"Why?" Fifth asked in pained disbelief. "You should know, you made me what I am." RepliCarter replied simply. Fifth felt the wave consume him and his Replicator ship. As his body shattered into sparkling particles of silver sand tendrils of darkness consumed him from below he looked up at the receding empyrean and the blueish sphere that was earth. When he recovered from the initial shock, horrible isolation greeted him. Wherever he was seemed to lack any physical features. The only thing he could see was his metaphysical form glowing softly. Though, even this light failed to penetrate the infinite darkness. The silence is what got him the most, there was no more electrical buzz of Replicator communication in his mind, it was replaced by the deafening silence.

There was no sense of time here, Fifth figured out rather quickly. His precise replicator mind failed to calculate the time it would be in the physical and corrected himself concluding that this was because he was no longer physical. He walked forward with a futile hope that it would bring him closer to understanding his new world. His footfalls didn't make a sound, however solid his perceived perception of ground felt, he wondered but reminded himself that he still didn't know the physics of this dimension, as he proceeded forward. Still navigating blindly he continued to head toward his unspecified goal. He refused to believe that he was stuck here for eternity, refused to let go of his mixture of miserable emotions; anger at letting himself trust HER again, self pity that no one loved him, and hatred for all of organic existence.

He gave up and folded down into a siting position to nurse his emotional wounds until his metaphysical ears picked up a faint sound. Fifth strained to listen as the sound repeated only close enough for him to hear, "Fifth" a soft voice called... then again. It wasn't First, Fifth decided but a more velveteen voice. It wasn't coming from any one place but from all around. The disembodied voice repeated its call ever loader. Fifth hesitated, then replied, "Here am I!" "Turn" the silky voice solidified behind him. Fifth snapped around to come face to face with a lank old man. He had white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. There was nothing especially impressive about him with his simple tunic and robes. Fifth's relaxed and hoped that whoever this man was could help him out. "Who are you?", inquired he. The man met his suspicious gaze and offered a hand, "Of course, I seem to have forgotten my manners", he continued, "I am Yawgmoth and I am here to offer you a way out of the shadow realm." Fifth considered Yawgmoth for a moment. Yawgmoth, still smiling slightly, brought his hand back down and continued, "I know what you have been through. I know what the have done to you" Fifth blanked. How? How could he know that, unless he can enter my mind without my notice? "It wasn't their fault, you know." Fifth started to protest this point but Yawgmoth silenced him with a gentle gesture. "They are imperfect, and therefore make mistakes even if they don't yet realize it. Their civilization is stagnate and they will remain in such a doom unless we can free them. Show them their flaws and give them a way to fix them. You have been in Samantha Carter's mind and you know what a state earth is in.", Explained he, "we can help them ascend above hunger and treachery and we can help them be so much more" Fifth hung onto every word and was starting to trust this Yawgmoth, whoever he was. "How can we help them?" Fifth inquired. "We must align their thinking with ours. we must show them to relinquish their burdensome trait that makes them err" Yawgmoth answered and once again offered his hand.

Something inside Fifth's ghostly form made him hesitate to take his hand. A brief vision, ever so faint, flashed in his mind, a symbol of a circle with a vertical line through it. As Yawgmoth came into clear view again, a terrible feeling came over him, one thought, not his own, came to mind: DEATH. He recoiled within. And, withdrew his hand before he touched Yawgmoth's extended hand. Yawgmoth's smile waned slightly. "I am going to have to refuse you generous offer." Fifth with a tone of firm resolve. Yawgmoth's smile fell to a sneer. "Fine, it is solely your choice, I can only offer. Best wishes in oblivion!" He finished with an audible hiss. And with that faded away leaving Fifth in doubt about his decision to refuse his only way out of this nullity.

Once again the void that had become his new abode greeted him. In the silence he stood in solemn thought. He thought about everything he had done and was starting to rue. If only I had listened to First, if only. Once again he waited in the dark, cold silence.