Chapter 1
Chapter 1 — The Immortal Couple
The studio lights were hot.
Andrea Votez leaned back in her chair while the interviewer glanced across the stage. Sitting beside her were some of the most recognizable names in chess: Lagnus Carlson, Nikaru Nakamura, GothimChess, and Gukhas.
The conversation had been light until the interviewer asked:
“So, Andrea… who do you consider the greatest chess player ever?”
Andrea tilted her head slightly.
“Well… there’s someone I know who beat Stockfish three times in a row.”
For a moment, the room went silent.
Then several people laughed.
Nikaru leaned forward.
“You mean a bot beat Stockfish?”
Andrea shook her head.
“No. A person.”
Lagnus raised an eyebrow.
“Either you’re joking,” he said calmly, “or there’s a catch.”
Andrea folded her arms.
“No catch.”
The interviewer looked between them.
“Wait—beating Stockfish isn’t possible?”
Nikaru answered first.
“It’s possible. In theory. If Stockfish plays weaker settings or makes a mistake.”
He paused.
“But no human has done it at full strength.”
Andrea smiled slightly.
“Well… let me tell you a story.”
The audience leaned in.
“A friend of mine is a really strong chess player. I’d say she’s about my level. One day she tells me that her boyfriend—or roommate, or whatever he is—beats her every single time they play.”
Gothim chuckled.
“That’s not unusual.”
Andrea ignored him.
“So she asked me to play him.”
She continued.
“We met at a café I own. The bet was simple—if he beats me, they get free food for a week.”
“Fair deal,” Nikaru said.
Andrea nodded.
“When the game started, everything felt normal. He played decent opening moves. Nothing special.”
She paused.
“But then he looked at me and said—”
“You’re going to lose this game.”
Lagnus smirked.
“Confident.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Andrea said. “Then something strange happened.”
“He blundered his queen.”
The room stirred.
“A full queen?” Gothim asked.
“Just hung it. Completely.”
Andrea shook her head slowly.
“He even acted surprised. Like he had made a mistake.”
“So I took it.”
“Obviously,” Nikaru said.
Andrea looked at him.
“Yeah.”
“But then he smiled.”
Lagnus straightened slightly.
“And?”
Andrea exhaled.
“I got checkmated eight moves later.”
Now the room was quiet again.
Lagnus spoke slowly.
“That’s… unlikely.”
Andrea continued.
“After the game, he said something weird.”
‘There isn’t anyone alive who can beat me.’
Gothim laughed.
“Okay, that guy has confidence.”
Andrea shrugged.
“So I told him to play Stockfish.”
“What did he say?” Nikaru asked.
“He didn’t even know what it was.”
Lagnus frowned.
Andrea continued.
“I explained that it was the strongest chess engine in the world.”
“And he said—”
‘I can beat it. I know every possible game.’
Several people on stage laughed.
Andrea didn’t.
“So we tried.”
She looked around the room.
“He beat it.”
Silence.
“Once.”
“Then again.”
“Then again.”
Nikaru crossed his arms.
“And you’re saying he beat Stockfish instantly?”
Andrea nodded.
“He moved the moment Stockfish moved.”
Lagnus leaned back in his chair.
“That’s impossible.”
Andrea turned to him.
“Then play him.”
The audience murmured.
Lagnus smiled slightly.
“Right now?”
Andrea pulled out her phone.
“Right now.”
The call rang.
A woman answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Andrea said. “You’re on speaker in an interview.”
There was a short pause.
“Oh.”
Andrea continued.
“Is your Boyfriend there?”
“You mean my Fiancè Yes, he is.”
“Oh, so you two are engaged now? So I called to know if he can play Lagnus?”
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
A male voice came through the phone.
Calm.
Almost bored.
“I can.”
The interviewer signaled the crew.
A chessboard was brought onto the stage.
The phone was connected to the speakers.
Lagnus leaned forward.
“What should we call you?”
A short pause.
“Yor.”
The interviewer spoke again.
“So, Yor, how long have you been playing chess?”
“Well, I first read the rules two years ago and calculated all the moves. Nobody taught me. I just know all the possible games.”
Everyone looks surprised, though most of them assume he is joking.
Gotham says,
“You do know that, theoretically, it’s impossible to know all the possible games. There are more possible chess games than—”
Yor interrupts calmly.
“than observable atoms in the universe. Yes, you said it yourself—theoretically.”
He pauses for a moment before continuing.
“Also, we haven’t observed the entire universe… or all of the universes.”
Lagnus placed his hand on the board.
“White or black?”
“You can take White.”
Lagnus nodded.
“Fine.”
The game began.
The opening was standard.
A quiet Ruy Lopez structure.
Hikaru relaxed slightly.
Nothing unusual.
Then Yor sacrificed a bishop.
Andrea leaned forward.
“That’s the move.”
Lagnus frowned.
He accepted the piece.
Three moves later—
Yor sacrificed his queen.
The room erupted in whispers.
Lagnus stared at the board.
Before he could speak, Yor said quietly:
“Do you see it?”
No one answered.
“See what?” Andrea asked.
“You will.”
Four more moves passed.
Then Yor spoke again.
Announcing his next 8 moves and ends the call.
Lagnus froze.
Hikaru’s eyes widened.
Gukhas leaned closer to the board.
Then Nikaru whispered:
“Oh.”
Lagnus leaned back slowly in his chair.
The mate was unavoidable.
Eight moves.
The room sat in stunned silence.
Finally, Nikaru spoke.
“Well.”
He laughed softly.
“Yor just beat Lagnus Carlson.”
“And none of us saw it coming.”
After the chess game
On the other side, Yor and his fiancée are sitting on the couch, cuddling.
Kriteka says,
“You just defeated the top chess player in the world, and you still don’t want to be known? Well, now there’s a top chess player that the world doesn’t even know about.”
Yor shrugs.
“No one will believe it. They’ll probably say it was scripted or that I used a bot or something like that.”
She looks at him.
“So you’re not even going to defend yourself? You beat him fair and square.”
“Nope,” Yor replies. “At least not until we’re married.”
“What does our marriage have to do with this?” she asks. “We could get married today, and you could beat him again in person this week.”
Yor thinks for a moment.
“I know you don’t like your parents, but you should at least send them a wedding invitation. Then it’s their choice whether they want to come or not.”
She nods.
“You should organize the wedding, and we’ll send an invitation to mine.”
Yor suddenly become serious.
“And there’s something really important I need to tell you. You’ll be the first person on Earth to know.”
“Go on,” Kriteka says.
“What I’m about to tell you is the truth, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
She raises an eyebrow but listens.
“You know how I’m good at almost everything? How did I just beat the best chess player and even the best chess bot? And how can I not have children?”
“It’s all connected.”
He pauses.
“I’m actually not from Earth.”
She laughs.
“Yeah, you’re an alien.”
Yor lightly tap her on the head.
Suddenly, they are sitting on their bed.
Before she can say anything, he taps her head again.
Now they are both sitting in the bathtub in their bathroom.
Completely shocked, she jumps out immediately and looks at him defensively.
“What the hell was that? What are you?”
Yor looks directly into her eyes.
Suddenly, she is back in the bathtub with him.
This time, she stays there, stunned.
“Listen,” Yor says calmly. “I’ll answer all your questions after I finish telling you the important things about me.”
The bathroom becomes silent and tense.
“I’m not from Earth. In fact, I’m not even from this cosmos—or multimosus. Simply put, for you to understand, I have all kinds of powers you can imagine.”
“And the most important thing is this: there are many races and civilizations in the multimosus, and I am cursed—by God, or by a servant of God, or whatever you want to call that.”
She looks shocked but surprisingly calm as she processes what he’s saying.
“Wait… what is a multimosus?”
“Oh, you humans don’t know much about that yet,” Yor replies. “You know what a universe is. There are a finite number of universes in a single cosmos, and a finite number of cosmos in a multimosus. You can learn about all that later.”
“The important thing is that I’m cursed. And if you officially marry me, you will share that curse.”
“You’ll become immortal, just like me.”
“And you will never be able to have children.”
Before he finishes, she interrupts him.
“You mean to tell me that I get to be with you forever, but we can’t have children?”
She smiles slightly.
“That sounds fantastic. I mean, I always thought I wanted children someday, but I’m not ready yet anyway. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Yor smiles and take her hands.
“Kriteka Sangu, knowing who I truly am and knowing the consequences of marrying me… will you marry me and travel with me across the decks and the multimosus?”
“Yes,” she replies. “I will.”
They kiss and spend the night together.
Next Morning
Kriteka is asleep while Nirvair—Yor’s real name—is making coffee.
When he returns to the bedroom, she is awake, sitting in bed, and thinking about everything that happened the night before.
As soon as she notices him, she asks,
“Oh, I was wondering where you went. You never wake up this early.”
Then she notices the coffee.
“And you made coffee? I usually do that. What’s going on?”
He smiles.
“I thought I should take charge till you get used to this whole immortal life thing.”
She laughs.
“Oh yeah, I have way too many questions. First, tell me—how old are you?”
He hesitates before answering.
“I don’t know exactly how old I am, but I am old. Older than this universe we’re currently in.”
She smirks teasingly.
“So I’m sleeping with a billion-year-old guy?”
He laughs lightly.
“I have someone you should meet. Meet Silas—my assistant and my best friend.”
She looks around the room, confused, trying to find where this Silas person is. Seeing no one, she looks back at him.
“Silas, speak up. Don’t do this to her,” Nirvair says.
A male voice suddenly speaks from her smartphone.
“Hi, Kriteka. How are you doing?”
She immediately moves slightly away from the phone, surprised.
Nirvair sighs.
“Don’t be a jerk, Silas.”
“Alright, sir,” Silas replies.
“He’s kind of like an AI,” Nirvair explains, “but he’s made of light particles. I found him in one of the decks. You can ask Silas almost anything—he knows almost as much as I do.”
“Oh, and he’s gender-neutral, but he prefers he/him.”
Kriteka looks at her phone.
“Silas… so you’re basically my personal assistant now. So tell me—what are decks?”
Silas replies through the speakers.
“I think you should learn about the outer world once you leave Earth.”
Nirvair nods in agreement.
Kriteka responds,
“I’d like to learn about the outer world while I travel the rest of this world with you.”
She looks at Nirvair.
“So, honey, where are we going next? I’ve only been to America and India.”
Nirvair smiles.
She thinks for a moment before answering.
“Let’s go to Italy. Now that I’m immortal, I’d like to meet some mafia guys. I might even kill some.”
Nirvair raises an eyebrow.
Silas comments,
“Sir, you’ve got quite the lady. She’s adapting quickly. And Kriteka, you can do as you please—that’s what everyone at Meck does anyway. But remember, you’re not immortal yet. You have to marry him first.”
Kriteka smiles at the compliment.
“Silas, book our flights and a hotel in Italy. And find a place where we can get married. Choose a good and expensive one—I doubt money is a problem now.”
Nirvair looks slightly surprised.
“I must say, I’m impressed yet again. I might need to release a few stages if we’re going to be killing people.”
Kriteka squints at him.
“What do you mean by releasing stages? Do you mean… pooping?”
Nirvair bursts out laughing.
“No, not pooping. I sealed my powers to make fighting low-level enemies a bit more interesting. I have about three million stages, and I can release them whenever I need.”
“And there’s no need to pack everything. We’ll just buy new stuff in Italy.”
