09-10-2003, 01:37
The Xox was intent. For an eon, it had been idle, simply existing. But now, its purpose was clear, and its success imperative.
The time was 10^33 cycles from conception, and the universe was a dark and cold place to be. Stars had dimmed, and finally died altogether, even as galaxies rushed apart and crossed the causal horizon, erasing all hopes of starting a new series of stars. The only matter and energy left was nuetron stars and black holes, and the hawking radiation they emitted... except for one small system, floating in the void around what was once a great quadruple galaxy, three spirals and an irregular all merged into one.
Here, the Xoxes had preserved enough hydrogen to last a small number of them till the end of the universe if it was rationed properly- but now, the end approached, and the store ran shallow. The only atomic matter left within the Horizon was the Dyson Sphere where this store was kept- perhaps there were other such places in other dead galaxies, but if they were beyond the Horizon, they effectively didn't exist.
It was almost time. But not all of the Navigators had arrived... the Xox must wait.
Ah! A ship! Time dilation had been good to this one. It retained its original configuration- the being inside was still biological in nature, not transformed into an infomorph. A small aperture appeared in the sphere, out of which poured a tiny amount of the feeble light given by a nearly burned-out ball of electron-degenerate matter at the center. The ship came through.
Good! They were all here, the entire collection of intelligence left from this part of the universe. The project could proceed.
The last bits of energy remaining under intelligent control were directed together, raising the temperature in a small volume of space to the obscenely high levels where Higgs bosons formed and the four forces unified. A microwormhole was pushed into this space, and the false vacuum collapsed. An event horizon formed, and dissapeared- but the other mouth of the wormhole remained. There was a connection!
The Xoxes waited another ten million years- what was that to beings who had lived for ten billion? And then, their energy finally depleted, they entered the Mouth- and acheived true apotheosis.
The time was 10^33 cycles from conception, and the universe was a dark and cold place to be. Stars had dimmed, and finally died altogether, even as galaxies rushed apart and crossed the causal horizon, erasing all hopes of starting a new series of stars. The only matter and energy left was nuetron stars and black holes, and the hawking radiation they emitted... except for one small system, floating in the void around what was once a great quadruple galaxy, three spirals and an irregular all merged into one.
Here, the Xoxes had preserved enough hydrogen to last a small number of them till the end of the universe if it was rationed properly- but now, the end approached, and the store ran shallow. The only atomic matter left within the Horizon was the Dyson Sphere where this store was kept- perhaps there were other such places in other dead galaxies, but if they were beyond the Horizon, they effectively didn't exist.
It was almost time. But not all of the Navigators had arrived... the Xox must wait.
Ah! A ship! Time dilation had been good to this one. It retained its original configuration- the being inside was still biological in nature, not transformed into an infomorph. A small aperture appeared in the sphere, out of which poured a tiny amount of the feeble light given by a nearly burned-out ball of electron-degenerate matter at the center. The ship came through.
Good! They were all here, the entire collection of intelligence left from this part of the universe. The project could proceed.
The last bits of energy remaining under intelligent control were directed together, raising the temperature in a small volume of space to the obscenely high levels where Higgs bosons formed and the four forces unified. A microwormhole was pushed into this space, and the false vacuum collapsed. An event horizon formed, and dissapeared- but the other mouth of the wormhole remained. There was a connection!
The Xoxes waited another ten million years- what was that to beings who had lived for ten billion? And then, their energy finally depleted, they entered the Mouth- and acheived true apotheosis.