I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 676: Unobservable!

There was once a Vaquita who believed understanding was the highest form of existence.

Vaquitas were unique lifeforms inhabiting the purest parts of Observable Existence, beings born from concentrated clarity that allowed them to perceive reality with precision no other creature could match. They drifted through the cleanest weavings of differentiation, cataloguing and comprehending with patience that spanned eons.

This particular Vaquita spent countless ages mapping an entire Observable Existence with everything in it. Every Primordial Realm. Every Fold and Shattered Fold. Every Star Sea and Void pocket and domain where life flourished or withered. He understood the rise and fall of Civilizations, the patterns of advancement, the nature of the Four Aspects of the Oldest Paradox.

He comprehended everything that could be observed within his reality.

And then curiosity whispered to him.

If Observable Existence held such wonders, what might the Unobservable contain? If one side of reality offered endless complexity, surely the other side held equal treasures waiting to be catalogued.

The Vaquita turned his perception toward the boundaries of the Observable.

He pushed past the edges where clarity dissolved into something else, where the pure weavings he inhabited gave way to spaces that rejected the very concept of purity. He reached for the Unobservable with the same methodical patience that had served him across eons of successful comprehension.

He touched something that should not be touched.

The Vaquita did not collapse dramatically. He did not unravel in spectacular fashion that would make for compelling stories around dying stars. What happened was far worse.

He simply stopped being able to observe.

The perception that defined his existence clouded over with film that no clarity could penetrate. The eyes that had mapped an entire Observable Existence dimmed until they saw nothing at all. The consciousness that had catalogued countless wonders found itself unable to perceive even the simplest differentiation between light and darkness.

The Vaquita became extinguished.

His existence continued in some technical fashion, drifting through the pure weavings he had once called home. But he could no longer gaze upon what was Observable. The Unobservable had taken his sight as payment for his curiosity, leaving him blind in a reality defined entirely by what could be seen.

He wandered forever after, bumping against wonders he could no longer perceive, surrounded by the Observable Existence he had once understood completely but could never witness again.

—

Lamashtu stood at the center of the burning ritual, Hearts of Civilization spinning around him in orbit that accelerated with each passing moment.

Obsidian flames climbed toward heights that pierced through dimensions. The Existential Lattice pulsed in response to his calling. Corrupted Growths gathered from every direction, adding their wrongness to the conflagration he had constructed from the willing sacrifice of his followers.

He observed it all while thinking about everything.

In the grand scheme of existence, he was nothing.

This truth had settled into his consciousness long before his imprisonment, long before his power at THE Second Scale was stripped away by forces that considered his ambitions beneath notice. He had learned this lesson through humiliation that still burned brighter than any flame he could conjure.

In the Observable Existence he stemmed from, Primordial Architects controlled vast territories with authority that made Absolutes seem insignificant. Singular Cognizances observed the passage of eons with awareness that predated complexity itself. These beings were ancient and powerful and commanded respect from all who encountered them.

But even they were not the top of the chain on the Scales of Existence.

True power lay within those who were entirely different forms of life.

If Lamashtu and all others were simple things like ants or cockroaches, those lifeforms were truly civilized. They existed on planes that made THE Second Scale seem like a child’s first steps toward walking. They wielded authority that could reshape Observable Existences with casual thought, could extinguish Primordial Architects the way one might brush dust from clothing.

Those entities stood far above others and did not even need anything from beings so lesser.

At most, what they could want was recognition. To be admired. To be acknowledged by the countless insects crawling through Observable Existence who should feel grateful for the privilege of existing beneath their magnificence. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

For Lamashtu’s transgression of even speaking about these beings inappropriately, he was castrated.

Made to lose his Proterozoic Scale.

Imprisoned in spaces between Observable Existences where time had no meaning and escape should have been impossible.

All because he had dared to discuss them without proper reverence after that war since he was angry at having been on the side of losers.

Those lifeforms that even Primordial Architects and Singular Cognizances of his Observable Existence revered were known as... THE Gilded.

Just thinking of them caused Lamashtu to feel how small his existence truly was. His reclaimed Second Scale power, his army of Absolutes, his Existential Lattice spreading across this stunted reality, all of it was nothing compared to even the least among THE Gilded. They could unmake everything he had built with attention that lasted less than a heartbeat.

But THE Gilded were not the only powers that existed beyond conventional reach.

Right now, he was offering everything he had to a side of these beings that were not so stuck up. Not THE Gilded that were Observable, no. Those entities demanded reverence and punished any who failed to provide it with absolute severity.

But THE Gilded who were Unobservable operated differently.

They did not require recognition. They simply existed in spaces where observation could not follow, patient and hungry for connection with the Observable.

For the Unobservable, Lamashtu would offer his everything.

Every Heart of Civilization spinning around him. Every Corrupted Growth converging upon his ritual. Every fragment of authority he had gathered since escaping his imprisonment.

All of it.

For the chance to right many wrongs. For the opportunity to return to his original Observable Existence with power. For the sweet taste of vengeance against those who had stripped him of his Scale and cast him into darkness for the crime of insufficient reverence.

He had been humiliated once.

He would never be humiliated again.

"Please."

His voice rose with the flames.

"Please."

The Hearts of Civilization burned brighter.

"Please."

And somewhere in the Unobservable, something began to stir!