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When IX and Nous heard whispers through the stars about a Stellaron vessel, Nous had immediately went to go check out what had happened while IX stayed where they were.
Honestly, IX had thought that Nous was never going to leave. Nous had been blabbering their ear off about black holes and supernovas and how unique IX was as an Aeon. The second Nous started saying that there was wisdom in nothingness, IX had desperately wanted them to leave because The Nihility couldn't handle being complimented. Especially by such an intelligent Aeon like The Erudition.
Granted, there was some merit to Nous' words. The Erudition was basically created for the sole purpose of solving the mysteries of the universe, so them blabbering about all that they knew was pretty much a given. IX desperately wanted Nous to find a different Aeon to blabber to though. Seriously, why was it always IX that had to exist through Nous' lectures? The Nihility felt like an uninterested student learning under a too-knowledgeable professor when The Erudition so much as started on one of their tangents or lectures or whatever else The Erudition did that was communicating.
IX was starting to wish that they couldn't hear anything so that they wouldn't have to listen to another one of Nous' lectures, tangents, or whatever else involved speech and The Erudition in the same breath (regardless of the fact that neither one could really breathe).
But really, Nous was the lesser of all other evils. Because cosmos forbid an Aeon like Aha try to get The Nihility on board with The Elation's idea of "fun". Cosmos also forbid that they deal with Yaoshi who cared too much about helping humanity (nevermind the fact that it almost always ended in disaster and earning Lan's ire) because IX didn't care about humanity.
Nous was more factually, more neutral, and honestly more understandable despite the fact that most of The Erudition's vernacular made no sense to IX nor did The Nihility care enough to find out. Seriously, IX didn't want to know hypophosphatemia was because it was a) a mouthful, and b) a headache to think about. All IX really knew was that it had something to do with human biology. Nous must have been telling IX about genetics. Not that IX really cared when Nous was throwing too many huge words at The Nihility as though learning them was even an option for The Nihility (it wasn't, it really wasn't).
IX wouldn't care if Nous just stopped talking to them though. Sure, they'd notice, but The Nihility wouldn't care much, assuming that The Erudition had found someone else to ramble to about whatever they were learning about the universe as a whole. Or maybe it was because IX didn't care that Nous kept on talking to them. IX never told them to stop their rambling nor did they ever care when Nous stopped rambling. Perhaps it was a matter of Nous just needing someone to be there who wouldn't care about their ramblings? IX needed to stop thinking too much about things. They were going to lose their nihilism if they cared too much. That would be a disaster.
And cosmos forbid those damn Doctors of Chaos even found out about The Nihility's thoughts. That spelled disaster for IX and they would rather not get those nutcases involved. Were they really a faction of Nihility? Because that faction cared too much about trying to give IX a "purpose" and that was enough to make IX internally shudder. Just... no. Absolutely not. Those Doctors of Chaos should just let IX be nihilistic and just not care about giving IX a purpose. IX certainly didn't care, so neither should they. The Doctors of Chaos were just downright weirdos.
IX was now content with how they were alone now. More time for them to just not care about anything other than the inevitable nothingness of the future. Ah, life was so much better now that they were by themself. IX needed more time like this, alone and uncaring. It was truly the best.
Now if only nothing would ruin this-
"IX, I have seen the Stellaron vessel and have concluded that-"
God fucking dammit Nous.
...
Nous never minded that IX seemed ready to tune The Erudition out as they continued to drone on about the Stellaron vessel, Caelus. Seeing the Stellaron vessel was enough to interest Nous and they were already running many internal calculations about the Stellaron vessel. It wasn't often that such an anomaly appeared in the universe and Nous just had to know more about Caelus.
That didn't mean that Nous didn't notice how IX seemed to tilt slightly towards Nous, which was usually a sign of The Nihility's extremely rare interest, when The Erudition brought up the possibility that the Stellaron vessel was created from nothing. Unsurprising, considering how IX's entire path revolved around believing that nothing mattered and that life was meaningless. Nihilism was truly fascinating to think about for Nous. And there was some wisdom to it, in some senses at least. Nothingness truly had its own wisdom and meanings could be found where there were none.
Nous admired The Nihility's viewpoint because it was so different than what one would expect, but at the same time, it seemed like a natural thought process. Humans could become depressed and think that nothing in life mattered. Those humans usually fell under the shadow of IX's path in their depression. It would only take persistence and company for that human to at least improve, but that sort of depression wasn't one that could easily be regulated. Persistent depressive disorder was at least somewhat manageable, but major depressive disorder was a whole different thing altogether. It lingered more and never seemed to let go of a person.
The Erudition was getting off topic in their thought process, so Nous decided to keep droning on about Caelus. IX didn't seem to mind listening to them now, but Nous was pretty sure that it was because they had mentioned the possibility that the Stellaron vessel was created from nothing. Because obviously that would be where IX's focus was. The possibility that the boy was created from nothing and only had a meaning due to the Stellaron he housed in his body. No doubt IX was probably imagining what would happen if the Stellaron was destroyed. Nous could only tell because IX seemed to flatten slightly, a sign that the thoughts of The Nihility were elsewhere. Not that Nous minded.
If IX was interested in those sorts of things, then all The Nihility would need to do was ask and Nous would run the calculations as to what could happen if the Stellaron that was a part of Caelus' very being was destroyed. Nous was already theorizing slightly because of course they were. The Erudition existed to solve the mysteries of the universe and Caelus was the hugest mystery they didn't have a concrete answer for yet. Which was... odd and yet it made The Erudition delighted to have such a hard question placed in front of them. Everything else could be solved easily, but it was like Caelus was meant to defy expectations and be as difficult as possible to solve.
Caelus was such a wondrous anomaly to The Erudition. Nous wanted to get closer to him, learn everything biological and mental about Caelus, understand just what Caelus was, and just learn every small detail about Caelus that would hopefully solve the answers to the questions that they had about Caelus and his existence in this universe. It certainly wouldn't be easy to research, but Nous would find a way eventually. They would go to whatever length necessary if it meant that they could finally get the answers necessary to solve the questions they had.
Maybe-
"Nous? You have been abnormally quiet. What are you thinking about?"
Nous was pulled from their thought process by IX's speech. The Nihility's full attention was on them, obvious by how alert IX seemed with both white "eyes" turned to Nous and how they no longer seemed like they had flattened slightly. The Erudition was slightly surprised by how IX had decided to comment on how quiet they were, thinking that IX would just remain quiet too. Apparently, the universe liked to surprise everyone, including Nous. Not that The Erudition minded. If it meant more questions to be answered, then Nous would embrace any abnormality and solve it to the best of their ability.
Still, IX seemed like they were waiting for an answer, so Nous decided to answer them. "My apologies, IX. I was merely thinking about some habits that I've seen from Caelus. Mainly his penchant for diving into trash bins in search of things and how he seems to like climbing in closets."
Nous watched as IX "blinked" at them and then those "eyes" seemed to narrow. Almost like IX couldn't believe what Nous had even said. Nous wouldn't have believed it either because human adults didn't usually partake in such activities, but Caelus was already an anomaly to begin with. He had weird habits, but his origins were also weird so Nous was going to hold off on the brain scan until they had more answers about Caelus. After all, Nous wanted to make sure that Caelus was in top form when Nous finally got the chance to examine him.
Nous was pulled from their internal thought process yet again when IX finally asked the question that Nous knew that they were likely to ask. "Do you know what would happen if the Stellaron in the vessel's body was destroyed? Or can you at least make a prediction?"
Nous ran the answer through their internal database, making a robotic whirring sound before two predictions came to them. "The Stellaron is practically ingrained in his body, so one of two possibilities could happen. The most likely is that could happen is that the boy could become a husk due to the Stellaron's removal since the vessel exists to house the Stellaron. The second possibility that's least likely is that it would revert him back to a blank slate with no memories. Still, either one could happen."
Nous heard IX make a noise of confirmation that The Erudition's theories had been heard. Still, now that they had more ideas, Nous picked right back up with their blabbering. They were given new things to think about, so Nous wasn't going to let the opportunity to make new theories slip past them. Anything that got them closer to answering the mystery that was Caelus was a good thing to keep their internal database running. But Nous had some other things to think about and share.
"I should probably also make you aware that Caelus is truly an anomaly since he can draw power from two paths-"
Nous wondered if IX's newest reaction, turning their entire self towards Nous and making those "eyes" narrow, was a reaction for being "incredulous".
...
IX wondered how exactly Nous had roped them into watching Caelus, but then they remembered that The Erudition had offered to bring back more information and The Nihility had decided to just go see the Stellaron vessel because why not. Besides, what better verification for all of Nous' words than seeing the Stellaron vessel themself?
Seeing the Stellaron vessel actually rummage through trash and climb into closets after inspecting them definitely threw IX for a loop. They still didn't care, but it was weird to witness something like that when everyone else didn't seem to behave the same. Caelus was a weirdo, but it wasn't a bad kind of weird. It was more a "is this person even normal, what is wrong with their brain" kind of weird. Which just made IX wonder if Caelus was this level of weird on purpose or if he was this way because he forgot what normalcy was when he got amnesia.
Now IX could see why Nous referred to the Stellaron vessel as a "human raccoon". Raccoons, they had heard Nous explain for the millionth time, were intelligent creatures, but they were also known as trash pandas due to the fact that they dug in trash cans looking for things (usually food) sometimes. IX was definitely seeing the resemblance between Caelus and a raccoon. The Nihility wasn't sure about the intelligence bit since the boy was an amnesiac, but they were sure about the trash digging bit.
Watching Caelus run around doing things for the people on the ship, Nous had called the ship the "Xianzhou Luofu" but IX had tuned them out when they began to drone on about the place because IX didn't care about the history of the Luofu, was a tad intriguing to IX. The boy had no memories and only had the members of the Astral Express as his true company. Did the Stellaron vessel hope that helping others would give him a sense of purpose or a sense of self since he had no memories? That was the only logical explanation for someone with amnesia to be so selfless and so giving.
... The Nihility needed to stop hanging out with The Erudition. They were starting to make theories about Caelus' behavior and were starting to think in logic now. It was almost enough to make them internally recoil at the idea that they were thinking like Nous. That was a thought that they didn't want to think about, but now it would haunt them for several days. Oh, they should not have gotten interested in Caelus, but Nous had posed the idea that the boy was created from nothing and how was IX supposed to resist that sort of idea?
Still, watching Caelus go about dealing with matters on the ship (no, IX would not address it by name since they didn't care), was something far newer than what anyone would expect. Watching him deal with a powerful being of destruction with companions, deal with the drama surrounding one of the Astral Express crew members, and then later dealing with heliobi was enough to make anyone who really cared incredibly fascinated by all Caelus dealt with. IX wasn't one who easily cared though, so they just didn't and watched as the Stellaron vessel dealt with those matters while Nous droned on and on.
Nous was incredibly fascinated by everything that Caelus dealt with, making internal calculations all the while as they noted power levels, behavior, how Caelus handled the problems he managed to get himself into, and several other things of that nature. They still weren't going to bother with a brain scan because they needed to make sure that Caelus was in good condition when they did so. Having him in any form other than recovered for the brain scan was not an option for The Erudition. How could they get good results if Caelus was dealing with some injury or another? Not to mention the emotional factors that would play a role in this brain scan.
Nous wanted to get answers, but The Erudition wouldn't just appear in front of Caelus. They were already theorizing about how to get on the space station that Caelus frequented and getting the answers they wanted there. And Nous did bring this up to IX, who seemed vaguely interested in the idea but didn't outright say so. Nous assumed that IX would admit they were interested in anything on their own terms, so they didn't push for a clear answer. If IX wanted to come to the space station with hopefully a more humanoid form, then they would come on their own terms. Nous wasn't going to force IX into doing something they didn't want to do.
For now, all Nous wanted to do was make their plans to get on the space station, gets the answers they wanted from Caelus because he was an anomaly that The Erudition wanted to solve. If The Nihility didn't wish to come with them, then that was fine. If not, very well then. Still, Nous was going to get their answers about Caelus.
Though perhaps some joint research might be required...
...
Caelus could definitely say with absolute certainty and confidence that he frequented the space station regularly. Between dealing with some things on the station, helping out some of the researchers, and coming to Herta for Simulated Universe related things in which he helped Herta and Screwllum out, Caelus frequented the space station a lot and got to know a lot of people as a result.
Meeting Ruan Mei was new and then going down to an abandoned sector of the space station was also new. Caelus was secretly starting to wonder if he was a magnet for drama and bad experiences now. At least nothing bad had happened yet, so that was something.
Caelus was also surprised when he met another person down in the sector and then ran into little experiments. The cat cake he found was definitely adorable. Caelus wanted one in his life. Now if only he had the time to take care of such an adorable thing. Maybe he'd find an opportunity in between dealing with the intergalactic drama he got dragged into more often than not.
And Caelus ended up jinxing himself when he had to fight the clone of an Emanator of The Propagation. Seriously, who was cloning that?! That seemed like a horrible idea for any sane person! Maybe smart people were insane and he missed that sort of memo because he had spent too long adventuring with the Express.
Caelus managed to last a little while, but he got exhausted. Something odd happened before the cloned Emanator could try and attack him again though. A black hole seemed to appear out of nowhere and started to drag the clone into it. Caelus was almost dragged into it as well, but he was surprised when a force field appeared around him to keep him from getting dragged in. The black hole seemed to tear the clone of the Emanator of The Propagation apart, turning it into particles. Only when the black hole disappeared did the force field also disappear. It was enough to make Caelus wonder what had just happened.
He got the answer when he nearly stumbled and an arm caught him. Caelus turned to thank the person, and then noted how their body were robotic in nature with lines indicating joints, false dark gray hair to give an uncanny semblance of normalcy, red LED lights for eyes, and wore the garments of a scientist. Caelus had to blink twice before he noticed their companion and had to do another double take because their companion looked like a galaxy given human form with only whites for eyes and clothes that were a deep black.
The robotic individual turned to their companion and huffed. "You need to be more mindful of your powers. If I hadn't been testing multiple force fields to prepare for a possibility like this, then you would've sucked Caelus into that black hole. Honestly..."
Their galactic companion didn't seem to care and only shrugged. "He's still around. So your force field worked wonders. I didn't even know you were testing something like that, Nous. Care to explain when you started working on that? Because it definitely wasn't recently."
Nous? Hold on, the robot had an Aeon's name?
"It was the second you took an interest in him. I didn't want him to get affected by your powers almost immediately. While your power is useful for doing what you just did, I was worried that it would have an adverse effect on him before we even began testing together."
"Dramatic."
"IX if you do not be quiet-"
Caelus was getting incredibly confused. IX? Nous? Why did these beings have the names of Aeons? Caelus looked between the two of them and interrupted before they could continue bickering. "Um, thank you for helping me. That clone of an Emanator was terrifying, so I'm lucky that you both decided to help me."
Both of them turned to him and the robotic being spoke. "It is no trouble. By my predictions, the clone would've faded anyway, but it was a better idea to take care of it sooner rather than wait and see what would happen. I wouldn't have wanted to get an innocent person hurt because of a miscalculation."
The galactic being made a motion that imitated eye rolling before muttering something Caelus couldn't hear clearly. Something about him being the only innocent person they would care about in terms of this sort of situation? Caelus was still confused because of their names and appearances. Was it possible that these two were...? No, what was Caelus thinking? Why would two Aeons be on the space station with their attention solely focused on him? Well, there was that black hole, but the being could easily be an Emanator of IX. Caelus couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in his gut though...
"-lus. Caelus. Can you hear me? Are your ears ringing? How many fingers am I holding up?"
Caelus watched as the robotic being held up three fingers. "My ears are fine. I was just spacing out. You're holding up three fingers."
The robotic individual made a noise akin to a sigh of relief. "Good. No auditory or visual problems. I was a tad bit worried that you had sustained an injury from that fight that could've messed up your brain, but I can see now that you're just exhausted."
The galactic being had been watching and chimed in. "Yes, I'd rather not have the unnecessary effort I put in be put to waste because you managed to get yourself critically wounded. You need to take care of yourself better and get stronger, clearly."
"Don't mock him, IX."
"I'm not. I'm making note that he needs to do more solo work if he wants to get stronger. He can't just rely on his companions, Nous. He might've done fine for a while against that clone, but he stands no chance against anyone else with that power."
The two stared at each other for a good period of time while Caelus took the words the galactic being, IX, had said to heart. It was true that he was still trying to get stronger and make sure that he was capable, but those words made him realize that he really did need to get stronger.
Caelus still allowed the robotic person, Nous, to do a couple tests to make sure that he wasn't straining anything. They were definitely scanning him on several occasions and sometimes asked him questions about emotions that he answered readily after thinking over the answers. IX was content to simply watch in the background as it all happened.
Once Nous was done running their tests, they looked at him. "You should probably rest to avoid straining yourself. Your impulse control isn't fully formed, but it's getting there. There aren't any brain abnormalities that I'm sensing after that fight... The Stellaron also seems to be inactive for now."
Caelus blinked at them. "You can sense all of that?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"No, it's just interesting. I didn't think that all of that was possible, but for someone like you, I guess it's nothing."
"For someone like me, hm? You're not wrong. But your wording makes me think that you've parsed something together."
IX seemed to focus on the two upon hearing that, making Caelus extremely nervous now. Were they trying to keep their identities secret? Caelus swallowed before the words came out. "You two are... The Erudition and The Nihility, aren't you?"
Everything went silent in that moment. Both beings were quiet as they stared straight at Caelus, making him incredibly nervous. He honestly should've kept his mouth shut and avoided saying anything like that because the silence was unnerving-
Caelus was surprised when Nous let out a robotic laugh while IX drifted closer to him, interest clear. Nous looked at Caelus, seeming excited about what he had said. "You managed to piece it together? How thrilling. What gave you that conclusion? IX's physical appearance? Our names? My abilities?"
Caelus was caught off guard but managed to answer. "Um... Is all of the above a correct answer?"
Nous let out a robotic hum. "It can be. How wonderful that you took those context clues and pieced everything together. I was a tad bit worried that you wouldn't get the hint. While you can be intelligent in some aspects, overall-"
IX blinked. "Just say he's not the, oh how does that saying go, "sharpest tool in the shed", I think?"
Caelus wasn't offended by that. He knew he wasn't the smartest person out there and he was fine with that. Nous only swatted IX's arm in a halfhearted manner in response though. Possibly a reprimand for interrupting them before they could finish speaking.
He was a little bit surprised when Nous took his chin in a robotic hand though. "Still, the fact that you led yourself here and managed to pit yourself against that clone instead of finding a way out is alarming. For someone who has the blessing of the power of Preservation, your self preservation is surprisingly low. You would do anything to help someone out even if it was dangerous, wouldn't you?"
Caelus wanted to refute that, but he knew damn well that he'd be lying to himself and the intelligent Aeon, so he kept his mouth shut. Nous seemed to get their answer from that and shook their robotic head slightly in a way that seemed almost... exasperated.
He was caught off guard again when IX took one of his hands in theirs. "You should let us stay with you. As much as I wish to drag you into the shadow of my path and blot out that light that makes you shine so brightly, Nous has convinced me to watch and wait for now. It will happen one day, but not today unfortunately. We can help you, don't you know?"
Caelus looked between the two, startled. "You two don't have to... I mean, I wouldn't want to trouble you both... I'm sure you two have better things to do then watch over-"
"Caelus."
Caelus shut his mouth when both of them spoke with a command in their tone. Nous spoke first. "Relax. We both agreed on this. You're a fascinating anomaly to us both and so this is something that we ourselves want. Besides, we are both fascinated by the way you make us feel. I have no doubt that we will find those answers with you."
IX stared at him. "Unless you plan to deny us?"
The unblinking stares of them both made Caelus want to shrink in on himself. These two were a terrifying pair in humanoid forms. Thinking that these were their humanoid forms made him remember what they actually looked like and he was suddenly glad that they had decided to take on humanoid forms. He managed to get out the words though. "No, I won't... You two can stay with me..."
Both of them seemed to relax at his answer. Nous hummed. "Good. This will be an interesting experiment..."
IX looked at him with a hum. "You will embrace my path one day."
"IX no."
"IX yes."
Caelus had to sigh as these two stared at each other yet again. This would probably be a regular occurrence going forward. Caelus would just have to get used to it, it seemed. They probably wouldn't be able to follow him everywhere, but that was alright.
...but the new marks of Nihility and Erudition on his hand and the underside of his chin, glowing dark purple and red respectively, served as a way for the two Aeons to keep a close eye on Caelus.