The entity felt confused.

It had started earlier in the planet's rotation, when it had responded to an attack on a particularly large native settlement located on one of the smaller landmasses. Another one of the unleashed weapons had begun its cyclic assault, creating conflict as the shards were forced to fight it off. The entity did not know what had caused the weapon to be released in the first place, though it could simply produce the needed information from its collection of shards. There was no particular need to do so, and it would be a draining effort on its behalf.

As it had done before, it finished with the situation at hand before flying off to assist in driving off the weapon. Normally, the shards present would require its help to do so, though occasionally one of the stronger ones had managed to succeed without help. It was a shame; such conflict produced immense data for the shards to gather, yet it was all in vain without the Thinker to complete the cycle.

The entity moved with great speed, easily surpassing the speed barrier as it flew over countless settlements of wood, stone, glass, and steel. Already it could sense numerous shards exerting their powers, using them to combat the attacking weapon. For a brief moment, it thought it could sense the presence of another weapon, but it soon disappeared. Most likely a misinterpretation of data, nothing more.

As it neared, however, it realized that something was different from before. For some unknown reason, it seemed as though as the weapon was hardly attacking at all. Or, rather, the shards were not attacking it; the entity could still sense the typical damage being done to the settlement, though even that seemed different from before. Curious, it increased its speed, even as the extra energy taxed slightly more on its reserves.

When it arrived, the battle was already over. The weapon laid destroyed amongst the ruins of a flooded area, its true self shattered into pieces. For the first time in revolutions, the entity felt surprise as it analyzed the remains of the weapon; such results were a sure sign of creative use if the shards were somehow able to actually destroy something designed for centuries of combat. Once again, the entity felt remorse as it realized that such data would never come to use.

There was still need for assistance, as per the instructions of Norton. The entity descended into the large settlement, locating injured and trapped natives and freeing them with mechanical efficiency. It had performed similar actions before, but not on such a small scale when the weapons were involved. The entity pondered what had happened as it moved to another section of the city.

It came before a particularly large piece of rubble, composed of brick and strengthened with bars of metal.

Steel, a scanning shard informed, alerting the entity of what wavelengths it needed to counter in order to free the trapped shard. Raising a hand, it neutralized the wavelengths holding the material together.

As it did so, it became aware of a presence nearby, though there was something different about it. It was not a weapon nor shard, as it could sense no connection, but nor was it a typical native of the planet, according to cursory scans.

The entity focused its attention on the anomalous lifeform, exerting its sensory powers. As it attempted to probe deeper, however, there was an obstacle in its way. A fog, almost, concealing the minutia from any further scans.

Puzzling.

It was of no matter, however; the entity had obtained enough data to formulate a rough picture of what stood before it. What it found surprised it even further.

Despite possessing a physical form uncannily similar to that of the planet's natives, the anomalous creature was not one of them. The internal structure of the thing was unlike anything the entity had ever encountered on the planet, and it had never found such a particular species before on previous cycles. An unknown being, then, one that had somehow arrived on this particular world.

The entity desired more information. It focused on the less-used shards, using the natives' own communication networks in order to gather data on the creature before it. Apparently, the natives had already known of the anomalous being, producing data that could be used. The entity began to piece together what it could.

Dying planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope.

It was indeed extraterrestrial in origin, then. The being had taken on the role not unlike the entity's, using its natural abilities to protect the natives from harm on a global scale. Unlike the entity, however, it interacted freely with the species it protected, announcing its intentions to fight for endemic ideals.

Truth.

Justice.

Hope.

Despite the lack of a form that appealed to perceptions of worship, the natives had practically worshipped the being, viewing it as a symbol that emboldened the best ideals of the species, something that stood for a belief bigger than itself.

Hero.

Icon.

The entity decided to process the information further, and left the settlement behind as it flew back over the ocean. It drifted aimlessly, deep in thought.

The being obviously possessed a power orders of magnitude greater than the shards, if it was strong enough to destroy a entity-created weapon through pure brute force alone. It was also capable of resisting deep probings, and was not of the target world. In some ways, it was almost like another of the entity's own kind.

The entity paused. Was it possible? The entities had spread far across the vast cosmos, gathering wildly different data and shards from the inconceivable plurality of worlds, changing their forms to the point of practically being separate species. It was not improbable that one entity had developed in a way that would match the description of the strange being, using different methods for cycles. Perhaps it was a parasite, a rogue member of its kind that would simply steal any gathered data for itself.

Had it already done so? Perhaps it was the third entity the Thinker had encountered, the one that may have lead to the disruption of the cycle. After ensuring that the shards could never be fully harvested, it may have come to the target planet under the guise of a lost alien, preparing a method of killing the entity and securing the shards for its own gain.

The entity used more of its shards, trying to look down potential worldlines involving the strange being, but there was more of the concealing fog, preventing it from reaching a valid conclusion. A negation of precognition, not unlike the abilities some entities had obtained.

It was of no matter. Even if the entity destroyed the interloper, it was of no use. The cycle was already disrupted beyond salvation; the entity would simply remain on the target world, saving natives until its reserves ran out.

Unless...

The sole reason the entity had taken upon the role of savior was a lack of purpose, the need to find a path after the loss of the Thinker. It had looked at the target species for inspiration, taking into account that it had acquired a semblance of their psychology when it had assumed their form. Working to help those around it was one form of coping with grief, but what about the others?

It recalled data collected about the target species before arrival, specifically those about psychology. Often, when one native had been wronged by another, it had coped by performing violent actions against the responsible party.

Revenge.

The entity paused for half a rotation, considering the method. It was often considered self-destructive and pointless; a gesture that held no satisfaction. Often times, as what may be the case with the entity, it would be committed against the wrong party. As the entity pondered the options, it realized the current path held no satisfaction, either. A look down the future confirmed it, that the entity would never find the promised reward for its actions, the solace from its grief.

The entity thought, then made its choice.

It didn't take long to locate the strange being; it was flying over the body of water separating the two main groups of landmasses. Oddly enough, it was near the point the entity had first arrived at, twenty-eight local revolutions ago. The entity matched speed with the strange being, waiting to be noticed.

It didn't take long. The being slowed to a stop, then turned to face the entity, watching. It was puzzling; the thing's form was not designed to appeal to values of worship, or even the epitome of beauty. In fact, it appearance was more like that of an adolescent female.

A small time passed, then the entity raised its hand. It fired a relatively weak blast, meant more to probe than injure. It struck the being, sending it smashing into the water below with enough force to damage to continental plate beneath.

The entity watched, feelings running through its designed psyche. Relief? Satisfaction?

Yes.

The entity processed more information as it prepared for the counterattack. The probability that the being was indeed a member of its own kind was becoming smaller and smaller as more data was fed into its shards, but it did not care. Even if it did not cause the Thinker's death, the feelings such actions brought had finally given it something beyond emptiness.

It needed to experiment, to take its time with this path and experience it fully. Simply killing the being would not suffice, it had to make it suffer for its perceived slight. If it felt pain, the entity would make it wish it couldn't. The being's mind would be assailed as fully as its body in order to complete the experimentation. If the being did truly care for the natives, then the entity would ensure to make them suffer. It would wipe every world clean of the feeble insects, if only to cause the being the same anguish it felt. The entity ran through the data it had collected about the world, searching for a suitable word for what was to follow.

Doomsday.

Apocalypse.

Armageddon.

Eschaton.

The terms didn't quite fit for what the entity intended. The extinction of the natives was a means, not an end to itself. It searched deeper into the local languages, searching for meaning.

The being suddenly struck back, tearing through the entity's flesh with unbelievable speed. It appeared as though it was unscathed by the attack, a further testament of its power.

The entity suddenly found what it was looking for. Not only would it bring an end to the world, it was to fight a being that may match it in strength. A struggle between the mightiest things in creation, one that would shake the very world. A battle of the gods.

Theomachy.

Yes, that would suffice.

Feeling satisfied for the first time in twenty-eight revolutions, the entity fired again.