Not Of This World

unknown date

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The creature stirred.

Or rather, the simulation of the creature stirred.

The physiology and microbiology of this species was fascinating and endlessly complex, and replicating it in a higher number of orthogonal dimensions was an impressive feat on its own. For there to be any possibility that a living being from a 3-brane would be able to be brought to life here and now provoked greater existential questions– the team had left those to philosophers. The fact was they could try, and so they would.

The creature would never know- the pocket of lower-dimensional space was well stabilized within its chamber. It would be impossible to detect from within that the creature was in anything other than a perfect inertial reference frame pushing against a smooth spacetime curvature. The secret ingredient they had long needed came in the set of solutions integrating that elusive half-dimension the matter in their universe depended on for structure- finally their gravity models worked correctly with simulated particle physics.

Their observations of the 3-brane had led to startling conclusions; within their own universe, there existed a layer within a layer, bubbles of subatomic size that composed a great shape beyond comprehension. These creatures lived within that layer— everywhere and nowhere all at once, bigger and smaller at the same time than anything the scientists or their people could compare to.

They had found a creature- one of those beings that seemed to be present in every one of the bubbles- whose universe was scoured, empty and dark. The creature lived still, somehow able to sustain itself in what otherwise appeared to be a cold, dead vacuum. This was perfect- they wouldn’t need to simulate a 3 dimensional atmosphere, a huge barrier to progress.

It moved now, its observation chamber projected upon the manifold the scientists observed. They monitored this multidimensional display carefully, examining with exasperated expressions all of the curious components of the being- inside and out- as it moved in real time.

These humans, as they tended to call themselves, were merely toroidal 3-brane entities constrained by a unidirectional time dimension. It was somewhat ironic that their anus formed first in utero, considering these scientists regarded their rudimentary dimension as the anus of the multiverse.

The creature propped itself up on its arms, looking around the chamber and blinking, stretching its body upwards.

It was a miracle.

They had discovered sentient life outside their species.

Though, this was still merely a simulation— an assembly of 3 dimensional sub-particles that had been constructed using matter projectors. It was a “physically real” hologram, sure, but they had no way to make contact with the creature itself. The hologram acted with whatever impulses were contained in its replicated tissues. This exercise was purely observational.

The creature stood. Staggering on its thin and trembling legs, the naked and flaccid being opened its mouth and appeared to speak to no one. Its “brain” and anatomy seemed to be working quite well, exact duplicates of the living creature they had found.

They would need to go ahead and shut the experiment down soon, however. There were ethical questions about artificial entities being made in matter projectors, and they got more and more hairy the longer the thing was turned on. These were simple toroidal 3-brane entities, after all. They were hardly sentient in the same way, they weren’t even capable of moving freely along all of their orthogonal axes. Considering their anus formed first in utero, it’s no surprise the scientists essentially considered that reality the anus of the multiverse. Letting them live might constitute cruelty.

But something was happening.

The creature stared at its own hands.

It seemed to regard them curiously.

Then they changed.

The scientists exchanged worried glances.

The now-silent human’s hands stretched and warped as it stared at them with grim determination.

A fear struck the observers, one they couldn’t quantify.

The creature turned and looked directly at them. This was impossible. They existed outside of the space this thing was constructed in, they weren’t in a direction. And yet, each of them felt its eyes gazing upon them.

The slender being lowered its hands, opened its mouth, its eyes filled with a black ichor, and a swirling mass of oily, dark liquid exploded out of its body, filling the chamber in an instant. The creature disappeared within the churning roil.

As the observers raced to shut down the machine, the barriers containing the simulation cracked.

A soupy blackness penetrated the space outside from every direction at once.