holoverse: Anything But Orderly
The multiverse is such a fascinating concept. Based on chaos theory, the amount of possible universes approaches infinity, for even the most minute change should end in drastic differences. There would be many universes similar to ours, but what about some that, through many major alterations, ended up radically foreign, yet somehow familiar to us all the same?
The Fermi Paradox wonders how, with millions of chances for life to form elsewhere, our planet has not been visited by extraterrestrials yet. What if the reason for this discrepancy is that most if not all intelligent life developed at close enough times and rates, such that the large technological gap required for one race to happen upon another would be unlikely?
What if, instead of theoretical faster-than-light cruisers or generation ships allowing for travel between galaxies in the future, wormholes, known locally as 'gateways', showed up at various spots on each world thousands of years ago? These portals would connect them such that when something entered, it immediately exited out the other end, thus making spacecraft technology obsolete for intergalactic travel, but necessary for travel within one's solar system.
Why did these gateways randomly show up across the universe? Why did they violate the laws of Space and Time by moving passengers beyond the fourth dimension? Why did the fabric of the universe not tear itself apart from the stress of all of these worlds linking themselves together?
Where would the various beings crafted by Nature ever find a place in these new lands? Where would invasive species go so as to not devastate entire ecosystems? Where would the myriad of landscapes prove fruitful in bearing life and not sowing death?
How would warring Civilizations, now aware of further lands to explore and and further peoples to conquer, ever find peace? How would the people of each world, having developed under different circumstances and bearing noticeably different appearances, not endlessly hate and discriminate against one another for their differences?
CHAOS
Chaos brought balance to everything.
Chaos constantly bent the rules of Space and Time, allowing these gateways to remain stable enough to work and not to collapse in on themselves and take out entire planets in the breakdown. Chaos allowed Nature's flora and fauna to mutate wildly, letting them adapt to invasive threats more easily and enabling them to survive the evolutionary arms race. Of course, this had the side effect of making them much more dangerous...
Chaos, with permission from Nature, heralded in many cataclysmic events: eruptions, tsunamis, tornadoes, and even a shower of asteroid fragments for one strangely really unlucky planet. These disasters, threatening to extinguish multiple nations at once, lead many races, once at the brink of total war, to band together for survival and unite under one name: 'Humanity'.
Housing dozens of different species, Humanity grew prosperous and kind. Whenever a new world opened up, or some alien from outer space stumbled upon one of the united planets, Humanity would welcome the newcomers with open arms. This universe had a lot more… 'RESPECC' involved.
A few civilizations refused to join forces, citing their own accomplishments and legacies as proof they could confidently challenge the cacophonic concoctions of calamities while completely companionless. Sadly, only a scant few survivors, often citizens that moved to other worlds for business or personal reasons, remained to pass on their peoples' legacies.
The universe grew richer thanks to these five concepts: Space, Time, Chaos, Nature, and Civilization. Thus, when the gods sought to create a council to govern it, it was only common sense that Chaos, the one who kept the other four in check, was the one chosen to lead them.
Strangely, most species descended from common animals, or beastfolk, end up sharing the same general humanoid layout, a phenomenon of convergent evolution dubbed 'anthronisation'. The purest form of this body layout can be found in both elves and chimpfolk, the latter preferring the nickname 'Sapiens' due to how closely they still resemble their predecessors. Although loss of animal traits, the ears and tail being typical exclusions, is considered to be signs of higher evolution and sapience, there are some noticeably rare exceptions amongst the mammals where a beastial form and high intellect are both maintained.
Though averaging only 4% of the total population, Sapiens have repeatedly emerged at the forefront of innovation, being responsible for the Interworld network, or Internet, and the discovery of virtual worlds through attempts at VR. Despite their nickname, Sapiens are prone to 'do stupid things fully aware of how stupid it is to do them,' thus leading to the mildy rude phrase: 'Curiosity killed the cat, but the Sapien died to prove that it did.' However, this streak of recklessness has bore fruit time and time again...
Note that elves, attuned with nature itself, have evolved on a separate tree of life from beastfolk. Rather, their evolution is tied directly to their environment, as dictated by the elemental magic chart. That said, due to both the long lifespan and low reproduction rates associated with elfkind, it will likely take millenia to notice any further changes in the species after exposure to the various civilizations. However, these differences from beastfolk seem to play into the elves' innate affinity towards magic.
Magic is not bound by the majority of the laws that govern our universe. Instead, it seems to either follow a completely incomprehensible set of rules or its own whim. As it defies science, the use of magic would require the user to let go of logic and reason, to think irrationally. As such, magic is mostly regarded as an unpredictable 'black box', and for a beastperson to have the aptitude for magic is a one-in-a-million chance when tens of billions of people are involved.
Nowadays, the general populace is mostly interested in the potential of virtual realities and the newfound virtual worlds, which have their own people. The process of linking virtual worlds to physical worlds, allowing one to affect another, is named Augmented Reality, or AR.
Kizuna AI, one such 'virtuan', has started a massively popular trend known as 'Vtubing'. Ironically, the term stands for 'variety `tubing', or focusing on creating a variety of content instead of honing in on any particular topic or area. Though initially used to describe her videos of daily escapades and new experiences, the term evolved to include livestreams with a slew of diverse intentions, such as gaming, singing, cooking, or even just chatting with an audience.
Under the parent company Cover Corporation, one well known Vtuber idol group 'hololive' has managed to recruit the previously mentioned council. Though the CEO, affectionately known as 'YAGOO' by many, claims to be a Sapien, the fact that he has recruited so many powerful entities, including GOD herself, as idols suggests that he merely hides his true self. Unconfirmed reports state this self is simply his head with stubs for arms and legs. Regardless, only time will tell what is in store for this particular corner of the multiverse, and she's not one to rat out the future…
A/N: Hello, fellows! I've been meaning to write some more stories about hololive after I'm done with this collection, and I thought now was a good time to start with the "holoverse", or the kind of universe I have in mind whenever I write these stories.
It certainly helps draw a thicker line between the people we watch and the portrayals used in my stories, at least. Plus, it allows me a bit of freedom to mix-and-match lore with more 'canon' events within hololive, so there's that!
Also, please be aware that not every story following this one has to occur in the exact same 'universe', hence the first paragraph talking about the multiverse.