The Ocean

**The Ocean** is a large, abstract and mysterious cosmological phenomenon (possibly a location) encountered by some cosmological explorers under exceptional circumstances. It is believed to be a realm only encountered when entities from lower level -verses become 'lost' while exploring realms beyond their comprehension. Local legends in a select few cultures across the Transcendentem Continuum suggest that after taking a few too many wrong turns, lost explorers will eventually find themselves in the Ocean, from which a route back becomes clear.

This is likely at least partially inaccurate, as there is no known 'route' one can take to access the Ocean. Attempting to follow the paths of those who have discovered it yields no results, suggesting the Ocean is not a well-defined 'location' and the ability to access it likely changes over metatime. (Either that, or the requirements for entering it are unknown.)

Descriptions of the Ocean from those who encounter it vary wildly, from a peaceful and empty plane to a hellish mental prison to, in some strange cases, a library.

## **Nature**

It is difficult to obtain any information about the Ocean for a variety of reasons. Not only are accounts of it extremely rare, but every individual account greatly differs when it comes to describing the nature of the Ocean.

### **The 'Blue Ocean'**

Some accounts describe the Ocean as a vast yet harmless plane containing remarkably little information compared to even the most sparse voids they had encountered before. According to these sources, the Ocean is "perfectly safe, if a little boring". Analysis of what little information is present in the Ocean suggests it belongs to a -verse, or group of -verses, wholly unlike anything within not just their Omniverse, but the entire Transcendentem Continuum.

### **The 'Purple Ocean'**

Other accounts describe the Ocean completely differently; claiming they encountered an endless expanse of nightmarish logical matter so powerful and destructive it completely erased all probes and technology they attempted to use to discern its nature. Every single survivor who claims to have witness this version of the Ocean did not enter it, and those who don't know what survivorship bias is suggest that all entities from all -verses must have some common instinct preventing them from stepping near this "nightmare liquid". Viewers of this report are free to come to their own conclusions about what mysterious cosmic phenomenon might cause this.

Despite the complete lack of empirical data of any form due to the aforementioned destroyed drones, cosmologists have nonetheless attempted to explain the properties of this "nightmare liquid" with a variety of accuracy depending on who you ask. The most commonly agreed explanation is that the 'Purple Ocean' is composed of a Logical Plasma capable of fundamentally altering those who interact with it on a physical, mental, metaphysicial and spiritual level. This Logical Plasma was originally named 'Pain Juice', however journalists reporting on the theories believed the name was "not scientific enough", so for better publicity it was renamed to 'Xitruzizitium'.

One would assume with such limited information that scientists, cosmologists and theorists of all kind would acknowledge they do not have any solid basis for concrete theories and should wait until more information is available to make a definite judgement.

On a completely unrelated note, the Ocean is one of the most speculated, debated and contested issues in the entirety of extra-universal Cosmology.

## **Suspected Origins**

### **Alienation**

The core property of the Ocean which sparked the initial intrigue is that, regardless of any other differences in claims, every single occurrence of the Ocean cannot be defined in relation the -verses around it, and its contents are nothing like any other Cosmological phenomenon known. This has led many to suspect the Ocean exists far beyond the Transcendentem Continuum, possibly even beyond the second Lodeverse, and those who encounter it are "peering into the vast unknown". This theory is contested on the basis that literally every time you exit an Archverse you're "peering into the vast unknown", and thus it offers absolutely no explanation of why the Ocean is unique compared to, for example, Beyond.

### **Blue Ocean VS Purple Ocean**

Perhaps the most interesting property of the Ocean, and the most heavily debated, is how completely contradictory the different descriptions of its nature are. The majority of theories about its nature have been dedicated to explaining the discrepancy between the 'Blue Ocean' and the 'Purple Ocean'.

One theory suggests that the 'Blue Ocean' was the natural state of the Ocean, and over time some entity or group began 'corrupting' the Ocean for their own ends, damaging its natural form and turning it into the 'Purple Ocean'. It was theorised that its informationally sparse state was not beneficial for their goals, so whoever they were flooded the Ocean with information, overloading it and producing an exceedingly destructive Logical Plasma.

Critics of this theory point out that it illogically assumes the Ocean is bound by linear time or some model equivalent, which would be exceedingly unlikely. The theory is also considered extremely unrealistic for assuming any entity or group would ever be so senselessly evil as to completely exploit and destroy such an impressive natural resource just for their own personal short-term gain, even though in the end it will likely harm them as much as those they've killed in the process as they are inevitably destroyed by the Xitruzizitium. It's a good thing this hypothesis is completely false and no group would ever be that pointlessly destructive.

Another theory suggests the Blue Ocean and Purple Ocean are not in fact the same Cosmological phenomenon, but instead two alternate versions of the Ocean. It is theorised that just as entering a universe from within a Multiversal void allows different parallel possibilities depending on which one you enter, perhaps the reverse can occur, and *where* you exit a Lodeverse from can allow for different parallel possibilities for what lies beyond it? This is viewed by most scientists as extremely unlikely and unsubstantiated, but has been adopted the most widely by fiction writers as it is seen as the most interesting explanation.

The third and final popular theory suggests that the 'Blue Ocean' and 'Purple Ocean' are not only the same Cosmological phenomenon but are both in the exact same state. It is suspected by some that the Ocean appears differently to different people, and its nature is entirely dependent on the perspective of those who witness it. Supposedly, those who fear the unknown encounter the dangerous Purple Ocean and those who embrace exploration and curiosity encounter the benign Blue Ocean. This is... questionable, to say the least, given that people have actually entered the Blue Ocean but nobody has ever survived entering the Purple Ocean. Not only that, but non-sentient technology is also completely consumed by the Xitruzizitium. It seems very apparent that the Purple Ocean's destruction is not a matter of perspective, and it is an absolute fact that nobody can or will survive interacting with it.

Ultimately, with how little information is available, it's impossible to prove or disprove virtually any theory made about the Ocean. Some have even been indulging the utterly ridiculous and nonsensical possibility that the Blue Ocean and Purple Ocean are two completely different phenomena that people have misinterpreted as being connected. Absurd, but technically not impossible. Until more information is available, it seems the Ocean's nature will remain a mystery.

Hopefully once Expedition FI3 returns, there will be a more solid of a basis to prove or disprove certain hypotheses.