Note: Originall designed for Blackest Night's Template Contest, Methuselah relates to the themes of Antiquity, Birth, and Death.

Name

Methuselah, the Ancient

Former Title

Project Genesis

Age

Methuselah has been in existence far beyond what any living being can comprehend. Even the most advanced calculating machine has difficulties crunching the numbers that mark its time since its creation.

Gender

Methuselah has no gender due to its nature, but is often referred to as MALE in ancient archives.

Species/Class/Race

Weapon

Appearance

When one first sees Methuselah, or Project Genesis as it is known by in ancient archives, it seems like the tiniest pinprick of light, a small particle of the strangest blue light one has ever seen. At such a petit size, the viewer must wonder how the blue dot the size of a period can have such a deadly and legendry reputation as a weapon. That is however, until they realize that it is 100 million miles away…

Project Genesis, which would later claim the name of Methuselah, is 1,500,000 kilometers long in diameter, and in every single kilometer bears an identical black hue, slightly blued at the edges so that it when it is viewed from those 100 million miles away, it appears like a small blue dot on the endless expanse of space. Gargantuan is a word that has been used to describe it. Colossal is another. Monstrous is another term. Slightly larger of the Earth’s own Sun, appears up close as a fearsome behemoth of a sphere, a dark black sphere of such massive proportions, dwarfs even the largest of mortal creations a thousand times over. From far away, it seems as if the sphere is totally seamless, unmarked by any sort of edges or engravings. However, upon inspection, a viewer can see the long endless lines that seem to swirl their way across the gigantic sphere like a hurricane of mysterious glyphs and markings. Like a massive spiderweb of even darker lines stretching across this massive star-like sphere, the apparently random assortment of lines (some of them extending to be as deep as five miles) has no decipherable meaning. However, the mysterious orb known as Project Genesis holds no memory of their meanings either…

However, does Methuselah always remain as simply an immense monster of a sphere? This is not the case, unfortunately for those standing nearby. As one stands beside it in the vast and endless bounds of space, a strange sound may reach your ears. A strange whirring, like the spinning of millions and millions of miniature gears spreads through the air like a flood of subtlety silent noise. Although it appears to make this sound, perhaps this is only an illusion for as soon as one tries to concentrate on this white noise it vanishes into thin air, as if it only occurred in the small figments of one’s imagination. But is the transformation lurking within the tremendous sphere is not an illusion of the mind, but a phenomenon of reality. And when the strange lines around the voluminous orb glow with a strange, ethereal blue light, one can somehow sense what is intending to emerge from within the mountainous round machine.

But what does emerge? Is the shape that often emerges from this tremendous ebony sphere consistent? The archives do mention that what comes from within is not consistently the same. However, the most common form that emerges from within the inky blue blackness of the sphere is that of a great mechanical beast, draconic in nature. The archives and legends of the early days of existence describe a creature of epic magnitudes, emerging from the depths of the sphere, appearing about to be a third the size the sphere itself. The sphere breaks into two halves at this point, the two halves revealed to be hollow, wing-like structures which extend from the dark blackish blue curve of the back of the beast itself. Segmented plates line the back of the beast in this form, arching like a mountain high in the bounds of space. Four monstrous limbs extend from the behemoth, each one tipped with three dark blue claws, each one immeasurable in size, dwarfing that of any sort of normal talon. A long scaled tail stretches its way from the mechanical beast, extending practically the diameter of the entire sphere, and lashes with a wrath unmatched by any. But it is the head of the great beast that draws the attention and magnificence. A beautiful inky black frill surrounds the massive neck of the beast, obviously mechanical in nature as the sharp edges mask the elongated and geometric snout of the beast. Spines rise up this snout, and two long, tube-like whiskers extend from the maw of the behemoth, and teeth of gargantuan size rise up into existence. The beast is obviously mechanical in nature, bearing the characteristic geometric style of existence that marks many robotic figures.

This being is not the only one that has come from the depths of the sphere, but it is one of the most common…

Personality

When Methuselah was first created, it was a machine, and despite being a fiercely complex machine, it bore no personality, nor any aspects of a soul, relying solely on what it derived its purpose to be and pure logic in order to accomplish its goal. However, after decades, centuries, millennia, and spans of time too numerous to mention, the Project Genesis which would eventually take the name of Methuselah, took on a personality as well… Strings of code in the machines came together, grouped together to form new thoughts, and path beyond what logic allowed it emerged… Fused with the powerful calculating equivalent of a mind it had been given, Project Genesis eventually was able to evolve enough to gain what one might call a personality… Drawn from the millions of sights and places it has observed and seen, Project Genesis, aka Methuselah grew to be wiser, using a combination of pure logic and its newfound consciousness to reach a point of understanding. Methuselah now displays various emotions, mostly including a kind of sagely sadness, a grandfatherly way of looking at the many smaller things around it. Methuselah sees everything as being so much different from itself… and as such, knows that it cannot possibly comprehend what others that bear true lives can understand… It can only wander now, looking over those who are so much smaller then itself… yet have so much more…

Abilities/Powers

Project Genesis was created for many purposes, but it existed primarily as a weapon. Methuselah’s abilities revolve around its purpose… The one it was created for many, many eons ago… It has complete mastery over every function it bears, and it is with these abilities that it made a definite impression in the ancient archives which tell of its existence.

Living Dust- From within the eternal depths of Methuselah, the massive area within the confines of the colossal black sphere, lies over a million miles of a strange metallic substance, partially entwined within the outer shell of Methuselah. This metallic substance can be rearranged in any sort of order Methuselah sees fit, allowing for the birth of creatures, matter, items, or weapons, of any sort, the most common of which, is the monstrous draconic being that is described as being its main form. This metallic substance is solid, yet it is completely impervious to magnetic fields, or any other sort of external control. It moves as a liquid, collecting in small spheres before conforming to Methuselah’s will and changing its shape, taking the form of whatever the Project Genesis deems necessary. This metallic substance, described by Methuselah itself as being a sort of “Living Dust” also makes up the outer sphere which it resides within, although this metallic substance is far more dense then the free flowing liquid that runs within it…

Matter Conversion- The Living Dust that flows eternally within the depths of Methuselah is finite though… It is what acts as the body and weaponry for great sphere, and so the great being must continually gather more of it throughout the universe… As Methuselah travels through space, it often opens up its outer shell, the sphere in which the Living Dust resides, and proceeds to “swallow” matter, most often large celestial bodies, such as planets, small stars, and moons… Once the gigantic orb has swallowed its ‘meal,’ it proceeds to activate another one of its abilities, which effectively turns the matter into a large quantity of Living Dust, which it then uses as its primary source of artillery.

Energy Within- While Living Dust serves as the material constructing Methuselah, as well as his many forms and weapons, it does not serve as its fuel. In order to power itself, Methuselah relies on a powerful energy core which burns within its very center. This core is composed of the purest of energies, bound together in a swirling sphere-shaped vortex, which powers the entire machine. This energy is lasts an incredibly long time, capable of supplying Methuselah for millennia if need be. However, after such a time, the energy begins to lose potency and in order to “jump start” its energy core, Methuselah must consume a vast quantity of fusion energy, usually in the form of a small star or two. Although the energy usually remains at the center of the great sphere, Methuselah can manipulate the energy so that it spikes outward, capable of being used as a weapon of the time grants it.

Technology- The Living Dust of Methuselah comes together, and forms a unique brand of technology, totally and utterly surpassing any other form in existence. It allows Methuselah to accomplish what might be considered impossible. Because the Living Dust can be rearranged to form nearly any sort of matter compound or structure, Methuselah can assemble complex circuitry and computer systems within itself in order accomplish feats it was unable to perform before. Feats include crossing over dimensions, although this requires much energy.

History

The Ancient Archives of this Universe tell of its existence as far back as the creation of this Universe… No one alive knows how, or by whom it was created, but the some believe the ancient legends hidden within the forbidden sections of these Archives to tell the true story. Some legends, when deciphered from their ancient texts, depict a fiery image of hell and brimstone, saying that a world corrupted sold their souls to the devil in exchange for the knowledge to create the ultimate weapon. Some legends speak of people of a planet, who were so hungry for power that they transformed their entire planet into a monstrous weapon. Some of the more non-descript legends claim that it simply manifested into existence, the next step in evolution from a star and a planet. Whatever the case may be, all legends state the same thing. Whoever created the thing they referred as “Project Genesis,” they lost control of it. The great black-blue sphere hurtled throughout space, consuming entire planets, stars, and other civilizations at its leisure. Like a gargantuan comet flying across the expanses of space, time, and soon crossing the dimensional boundaries of this universe, Project Genesis raced on, fueled only by logic, and powered purely by an endless hunger…

However, this is where the Ancient Archives leave off… There is no record of when Project Genesis happened to take on the name of Methuselah, although it seems appropriate regarding the age of the great Weapon. Methuselah, as it now prefers to call itself, seemed to have developed a personality, from the bits of random coding that had made up its intelligence… This personality grew, and Methuselah, once simply causing a path of destruction and emptiness throughout the Universe, slowed down, and looked around… Such small things… So easily consumed… Yet they seemed to have so much more… So much more… Methuselah then journeyed onward, or so those that have survived his wrath have said… A great black sphere hovering through the Omniverse, seemingly without purpose, seemingly without emotion… But if the whirring of Living Dust you here through the sphere, then away you should run, lest you find out what lurks beneath the surface of the almighty sphere…