The Root.
The place where the world was born, and the foundation on which it existed.
Outwardly, it appeared as a colorless, vortex-like object. No one knew its true nature, nor could they ever know it. It would forever remain [unknown].
The Root gave birth to the world and upheld it. Within the world, things were born, like products coming off a printing press.
That thing was called Earth.
There were many worlds beyond this one, and each of them had an Earth.
This Earth gave birth to the desire to continue existing. The embodiment of that desire gained its own consciousness, representing Earth's will to carry on. It was called the Gaia Consciousness.
Earth gave birth to intelligent primates. Over the long struggle to survive, humanity's collective will also gave birth to a desire of its own—the most sinful, vast, and fundamental desire of all: to survive and endure. The embodiment of this desire, too, gained a will of its own. It was called the Alaya Consciousness.
The Gaia Consciousness, which represented Earth's continuation, and the Alaya Consciousness, which represented the continuation of the primates, acted to eliminate threats whenever the things they embodied—Earth and the primates—were endangered. This action was known as [Suppression], so they were also called the [Counter Force].
At some unknown time and place, the two opposing Counter Forces both sensed a threat to their existence.
For some reason, the world itself was growing weaker, and even after the two Counter Forces tried many methods, they could not stop it.
The consequences of this continued weakening were obvious.
In her desperation, the helpless Gaia Consciousness noticed something amiss.
The Root, the foundation of the world's existence, had a problem.
A strand was missing from the Root, which the two Counter Forces had never investigated.
"Strand" was just a figure of speech, but the Root, which should have been impossible to damage, was indeed missing a tiny piece.
In theory, the loss of part of the Root could never have escaped the notice of the two Counter Forces, who constantly watched over the entire world. So the two beings, who had always been at odds, reached a rare agreement.
Restore the Root and preserve the existence of Earth and the primates.
Since the Root had not been lost while they were watching, it was reasonable to conclude that the strand had vanished before they were born—when the world first came into being.
So the Gaia Consciousness temporarily entrusted Earth to the Alaya Consciousness. She trusted her completely, since the primates' existence depended on Earth. Though she was certain the Alaya Consciousness would meddle while she was away, the Gaia Consciousness had to search for the missing strand of the Root—the very foundation of their continued existence. She had to venture beyond the world, to other worlds she could not control, and look for what had been lost.
Somewhere in some world.
A boy's figure hung in the void, his eyes closed. Like flotsam, he drifted slowly through the emptiness.
He seemed to have no consciousness, merely an empty shell, like a message-less bottle adrift in the void, with no idea where it was headed.
Though it was obvious where he had come from.
"I-I found it."
A voice reached him.
A hand grasped the boy by the wrist.
It belonged to a little girl.
She floated in the void as well, frowning as she looked at the boy.
"What... is going on?"
"But this aura does seem to be that of the lost Thread of the Root. Did he end up like this because he absorbed an aura he shouldn't have?" Gaia murmured.
"Anyway... let's take you back first."
With a flicker, the two vanished from the void.
Nothing remained behind, as though nothing had ever been there.
The world where the Counter Force resided.
An unknown space.
"Gaia, you're back." Alaya formed a body and looked expressionlessly at the little girl before her.
The Counter Forces were the desire to endure and had no physical bodies, but they could easily form them.
The little girl Alaya addressed was the same one who had appeared in the void and taken the boy away.
Gaia said nothing, merely nodding.
She raised a hand, and the unconscious, naked boy appeared before the two Counter Forces.
"I've found it. This human is the missing strand of the Root," Gaia said.
"Why would the lost Root become human? I can't understand." The human figure Alaya had formed was also a little girl.
"But ever since he appeared inside the world, the weakening has slowed," Gaia said. "The most likely explanation is that other factors in the void contaminated the Thread of the Root, causing it to take on a human form."
"In other words, perhaps the frequent connections between worlds created a massive 'transmigration phenomenon,' scattering large amounts of primate factors through the void. The Thread of the Root was tainted by these factors, resulting in this outcome."
Alaya's human form nodded. "For the sake of our existence, let's take him to the Root and restore what's missing."
At the place where the Root resided.
Gaia frowned. She could clearly sense that the Thread of the Root—the boy—and the Root's outer form were connected in some way. Yet the Root, which should have drawn its missing part back in as soon as it came near, did not accept the boy.
"I can't understand why the Root is rejecting the Thread of the Root," Gaia said.
The boy was now radiating dazzling light as he hovered above the Root's outer form. It was as if a force were drawing him into the Root, yet some barrier seemed to be firmly keeping him out. The glowing boy was unable to move in the void.
"It might be a mark from another world." Alaya took the boy away from above the Root. "The Thread of the Root can't return to the Root right now."
"But this will only delay the destruction of you and me—Earth and the primates. It won't prevent its inevitability," Gaia continued.
"Perhaps there's a way." Alaya seemed more quick-witted than Gaia. "The Thread of the Root was marked by another world because it was contaminated by outside forces. If we contaminate it once more with our own world, could we erase that mark and let him return to this world?"
Gaia did not respond at once, as if she were thinking.
"There are no other solutions for now. We can try," Gaia said with a nod. "What's the specific plan?"
"Leave it to me." Alaya radiated delight. "But first, let's give him a simple infusion of consciousness."
"No objection."
Alaya somehow took hold of something resembling matter and stuffed it into the boy's body.
She gently touched the boy, now infused with consciousness. Slowly, he opened eyes that had never before opened.
He didn't understand the situation, nor did he know the meaning of his existence.
"Where... is this?" he said calmly, murmuring in a language he didn't know how he had learned. "Who are you?"
"I am Earth's Counter Force," Gaia said expressionlessly.
"I am the primates' Counter Force." Alaya glanced at the boy.
"This is the Root, the origin and foundation of the world," the two said together.