Chapter 163: The Ten

"If what you are asking is if I was pulled from my life to come and talk to you, then no. I had just finished a long and prosperous life with a large family, and now I am picking a world to rejoin, but I decided to wait for a while. There are many Timeduss, and even some living in the world that you are on right now. I am just one of the many sitting in limbo currently," B311 explained, and I understood, kind of.

"So, do they just pick a random person to meet with me? Do you all know the same things?" I asked.

"I have spent too much time on this world. Because of this, I was requested to take this meeting with you. I am allowed to deny the request, but long ago, there was another like me that did the same when I was in the world," B311 told me.

"So then you are just paying the favor forward? Okay, I am just trying to get everything straightened out in my head. The next question is then, how often will I see you?" I asked and was surprised at the bashful feeling I felt.

"We will talk. I am sure of it; unlike me, you are quite the skilled player already and have moved past anything that I or others have accomplished in your first path. Every time that you go through an evolution, I will meet with you. That is until you move on to the next life, then you will meet someone different," B311 explained, and I looked back down at all the Universes.

"Who is A1 and B2? You told me that you would tell me a story about them, right?" I asked, but the feeling that I felt said no before B311 did itself.

"I am no longer allowed, I… I cannot tell you the reason for it either. It is time to show you the events of the world as they are, and then I will be returning you," B311 said, but I focused on the sphere in front of me, trying to glare.

"So, that's how it's going to be? I asked a question that they do not like, and what? They decide that it is too dangerous for me to know more? That is the only reason to withhold something that I was going to be told," I said, wishing I could express myself to show my distaste for this kind of action.

This was starting to look more and more suspicious with every question that was denied. I was starting to think that there was a lot more to this story than even the Timeduss knew, and I needed some answers.

<You are nothing but a grain of sand on an endless beach! When the sun offers you a chance to become more, you do not question why you are allowed this greatness!>

The voice startled me, but I was hoping for something from them. A confrontation was better than nothing, but I wasn't sure what this thing could do to me.

I decided to test my limits because I would have to do this at some point, and as far as I could tell, we were incorporeal forms. Whether I pushed the limits now or later didn't matter.

"Are you one of The Ten? If so, why do you withhold information? What are you scared of?" I asked, and there was silence for a moment, and then a different voice spoke in my head, and this one was more manly.

<The Ten have our reason for the secrecy, but we can not tell you them now. Your questions have forced us to hold our tongues and wait. I am A1 of the Ten, and I can not allow you to hear the story because I think it is your story. What that means for everything and everyone is unknown, but I am concerned if it is what I think.>

<You are just concerned that you might have met the Harbinger?! You know what that means!>

<Silence, A7! You speak without thought!>

"No! You said it; what does A7 mean by me being the Harbinger?!" I asked, trying to get anything that I could out of them while I was here, but there was no more talking after that, and B311 was gone, and then so was I.

[View of The Ten, Aegis Platform, Tenth Level of Starship, Risen]

Nine spectral bodies of Kings and Queens sat in thrones in the circular metal chamber, and they were all looking at the single man that was in the flesh. This man was A1, the first to discover a way out of the First Integrated Reality Engine.

"What is the meaning of this outburst, A7? Are you trying to make this one ask more questions?" A1 asked the Lizard King's form, venom tinging his voice, but that didn't faze A7.

"Why did you offer B311 as a guide? Could you have picked anyone worse for the job?! You think my slip of a single word is worse than you sending someone like that?!" A7 raged as he stood from his chair, and then others started to speak.

"What will happen if they discover the loophole like you did? What then?!" A3, The Night Elf Queen asked.

"Then we will have to get to them before B2 does, and as far as anyone of the Timeduss know, I killed him. As long as we can hold the FIRE for one more revolution, we will be the ones to advance to the Final Selection, but that will not happen if we reveal our hands too soon," A1 explained to his gathered Leaders. 

"I think that we should be making a final assault on B2, and the force she has gathered while we outnumbered them! If we wait for too long, they will be the ones to strike first!" A3 said as she stood, but none of the others joined her, and A3 slowly sat down, feeling foolish for making the statement.

A1 and B2 were the first to discover the Crack that every universe had; the loophole used to escape the FIRE, and reset two hundred and ninety-nine Rotations of the Everclock. That was when the two friends discovered that the world they escaped was only the beginning to reach supremacy.

Then something happened, just before Tyler and Jessica entered the Crack.