From a distant and unknown part of a certain universe exists an asteroid. Except it's not just any asteroid, but a giant carbon copy of the Mandelbulb set, carved by (even larger) mechanical robots down to an incredibly fine level (apx. 1 trillion voxels cubed).
Unfortunately, upon this asteroid resides a lonely soul, cruelly banished to the place for 800,000 years over some ridiculously minor misendeavour. However, she has made the most of her stay, building some kind of home (a giant tree house would probably be a better description), and has even managed to generate electricity from raw materials found in the crust of the Mandelbulb, along with her knowledge of science.
At 'Christmas', it looks like this from the outside:
In this world, a dark 'night' like this only appears thrice every 600 'days', and along with it comes a hope of salvation. All other times provide at least moderate daylight by our Earth standards.
Zooming out, we see this below. A thousand potential homes - much alike, but all empty; a sorrowful scene indeed, and not unlike the Earth's place in our own universe. Indeed, our lonely inhabitant occupies around only eighty billionths of the entire space (volume) of the Mandelbulb asteroid, so it must seem like the universe to her (
click here to enlarge):
But in the daytime, things look a little more optimistic. Below, every part of the Mandelbulb is covered in a blanket of snow, due to the decrease in temperature compared to night (where the snow melts entirely).
Exploration of the Mandelbulb is of interest to our lone wanderer, not least because a certain unknown location holds a secret portal out of this somewhat pitiful existence. It has been said to appear as a faintly glowing pyramid shaped object, perhaps up to two metres in height and two metres across. Why was it even put there?! Is it supposed to be some kind of twisted game by her captors? Or is it maybe to prevent the 'punished' from losing all hope, and going insane? Who knows, but one thing is for sure - finding it is daunting, not only due to the sheer size of the Mandelbulb, but also because of the difficulty in navigation by foot. Whether it's getting trapped by falling into a ravine, slipping off a cliff face, avoiding deadly Mandel Nightshade, or overcoming upside-down surfaces, there can't be a more foreboding terrain.
But therein lies the hope. Maybe this Christmas night, she'll see the glow of the pyramid. Maybe this one. Alternatively, there's only another 799,923 years left to wait.....
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Hope you all like the pics, and a happy new year to all