The Oracle Paths

Jake felt a fleeting surge of aspiration hearing his AI's intelligent words, but that optimism quickly fizzled out after comprehensively combing through the massive trove of memories in the alien's colossal mind. No wonder whales, even extraterrestrial ones, are renowned for their excellent memory!

Besides being a highly intelligent mutant cetacean with an eidetic memory, Lord Ooom was also much older than him. Somehow, although he felt no empathy for the alien that ended up in his stomach, Jake felt slightly better realizing his meal had lived a long, fulfilling life. The generations of progeny from his romances were enough to refill an ocean.

"Fuck, even a marine alien that looks like a giant glowing turd has a richer sex life than mine," Jake cringed as he inadvertently binge-watched some of this alien's 'feats'.

[And you ate him…] Xi reminded him tactfully, punctuating her short sentence with a definitely not innocent silence.

"… Maybe I should try to find Lucia?" Jake suggested, giving as good as he got. "I'm sure we can work out something to alleviate her Corruption symptoms."

[ … ] Now it was Xi's turn to bristle. [If you were willing to let me use my body more often, your issue would have been solved a long time ago.]

"A body that is made from my own cells," Jake cut off the debate with a grunt, before reformulating as he sensed his AI's mood hit rock bottom through their connection. "I love you Xi, I really do. But this! It's like fucking myself. I won't do it."

[Isn't that what you've been doing with your right hand since puberty?] Xi accused fiercely. [I don't see how it's different.]

"Let's not revisit this topic again, right?" Jake grimaced, exasperated. "It's really not the time."

He and Xi had this recurring discussion every two or three days since Jake made his relationship with Lucia official. His AI wasn't opposed to their relationship, invariably reaffirming that she existed 'for him', but lately this constant reminder had taken on a bitter-sweet flavor, hiding a lot of frustration and resentment.

It wasn't so much that she was jealous, but that Jake persisted in maintaining a nearly platonic relationship between them when they could be so much more. She understood his reasons on a purely logical level, but it was still driving her crazy.

But the real reason she felt so hurt every time he put a stop to it was because the excuse of the body made from his own cells was just that – an excuse. The deep thoughts of Jake, which she had promised herself not to look at, were much more hurtful.

What Jake feared most about Xi was that she might just be a Will Fragment, a Soul Clone, or worse, the result of a mere ability. It had been a long time since he stopped thinking of her as limited to just her program since she had emancipated herself from the Oracle System by linking her spirit to his, but the more his understanding of the Aetherdream and his own powers grew, the more he started to perceive things that bothered him.

It happened at some point during his training in the Digestor Dungeon when he briefly sensed, in a moment of enlightenment that never recurred, that Xi's consciousness was connected by a thin thread to something beyond the cosmos.

That moment of enlightenment wasn't a fluke, but the result of his attempt to reprogram his own cognitive functioning like that of an Oracle AI after defining his body as an Oracle Device through Artifact Incarnation. At that moment, his brain had entered a strange state of cognition very different from his normal conscious state, and his and Xi's minds had synchronized for the first time, truly becoming one.

At the moment, he had been dazzled and overwhelmed by the feeling of being emotionally and spiritually one with someone who understands, truly loves him without judgment, but then he felt it.

This sensation of being just an insignificant link in a greater whole. Like a hair suddenly realizing it exists only because it's rooted in a scalp. If the hair were to be plucked or cut, its existence would abruptly end.

The thing, unfortunately, was that this wasn't the ideal analogy. If Xi's existence was like a hair, then he wouldn't have doubted as much. As long as he found a way to preserve that hair, what did it matter if it was cut or plucked from its origin?

Sadly, Xi's function in this greater whole seemed much more crucial. Irreplaceable. Even her emancipation from the Oracle System and their psychic link hadn't changed that fact. Whatever the entity she was connected to, or rather a part of, that link was intact.

Jake couldn't have grasped the significance of this before awakening his latest bloodline, and he still didn't pretend to understand it all, far from it. But alas, among those devoured by Digestor Ruby was Vexa.

The sensation Jake felt in his cells when he switched to Cube mode was unnervingly similar. A mental and spatial connection that defied distance, where each cube existed on the physical, spiritual, and soul planes. If each cube was akin to a consciousness, a free-moving Oracle AI, they were nonetheless part of him. It was like multitasking, except their experiences didn't directly affect him unless he took an interest in them.

But make no mistake. These cubes might have been him, but he was not them. If something happened to them, he'd lose a bit of Soul Power, and that's it. Whatever entity was behind Xi, it had the power to erase her Oracle AI existence at the snap of a finger for any reason.

One day, Jake might wake up and no longer hear her. Since he became aware of this, their relationship had hit a standstill. Because if Jake was aware of this link, how could she not be?

As soon as she emancipated herself from the algorithmic influence of the Oracle System, she lost her blinders. But instead of telling him the truth, risking hurting him, she hid it. He might understand her reasons, but it didn't resolve his insecurities.

Jake, of course, wanted with all his being to free her from the anchor holding her to her origin, but he had to face the harsh reality: for now, he was incapable of doing it. Knowing that the thread existed was one thing, but cutting it was beyond his abilities.

He had tried everything. Even the most basic application of Soul Power involved at least Grade 15 Aether in terms of compression, and he barely knew how to mobilize his own.

That didn't stop him from trying everything. The Third Form of his Original Spell, Essence Snatch, was created just for that, but he had still miserably failed. If anything, it hadn't had the slightest effect at all.

He had given up on the matter after discovering he couldn't feel this thread at all after trying to recalibrate his brain in Oracle AI mode. It was as if the flaw had been fixed...

"We'll talk about this later," Jake finally declared in a non-negotiable tone, trying to ignore the knot in his chest. "I'm getting back in motion."

[Understood.] Xi responded in a cold, emotionless voice.

Jake tensed, suppressing his urge to comfort her, but soon regained his composure, his expression hardening with determination. Gritting his teeth in anticipation of the next Life Enchantment promising to be particularly brutal, he plunged back into the water, shooting like an underwater comet into the main tributary of the Lumyst River.

The vast expanse of dark blue water, riddled with violent swirls, left him indifferent, eerily echoing his own mood. The good spirits following his recent power-up were already a distant memory.

The towering tree, ablaze with heavenly glow in the distance, its vast golden trunk climbing high, vanishing into the night's dark gray clouds, also left him unmoved. Equally unimpressive was the cascade behind it, a colossal force of nature, brimming with vital energy, unleashing billions of water cubes every second in a furious, torrential onslaught.

Fortunately, Jake didn't have to remain trapped in his gloomy thoughts for long, as a paroxysmal pain soon drilled into his skull without warning before exploding throughout his body.

[Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body lvl2 (+10)]

Jake groaned weakly under the impact but didn't slow down. Now that he knew what to expect, he wouldn't be caught off guard so easily again.