Falling, Falling, Falling
A Oneshot
Disclaiment: I only own what I own
SPOILERS FOR STUFF SO DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE ENDING
SERIOUSLY THE GAME IS TOO GOOD TO GET CONFUZZLED HALF THEORIES FROM FICS
A/N: This comes from the idea that Klaus and Meyneth had quite a few universes before the Bionis and the Mechonis. I tried to just hit keystone moments to show what could have shaped Zanza to be like he is.
There was a flash of light and then there was nothing.
…
"You killed everyone! Everyone is dead! Oh my-" she was crying so hard she was nearly unintelligible, "My family is gone!"
Klaus stared at the abyss he created and dropped to his own knees. He hadn't meant to do this, it shouldn't have been possible. None of his calculations had even suggested this as a possibility.
He knew what he had done and it just wasn't fair. This wasn't what he wanted.
His whole universe was gone. The few people he'd cared about were gone. His friends were gone.
Why couldn't thing's ever go how he wanted them?!
All he had left was his stupid, emotional lab assistant who'd never forgive him.
…
The first universe was like earth. They combined their knowledge to make the perfect facsimile. They even recreated the people they once knew. It only lasted a week before the both of them were disgusted.
"These aren't people." She said, "They're robots, they're puppets."
"We created this world from our memories, of course we couldn't escape this curse so easily! This is the same as a computer simulation. How could I have made such a fool mistake! For all our power we still cannot bring back the dead. It still… lies out of our grasp." Klaus reached out as if trying to grab his failing. His friends, his debate partners, knew nothing that he didn't know. They couldn't put up intelligent conversations anymore.
For a moment he thought that he could fix his mistake. He thought that he could fix the universe to his liking and he could pretend it had never happened.
It seemed like he'd just have to find a way to live in this new order.
…
That was the second time there was nothing.
…
The next universe was made to be completely new. It was somewhat like earth but this time they were careful on not making a puppet world. Both delved into their science background, sometimes even taking inspiration from science fiction.
They created a sentient race they called the "Herbos Sapiens," who were green photosynthesizing humanoids. They made sure to tailor their traits to strive towards individualism.
Klaus put a cap on their intelligence though. He explained to her that he didn't want them destroying the universe and she was still shaky enough to accept this. His real reasoning was far less paranoid.
He didn't want a world of equals. He had always been above most humans in IQ anyways and had killed everyone else on his level. He was creating life on this world because worlds had life but he wasn't going to look upon his own creations as anything more that another experiment.
The puppets had taught him that. He had lost the capacity to speak to any equal. The worlds directly came from him, and therefore in his own mind, that they were the same as simulations or dreams. Nothing truly original could appear.
All he could do for stimulation was run experiments. He was a scientist after all.
…
Forty years later, when they were both grey and fading, the AI which had accompanied their ascension and survived the destruction of the universe informed them that they would have to take a new vessel for their souls to live on.
"What will happen if we die?" she asked,
"My calculations predict that this universe will not hold. You did not create this world to be permanent but merely temporary. It's time will run out in a few centuries."
"How can we create our vessels?" Klaus was well aware of the fact that unless the universe was wiped then neither of them could change anything. They still had some sort of power, always that of destruction it seemed from their last world, but no creation. He had asked the AI about that but apparently there wasn't enough testing data to reach a strong conclusion. Klaus had tried to convince his former lab assistant to help experiment but she wouldn't agree to destroy it yet. She was apparently attached to the little plant people.
The AI had to run the data they'd used as a blueprint to create this universe. It deemed that it was impossible under these conditions but if they remade themselves when they remade the universe then they, and the universe could live on. It also brought up that they could instead choose to make the next universe independent so it would not require their presence anymore.
The last two humans decided to change and live on.
…
The next millennia was spent on a planet called Cassiopeia. They both had decided on a species of intelligent life that looked like dragons. They called these the "Lethia" for the heck of it.
The Lethia may have lived a couple centuries naturally, but they both had to switch vessels several times. They had written it into the universe that whenever they wished they could body hop into the closest vessel.
Klaus ended up regretting suggesting the draconian blueprint after finding it difficult to get a technological society started with a species with claws for hands. He was able to exploit the basics of a 'magic system' that had been tossed in to allow the Lethia to breathe fire to get some sort of technology started and spent centuries tinkering with the boundaries of the universal laws.
He spent his time running experiments, seeing how far these creations of his could go. He didn't interfere too much, never interacting with the creatures on a personal basis but if progress stalled out or became boring to watch then he'd spur the Lethia on whether it be by providing a breakthrough or giving them new motivation.
His assistant left him after about five hundred years, saying that she was tired of his toys. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed her. She was the closest thing he had to a friend anymore. Now all he had was the AI to talk to. Alvis, it was now called, to given Klaus at least the semblance of a person. It eventually became normal to hold conversations with green glow of light.
…
Eventually the Lethia reached space travel. Klaus was happy about it until Alvis mentioned that if the Lethia left the bounds of the universe than that would jeopardize his existence.
Both of the former humans had kept the universe small, just so that they'd be able to conceptualize it. Unfortunately for them, universes were usually infinite. Alvis explained that if the Lethia left the universe then that world read as an error and crash the universe.
That would put an end to Klaus's existence.
He couldn't stop the space program; he's been too helpful in the past centuries, so he scoured the planet for his old assistant. They both agreed that this was too big of a risk and ended Cassiopeia.
…
It was on the eighth universe, a flat planet called Floppy Disk, was when she discovered the flaws of merely possessing living vessels. She almost died when her body was killed without any other sentient being close to her. Luckily for her, one of the Delen natives ran to her dying body before her vessel had completely died.
With the ninth universe they had devised a way of keeping their souls in inorganic objects. They couldn't last forever in these "Monados" but they would keep a simple vessel's fate from dooming them.
…
Occasionally Klaus would get visions of the future. It wasn't often and it was rare that he could draw them on command but he would get warning of anything major. He asked Alvis about it and the AI said that he'd run some tests. Alvis had a hypothesis but didn't want to share until it was confirmed.
Klaus never asked his old assistant if she could do the same. They never talked apart from the creations and destructions anymore anyways. They always made sure to have their own half staked out of the universes now. Whenever they'd tried sharing they had just ended up fighting.
He preferred to think it was something unique to him.
…
"I forgot your name it's been so long." Klaus admitted as they drew up plans for the 27th universe.
"I go by Meyneth now," she responded, "Ever since that one world where those duck people labeled me 'The Meyneth' it has seemed appropriate. After all, I'm hardly the human I once was."
"That is true." Klaus stroked his chin in thought, "We haven't been the humans we used to be in a long time. We are deities now, why hold on to our humble beginnings?"
…
It took time to find the right identity for himself, but Meyneth was correct that it was ridiculous to hold onto a silly scientist's name. He was so much more then that now, he was incomprehensible to his old self.
He had to laugh at his far memories, the first centuries slowly fading into oblivion. It was so silly that he had once tried to test his world instead of create it to fit his wishes, that he once interacted with his creations like the soft fool Meyneth. He buried the remnants of the infantile human he once was under millennia of power.
Klaus became Zanza.
…
"Have either of you ever considered creating a universe that is self-sustainable?" Alvis asked.
Both Zanza and Meyneth looked at him like he was malfunctioning.
…
On the 50th universe Alvis announced that he finally had enough testing data to reveal the true material of creation, the smallest particle of being that made up everything from matter to energy to waves. He had found that the Monados granted the power to manipulate this base. He called it Ether.
Zanza was somewhat confused on "testing data" but welcomed the strange knowledge like a surprise present.
Zanza's ability to see the future came from his ability to manipulate ether and therefore predict the destined flow. Alvis was also able to run the simulation and 'see' the future. At first, Zanza was concerned that his disciple might somehow be able to receive visions better than him. His pride however quickly nixed that silly idea. Alvis was nothing but a tool. His origins were forgotten by now but Zanza knew above all he was loyal. Alvis himself had progressed far beyond a mere computer interface. He started using words like Fate and Destiny and acting independently, adding small details to the universe to optimize its ability to run.
It was strange having new knowledge, strange because Zanza had created everything. He didn't understand how Alvis could discover anything. However, as the knowledge of ether only furthered his power he could let it go. He didn't like to dwell in the past. His realm was the future.
Zanza cared only for power and amusement. He wasn't like Meyneth with her fixation on making short-lived connections and receiving adoration. No, if he was going to receive anything from his creations it would be respect. He wanted his way and if something was fool enough to slow him down then it would be destroyed.
He would always get what he wanted, that was the law of his creation.
…
They both had lost count of the universes when they wondered if they could create the universe as a vessel. Alvis said it could be done, after all they had done stranger before.
It took them over a century to set up the universe with the two titans and the endless ocean. They both wanted this universe to last a long time and set up ways it could be renewed. It took a few resets after they got lonely and decided to create intelligent life but they managed to lay out a world that made them both happy.
Both he and Meyneth had talked about keeping this template for the next few millennia. They even put limits on each other's power and created a dependence on ether. So many checks and balances were set up so they wouldn't have to work together for a long, long time.
Meyneth would get to be revered by her long lived machines while Zanza would have all his titan's worth of biological life. He and Alvis had created a large variety of life on his Bionis, from giants to homs to bunnits. On a whim he even decided to bestow intelligence upon the Telethia, creatures he had originally created to rid his titan of life when he wanted enough ether for a small reboot of the world. However, Zanza really wasn't sure where the Nopon came from. He decided that they must have been one of Alvis's additions to balance the universe.
It wasn't new for Zanza to put his soul in a weapon, it was his favorite place to be. He was rather fond of being in a place of power after all. Meyneth on the other hand liked her Monado more subtle even if she let it have the form of a weapon as well. The power of shapeshifting Monados had been a must since the failure of Fredrix.
He really thought that he'd be content.
…
Meyneth adored her Mechonis, her Machina, her friends. They adored her too, they worshiped her.
Zanza's short-lived creatures barely remembered him.
When Zanza was exposed to just how much different their treatment was, he decided it was time to act. When he saw a giant and a machine talking of how their descendents would eventually leave the world he had a reason to get Meyneth on board for a reset.
Somehow, the softie had grown too attached to her long-lived admirers to even care.
Zanza wasn't going to let that stand so he possessed the giant and took matters into his own hands. If Meyneth wouldn't continue their eternal dance of creation and destruction than he would force her play by destroying her beloved titan and friends. They both were above this, couldn't she see? She shouldn't be getting feelings for germs on her skin, germs that she'd created, especially when they planned to kill her in a few generations.
He'd make her understand. He was bored anyway. His Trinity made things slightly less boring but still…
"You could just ferry your precious robots to the next world!" Zanza had argued, "Just get rid of those that rise above themselves."
"No Zanza, I have learned that we've been wrong. We've forgotten our humanity!"
It had taken Zanza a while to even remember that word, "We aren't human. You can't seriously be thinking like a mortal!"
"Think of how lonely we were when all we had were our own bodies and then just animals. We always end up creating intelligent species in the end so we don't go insane. We create equals Zanza, equals! From now on, I'm going to treat them as such."
"If you are equals then why do they worship you?" Zanza's laugh of disbelief was high pitched and grating, "You don't really believe that drivel. You know as well as I that your robots are nothing but toys."
And so it was time for a fight between them again. Zanza always had so much fun with them.
Slashing into her titan and sending Telethia was the most satisfaction he had since he had destroyed her last civilization.
…
Betrayal by his own people would have been worse if it hadn't been foretold. Zanza knew that he needed time to recuperate, he had expended too much ether with his and Meyneth's fight. But as he let his vessel be chained to Prison Island and his Monado be hidden in the ice he couldn't help but smile.
He would rise again, and then he'd make Meyneth fall.
For millennia, the universe had been falling, rising, falling and that was fine with him. What else was it around for other that the cycle of creation and destruction?
A/N: It's weird that of all my Xenoblade fic ideas, it's this one that actually gets finished. Not the cute one about Fiora and Reyn trying to teach Shulk the delicate how to fight, of at the very least not get killed by a bunnit, of even an- admittedly weird premised- one about Dunban. Nope, I pull out Zanza! *sigh*
This comes entirely from Zanza's implication that creating and destroying the universe has been done a few time. I know that this could be interprutted on Bionis or something, but for this fic I let them go crazy with their imagination. After all, it only makes sense to start with a universe similar to your own before going for a completely alien concept of a universe without planets and with a sort of magic system. With this, I tried to show that the first few where built seriously before they just started throwing any and every idea that they could make work because it just wasn't a big deal to them any more and they were bored with normality.
I also tried to show Alvis being through as more of an individual rather than a mere AI , as well as show that he wanted a universe that was self sufficient without the need of Zanza or Meyneth. You might have notice his suggestions throughout.
Meyneth also doesn't come out of this as completely blameless. She may have not been like Klaus/Zanza but she also didn't mind perpetuating her existence at the expense of the universe and stuff. I don't know, this really isn't a statement oneshot or anything, for all I made that intentional but I just didn't think that it was realistic to blame everything on Klaus/Zanza. But, Meyneth's big difference is that she spent time with her creations and got to know them personally while Klaus stops seeing them as individuals almost immediately.
I dunno, I tried to set up a lot but granted this is kind of a silly fic. I am really glad I finally finished something for Xenoblade though, MY FAVORITE VIDEO GAME EVER! I seriously love this game, and love all it's characters (well, not Dickson but... I used too...) so it's nice to finally put something out to show my appreciation. Hopefully my next Xenoblade fic is actually dealing with some of those characters that I really adore instead of a what-if into the big bad's past...
Anyways, thanks so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed this, well I'll admit it's weird, fic!