In the primordial abyss, before the concept of "before" even existed, there reigned absolute nothingness.
It was not merely an absence of light, matter, or sound, but a profound, all-encompassing Void which was a darkness so complete that it erased the very possibility of distinction.
So much so, that there was no up, no down, no near, no far, or anything like that. In fact, directions themselves were meaningless, merely abstractions that had yet to be invented.
The Void stretched infinitely in every nonexistent direction, or rather, it simply was, an unchanging, eternal uniformity without boundary or variation.
Yet within this seamless nonexistence, something inexplicable occurred. It was a subtle rupture in the fabric of nothing itself.
A Presence emerged.
The origin of this presence defies explanation, for IT was neither created nor summoned from some prior state. There was no "somewhere" from which IT could have arrived, nor was there a preceding cause to trace backward.
One instant, the Void held only itself, and the next, IT simply was.
There was no gradual awakening, nor was there any dramatic birth. Instead, there was just an abrupt shift from non-being to being.
IT possessed no form, no vessel of flesh or energy, no mind in the conventional sense, no will, no emotion, no desire, nothing whatsoever. Furthermore, IT lacked even the rudimentary spark of sentience itself. Neither alive nor dead, IT simply existed, or perhaps "existence" is too crude a term for what IT embodied.
In the boundless black expanse, IT was indistinguishable from the Void itself.
Had there been any observer been present, which was an impossibility of course, they would have neither seen, heard, or felt anything at all. Such was the presence within the Void.
IT was the silence between silences, the shadow cast by no light.
Then, without prelude or reason, awareness dawned on IT.
A flicker, not of light, but of self-recognition, ignited within the presence. IT became aware of IT's own existence.
From that single, impossible realization, sentience blossomed like a fracture spreading through glass. Consciousness unfolded in layers, first the bare knowledge of "I am," then the capacity for reflection, then growth.
IT explored the contours of IT's own being, probing the infinite depths of what had previously been mere undifferentiated presence.
Thoughts, rudimentary at first, began to cascade as there were questions without answers, as well as observations without any reference points.
And in the midst of this expansion, a single, devastating truth crystallized, IT was alone.
Who am I?
IT wondered.
What am I?
IT asked again .
Where am I?
IT questioned even still.
Why do I exist here, in this place of utter absence? How did I come into being? And why?
No matter what kind of questions IT asked, nor however many times IT did, the answers never came. Rather, there was simply no one or thing present, aside from IT, that could even answer IT in the first place.
Around me lies nothing. IT mused. There is no place, no time, nor is there any other thing aside from myself. Yet I endure. I am the sole entity in this endless nothingness. The only thing that is.
Indeed, IT was alone. This was a fact that IT, after a quick observation of IT's surrounding, came to realize. However, being aware of something and accepting whatever that something was, were two entirely different things.
Loneliness, one might assume, would follow naturally from such isolation.
Indeed, an eternity spent in perfect solitude should breed nothing less that an aching yearning for companionship. But the first true emotion that stirred within IT was not loneliness, not in the least.
IT's first real emotion, was boredom.
It was a profound, existential tedium borne not just from deprivation of company, but from the futility of solitary discovery.
IT had glimpsed wonders within IT's own mind, however IT had accomplished sucb a feat.
These included patterns of thought, cascades of potential, as well as infinite self-reflections. And yet, there was no one with whom IT could share them with.
There were no witness to marvel at these revelations, nor was there a counterpart to challenge or affirm them. Simply, the Void offered no such kindness or hope of such a thing.
The only thing the Void could give to IT, was but a dark expanse that stretched endlessness. Nothing more, nothing less. Such was the only mercy that the Void had to offer.
IT let out a deep, disappointed sigh.
Existence immediately become a monotonous echo chamber.
IT could do everything imaginable within the confines of the Void, yet every action looped back to the same unchanging reality. IT was present, and that was all. Anything more than that seemed to be an impossibility. At least, that's how it seemed.
The boredom was crushing in its subtlety, far more insidious than any pain of longing for companions, or the loneliness that stemmed from said longing.
Hence, the reason for the deep sigh that carried nothing more other than a feeling of disappointment.
From this boredom arose the first genuine desire that IT felt.
The wish not merely to escape IT's solitude, but to cease being the only thing that exists. Even though IT didn't have any eyes or sensory organs alike, IT could not only see, but feel the ever expanding nothingness that encompassed the Void.
Hence, IT craved multiplicity.
Variety, or otherness, something, or anything at all, beyond the monotonous perfection of IT simply being the singular entity.
Driven by this nascent ambition, IT turned IT's burgeoning consciousness inward and outward simultaneously. IT contemplated methods to shatter the isolation, ways to fracture the Void, to seed difference, to birth distinction where none had existed at all.
Crucially, IT possessed a staggering ability, the power to divide IT's consciousness infinitely. How IT came to know of this, was something that IT didn't know.
Well, it's not like any of that matters right now.IT shrugged, as of IT didn't care about it.
No, it was better to say that IT didn't bother trying to know in the first place. After all, one can't know the answer to questions one never asks, and one can't ask questions to things one wasn't curious about.
Then again, sometimes one might be busy with more important things to worry about some things, and choose to only ask about those less important thing on a later time. Perhaps it was the same for IT in this instance.
In any case, once the consciousnesses are split, each splinter could operate autonomously as well as independently from the original.
This meant that the split consciousnesses are abl to explore separate paths, as well as simulate entire sequences of cause and effect without taxing the original whole with all of that information.
Of course, that was essentially meaningless since IT could automatically process all of that knowledge without any issues whatsoever.
These countless fragments could then reintegrate back to one, allowing IT to harvest insights from countless parallel contemplations at once. The most notable thing was the fact that all of this would occur in an instant.
Hopefully, I'll gain some decent results by doing this. Then again, it's not like I have anything else to do. Since that's the case, even doing something that leads to nothing is better than not having doing anything at all.
In this manner, IT envisioned infinite scenarios.
For every conceivable act of creation, every alteration of the Void, or every imposition of form or law, IT could foresee not merely the immediate result, but the cascading consequences across eternity.
The outcomes branched like fractal trees, some led to harmony, while others to collapse almost immediately, as well as others that led to paradoxes that unraveled causality itself.
The search was exhaustive, not really but merely felt as though, yet hopeless in scope.
The fact is tht infinity cannot be fully cataloged, not in the tuest sense. In truth, one can only continue searching until one's satisfaction eventually arrives.
IT sifted through eons-worth of simulations, though "eons" is a fiction, for time had not yet been born.
Most futures proved grotesque or barren, realities that imploded into renewed nothingness, others that birthed suffering without purpose, still more that merely replicated the original Void under different guises.
Patience, however, is finite even for the infinite. After an immeasurable span of searching, IT uncovered one outcome that shimmered with promise, though not the perfection that IT sought, but desirability instead.
It was a pathway that promised multiplicity, dynamism, as well as existence populated by others other than IT.
The method was viable, even if it was imperfect. The endpoint, while not flawless, offered an end to the crushing monotony of endlessly searching for what may or may not come to be.
Impatience had crept in, a second emotion, sharp and insistent.
At last, an outcome worth pursuing. I had hoped for perfection, a flawless design free of flaw or future regret. But I have searched through infinity and found only this. Should I discard it and continue the search?
Indeed, IT could simply abandon whatever reality that IT had settled for and continue IT's search. However, in doing so, IT would have to search through as many of the infinite branches that IT could, for a reality that may or may never exist.
My consciousnesses multiply without cease, each probing deeper branches, yet the perfect path eludes me still. Syncing them back yields progress, but the horizon recedes faster than I advance.
With all that said, there was but one choice that IT could make at this point.
Enough. IT decided, after a moment's contemplation. This will suffice, for now. I will proceed along this route, while my splintered selves quietly continue the hunt. If perfection reveals itself later, I can simply pivot. For now, I choose moving forward over endless hesitation.
Such was the choice IT made. IT felt that it was better to move eon to the next stage of IT's plan than to waste any more time, not really, on the same endless search.
Still, IT didn't give up the search for the perfect outcome that it was looking for. Far from it.
All that IT needed to to was continue the search whilst simultaneously moving forward with IT's plan. If the perfect outcome presents itself later on, then IT would simply pursue it when it does.
It was a simply yet effective way of handling IT's current predicament. So much so that calling it a predicament in the first place, would be giving it too much credit.
Thus, reluctantly yet decisively, IT resolved upon creation.
The solution was elegantly simple in concept, monumental in execution.
If the Void held nothing but IT, then IT would make everything else. Whatever qualities IT desired, such as beauty, conflict, growth, entropy, wonder, horror, and many more, could be willed into being.
The procedure lay already mapped in the chosen outcome. All that remained was enactment on IT's part.
The preparation was brief.
IT considered laying elaborate groundwork, safeguards, as well as contingencies. But such caution felt increasingly redundant.
Why delay things when consequence could be foreseen and corrected retroactively?
Why plan exhaustively when the power to reshape reality at whim rendered mistakes temporary at best?
Indeed, there was simply no point in doing all of that at all.
Here emerged a paradox in IT's nature.
At first glance, one might think that IT's actions might appear impulsive, as if acting on sudden inclination without exhaustive forethought. Yet each "impulse" rested upon pre-scanned futures, and calculated risks that were reduced to near-zero.
If so, then can IT really be classified as impulsive?
On the other hand, others might call IT preemptive, indifferent, or even playful, secure in foreknowledge.
After all, IT simply did because IT could. For IT, no true peril existed, nor did any irreversible errors loomed. IT acted freely precisely because freedom carried no consequences at all.
Ultimately, no single descriptor suffices when describing what IT is as IT transcends any and all categories. To define IT is to invite contradiction itself.
To put it simply...
IT is everything, yet nothing.
IT is many, yet one.
IT is totality, yet absence.
IT is omnipresent, yet nowhere locatable.
IT exists, yet exists not.
IT embodies pure paradox, contradictions stacked upon contradictions, illogical yet coherent within IT's own frame, redundant yet essential, incomprehensible yet the font of all comprehension.
Any attempt to encapsulate IT in language fractures under the strain as sentences twist into self-negation, and definitions devour themselves entirely.
This incomprehensibility is not a flaw to overcome, but the fundamental truth of what IT is. To grasp IT fully would require becoming IT, to describe IT perfectly would demand abandoning description altogether.
And so, bearing this in mind, this irreducible mystery, we arrive at the threshold.
The Void trembles.
The presence, no longer content with mere being, prepares to speak the first Word.
Creation is about to begin.