Eldritch Dyson Seal

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Imagine a monstrous, incomprehensible beast made of dark clouds and plasma. The size of an entire moon, out in space, floating from planet to planet, system to system, devouring gasses and minerals and — oooh, the planets with life! That’s where the real flavor is, the ultimate galactic delicacy. Slow-moving, yet never dying, this beast is a danger to life anywhere and everywhere, wiping out every complicated molecule it senses and only getting hungrier for more.

Perhaps this eldritch abomination has been a part of reality since the very beginning. Perhaps a mischievous Old God created it out of spite. Perhaps it was created as a weapon, but proved to be beyond control, wiping out both warring parties and continuing on its mission forever, wiping out more lives than the creators even knew existed.

Whatever the cause, after quintillions of deaths, it finally catches the attention of a power even greater than itself. A species so far beyond us, so technologically advanced they may as well be magic, so attuned that there’s no functional difference in calling them gods or not. These aliens cannot tolerate such a virus in the universe. However, morally above destroying even this dark spot, they pick a third option: encasing it in an unbreakable dyson sphere.

Unmoving, encased, entombed. Forever imprisoned by a force field it can never understand and never seep through. A sight for anyone to see who may stumble upon it, and a reminder that there are much greater beings both good and evil beyond the stars.

In my mind, the dark, swirling colors are this evil beast, a nonsensical mix of eyes and sensors and dark desire. The pixelated bits are the force field; it’s left partially transparent, but perhaps the pixels show where the beast is butting against it. Both sets of shapes are constantly in motion.

Of course, you may have a completely different idea of what this looks like. Eldritch Dyson Seal was one of my earliest full abstract works and is still one of my all-time favorites. Here’s a close-up view in full resolution:

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Thanks.