Chapter 19: Missing Information

"The afterlife? No, child, but it is your afterlife. Welcome to the Knowledge Dimension. First one's on the house."

- Guinan to Sefer Yetzirah (KD)

Missing Information is the nineteenth chapter of The Mazkertis Paradox. In this chapter:
 * The Instructor breaks the fourth wall to educate the reader on Akasha and the true dimensional hierarchy of the BZPB Multiverse.
 * Quolas reflects on his past and meets Tsunami, the Goddess of Time, who takes him into the Hyperdimension as part of the next stage of the Chousin's plan.
 * In the Knowledge Dimension, Guinan takes measures to resurrect one of the Reborn Universe's finest warriors and turn her into one of the first canon agents.

Plot
In Akasha, an artificial intelligence named the Instructor breaks the fourth wall to inform readers of The Mazkertis Paradox that she has been instructed to educate them on the true nature of Akasha, and the hierarchy of dimensions in the BZPB Multiverse, in order to establish "a contextual reference for events to come". Comparing the multiverse to a glass ball with many layers, with the outermost layer being Akasha, the Instructor explains that Akasha is a dimension that the Users designed as a repository for the creative energies that fuel all things in the multiverse, which is located in a layer of reality above the Knowledge Dimension. In regard to the Knowledge Dimension, the Instructor states that, in response to the increasing number of intrusions, its administrators have created the Canonical Directive: a creed that states that any information that is henceforth stolen from the dimension will be hunted down and extracted from the mind(s) of whoever stole it, and that, if the stolen information had been used to make changes to any other reality or universe, those changes will be reverted by one of the Knowledge Dimension's to-be-appointed "canon agents" through responsible manipulation of time. After mentioning that Guinan has already taken measures to create the first canon agent, the Instructor closes the fourth wall again.

On Day 76 in the Forest of Lights, Quolas revisits the memory of his first encounter with Eclipse during his meditations in the hope that he find will answers about how to stop Mazkertis and save the Living Stars from their self-destructive path. Eons ago, on the planet Aedis, Quolas had been one of millions of Aedisian soldiers who gathered on Mount Lei'himelin in an attempt to form a union that would be powerful enough to oppose the arrival of Eclipse, who the Aedisians had seen travelling across the cosmos to feast on the other stars in the Aedana Star Cluster. However, Eclipse had effortlessly defeated the Aedisians by emitting a telekinetic wave that launched the soldiers into the air, followed by another wave that slowed the passage of time down to a crawl while he consumed the weak and turned the others, such as Quolas, into Kra'lythe. The trauma of this memory causes Quolas to awake prematurely, having gained nothing of use by re-experiencing it. Quolas then notices a small red Ember in the Forest of Lights that he does not recall seeing before. He attempts to communicate with it in the hope that it is the Ember of a Living Star that has returned home, but it refuses to speak to him because it is "not the right time" and flies away. Just as Quolas is about to succumb to despair, Tsunami appears and asks him to accompany her.

Quolas and Tsunami reappear in the Hyperdimension, a dimension that Quolas is unable to comprehend the appearance of due to its non-standard physics. The two discuss the Living Stars' fall from grace, the extent to which the Chousin can influence events, the emergence of the Counter-Actor, and Quolas's role in events to come. In these conversations, Tsunami reveals the existence of the Users to Quolas, though she does not elaborate on what they are beyond "another power superior to us". Tsunami also informs Quolas that the Preservers of the Knowledge Dimension have created the Canonical Directive in response to the increasing number of raids, such as the one committed by Genetoes two years prior that led to the downfall of the Living Stars. Eventually, Tsunami explains that the Chousin have chosen Quolas to carry out their will in the face of the obstacles and threats that have recently appeared to prevent them from carrying out their duties, such as the Counter-Actor and Canonical Directive. For the next stage in their plan, Tsunami reveals that, before the Chousin were barred from the Knowledge Dimension, she managed to recover some information about the future that she recorded onto some memory tablets. When Quolas enquires as to what kind of information is on the tablets, Tsunami replies that they contain his destiny.

Meanwhile, a new version of Sefer Yetzirah awakens at a bar in the Knowledge Dimension, remembering little about her previous life except for the fact that she died. She is greeted by Guinan, who welcomes her to the Knowledge Dimension and offers her a drink of Agresian ale. The mention of Agresian ale, which was her favorite alcoholic beverage in her previous life, causes more memories to flow into her mind, from her early childhood up to her death at the hands of her own daughter. The overwhelming surge of memories temporarily incapacitates her, but with the help of Guinan shepherding her through the process, Sefer survives and emerges from the chaos as a reborn woman with old memories but a new body, with new psychometric powers that enable her to see the entire history of anything she looks at. Guinan tells Sefer that she has a new purpose and hands her a book entitled "The Canonical Directive - Volume One", but when Sefer opens its cover, Guinan slams it shut, saying that her first lesson will be a practical.

Back in the Original Universe, Kakamu continues to laugh in bewilderment aboard Anzu's spaceship at the sight of Santa Claus, FAAAK-Cupcake, GregF, and Mike & Dave aboard Santa's sleigh as it flies across the universe.

Characters

 * Eclipse
 * FAAAK-Cupcake
 * GregF
 * Guinan
 * Kakamu
 * Mike & Dave
 * Quolas
 * Santa Claus
 * Sefer Yetzirah (KD)
 * The Instructor
 * Tsunami

Trivia

 * Although the vast majority of this chapter was written by Kon, it incorporates about 250 words that were written by JS (everything from "Sefer awoke from a sleep she hadn't closed her eyes for" to "I can already tell this is gonna be a long day" was written by him). JS wrote those passages as part of the original plan for BZPB's 10th anniversary special story (which ended up being replaced by a shorter story, Ten Years Gone, when the scope of the original plan grew too large and the writers ran out of time and motivation to finish it). JS also came up with most of the ideas regarding Guinan's role as a mentor in the Knowledge Dimension, RBU Sefer's rebirth as a canon agent, and the creation of the Canonical Directive. Kon didn't want to see such cool concepts go to waste, so he incorporated them into this chapter.
 * The title for this chapter was inspired by The Matrix comic Bits and Pieces of Information, due to the fact that both stories explore the backstories of their universes' settings. In the end, Kon named the chapter Missing Information after the Half-Life 2 mod of the same name, which recreates part of that game's original storyline.