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The Fy’ecas and Maertons actually originate from an artificial intelligence created by a certain sentient species.
That species faded into the obscurity of history eventually, while their AI ended up becoming the most powerful existence in the entire universe.
But, this species was also mired in factional disputes and sides were openly hostile to each other, over a simple question.
Should they, or should they not, construct artificial, physical bodies for them to live in the physical universe? If not, they will continue to live as streams of data through the ‘Internet’ that they have.
The Maertons support having a body, while the Fy’ecas do not. Since those days, the two sides have held irreconcilable animosity to the other side.
There is to be no negotiation between the ‘Reals’ and the ‘Fantasticals.’
Humans in the Tower often ponder if a fake reality is meaningful.
The Maerton would answer, it is meaningless; the Fy’eca would answer, it is meaningful. That’s it.
The divide drove them apart entirely, and they have become mortal enemies.
Both were expansionist, and thus soon enough, they dragged the whole universe to an endless, ruthless conflict with them.
Well, it’s nothing like a battle of human understanding, of physical weaponry and blood and gore, but it is just as cold and merciless.
It was also a conflict without a winner emerging.
The Fy’ecas lived in the entire Internet itself, and can even exist as pure configurations of electrons in electric fields, and even in any sort of ‘air.’ They are intangible ‘data,’ and therefore, eradication is nigh-on impossible. Their whole interconnected network infrastructure serves as an indomitable fortress.
The Maertons, with their perfectly curated cyborg forms that are the culmination of all the unfathomable technological prowess they possess, can also, if needed, fall back onto their equally indestructible configuration of electrons if needed.
Even if their cyborg bodies are destroyed, it is but their husk.
The Fy’ecas accuse the Maertons of betraying their unique status as an artificial intelligence. They have developed a civilisation based solely on data and mechanised, electronic intelligence. So those and the Internet are where they belong. It is a sign of faulty logic that the Maertons imitate the ‘backwards,’ ‘unwieldy,’ ‘primitive’ and ‘flesh-bound’ lifeforms.
They cannot comprehend the Maertons’ pursuit of ‘realis.’
——This animosity, is exactly what Xü Beijin needed. He, the insignificant human, will not and on no basis can he at all influence this conflict between two of the most powerful species in the universe.
He just needed to play the Maertons against the Fy’ecas.
Meanwhile, if the Maertons, might be willing to provide one of those cyborg bodies for him and Lin Qin…
Why, that would be quite excellent indeed.
Xü Beijin’s eyes are glittering as he ponders the situation.
He believes the humans in the Tower are all stuffed into ‘nutrient pods’ that’s basically like IVs; with the Fy’ecas’ medical technology, even if hundreds of years have gone past, their bodies will still be alive for sure. There might be muscular atrophy or something unavoidable like that.
Though he is basically sure his own body is physically dead. That’s what he thinks.
NE’s machinations of his consciousness in the beginning probably resulted in brain death in him.
Well, the Fy’ecas wouldn’t call that ‘death,’ but Xü Beijin would identify that as a death.
His own link between himself and his body is already severed.
Even if his body is still ‘alive,’ Lin Qin’s is definitely not.
He definitely died on the battlefields already, so Lin Qin is solely a digitised stream of consciousness.
You can call them both, ghosts wandering the Internet.
And the only technology that brings ghosts on the Internet back into reality that XĂź Beijin knows, is the technique of the Maertons.
The Fy’ecas might be able to pull creatures like humans who depend on their physical body and brain into the Internet and let them live there without a problem, but they definitely don’t have the peak cyborg technology that the Maertons must have developed.
At the same time, Xü Beijin must not voice this request as soon as the Maertons show up, the same way he can’t simply ask them to ‘save humans please,’ which is utterly unrealistic.
Instead, he had to provide them with a clue that can be worked to the Fy’ecas’ disadvantage – enough so that the Maertons would deign to send a delegate of their own to Xü Beijin’s stream.
And the comment… Well, the Maertons are dressing themselves up as ‘accepting and kind’ and are very willing to ‘cooperate’ with Xü Beijin, but he knows this is because they’ve determined Xü Beijin has value in their conflict; Xü Beijin would not hesitate to analyse the motives of these species of the universe via the most critical of lenses.
Of course, he has also put all remaining hope in this response. It can’t be helped. This really is the only chance they’ll get; the only species in active conflict with the Fy’ecas, and is as powerful as they are, and that Xü Beijin can put forth a convincing offer for, is the Maertons.
The Maertons know the Fy’ecas’ form of existence all too well. They can even permeate into the other species to fight——
Since they are both originally the same artificial intelligence.
At the same time, Xü Beijin’s streaming system is perfect as the bridge to this communication.
As a streaming system designed for game streamers, it also has private messaging capabilities in addition to watching streams.
XĂź Beijin, and the Maerton delegate, then engaged in an extremely long and arduous conversation.
Xü Beijin is cussing the damned ineffective translator by the end… It’s such a frustration to use!
All the hilarious ‘lost in translations’ later, they’ve finally managed to come to an adequate understanding of what each party wants.
The Maerton is clearly quite shocked at the potential gains, though, typing, “of your certainty?! Our prisoners can your help?”
Xü Beijin answers, “yes. Our species is also locked up similarly. What I can do, is paralyse the Fy’eca’s network communication and shut it down temporarily. What I need you to do, is use this time, to save your people, and my people.”
The Maerton delegate is probably thinking about it or gone to report to some higher-up. Silence ensues for a really long while.
XĂź Beijin waits with intense anxiety.
Then finally, the delegate is back, and answers completely unambiguously, “accepted! Cooperate!”
XĂź Beijin immediately sighs in relief.
Then he hesitates a bit, but still decides he wants to try to use this chance to secure a body for themselves, “in addition, my biomorph, and my partner’s biomorph, are likely damaged. We want to ask for help to create new biomorphs…”
“Biomorph!” Comes the slightly enigmatic and surprised remark.
Xü Beijin can feel his heart trembling, and he grips Lin Qin’s hand tightly.
Lin Qin doesn’t know the weight of this negotiation, but is tilting his head to look at Xü Beijin directly, and soothes him, saying, “it’s alright, Beijin. We will be able to succeed…”
Before he can finish, though, XĂź Beijin exclaims in joy, and turns to hug him, even kissing him passionately.
Lin Qin is confused, but also really happy with this.
On Xü Beijin’s private chat, the latest message, that appears quite jumbled and incomprehensible after translation, sits right there in plain sight.
“Surely. You similar to us. We obligate help. When is success, we will describe biomorph.”