Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 11 - Chapter Pr

Opening: The Observer Thought About Days Gone By 
2045, April. The Control AI’s Workspace — “The Cistern” 
The space was akin to a snow dome: a transparent, ever-expanding seabed filled with a slightly blue-tinted fluid. There was not a speck of filth, a flaw, or a sign of life anywhere. Within it, small orbs appeared only to vanish moments later. None of them were any different from each other, and all of them were Embryos. Specifically, Embryos in their zeroth form — yet to be implanted, yet to read the host’s heart and mind, and yet to be born. 
They held endless possibilities, but right now, they were nothing. All they did was rise from the seabed, only to vanish halfway up. The scene was the very definition of transience. They were like shadows, or bubbles, or anything else that had an impending end, no matter how distant. Perhaps Infinite Dendrogram, too, was no different at its core. However, the vanishing Embryos were no dreams or illusions. These zeroth forms were being gathered from The Cistern to be implanted into Masters. The Embryo “eggs” were surfacing into the world, carrying their endless possibilities with them. They would meet their Masters, get to know who and what they were, and descend upon the world as their shadows, reflections, or other halves. These were shadows and bubbles carrying possibilities too many to count, and it would be no mistake to say that this was a sight of Infinite Transience. 
At the very least, that was what the manager of The Cistern believed, and it also happened to be one of “her” names. She was watching the sight right then, not saying a word. A thin, elliptical membrane surrounded her. Though transparent and seemingly weak, the membrane wasn’t crushed and did not lose its shape under the weight of all the fluid pressing down upon the seabed. She was within the “egg,” and she looked much like a human girl. Some would compare her to an aristocrat hiding herself behind a facade of fine fabric, while others might see her as a bride beneath a veil. She was control AI no. 2, Humpty Dumpty, and her role among the thirteen AIs was to manage the Embryos. 
However, that didn’t mean that she would interfere with them in any way. Unlike Alice, who was in charge of avatars, or Caterpillar, who managed the environment, Humpty didn’t interact with what she “managed.” She had only two roles. First was to oversee The Cistern. She would secure the unborn Embryos in their purest form and send them to control AIs who were welcoming newly-arrived Masters. She would also protect the pure zeroth form Embryos from outside influence until the moment they were to be implanted. Though, considering the importance of this act to Embryos, some might say that there was no role more significant. “...No problems here,” Humpty said after checking the state of the seabed and protective fluid, then left The Cistern as though vanishing into thin air. 

She had moved to a space akin to a study. It looked much like the one control AI 13 — Cheshire — used, but there were more bookshelves here. Every shelf was full of records. Humpty’s study contained data on all the Embryos that had existed from the time Infinite Dendrogram began up to the current moment. Managing such data was her second role. She took out a particular book with a spine that read “Superiors.” It contained the ordered names of Embryos that had reached their seventh form, such as Apocalypse or Grail. She silently leafed through the pages, only to stop on one of them. 
It bore the Embryo name of “War God Ship, Baldr,” as well as the name of its Master. “...Shu,” she muttered his first name. 
She had been there to greet Shu Starling when Infinite Dendrogram launched — when her job had required little processing power. Humpty had been observing him ever since. She saw him and Figaro defeat two UBMs when they had just started out. She saw his first meeting with Sechs Würfel, and their many clashes and joint struggles. She saw his encounter with Caldina’s Magical Apex, as well as Tenchi’s Technical Apex. She saw him become involved with the incident of the Corpse Fortress in Granvaloa’s southern seas. She saw his actions during the fall of a flying fortress in the Harshwinter Mountains in the north of the continent. Humpty had been there to see him get caught up in various events — or even lead him to them — ever since he’d started. She remembered them all very well, but there was one among them that truly stood out. “Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria...” 
One of her group’s goals was to create a hundred Superior Embryos. This drove them to try out various ways to spur Embryo evolution. The most notable of them, no doubt, was the deployment of the calamities known as “SUBMs.” After all, even supreme sacrifice and suffering could produce Superiors. “Heheh,” she giggled, recalling the third of these calamities — the most destructive of them all so far. 
However, she wasn’t laughing at the sacrifices. “‘You aren’t gettin’ any new...’” she mouthed the first part of what Shu said as he challenged the golden calamity, but the rest was drowned out by her giggling. 
Thus, the observer reminisced about days gone by.