Chapter 24: Galactic

In the throes of ecstasy, Belle’s body had burst forth from an arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Billions of stars broke against her body, their extinguished remnants brought inside by her ever helpful minibots which now numbered in the countless quintillions.

She wasted little time. Alight with joy, she quickly conquered the Milky Way Galaxy by devouring it one handful at a time. Scores of star stuff filled her palms, looked at for not even a second before it found its way down her throat.

From finally digesting those captured stars of hers, she had advanced more in a few seconds than she had ever done since exiting the Voxhaben Complex years ago. Whatever she swallowed was immediately processed with optimal efficiency, and her growth was near instantaneous.

Her brass form waded through the galaxy, reaching the black-hole at its core, she claimed with a lap of her tongue. After that, she was large enough to just suck the rest of the galaxy into her being.

The most advanced species across the universe realized they had no chance. They reached out to her with faster-than-light radio-like communications, easily picked up given Belle’s mastery of of technology and physics itself.

They surrendered, unprompted and en masse. They offered her all their services. They could build her towering temples of bronze, bigger than star systems. They’d give her everything they had in exchange for the continued existence of their advanced empires.

Belle thought that sounded nice, but it was not worthwhile. She knew she had reached near the peak she could be while still allowing external matter to exist. She was so close to true omnipotence, and would not be tempted now.

She reached out to those who had contacted her via her mind. Her telepathy quickly found them, wiggled into their brains.

“I appreciate the deference, supplicants, and I do accept the surrender portion of your offer. As subjects of my new, universal domain, please lay down and await your consumption without resistance. Thank you, and thank you for contacting me: that transmission makes you all easier to find~”

She listened to their mental dismays on her way over to the Andromeda galaxy, which took here but a few seconds with her space-warping body. At that point, it was laid before her as little more than a plate. Belle reached out to its arms and just tore them off via the force of the motion as well as by manipulating forces of gravity. She slurped down the arms of stars like thick, luminescent noodles.

Andromeda was finished off within a minute, with many of those advanced empires who had contacted her gone with it. She digested them, became aware of all their knowledge, and found it quite lacking.

With galaxies rapidly digesting within, Belle expanded and evolved at a rate incomprehensible to even the most intelligent and advanced aliens and artificial intelligence. She bumped into them in her growth, and anything which made contact with her was taken in via dynamically opening ‘pores’ across her brass exterior.

All was processed. There was no more sorting. Matter, energy: it was but her food. As she steadily grew out to the edges of the universe, she began to digest everyone within her. Her minibots swarmed, carrying them to her stomach which now steamed entire galaxies whole.

“Do not worry.”, she said directly into her minds. “Your consciousnesses are trivial things. I can remake without issue, and rewind them as easily as a watch if I see fit.”

Her laughter wracked their brains.

“Forgive me, but I’m just so happy I couldn’t help but laugh. Why, your consciousnesses can be saved even if you foolishly try to self-destruct ahead of time. My probability engines will see to that.”

With her stomach full of star stuff, she willed auxiliary digestive mechanizations into place and started bringing sapients, planets, and other matter to there.

“But that probably won’t be necessary. Soon, the universe will be mine. Time itself will be at my command. I’ll be able to bring your consciousnesses back from any state I deem fit. Even those who died before my time will not be able to evade my new domain. They, too, will have a place. So rejoice.”

Belle felt her bare brass feet nudge against the bounds of the universe.

“When the time comes that you return, that all return, it will be in a better universe of my design, will, and complete control~”