The Clone had continued a vigil of surveillance over the corrupt web of filth on the protostar below him. Each vile strand of the karmic ties made between his subject and the other Star Children on the neo zoi had been polluted into a rotting death by Zelviz’s influence. A power, he reminded himself, that until his arrival at this star, he had been certain was long dead in the multiverse. The thick tendrils of sloughing rot, that wreaked deception and dominion. They had spread to almost every member of the Ligat. Even Gaia and House Olympia. Worse than this, they were all completely unaware. This wasn’t surprising. While the Star Children were immortal regarding the natural state of their life span, they were not Transcended. As a result, they were just as limited in their abilities to perceive and interpret the effects of massive Adharmic workings. And they were just as vulnerable to its ultimate spiritual stilling, blind to the malignant shifts in Balance and Reality. If left unchecked, they would fall victim to it just as any other mortal race would. Mortal insensitivity to his occult oblivion was how the Sky Commandant had become so overwhelmingly powerful the first time. Drop a toad in a scalding pot of water, and it will jump out. Slowly raise the temperature, and it will boil to its destruction. They were blind fools… all of them–

  Zenyak’s Combi cut in before he continued his poetic waxing any further.

  [There is a significant chance, verging on 74.6 percent, that your properly timed intervention to our primary objective will also restore Karma’s ultimate design for who controls the Stellae Creaturix. The resource intended by Karma to perpetuate the mortal iteration. And through the convergence, the surrounding local clusters of life-bearing cuboids. You are aware, however, that guaranteeing the proper result for the mortals is not our main concern.]

  No, you are correct; it’s number two at best. I haven’t forgotten our primary purpose here is to unravel the riddle of Zenyak’s debt incurred over two billion standard rotations ago. Once elucidated, we will set it straight. The Clone responded a bit more testily than he had intended. Being forced to endure Zelviz’s corruption was starting to shorten his temper. I really shouldn’t be surprised that the matter of a dharmic or adharmic force controlling the life font of the mortal iterations is a lesser issue, should I? The Clone chided himself. I’m the one that brought the ultimate force of chaos, otherwise known as Joshua Elias Tanner, into this, aren’t I? Nothing ever follows anything close to a sensical path of logic and reason when he gets involved, does it?

  [No, it does not. Probability models are well established that with his and the Marztenak Heir’s involvement, the occurrence of the least likely Time/Space divergence resolving into fruition is expected more than 83 percent of the time. This has been true from the very start of his involvement in the Heir’s existence. Moreover, for reasons beyond the current computational data set, he seems to be ‘Blessed’ with Karma’s favor. At least based on the end outcomes of all such occurrences.]

  The Clone could only stare on, stoic lines shaping the expression of his UV shielding at hearing the Combi’s review of what he’d been calling ‘Joshua’s dumb Karmic luck.’

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The Combi continued with its analysis, unperturbed by the Clone’s apparent disinterest. [But to your earlier concern, you should be encouraged that pursuing our primary task has already resulted in your two wards putting House Olympia in an early lead to win control of the Stellae Creaturix. It was extremely unlikely that Joshua Tanner could form a triple-braided Aural conduction array. This act alone significantly contributed to House Olympia’s victory.]

  The Clone dipped his head in acknowledgment of the Combi’s words. Yes, at their current level of cultivation, Joshua Elias Tanner’s actions were as impressive as they were self-embarrassing. But that is par for the course with him, isn’t it? He raised a brow at the whirlpool of nebular gasses around the protostar. I bet Gaia didn’t see him pulling that long-haired barrit out of his hat, did she? Though I did warn her about those two... A devilish smile ate at the corners of his mouth. The trouble I’m sure they are causing is all Gaia’s, isn’t it…At least for now!

  The Clone almost chuckled in schadenfreude thinking about it. But sadly, it was time to get back to work.

  He turned a jaundiced eye back to the swirling solar gasses on the edge of eruption anchored before him in its own gravity well—Zelviz’s festering corruption blaring at him like a neon sign entombed in putrid obsidian. The Clone’s thoughts also redirected to his foremost concern. And right now, that primary concern was that the Star Child spreading Zelviz’s abhorrent dynamism was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, floating in an ocean of impossibility. To be certain, Zenyak wasn’t an Immortal given to doubt himself or what his senses told him. Out of duplication, neither was the Clone. But what he was perceiving right in front of him was that the being acting as the source of the undead poison that had almost ended the mortal realms also concurrently possessed a duality of nature. A second and completely distinct soul Essence from a separate individual whose presence raised questions about everything the Clone knew and remembered about the Necrolon Wars. Including my– No Zenyak’s, roll in it.

  The Clone’s Aural Sight was telling him, in no uncertain terms, that coexisting in the creature who bore Zelviz’s metaphysical sewage, there was also an unexplainable specter of a unique Soul-Aura that Zenyak had personally observed long, long ago…This union of Zelviz with this spirit is not something that can or should be…But with my memories as questionable as they are, I have to doubt anything, don’t I? Even what should be impossible.

  One, this was undeniable; however, as far as making progress on finding the right avenue to pursue in order to identify the being Zenyak owed his debt to, the Clone couldn’t have asked for a more flagrant sign. But it placed him in a conundrum. There was no way the Clone could follow his gut and sterilize this blight without also destroying the dual being Zenyak somehow owed so much to. He was caught in a stalemate with no way obvious way forward or back–

  [This is only because you are approaching the problem binarily. You see Zelviz’s corruption and believe the only appropriate first, middle, and last steps are to eradicate it immediately. You need to expand your options to find a way forward to achieve all our goals.] The Combi chirped in his mind.

  Zenyak rolled his eyes at the obvious statement. I agree. But before I can find a sword to cleave this knot, I need some answers. I need to know that I’m not putting the Star Children, the mortal iterations, Zenyak, and the likely fate of every being in the nearby cuboids of the multiverse at risk with my decision. And there was only one person in anywho could provide the answers that he needed. But to speak with Masamune, after he had declared himself off-limits, was going to be a challenge.

  A questioning expression claimed the UV shielding over the Clone’s face… there is a way…but I’m going to need some backup.

  [I calculate a less than 7.4% chance of success with this tactic–]

  “Never tell me the odds again.” The Clone vocalized bruskly, silencing the Combi.

  A wet, tearing sound filled the Clone’s ears as his Intent parted the Way. Rich and vibrant blues drowned out his own azure radiants as he stepped through Reality and its limitless possibilities to a place Zenyak had not visited in a very long time.