about this since it was first mentioned.” She began, gathering all eyes on her. “What’s the deal with ‘humanity’? You said that Stars required them and vice versa. So I’m curious – Were races like Demi-Humans safe? I can’t see how a Beastkin would hold a spear against a Star. They’d worship them if anything, not try to gouge out its remains and use it as a base for a technology, or whatever you call it.”
The fact that the people of the old world were referred to as ‘Humanity’ bothered her. It was like other races did not exist. Frost also confirmed that the likes of Demi-Humans did indeed exist at that time.
A sudden silence engulfed the Floor of Judgement. The ears of the Demi-humans perked up.
However, Cer’s was the first to deflate and shudder, for she had already sensed the answer.
“Only humanity existed in the old world at the time. The advent of Demi-humans followed the products of the Captured Star.” Michaela revealed.
Cer’s ears dropped further. Various thoughts filled her mind as she contemplated this. As shocking as it was, it didn’t change that Demi-humans were essentially the children of humans and Beastkins in today’s world.
But it went deeper than just that.
“Beastkins needed to come from somewhere first.” Cer growled. “Does that mean they came from humans?”
Michaela turned their attention back to her memories.
“GEN-04, the Wishcrafter – the Advent of Desire is responsible for the transformation of mankind. Sparks of the Captured Star’s light – it’s repeatedly shattered vessel – allowed for miracles to be born.”
“Among them were genetic alterations. But never in the same sense of scientific reason. How can you call this thing science? This ordeal as reason?”
Michaela then went on to explain the peculiarity of humans, all the while Cer suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
“It never occurred to any of you how strange it was that many beings are bound to humanity itself?”
“The Sins of the Subcut, and the Hearts of the Derma Layer, and the Impuritas curse of the Subderma Layer.”
“The Corrupted from our minds.”
“Races born from the blueprint of humanity.”
“Stars are among the only things untouched by it, yet you see us taking similar shapes, yearning for it as they call for us.”
“The irony is how much we desire each other’s existence.”
Michaela spoke as if reciting holy scripture. She remained perfect still, her eyes fixated on something beyond the fragmented memories. In her mind, she retraced the steps of her own, which had followed the previous trail of humanity towards their first cognitive experiments.
“But even before that, there were experimentations that sought to go beyond the flesh, or to revert to the purest machinations of man in their simplest, most raw form. It was the City I chose to make my own. People desperately sought a way out of their hell. So I brought upon my very own paradise, and called that city –”
“Humanity was born with things that they could not help. I called them Sins. But beyond just those Sins, and the blood of all kinds labeled as the One Sin collectively after Elysia devoured the Apple... from my Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil…”
“Those were the Affinities. What you see is a fragment of what constituted the Wishcatcher. 11 nodes fit into a hexagonal diamond diagram, which was detailed in the archives of the Yetzirah.”
“It was an ancient tablet containing esoteric knowledge of these universal Affinities.”
The Arbiter did not know much else about this ancient knowledge, only that she followed its instructions. Frost was about to question how she knew this was the correct thing to do. Her memories shifted to another picture as if sensing this.
“What laid beneath the city, within a dark singularity was this precise text.”
“It was held within a source of malevolence. A darkness rivalling only that of the black hole, guarded by ancient beings born as rivals to the Affinities. They were close to the Impuritas, but they devoured all light like false stars.”
“I then realized that had I followed the Yetzirah, then I would have given the light of ‘Her’ away. It would have empowered the light consuming entities. It was apparent that it had occurred before, resulting in the loss of nearly all light.”
“What I needed to do was to reinstate it.”
“But how? What was the reverse order of what humanity had followed from the text; the path that appeared like a hideously contorted sword?”
“Then Polaris came to me and said –”
“Within this bastion of humanity lies where all Four Rivers meet.”
“The first has dried up, unlocking a valve. But the second still runs deep. It can carry their thoughts, hopes and dreams downstream towards ‘Her’.”
“Emotions can restore the Light.”
“The First Shattering resulted in the loss of the light.”
“Your Second Shattering can help return it back to the world.”
The term ‘Shattering’ instantly brought Frost to a brief moment in the past. She recalled the desolate facility. It was too enormous to fail in her mind, especially with the Arbiter as the head of operations. But it never occurred to her that the destruction of it was purposeful.
She stared at Michaeala, her eyes seeking an answer.