Chapter 96

It Festers and Spreads

Notwithstanding their great effort and the cosmic powers they had released, the dysrhythmic effect persisted and festerated through the fabric of reality like a stealthy cancer. Lexi and Karl could feel the evil force expanding, its entropic tentacles cutting across the quantum strands and separating the harmony keeping the cosmos together. Indeed, the counter symphonious substance echoed across the fraying periphery, restoring their hard-earned successes even as they guided the basic rhythms that had born the world. Lexi's great avatar throbbed with the rhythms of creation, yet it felt like a thimble rescuing a sinking ship.

Every turn the tapestry of life was covered with the writhing mass of twisted matter and distorted energies, erasing the basic basis of life. Growing in Lexi's ear was the discordant cacophony threatening to overwhelm the sustaining symphony of the planet. Karl's towering presence radiated a primeval majesty, yet despite his relentless determination the dysrhythmic effect seemed to take front stage.

Though it was inadequate, they had released the full might of their cosmic avatars. Lexi's mind flew while she looked for a fix. They needed a resonance of higher order harmonics that could not only fight the anti-harmonic creature but also quarantine and destroy the virus before it permeated all of Earth. Lexi felt shivers down her spine as if an old energy signature answering to her wordless appeal rippled across the quantum fabric, so basic and primeval. She could sense the weight of centuries dragging down on her, the echoes of a period before time when the cosmos was still a single, gathered place of endless possibility. Karl knew about it too; his eyes opened in identification. Older than the cosmos itself, this was a force existing before stars and galaxies came into birth. First breath of creation, this whisper was the spark igniting the Big Bang.

Lexi's avatar shook as the ancient resonance got stronger, her link to the cosmic web humming with fresh intensity shook. As the purifying music flowed over them, she could sense the quantum strings realigning and the tattered edges mending themselves back together. Lexi knew, however, that the ancient energies would not be enough to totally eradicate the demonic energy even as the dysrhythmic effect started to mend. They expected to go to extremely unusual distances, to discharge a power so powerful, so unique, that it could sweep the malignant growth from the universe and reset the fundamental harmonies that stood for presence. Karl's sign turned toward her, his eyes ablaze with a certainty that transcended basic actual structure as though studying her considerations.

Lexi made a wide motion and felt a burst of power flowing through the quantum strands converged on a single spot in the middle of the fraying periphery. Suddenly alive, the complex mechanisms of an ancient celestial machine opened out like the petals of a cosmic flower.

Lexi gasped in her throat when she understood what Karl had done. Turning on a Genesis Engine, a tool capable of releasing purifying genesis waves capable of altering the code of reality itself, he was The machinery's crystalline forms throbbed with the primal forces that had produced the universe and emitted an uncontrolled potential. Lexi could see the power rising, and with time the air appeared to get thinner.
And then the Beginning Motor discharged its payload with a deafening thunder that changed the texture of presence.
A dazzling stream of undiluted, pure creation energy undulated outwards, cleaning the quantum strings of the dysrhythmic impact and reworking the harmonies that stood for the universe.

The purifying genesis waves enveloped Lexi's avatar in the cleaning fire, therefore changing its entire nature. She could sense every fiber of her existence harmonizing with the basic rhythms of creation, each contradictory sound scuffed from her inestimable orchestra.

The twisted form of the anti-harmonic creature tore apart like a ball of yarn caught in a hurricane as the genesis waves passed over it, howling in agony. < Lexi stared in astonishment as the frightening power was lowered to its most basic form, its twisted energies taken away and its matter changed to fit the new harmonies.

For a little instant the whole cosmos seemed to be trapped in the cycle of rebirth. And then the Beginning Motor completed its work in a dazzling flash of light, leaving an impeccable needlework of reality. Lexi's avatar came back after the purifying fire, and her link to the cosmic web was stronger than it had been. She felt the harmonics, a celestial chorus echoing with the very pulse of creation. Even as Lexi reveled in the Genesis Engine's cleaning power, she couldn't get rid of the sense that something was off. But at what expense did the dysrhythmic influence vanish? Looking over the just rebuilt universe, she felt minute changes in the quantum fabric.

These ripples indicated expected results that differed. Had they by chance modified the key rules controlling presence? And should such be the case, what further challenges lie ahead? Lexi went to Karl, searching for answers in his eyes, but Karl merely shook his head grimace-wise. T
Though the struggle was not yet over, they had won this one. For the rest of their lives, they would have to struggle for the delicate equilibrium of creation and remain always alert to avoid the dysrhythmic impact from resurfacing.

Lexi and Karl nodded silently as they focused on the recently altered periphery, where their cosmic avatars guarded against the approaching anarchy. Their relentless determination determined the fate of the cosmos; so, they wouldn't waver. Their harmonies sounded like a lighthouse in the vast sea of life, and so they set out, ready to meet whatever obstacles the rewritten universe had in store for them, driven once more. Lexi and Karl headed into the rebuilt universe, their cosmic avatars throbbing with the fresh harmony of creation. As they crossed the altered margins, they couldn't get rid of the feeling that something wasn't quite right. In the quantum texture, unassuming waves suggested unexpected outcomes, as if the cleansing starting waves had altered something else than the dysrhythmic effect.

The basic rules guiding life were changing, and Lexi sensed a dissonance threatening to upset the fragile equilibrium they had so laboriously maintained. As they progressed, the ripples grew more powerful and combined to form a tangible force that appeared to stop them from moving and press against them. Lexi's avatar flicked as the dissonance grew, her link to the cosmic network changing.
Suddenly they were facing a great fissure, a gaping hole in the very fabric of existence. From within the fissure, a twisted mass of anti-harmonic energy started to show itself, its writhing tendrils reaching out to grab them in a savage hug. Lexi's eyes widened with nauseating fear as she realized reality: the dysrhythmic influence had not been erased but rather simply uprooted; now it was back strongly, more remarkable and damaging than any other period.

The anti-harmonic creature loomed over Lexi and Karl's avatars, who were ablaze with the last embers of creation's fire getting ready for the ultimate battle. The fate of the revised universe was uncertain; they were all that kept existence from oblivion.