A huge blue-black mass of tentacles idly writhed before a gargantuan obsidian obelisk—which nearly reached the top of the massive spherical white plastered room—with hundreds of its eyes focused on the polished stone.
After a beep echoed throughout the austere space, the creature perked up and inserted several of its tentacles into openings in the stone base.
Golden light gathered to form elaborate symbols in neat rows across the glossy upper section of the obelisk. Were those illuminated marks written in English, they would look like:
[ Viable participant detected█ ]
The being bounced in place a few times, then wriggled its tentacles inside the device until the display changed to a single line of text above an image that was clearly defined at its center but gradually became increasingly pixelated toward its edges.
[ Eligibility ends in 288… ]
[ 28ꜜ… ]
[ 28↓… ]
[ 285… ]
As the timer ticked down, the image proved to be an audioless video rather than a still shot. Its blurry background rapidly passed through the shown vehicle's windows as the camera's focus—a young man, roughly twenty years old—rhythmically tapped his right index finger against the steering wheel of his car while leaning against the open driver-side window frame with his left arm.
Although his green eyes were fixed on the road, they were half-lidded with lazy familiarity and a touch of drowsiness. Dark reddish-brown hair framed his face in chin-length layered waves, and his barely-tanned athletic build was smattered with freckles—one of which was particularly prominent on the left side of his nose.
The most visually noticeable thing about him, though, was his uncommon choice of clothes: a sleeveless Renaissance-style doublet of maroon and chocolate-brown satin brocade, trimmed in dark brown suede, worn over a puff-sleeved bleached linen shirt.
After a cursory hundred-eyed glance at the human shown on-screen, the eldritch entity tentacley-commanded the stoney machine to perform a deeper analysis on what actually mattered for its purposes, rather than worrying about the target's appearance.
[ Calculating augury… ]
The video froze for a few seconds before the entire display went black.
After another short delay, it slowly revealed one line at a time in increasingly glitched symbols:
[ Estimated contributions are: ]
[ Stage 1: Ancient Apocalypse ]
[ S■age 2: Medi■al Marionette■ ]
[ Stag■ 3: Shadow■ D■■cing in D̵͈̹͆͝͝y̸̡̖͕̍̿̈ȉ̶͕̫̈́͋ṇ̷̂̈́̄g̴͎̈͜͠ L■ght ]
[ S■a■̷͍̀e ■: Sin■̸̯̀■̷̻̹̀͠■̷̦͓̊̿■̴̜̬͝■̵̢͆ Se̶͉͊c̷̗̖̊̔r̵̪͑e̴͎̿t■ ]
[ ■tag■̸͍́ 5: En■ḁ̴̐n̸̳̣̲̞̓̄̿̓g̸̛͎͇̹͕̈́̾͝e̷̮̰̊r̵̡͉̼̱̽̏ed ■■■̷̱̘̒͛͋■̴̜͍̗̌̇■̴̢̝͓̋■■■y ]
[ S■■̷̲͊■̴͕́■ 6: S■̴̣̤͊■̷̟̭̕v̷̢́̌ę̵͎̀r an̴d̷ S̸̞̕■̷͑͜■t C̴̝̙̅i̶̦̋r̴̥͌c̵̽ͅl̵͍̾e̸͖̓͜s ]
[ ■■a■̵̖̈̓͜■̶̡̍̂ ■: ■■̵͉́r̶̖̾k Ḑ̵͎͉͂̊̿̓ī̶͝ͅv̵͓͉̯̑͒̀ị̸̖̏́n̴͈͒̈̅̋͜ͅḯ̵̺̓t̷̳̠͌y̴̖̠̠̯̅ ]
[ S■̶̩͆■̵̹̋͘■̵̥̳͑■̶̙̩̆ 8: ■eě̷̺k̵̖̎■̵̲̇■■ ■̸͇̚■̶̪̃̀■■ W̸̡̡̨̨̟͓̠͔̳͙͈̖͍̓͝ḩ̴̡͉̲̜̾̄̚i̵̡̯̪̬̲̦͆̾͆s̵̢͍̾̓̎̀̑̚̕p̴̙̳̻̩̭̯̲̭̻͚̻͙̌̂̍̍̈͛̀̈́̅́̒̈́́͜e̸͖̲̯̠͐̃͒̈́͛̈́̀̂̆͌̿r̷̨͙̬̥͍͕̳̮̻̞̲͈͆̆ş̶̨͙͔̭̹̲̮̗̲̗͊̈́͑͘ͅ ]
[ Sta̴̗̽■̶̩̀e ■: S■̸̮͑̿̚■̵̧́̈́■̴͕͔̋͌̒̎■̴͚͉̹̫̂̔͊■̵͈̯́͛̕■̶̉̓■ ■■■̶̪̬̋́■̶͉̻̬͗■̶̥̞̀͆͝■■ ]
[ S■̶̬̓̈͠■̵̺̤͒̎͆̄ͅ■̷͙̻̀̅■̶̬̓̈͠ ■0: ■ou̴͎̎nd B̶̤̾l̶̮͑e̸̛̫s̴̢̆s̶͓̋i̸̛͚n̴͉̅g̷̜̃s̴̼̈ ]
[ ■̵̰̕■age 1■: ■̵͙̀■̶̜͑c̵̮̀̍̒h̵͙͍͛̚͝è̵͕̉ḿ̴̖͕͜į̵̝̮̰̎́̇ĉ̵͉̣̄́a̸̢̞̩͌l̷̫̃̈͂ Eṽ̶̱o̵͇͘l̷̛̯■̵͓̈́■̶̖̚i̶̥͋ȏ̸͔n ]
[ ■■̷̹͊͐ä̵̬■̵̺̗̀͠■ ■2: Ȧ̷̻̦̑͜q̵̖͇̐̆͜u̵̸̵̴̷̡̮̬͉̘̽̅̽́̒̀̈a̷̴̶̶̴̴̵̡͈͎͙̪̬͚̘̰̠̦̩̯̎̾̈͐̇͐́̌͋͐͝t̴̮̪̽͗̌͝i̸̠̽c̶̖̈́̇͝ ■■■̸̝̝̊■̶͕͑̊ů̷͍l̴̠̋t̶̹̉ ]
[ ■̸̰̾■̶̵̸̵̝̙̂̄̓̓■̶̴̴̷̴̳̯̼̩̊̑͂̂͝■■ 13: Ca̷̛̩͆■̴̬͍̐͒■̶̨̣̋͠■̸͊͜g̴͍͗͂e Ć̶̮å̵̟̠̰r̵̤̿̈́̏n̴͚͚̪̤̊͋̔̈́ì̸̭͈͎͓̊v̸̬͐̽a̴͙̅̒l̵̬͕̑ ]
[ ■̷̭̺͖͖͋̂■̸͈̪͓̰́̅͊̊■̷̘̘͊͑̏̀■̷͖̠̬̋͐̌■̴̦̆͗̅͘ ■■: ■■̸̥͆■̸͚́■̸͔̕ Tṙ̵̼͉͝■̶̳̆p̴̝̳̋̈́p̶̝̏e̷͍͓͌d in T̴̫͖̠͈̒̇͒́̎͆̇̚̕͝͝͝í̴̧̛͕͇̠͍͍̹͇͍̬͚͓̓̔͛͐͋ͅṃ̷͍̞͉̪̤̺̘͙͉̫̀͌͒̈͂̀͂͂̽̊͆͘͜ͅè̶͍̎̀͋̓̈́͝͝ ]
[ ■̸̛̲̄͗͛̿̋̀̉̀̒ͅ■̵̨̡̧̨̛͉̣̼͙̤͖̣̤̫̠̦̰͍͔̲̘͔͚̘̰͎͖̬̼̐̌̓̕̚̕͜͝■̶͕̟̮̆̋͂͊̽̅́̉͗̔̽͋̉̄̌͘͝͝͠■̸̡̢̟̗̯͔͉̯̰͖̬̖̄͗̒͐̒̿̐̃̃̀̀̕̕̚͠■̴̡̢̬̥̩͕͓̹͈̝̠̣̄͂̒̀̇̕̕͝ͅ ■■: S■̸͝ͅ■̴̜́v̶̟̊e of Ś̸̨̥̩͎̽o̷͚̲̙͕̮̰̗̱̤̯̽̌͆͑ų̵̭͍͔̠̗̮̦̽̔̃̾́̑͒̚l̶̖̽̋̋̅̉ṡ̵̼̯̌̐, C■̶͕̫͝■̷͙͖̀̇■̷̶̶̶̴̢̹͕̰͍͐̌͂̅̆■̶̵̷̵̷̶͖͖͔̺͓̮̺̄̈̂̈́͊͘b̴̪͈̍l̵̛̩e of B̷̡̨̺̟̫̠̮͈̬̘͖̘̲̦͍̞̳͕̥͐͋̇̀̌̌̔̐̚͠͝͝l̶̡̧̡̨̯̭̱̖̬̲̹̹̥̥͕̙͇̼̦͈̱̟̣͓̖͉̼̥̰̩͋̀̌̚o̶̢̨̢̢̩̰̙̹̹͔̟̠̪͉̗̬̤̹̬̝̘͙̗͍͚̻̜͇̗̜̍̏͂̎̕ͅͅơ̴̧̧̢̰̻̦͎̤̬͖̲̺͍͍̹̦̘͓͍̮̱͇̣̩͕͖͎͍̪͕͒̾̽̈̔̓̂̽͋͋̂̈̽̊̎̈́̏̑̽͛̈́͆̐͒̓͗͒̏̚̕͜͝͝d̶̛͖͚̥̹̥̪̖̻̣̦̳̦͎̲̤͈̈́̎̀͋̅̄̽͋̚, F■̵̨́ͅ■̵̬̠̹͈̈͌̃̈́͠ͅ■̶͙̙̗̳̘̰͕̘̈́̿͆̚̕■̶̜̀̊c̴̭̣͒e of ■ă̷͜t̵͉̓e ]
[ ■■□□□ □□: □□̵□̸□̶ □̶̲͋□̷͙̕□̶̳̉□̶͖͉̀̂□̴̬̑̀ͅ▫̶̪̄▫̷̬̏▫̵̹̰̿▫▫ꜝ ]
[ Error! ]
[ Error! ]
[ Error! ]
[ Ending process… ]
The display blacked out again for a few seconds.
After a familiar beep, the rows of golden writing appeared notably faster than before.
[ Augury complete: ]
[ Abnormally high-value data prospects detected! ]
[ Abnormally high performance compatibility detected! ]
[ Send invitation? Y)es N)o R)ecalculate█ ]
Rather than being dissatisfied with the errors, the entity bounced vigorously as it confirmed its acceptance.
[ Allocating player space… ]
[ Establishing connection… ]
[ Simulation prepared█ ]