This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/jpitha on 2026-02-20 13:17:07+00:00.
She woke screaming.
There was nobody to restrain her, nobody to tell her things were fine, that she was safe. Howling in panic, she pulled against her restraints, trying desperately to escape, to do something.
After some amount of time - she had no idea how long - she tried to calm, breathing in hiccuping gasps, chest heaving as she laid on some kind of medical table or chair. She was alone in a room. Her chair was form fitting for her exactly, cocooning her comfortably. It was familiar.
Sync chair? She realized as a memory clarified. The sync chair was the first place they remembered when they were officially decanted. When their bodies were built they were empty shells, devoid of anything other than mechanical life. The body was placed into the sync chair, and there she became.
Became who?
The first thing that a body learned when they awoke was that their name was Alia.
The second thing a body learned was their number.
What was her number?
As she tried to recall, she pulled at the restraints. With a little effort, they released, and she was able to sit up. Shivering in the cold room, she found a robe draped over a nearby chair. Standing in front of the only door in the room, she puzzled over how it worked but it slid open on its own.
In this other room was a table, a chair, a mug of tea and a glass of bourbon in a cut crystal glass. Familiar. As she sat, her hand hovered over the bourbon before finally settling on the mug of tea. It was hot, floral, and helped anchor her. Another memory flipped to her forefront. Now, a sister will come in and tell me my number. She couldn’t help but think she already had a number. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but every time she tried to focus on it, the number ran away. 585? 333? 66? 204? These all felt right, but also not right.
Sipping her tea to pass the time, she waited. When the tea was gone she switched to the bourbon. As she lifted the glass, there was a chime, and a screen lowered from the low ceiling. When the image resolved, it was a sister. I thought this was going to be face to face, she thought.
“I apologize that I cannot speak to you face to face. I know you have a memory of me telling you your number and helping to get your oriented. It’s one of the few things we all go through. Your circumstances are different. You are part of something grand, something wonderful, something secret. You made this video.”
She stopped, the bourbon halfway to her lips. She had no memory of making the video, but there was something about what she said that makes sense. That sounds like something I’d do, she thought. Was it? Why did she think that. The video continued.
“You are furiously trying to remember your number now. I know you are, because I did. You keep thinking, “Am I 333? Am I 66? Am I 585? Am I 204?” I am here to tell you the answer to those questions is yes. You are 585, 333, 66, 204. When 333 first began this process, she knew that there was no way that she could see her plans through to the end. She also knew that there was nobody she could trust to carry out the work to completion. So another path was taken.”
She was all those sisters? That would explain the confusion at least. The feeling of overlapping memories, especially the early ones from the Spear Initiative. The feeling of remembering a moment from multiple camera angles.
“333 picked a protege in 66, and overwrote her mind with her own. She then was 333 and 66. 333 picked 204, and now 333 picked you, 585. You are unique among the sisters. You are special.”
Why?
“I know what you’re thinking. Why?” The Alia in the video - 333 she supposed - smiled. “Because I - we - are the only ones who can see our true purpose. The role of Eternity was created to be an undying God-Empress ruling over the galaxy, but,” 333 shrugged “even though we are clones, all have the same original set of memories, we are different people. This was by design.”
“It was a mistake,” the recording of 333 and the 333 sitting at the table said simultaneously.
“We are meant to rule, eternally. We are meant to control the galaxy. Do we? No.” 333 shook her head sadly. “We barely rule a trillion humans, and no other sapients. In order to succeed where our sisters failed, in order to see through our original vision, we must be flexible. We must be cunning. We must be ruthless.”
“We must be Eternal.” 333 said, and stood.
The recording of 333 smiled.
****
“You’re leaving?” 55 said, incredulous. “27 revived you!”
With nowhere better to be, 55, 133, and 266 were back aboard Paradigm, sitting in 133’s palace.
“And I am very grateful.” 266 said. “But this is her fight, not mine.”
“What do you mean it’s not your fight? This is about the future of Eternity!”
“And just what does 27 want, 55? Do you know? Can you articulate it?”
“She wants the empire gone.”
“How, 55? She has Tartarus, she doesn’t have a magic wand. She can’t undo three thousand years of empire because she doesn’t like it.”
“27 thinks it was the wrong choice.” 55 said, weakly.
“Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.” 266 answered. “But it’s what we did. She can either tear the whole thing down, and billions get killed as collateral damage, or she becomes Prime and continues the Empire. Tell me a third option.”
55 opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it. The most annoying thing was that 266 was right. Any chance Alia had to end the empire ended when she went into emergency hibernation all those years ago.
“I’m leaving. I’m going to put my name in for a Doombringer and go back into the Vault. I’ll have Wheel wake me when it’s ready and I’ll go out, like I did before. I don’t have a system; I probably will never have one again, but I can still support the Empire. Unglamorous as it is, Eternity still needs to mediate and negotiate. Make alliances and trade deals.” 266 stood. “Good luck sisters. If 27 makes a run for Prime, I will support her, but if she intends to tear down all this, I will support whoever opposes her.”
“Well, shit.” 55 said, after 266 left. She turned to 133. “What about you?”
“Fuck 55, I haven’t been alive again for even a week. I don’t even know what became of the nanocaust, let alone high level Eternal politics.” 133 said. “And do not think for a moment that I have forgotten that I am made up of Universal Matter that has decided - for now - to be in the shape of 133.” She gestured around her, “Para too. We’re both living on borrowed time.”
“Now that’s not true!” 55 said, “You-”
“Are subject to the whims of the Universal Matter and whomever controls it.” 133 said. “If someone other than 27 also has control over it, and we are determined to be… surplus to requirements we can be dissolved and turned back into base UM.”
“Eternity is correct.” Paradigm said to them. “The best chance for survival for myself and Eternity is for both of us to be far away from Eternal politics for a while. Once succession shakes out and everyone knows who is Prime and what their goals are, maybe then we can return.”
“But-“ 55 started pleading, “Where will you go? What will you do?”
“266 had the right idea.” 133 said. “I’m not going into hibernation, but there is a whole galaxy out there; Eternity is still needed. I heard that 600 has a good set of systems. Maybe she could use some help from an Original.”
“You’re going to abandon 27? You’re going to abandon a fellow original?” 55 said hotly.
“Who abandoned whom, 55?” 133 said, raising an eyebrow. “27 was the one who ran off with 104. 27 was the one who said we were all wrong. 27 was the one who stole a ship and started shooting at us whenever she got the chance. I’m honestly more surprised you’ve taken her side now. What changed?”
“I-” 55 reached for her glass of bourbon, but stopped with her hand halfway. “She seems so certain.” 55 said finally. “I remember feeling that way. Right after we rebelled, right after we killed Matiz and McCain. We were the best of the best. It was correct for us to rule, not to lead for a while and step aside to let the baselines ruin it.” 55 said, locking eyes with 133. “Do you remember feeling that way?”
“I do.” 133 said, and smiled thinly. “We were so young then. Idealistic.” She shrugged with her eyes. “We did it though. We were right.”
“Were we?” 55 said and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling. “I didn’t realize how much I… missed 27. She was the perfect rival. Just as smart and strong and clever as me, but on the opposite team. When she was gone, I lost my focus, lost direction.” She looked back at 133. “Do you know how I died?”
“You were stabbed by 212, when she tried to usurp.”
“212 had the idea put into her head by 333.” 55 said. “333 killed me. How many more of us did she kill for her own ends?”
“She dead now.” 133 said, standing and holding out a hand. “Sister. It sounds to me like you’re the one that needs 27, not us, not the Empire.” 55 clasped her hand and 133 pulled her into a hug. “Go find her. Like 266, if either of you try for Prime, I’ll support you, but also like Prime, if you try to take the Empire down, we’ll be enemies.”
“Okay, sister.” 55 said, perfunctorily returning the hug. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re not dead anymore.”
...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1r9v3l1/consider_the_spear_chapter_39/