Chapter 4963: The One Percent II
Chapter 4963: The One Percent II
Abaddon had been thinking about doing many things. He had sensed all the events that had just occurred across Observable Existence.
But instead of acting on any of these observations, he asked a different question.
"Your weavings just intertwined with THE Creature?"
His voice carried the weight of rivers that flowed through realities yet unformed.
"He is an interesting guy, isn’t he?"
Abaddon asked such a question while he thought of THE Creature.
Whenever he did look at THE Youngest and THE Creature, he couldn’t help but think of how alike they were. Not in power, though THE Youngest was growing at rates that defied conventional understanding.
Not in methodology, though both seemed to approach existence with calculation that exceeded many things.
It was something in their eyes.
The first time Abaddon had met THE Creature was in THE Prima Indifferentia.
At that time, THE Creature looked like something that had just undergone a rebirth into another form. His manifestation had been unstable, flickering between configurations as if he hadn’t yet decided what he wanted to be. Abaddon considered him younger at that moment, as his own Depth had been higher than THE Creature’s at that time. At that time.
But it seemed to be on a technicality.
Anyways, at that time, the eyes of THE Creature reminded Abaddon of something he couldn’t quite identify.
Now he knew.
They reminded him of the eyes of THE Youngest.
That same burning certainty. That same sense that existence itself was merely raw material waiting to be shaped according to will.
It was a gaze of pride and arrogance that was dangerous.
At this time, THE Youngest smiled and nodded at Abaddon’s question.
"Powerful beyond measure. A very interesting guy."
His golden eyes held appreciation.
"But I was curious about you a bit more."
Abaddon’s obsidian chaos swirled with interest at this statement. THE Youngest had been keeping him back from attacking the infection spreading across existence for some time now.
"And I wanted to ask you about probabilities."
Probabilities?
Hah!
Chaos was filled with probabilities and possibilities! Every moment contained infinite potential outcomes. Every action spawned countless branches of what-could-be. Every decision collapsed wave functions of maybe into singular expressions of is.
There was so much to be done right now. THE Entity spread further with every passing moment. THE Primordial Mycelia’s infection claimed more beings with every breath. And yet THE Youngest wanted to discuss probabilities?
But THE Youngest spoke still.
His form shimmered with blue-gold flames as Infinite Undifferentiated Fate manifested visibly around his existence. The golden light pressed against Abaddon’s obsidian chaos without conflict, two fundamental forces acknowledging each other without competing.
"Let’s use an Undivided One as an example."
His voice held the weight of something being constructed.
"Let’s say there was something called Bazuman. An Undivided One of tremendous power who had existed since before THE Infinite Unfurling. A being of undifferentiation and consumption who believed himself invincible because nothing had ever truly threatened his existence."
Abaddon listened with attention that exceeded casual interest. THE Youngest was building toward something.
"Now let’s say that despite all of Bazuman’s power, despite all of his accumulated authority and consumed existences and invincible reputation, there existed a one percent probability that collapse was coming for him."
THE Youngest paused.
"One percent. Ninety-nine roads lead to Bazuman’s continued dominance. But one road, just one, leads to his complete and utter annihilation."
His golden eyes fixed on Abaddon with intensity that exceeded the hypothetical nature of the question.
"Would Bazuman take this one percent seriously even though the chance of it happening was so low? Would he ignore that single percentage point because ninety-nine others favored his survival? Or would he do anything, absolutely anything, to make sure that one percent didn’t even exist?"
...!
Abaddon raised his brows and blinked.
What was THE Youngest up to?
His reply didn’t take long. This was, after all, a question that touched upon the very nature of what he represented.
"A percent chance is still a percent chance."
His voice deepened with authority that predated THE Infinite Unfurling.
"It is as if there are one hundred roads. Ninety-nine roads will lead to the same result. But that one road is still there. It exists. It waits. It holds potential that the other ninety-nine cannot negate through mere numerical superiority."
The rivers of obsidian chaos around them churned with emphasis as Abaddon continued.
"You see,Youngest, this is what many beings fail to understand about probability and chaos. They look at percentages and see safety in large numbers. They look at one percent and see something so small that it can be dismissed. They calculate their odds and feel comfort in ninety-nine percent certainty."
He shook his head slowly.
"But certainty is illusion. And probability is not prediction. It is description of possibility space, nothing more."
The obsidian rivers began flowing in patterns that demonstrated what he was explaining.
"Everything that can happen will happen given sufficient time and iteration. Every possible outcome exists within the probability space of every moment. The one percent is not less real than the ninety-nine percent. It is merely less frequent in a single sampling."
His eyes fixed on THE Youngest with intensity that matched what he had received.
"But collapse is not a single sampling. Collapse is permanent. If Bazuman faces one hundred threats across his existence, and each threat carries one percent chance of his annihilation, then across those hundred encounters, the cumulative probability of collapse approaches certainty rather than remaining negligible."
The patterns in the obsidian rivers became more complex.
"Furthermore, entropy favors the unlikely. Chaos tends toward maximum disorder. The state space of existence is not static. It evolves, it shifts, it transforms in ways that can take that one percent and make it ten percent, or fifty percent, or absolute certainty without warning."
Abaddon’s presence seemed to expand as he delivered the core of his philosophy.
"This is what chaos teaches those who truly understand it. The improbable is not impossible. The unlikely is not avoidable. And the one percent that seems negligible today may be the guaranteed outcome tomorrow because you chose to ignore it rather than address it."
He paused, letting his words settle like sediment in the obsidian rivers.
"I have watched civilizations fall because they calculated their survival at ninety-nine percent and dismissed the remaining percentage as acceptable risk. I have witnessed Absolutes collapse because they believed their foundations too strong to be threatened by improbable outcomes. I have seen beings older than THE Infinite Unfurling unmade because they failed to account for the one road that led somewhere other than their continued existence."
His conclusion came with weight that pressed against the very fabric of Alfheimr.
"So yes. Regardless of how low the percentage is, it has to be taken care of. It has to be addressed. It has to be eliminated if elimination is possible. Because if you leave that one percent existing, if you allow it to remain within your probability space, then entropy will find it. Chaos will favor it. And what seemed impossible will become inevitable."
"The one percent must be erased, or it may be guaranteed to happen."
...!