Daily Short: Matt 16

ACT NaN

Matt Smith froze as the words appeared in his vision. He was pretty aware of the Anomaly Central Time. It wasn’t the appearance that disturbed him but what it portended. A flicker of will brought up countless links within a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view. Jeeves paused to the side, realizing something was wrong.

“NaN.” Matt said grimly. It was the last withering hope that Eve was within a reachable distance. Anomaly used the acronym as shorthand for Not A Number. In other words, calculating the distance and time dilation had become unsustainable.

Darkness pooled in Matt’s eyes, and Jeeves took a hasty step away. Thick, bubbling shadows drifted off Matt’s form as he struggled to contain the rage inside. Glaring at the numbers, he reached out to the [Outsider] with a request.

There was a ponderous silence on the other end before a flood of power flowed into Matt. The being outside Reality had decided that their contract covered this contingency. Matt’s eyes lit up with blazing red light as he twisted the power granted into a complex Sigil.

Unlike runes, Sigils were not created naturally. Instead, they were formations of pure will and required the equivalent resources to activate. Channeling the energy from outside Reality, Matt’s form rapidly corroded into pure Darkness. It was too difficult to sustain his organic form at the same time he was creating a Sigil.

Jeeves looked at the floating twisted fractal symbol and promptly shunted himself into the Abyss. The demon’s sense of self-preservation was as accurate as always. Matt barely spared a flicker of attention as he continued to weave the Sigil into existence.

Countless powerful existences from the Major World he was standing on rushed to his location. It was a pointless attempt to save their world as the Sigil connected to the World Core a moment later. With a sharp twist of will, Matt had severed the planet's heart to feed his newborn monstrosity.

It had doomed the inhabitants of this world to departure or death, but he didn’t care. More precious than gold was the result of his actions. The letters denoting Eve’s link shifted before snapping into a new form.

ACT NaN-X-6

Matt smiled even as Spells fell around him and Skills cleaved at his form. He’d twisted the link until it denoted a single number, but that was enough.

“As long as the number goes up, everything else is fine. Just a matter of time.” Matt said as he turned his attention to the heroes of a now-dying planet. There was no reason to let those who had seen the Sigil live. He wouldn’t risk anyone being able to trace his sister’s existence from his end.

“Jeeves,” Matt said as his butler flickered into existence beside him. “Take out the trash.”