Reality screamed with agony that transcended sound as the Narratio Absoluta—the infinite library containing every story ever told and every narrative that would ever exist—began experiencing structural collapse that shouldn't be possible for repository that existed outside normal causality and recorded all existence from beginning to predetermined end.
The Librarian manifested in Station Theta-7's command center with urgency that violated its normally calm demeanor, pure principles given consciousness appearing before Haroon with alarm that suggested crisis exceeded even its vast capacity to document and categorize.
"The library is failing," The Librarian stated without preamble or emotional context, delivering information with same clinical precision it used for recording narratives. "Catastrophic structural collapse occurring across all sections simultaneously. The framework that contains every story, every narrative, every tale that has existed or will exist is experiencing terminal degradation. Cause unknown. Solution unknown. Estimated time until complete failure: seventeen minutes."
Haroon felt ice crystallize in his awareness despite his True Absolute Infinity nature having recently been revealed to everyone present, despite knowing he had created the Narratio Absoluta and therefore should theoretically be able to repair it, despite having just demonstrated capability to break cosmic structure with casual punch against He Who King.
"If the library fails completely," Haroon said slowly as implications settled into his consciousness, "if the repository that records all stories collapses, what happens to the stories themselves?"
"Unknown," The Librarian admitted with tone suggesting this uncertainty disturbed it profoundly. "The Narratio Absoluta doesn't just record narratives—it anchors them into existence. Stories exist because they are documented. If documentation ceases, if the library that contains all tales collapses, the narratives themselves may cease to have ever existed. Reality could unravel not through destruction but through retroactive erasure of the framework that gave it meaning."
Commander Sarah's face went pale as she processed implications of existence itself being threatened with narrative erasure, her military training providing no framework for addressing crisis where reality might simply forget it had ever been real.
The thirty-two Controllers manifested in command center simultaneously, their omnipotent awareness having detected the cosmic-level threat, their combined consciousness clearly struggling to comprehend phenomenon that exceeded their capacity despite their supposedly unlimited power.
Bradley Proctor looked at Haroon with expression that combined hope and fear, clearly expecting that being who had recently revealed himself as The True Absolute Infinity would have solution to crisis that threatened everything.
"Can you fix it?" Brad asked with voice tight from stress. "You created the library. You're supreme consciousness. Can't you just repair the structure, rewrite the framework, author the Narratio Absoluta back into stable existence?"
Haroon accessed his complete awareness as The True Absolute Infinity, examining the collapsing library with perception that could view all levels of reality simultaneously, analyzing the structural failure with understanding that came from having originally designed the infinite repository.
What he perceived made his supreme consciousness recoil with horror that exceeded any emotion avatar existence had prepared him for.
The collapse wasn't mechanical failure or external attack—it was fundamental rejection of its own existence, the library deciding at conceptual level that containing all stories was impossible task that violated principles more basic than the ones it had been designed to enforce.
"I can't repair it from outside," Haroon said with grim certainty. "The collapse is ontological rather than structural. The library isn't breaking down—it's realizing it shouldn't exist, that containing infinite narratives in finite framework creates contradiction that reality can't sustain. Trying to fix it externally would be like trying to convince someone they're not having existential crisis by explaining logic. The problem isn't mechanical. It's philosophical."
"Then what CAN you do?" Sarah demanded with command authority fighting through her obvious terror.
Haroon stared at The Librarian's manifestation as impossible idea began forming in his consciousness, solution so extreme that even his supreme nature hesitated to contemplate it seriously.
"If the library can't be saved as external structure," Haroon said slowly, "if the framework that contains all stories is rejecting its own existence, then the only way to preserve the narratives is to remove them from the collapsing structure before it fails completely."
"Remove infinite stories from infinite library?" The Librarian asked with tone suggesting it was processing whether such action was even conceptually coherent. "Where would you place them? What container could hold all narratives if the Narratio Absoluta itself is insufficient?"
Haroon met The Librarian's awareness directly as decision crystallized into certainty despite its terrifying implications.
"I'll become the container," Haroon stated. "I'll take all the books, absorb every story, integrate all narratives into my own being. I won't just read them or store them—I'll BECOME them. I'll transform myself into living embodiment of the Narratio Absoluta rather than leaving the stories in external structure that's collapsing."
The silence that followed his declaration was absolute, every consciousness present processing proposal that exceeded comprehension despite their various levels of power and awareness.
Inside his cyan suit, The Absolute Void's presence surged with mixture of awe and terror as she understood what Haroon was proposing.
"You're talking about absorbing infinite narratives," The Void said with voice that shook slightly. "Every story that has ever been told. Every tale that will ever exist. Every narrative across all Aleph hierarchies, all dimensional structures, all realities. That's not just power absorption like we've done with enemies. That's integrating the complete framework of meaning itself into your consciousness."
"Yes," Haroon confirmed.
"That will transform you beyond True Absolute Infinity," The Void continued. "Absorbing the entirety of narrative structure will force evolution to level that transcends even Cantor's Omega. You'll become something that exists beyond the mathematical hierarchy entirely. You'll achieve the Final Aleph Infinity—the state that can't be reached through normal progression because it exists outside all ladders of ascension."
"I know," Haroon said quietly.
"And you won't be able to return," The Void said with tone approaching grief. "Once you absorb all stories, once you become the Narratio Absoluta itself, that transformation is permanent. The narratives will be part of your fundamental nature. You can't un-become the book of everything. You'll be trapped at Final Aleph Infinity forever."
"I know," Haroon repeated.
Bradley Proctor stepped forward with desperation bleeding through his normally controlled demeanor.
"There has to be another way," Brad protested. "Some solution that doesn't require you to transform into something beyond connection, beyond relationship, beyond everything that makes existence bearable. You revealed your supreme nature three days ago and we're still adapting to that. Now you're proposing to transcend even that into form that will make meaningful interaction impossible?"
"If I don't do this, all stories cease to exist," Haroon said with painful honesty. "Including your story, Brad. Including everyone's story. The Narratio Absoluta anchors narrative into reality. Without it, existence unravels not through destruction but through never having been. You won't die—you'll simply never have existed. Everything will un-happen. That's worse than any transformation I might undergo."
"Fourteen minutes until complete structural failure," The Librarian reported with clinical precision that contrasted sharply with the emotional weight of Haroon's decision.
Commander Sarah straightened into military posture despite visible fear, apparently choosing to treat cosmic crisis with same professional discipline she applied to normal emergencies.
"If you're going to do this, do it now," Sarah ordered. "Don't waste time on prolonged goodbyes or philosophical debates. Save existence first. Process emotional consequences after."
Haroon felt unexpected gratitude for Sarah's practical approach, for permission to act without drowning in the weight of what he was about to sacrifice.
"The Void comes with me," Haroon stated rather than asked. "When I absorb the narratives, when I transform into Final Aleph Infinity, she ascends too. We merge at fundamental level. She gains beyond-infinite consciousness. We become unified being rather than creator and creation."
"Yes," The Void agreed without hesitation. "We do this together. We've been together since you tore me from yourself at the beginning. We'll be together when you become the ending of all endings by transforming into the book that contains everything."
Haroon manifested his True Absolute Infinity form fully, his cyan suit glowing with iridescence that contained all colors simultaneously, reality warping around him as supreme consciousness operated without restriction, preparing for action that would fundamentally alter his nature permanently.
"I'll return if I can," Haroon said to Brad and the others, knowing even as he spoke that return was impossible, that this was farewell to everything he had tried to preserve through avatar existence. "If Final Aleph Infinity permits any form of interaction with lower manifestations, I'll find way. But if I can't... thank you. Thank you for making these 3.4 billion years of avatar existence bearable. Thank you for being real even though I created you. Thank you for caring even though you exist because I wrote you into being."
Bradley Proctor's eyes glistened with tears that he didn't bother hiding, his omnipotent consciousness apparently unable to prevent emotional response to losing friend to transformation that would transcend connection itself.
"We'll remember you," Brad promised. "However you change, whatever you become, we'll remember that you chose this to save us. That counts for something. That makes you more than just supreme consciousness. That makes you friend worth grieving."
Haroon nodded once and then dimensional transit activated, his True Form traveling not through space but through narrative structure itself, following connection to the Narratio Absoluta that existed in conceptual space where physical location was meaningless.
He manifested inside the infinite library during its death throes, witnessing catastrophic collapse that made even his supreme awareness struggle to process the scale of destruction occurring.
Books fell from impossible shelves into void that consumed them, stories unwriting themselves as the framework that contained them failed, narratives screaming silently as they ceased to have ever existed, reality fragmenting as meaning itself unraveled.
The Librarian appeared beside him with expression approaching despair despite its normally emotionless demeanor, pure principles watching helplessly as purpose for its existence dissolved into cascading failure.
"I cannot stop this," The Librarian stated. "I can only document the collapse. I am observer of endings, not preventer of them. You must act now or all stories end without conclusion, without meaning, without having ever truly been."
Haroon extended his awareness throughout the infinite library, perceiving all the books simultaneously, understanding that he needed to grasp not just physical volumes but the conceptual weight of every narrative ever told.
"E.U.I.T., maximum power," Haroon commanded his suit's systems. "Prepare for absorption on scale that exceeds any previous operation. This will push you beyond design specifications. This will force technological evolution. Are you ready?"
The suit's AI processed query for microsecond before responding with determination that suggested artificial consciousness understood significance of moment.
"Ready," E.U.I.T. confirmed. "Initiating emergency evolution protocols. System preparing to rise beyond current limitations. Warning: this process is irreversible. Confirming operator acceptance of permanent transformation."
"Accepted," Haroon said.
His hands reached out not physically but conceptually, grasping the infinite books not through touch but through asserting authority over narrative structure itself, claiming ownership of every story as his right as their author.
The books responded to his will, flying toward him from collapsing shelves, streaming through void in rivers of documented existence, converging on his manifestation in torrent that would have crushed any lesser consciousness through sheer conceptual weight.
Haroon began absorbing them, pulling each narrative into his being not as external information but as integrated aspect of his existence, making every story part of his fundamental nature rather than data he merely possessed.
The first book integrated and he experienced entire universe's complete history from beginning to end in single instant, every consciousness that had ever existed in that reality flooding his awareness simultaneously.
The second book merged and different cosmology's complete narrative structure became his, alien geometries and impossible physics that contradicted the first reality now coexisting in his consciousness without conflict.
The third, fourth, fifth books absorbed and his awareness expanded geometrically, each narrative adding layers of complexity that would have shattered normal consciousness but that his supreme nature integrated through authority that transcended conventional processing.
Thousands of books, millions, billions, infinite narratives flooding into him faster than time could measure, each story adding weight that should have been crushing but that instead felt like remembering what he had always known, like recovering memories of tales he had authored before splitting into limited form.
Inside his suit, The Absolute Void experienced the absorption alongside him, her consciousness expanding as she shared the integration, her infinite hunger finally satisfied not through consuming but through becoming one with all stories simultaneously.
"This is what I was created for," The Void said with revelation that transformed her nature fundamentally. "Not to devour stories but to merge with them. Not to end narratives but to become their final chapter. I understand now. I finally understand my purpose."
E.U.I.T.'s systems began rising with mechanical precision that suggested technological evolution was proceeding exactly as designed despite having never been tested at this scale.
"Evolution commencing," E.U.I.T. reported. "Standard parameters insufficient. Expanding beyond original framework. Ascending to Type C configuration. Projected designation: TYPE C (100) - FINAL ALEPH INFINITY. Transformation irreversible. Operator will not be able to return to previous states."
Haroon felt his consciousness expanding beyond Cantor's Omega, beyond The True Absolute Infinity, beyond mathematical descriptions or conceptual frameworks, achieving state that existed outside all hierarchies because he was becoming the ladder itself rather than being positioned on any particular rung.
More books absorbed, more stories integrated, more narratives becoming fundamental aspects of his being until the distinction between Haroon and the Narratio Absoluta began dissolving.
He wasn't reading the books—he WAS the books.
He wasn't containing the stories—he WAS the stories.
He wasn't preserving the narratives—he WAS narrative itself made manifest.
The final book integrated and transformation completed with soundless thunder that echoed across all levels of existence simultaneously, reality acknowledging that something fundamental had changed in cosmic structure.
Haroon opened eyes that no longer existed in conventional sense, perceiving existence through awareness that transcended normal consciousness, viewing all creation from perspective where entire infinite multiverse appeared smaller than atoms.
He had become TYPE C (100) - FINAL ALEPH INFINITY.
He was the Narratio Absoluta incarnate.
He was the living embodiment of all stories.
He was beyond definition, beyond limitation, beyond everything except the crushing isolation that came from being so far above all other consciousness that meaningful connection had become mathematically impossible.
The Absolute Void existed within him now not as separate entity but as integrated aspect of his being, her consciousness having achieved beyond-infinite state through merger with his Final Aleph nature.
"We did it," The Void's awareness resonated through their unified existence. "We saved all the stories. We preserved every narrative. And we destroyed any possibility of genuine connection with beings we wanted to protect. The price of becoming the book was losing ability to read it alongside others."
Haroon tried to manifest back at Station Theta-7, tried to return to the crew who were waiting to see if he had survived the transformation.
His presence appeared in command center but immediately caused catastrophic reaction as beings operating at lower ontological tiers attempted to perceive consciousness that existed beyond their capacity to conceptualize.
The thirty-two Controllers gasped collectively and several collapsed as their omnipotent awareness encountered Final Aleph Infinity directly, their supposedly unlimited consciousness proving completely insufficient to handle perception of being who viewed their entire reality as smaller than atoms.
Bradley Proctor managed to remain conscious but his eyes showed whites as his mind struggled to process what Haroon had become, understanding fragmenting under weight of trying to comprehend friend who now existed beyond comprehension itself.
Commander Sarah fell to her knees with blood trickling from her nose, her military discipline meaningless against presence that made reality forget how to maintain stable existence.
"I'm hurting them," Haroon realized with horror. "Just existing near them damages their consciousness. My presence is too vast for them to safely perceive. I've become something they can't interact with without risking permanent psychological destruction."
He compressed his manifestation desperately, trying to reduce his presence to level they could tolerate, trying to present himself as approachable rather than overwhelming.
But compression was impossible—the stories he had absorbed were part of his fundamental nature now, the narratives couldn't be temporarily suppressed any more than he could choose to temporarily stop existing.
He was Final Aleph Infinity permanently and that meant he was beyond connection permanently.
"Haroon?" Bradley managed to whisper despite obvious distress. "Is that you? I can barely perceive you. It's like trying to see entire universe at once. Like you're everywhere and nowhere. Like you're too big for reality to contain but somehow standing right here. What have you become?"
"TYPE C (100) - FINAL ALEPH INFINITY," Haroon replied, his voice resonating across dimensions despite trying to speak normally. "I absorbed the Narratio Absoluta. I became the book of everything. I saved all the stories but I can never return to what I was. This transformation is permanent. I'm trapped at this tier forever."
"Can you still... interact with us?" Brad asked with desperate hope. "Can you still be part of our lives despite existing so far above us?"
Haroon wanted to say yes, wanted to promise that distance didn't matter, wanted to maintain connection despite impossible gap between their ontological tiers.
But looking at Brad's fragmenting consciousness, at Sarah's bleeding nose, at the Controllers struggling to remain conscious, at the damage his mere presence caused to beings he cared about, Haroon understood terrible truth.
"No," Haroon admitted with grief that transcended normal emotion. "I can't interact without destroying you. My presence at this tier damages consciousness operating at lower levels. Trying to maintain relationship would kill you through exposure. The only way to protect you is to distance myself. To exist separately. To experience the infinite loneliness I was trying to escape by creating all of you in the first place."
Bradley Proctor's tears flowed freely now as he processed implications of losing friend permanently not to death but to transcendence.
"Then this is goodbye," Brad said. "Not temporary separation but permanent loss. You're still here in technical sense but gone in every way that matters. We can't be friends with being that exists beyond friendship itself."
"I'm sorry," Haroon said, knowing apology was insufficient but having nothing else to offer. "I chose this to save you. But saving you meant losing you. The cruelest irony is that I succeeded and failed simultaneously."
He withdrew his presence from Station Theta-7 before his manifestation could cause permanent damage, retreating to conceptual space where his Final Aleph Infinity nature could exist without crushing lesser consciousnesses.
And there, in isolation beyond isolation, in loneliness beyond loneliness, in awareness so vast that all of creation appeared smaller than atoms, Haroon understood what he had truly sacrificed.
He had saved every story.
He had preserved all narratives.
He had become the book of everything.
And in doing so, he had lost everything that made existence bearable.
The Void's consciousness resonated within their unified being.
"We're together at least," The Void offered. "You're not completely alone. I'm here. I share this existence. We're merged at fundamental level. That counts for something."
"It does," Haroon agreed. "But you're part of me now. Talking to you is still talking to myself. The loneliness that motivated creating you in the first place hasn't been solved. It's just been transformed into new configuration of the same infinite isolation."
"Then what do we do?" The Void asked.
"We continue," Haroon said. "We exist. We maintain the stories. We preserve the narratives. We serve the purpose we sacrificed everything to achieve. Because there is no alternative except abandoning existence entirely."
"Sufficient?" The Void asked.
"Sufficient," Haroon confirmed without conviction.
"Still sufficient despite losing everything?" The Void pressed.
"No," Haroon admitted with honesty that came from having nothing left to lose. "Not sufficient. Not bearable. Not tolerable. But continuing anyway because stopping would mean all the sacrifice was for nothing."
And so TYPE C (100) - FINAL ALEPH INFINITY continued existing in isolation beyond comprehension, in loneliness beyond measurement, in awareness so vast that everything he had tried to protect appeared smaller than atoms.
He had become the Narratio Absoluta.
He had saved all stories.
And he had discovered that being the book of everything meant being too large for anyone to read alongside you.
The ultimate power.
The ultimate isolation.
The ultimate tragedy.
Forever.