This place is definitely bigger than it looks… Skylar deduced as he stepped onto the circular part of the golden islet—its mainland.

  "Dearest, come here."

  The older gray monkey—Jaro, one of the trio who had been expecting their arrival—beckoned to Karo, who was standing behind Skylar. But he received no reply; he was left hanging by Karo, whose eyes were fixed solely on Skylar, who was scrutinizing the pattern outlined in white on the islet’s polished surface.

  When observed from a high vantage point, the perfectly circular mainland of the islet displayed Flower-of-Life symbols arranged in three concentric circles around its edge, each set close to one another. At the center—beneath a familiar presence situated between the double spiral galaxy of the celestial heaven and enclosed within a larger circle drawn at the islet center—was a three-way Venn diagram, each circle and their regions of overlap marked by symbols in white.

  Observing the patterns with rapt attention, Skylar approached the center of the islet and paused at the edge of the overlap between two circles of the three-way Venn diagram. The others followed him, including the old white monkey and the golden monkey—the remaining two members of the trio they had met on the islet.

  While he engaged his mind, trying to discern one of the mysterious symbols labeling the overlap of two of the three circles, the old monkey appeared beside him as if he emerged from thin air.

  "Manu Trimurti," he chattered. "The three components of creation—the overlap of the three fundamental emanations of existence: the Material, the Spirit, and the Conscious Mind. You came through the path of the Conscious Mind—the circle on your right. The circle further away is the Spirit, and the path leading straight to it is the Path of the Spirit…"

  “Then the one on my left is the material, and the path leading to it is the Path of the Material?” Skylar interjected with a smile.

  "You are right. That is what the circle defines," the old monkey beamed.

  Skylar glanced briefly at him, then pointed to his left, toward the distant region where the Material and Spirit circles overlapped.

  "###," the old monkey responded. "It defines beings with body and spirit only—no conscious mind. Something like heroic spirits—summoned remnants of the past—elementals, trees, and some lower species like those you would see—"

  “What about zombies?” Skylar interrupted.

  "You are right. Any dead body or object that births a spirit—zombies and ghouls are no exceptions," the old monkey answered.

  Skylar then pointed to his right, toward the intersection between the Conscious Mind circle and Spirit circle.

  "###. That defines beings possessing conscious mind and spirit only…"

  “Like…?” Skylar prompted.

  "Astral spirits, awakened elemental spirits, wraiths, ghosts, phantoms, heavenly spirits, divine spirits—anything of a higher spiritual order," the old monkey answered, stroking his beard with his hand. "Do you know some of these spiritual entities can materialize, and some are capable of taking host of a physical body?"

  Skylar nodded sharply, his hand now pointing toward the far distance beyond the overlap directly ahead.

  "You are not interested in the last of the three?" the old monkey asked, stroking his long beard with his left hand.

  Is it not common sense? Skylar scoffed inwardly.

  “Okay… what is it?” he asked, resigned.

  With a smile, the old monkey replied, "Good. That is ###. It defines beings possessing only a conscious mind and a body. You should know about artificial intelligence and crafts. You will meet many of them in the future."

  Slightly stunned by the old monkey’s words, Skylar turned to look at him and saw him beaming knowingly. In response, he returned the same smile.

  At their strange exchange, Karo and Jaro—the older gray monkey who had been silently observing—wore expressions of clear perplexity.

  “Okay… where is the heart?” Skylar asked after their brief interlude, standing akimbo with a bright smile as he studied the pattern.

  The old monkey smiled just as brightly and pointed toward the very center of the three-way Venn diagram, where all three circles overlapped in the distance. His eyes reflected a smaller circle within it containing the simplest symbol.

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  "That zone defines beings of body, spirit, and mind—living beings of flesh like us. And the small circle inside symbolizes the Heart—the center of emanation, they say…"

  “Hmm…” Skylar nodded, his thoughts drifting. “It’s still not perfect. There are certain things not accounted for…”

  But who cares…

  He turned to the old monkey.

  So… is it another round of humiliation at the hands of the golden guy?

  His expression conveyed his thought as he pointed toward the golden monkey standing quietly far away, arms folded, watching them.

  "This time, it is something entirely different," the old monkey smiled. "It is something more like a descent."

  With his hands behind his back, the old monkey walked away from Skylar, leaving the center of the islet. With one last somewhat reverent glance at Karo, Jaro followed closely behind him.

  "Shkai thier," Karo said, pointing at a spot within the Spirit circle before walking toward a corresponding spot in the Mind circle.

  Karo sat in the lotus position. The golden monkey, already standing at his position within the Body circle, also sat, both proceeding into meditation with closed eyes.

  So… I do the same, right?

  Skylar looked toward the distant old monkey questioningly. The old monkey nodded in response.

  Receiving confirmation, Skylar relocated. He sat in a lotus position within the Spirit circle and closed his eyes, mimicking the others.

  After a while—

  I can sense it again…

  He noticed a whiteness hanging above him and he stretched his sensing ability toward it.

  That is the sun… right? But how?

  Suddenly, like a mantra, a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts, echoing in his mind:

  “When the body fails you, and the mind lets you down, let the Spirit guide you. And when the body is tired and your Spirit sinks, let your will, fiercely burning, rise and set creation ablaze.”

  As the voice ceased, a piercing high-pitched ringing followed, and Skylar cursed aloud.

  “Fuck!”

  Then, suddenly, his awareness slipped—plunging far below.

  Meanwhile—

  A sizzling hum escaped from the islet, now flooded by a sea of white electrical glow resembling countless vibrating tiny thread bits.

  Jaro stood upon the clear waters surrounding the islet beside the old monkey, worry evident on his face.

  "Father… will my daughter be alright?" he asked.

  "She definitely will be," the old monkey replied, languid eyes fixed upon the islet.

  The surface of an endless, waveless ocean of pure, ultra-clear water—like a flawless mirror—lay exposed within eternal darkness, looking like a mirage. From its depths, Skylar emerged without resistance, as though ejected upward, casting neither ripple nor reflection.

  Lacking awareness, Skylar stood naked upon the water’s surface. He looked around but found no destination calling to him—not even a particle of light. Realizing this, he began walking in a random direction.

  After a vast stretch of space, a golden glow appeared ahead, shining like a summons.

  Still devoid of awareness, he approached at the same unchanging pace.

  As he drew nearer, the glow revealed itself—a gigantic golden robot towering many times his height, standing like an impenetrable wall blocking his path.

  Skylar tore his gaze away and attempted to walk around it.

  The robot aimed its square mechanical mouth at him and fired a noiseless beam of golden energy, instantly swallowing him.

  Then both vanished, leaving the ocean undisturbed—just like it was at the beginning.

  …

  Again—Skylar emerged without resistance, set to walk, reached the golden robot and got blasted.

  The cycle repeated.

  Again.

  And again.

  But after round nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine, Skylar did something different after emerging from the ocean.

  He sat in lotus position upon the water.

  He did not move.

  After an immeasurable span—or no time at all—a reflection appeared beneath him.

  It was not Skylar.

  It was baby Grumpy.

  Its infant body bore seven massive rotten gashes across its back.

  Suddenly, it ignited—engulfed in blazing white flame that did not consume it.

  Skylar opened his vacant eyes and stood. His blazing reflection mirrored him perfectly.

  As he walked forward, the burning reflection began to grow, aging gradually as he approached the distant golden robot.

  At the exact moment the reflection matured into the likeness of the body lying within his sim-pod in Orange Town, Skylar reached the robot.

  This time, he did not attempt to go around it.

  Instead, he paused.

  The white flames surged upward, breaking past the boundary of reflection and sending ripples across the timeless ocean—ripples that destabilized the giant robot’s footing.

  The rising flame engulfed Skylar from his feet upward while his reflection slowly dissipated from head to toe, retreating with the receding flame.

  When the reflection vanished completely and Skylar was wholly consumed by white flame, the ocean stilled once more.

  The robot regained balance and fired a vastly greater beam of energy.

  But like water poured onto lava, the beam dissipated silently upon touching the blazing white flame.

  Skylar produced a glowing white staff from nowhere and casually threw it.

  The giant robot caught it instantly—as though it had never crossed space at all.

  The robot stared at it.

  Skylar walked between its colossal legs.

  Then, like an edict fulfilled, the robot turned just as Skylar faded into nothingness.

  And it witnessed—

  The ocean shone gold and bulged upward where Skylar faded.

  An expanding land beneath a dome of stars—sealed by it—rose from the sea. Suns and moons took their places beneath the celestial dome.

  At the land’s center, hills rose, mountains formed, the earth fractured, and waters surged forth to fill valleys and basins.

  As water flows, it formed skies of cloud—completing cycles. By the virtue of cycles, primordial plant life emerged at water banks.

  Worms followed—wriggling—some transforming into primordial crawling insects that went on to animate the newborn world.

  As the cosmos awakened according to the will that had set it ablaze—moving in time—the giant golden robot vanished like smoke.

  And the endless sea returned to silence, watched only by nothingness.