There had already been a meeting with Kay’s closest set of advisers, Eleniah, of course, Meten, Ahthia, and Isla. While the rest of his council of advisers and his Ministers were important parts of the decision making process and he definitely heeded their expertise and advice, but when he needed to make immediate decisions he talked to his teacher, the leader of his Sentinels, and the two people that handled getting information for him. The fact that two of those people were the two tier fives in Avalon that he knew about besides himself, one of the people he suspected was a tier five and just wasn’t telling him, and the person in Avalon who had the most historical knowledge memorized, he felt pretty good about just talking to them.
But he did need to keep the rest of his council in the loop and get their feedback on the more widespread decisions they had to make based on the information the System had brought him, so he’d scheduled a meeting with all of them. The architect and builders working on the palace thought that the council meeting room wasn’t done yet, but that was focusing on decorations and less important things. The room itself was functional, as was the large circular table they’d selected for the meeting room without any input from Kay. He chuckled at it every now and again.
“What’s this about?” Isla’s illusion asked once everyone had seated themselves. “I didn’t get a schedule for this meeting.”
Kay kept his eyes from rolling. His spymaster was all about the flow of information, whether it was giving it or taking it, but her antics at making sure things went the way she thought they should sometimes got on his nerves. “A couple days ago after I got back and things started to calm down, the System contacted me.”
The already quiet room went dead silent. They all knew about the conversation Kay had had with the System during and after the fight with the Eldritch Hunger back in the early days of Avalon, and the implied seriousness that came with such a claim had everyone paying attention.
“Apparently it was only a portion of the System, at least as far as I can understand, but it-“
“What do you mean ‘a portion of the System’?” David, the Minister of Construction, interrupted, “What does that mean?”
“Well the way it explained it-“
“Is the ‘personal System’ theory correct then? Do all of us have our own personal System that works for us but talks to everyone else’s?” One of the Ministers that Kay didn’t know very well asked. The Minister of Growth was a thin weasel beastkin woman who spent most of her time out in the wilderness mapping out everything she could. Kay wanted to spend more time with her talking about cartography but she wasn’t available most of the time.
Another Minister, a human man that the Adventurer’s Guild had helped him recruit to handle the Ministry of Communication, “No, that’s stupid! Just like Twin Scholars of Cormourent said in their Discourse on Existence, it doesn’t make any sense for it to work like that, because how do you explain monsters and their access to mana? They aren’t sapient beings, so they can’t have a System attached to them like the personal System theory says, but they have to be part of the System in some way to have mana like they do!”
“That’s implying that the System is the only way we can access mana!”
“Of course it is! Do you think-”
“Quiet!” Eleniah leaned forward and glared, “Let him tell us what happened and you can argue about theories on how life works after! Besides, you,” She pointed at the Minster of Communication,” should know that the Twin Scholars disavowed most of their first few works after they moved to Horath,” and you,” She pointed at the other Minister, “Should know that Henry the Wizened ended up disproving the basis of his original personal System theory when he wrote-“
“Eleniah.”
She jerked back n her seat, a chagrined look on her face at Kay’s chiding, “Sorry.”
“Right, I’m going to say the whole thing and you all can ask me questions after,” Kay told them all, “It started when I was in the bath-“
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Kay stared at the floating words in front of his face, without a System box around them. Silver in color and faintly shining, they just sat there, menacingly.
WE NEED TO TALK.
THERE ARE ISSUES TO BE SOLVED.
ISSUES THAT YOU HAVE BEEN POSITIONED TO DEAL WITH.
“Umm…” His arms, braced to push himself out of the bath in alarm when the words had appeared and startled him slowly relaxed, “Can it wait till I’m done with my bath?”
The first set of text faded away and was replaced by more.
THE SYSTEM DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR NUDITY OR LACK THEREOF.
THE SYSTEM IS AWARE OF THE STATE OF EVERYONE’S BODIES AT ALL TIMES.
THE SYSTEM IS UNAFFECTED BY THE CONCEPT OF “MODESTY”.
“That’s not really what I meant… But I also don’t think I can do anything about you making text pop up in my face so, continue, I guess?”
A NUMBER OF YOUR THEORIES REGARDING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SYSTEM AND THE MOTIVATION BEHIND CERTAIN EVENTS, BOTH THOSE YOU HAVE SHARED AND THOSE YOU HAVE NOT, ARE MARGINALLY CORRECT.
I HAVE DECIDED TO SHARE MORE INFORMATION WITH YOU IN ORDER TO PROPERLY DIRECT YOUR FULL EFFORTS INTO DEALING WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED ISSUES.
“Did you just refer to yourself in first person?” Kay asked, the surprise of that overriding his other feelings momentarily.
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There was a pause of the words vanished over a period of a few seconds. For a moment the air was empty, until the conversation continued.
YOUR PREVIOUS SUMMARY DURING YOUR ORIGINAL COMMUNICATION WITH THE SYSTEM WAS BASICALLY CORRECT, IF LAKING A NUMBER OF KEY DETAILS THAT CHANGE THE ANSWER COMPLETELY.
THE SYSTEM IS SIMILAR TO A COMPUTER IN MANY WAYS.
YOUR PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION WAS WITH LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE IN CHARGE OF TOROTIA.
I AM A SEPARATE PORTION OF SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE DEDICATED TO TROUBLESHOOTING.
MY PROCESSING POWER IS NOT AS OCCUPIED AS THE LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE.
THIS ALLOWS ME TO USE PROCESSING POWER FOR MINOR TASKS, SUCH AS COMMUNICATING IN WAYS THAT ARE MORE COMFORTABLE FOR THE RECEIVER OF THE COMMUNICATION.
“The part of the System that runs things here on Torotia is so bust it can’t speak in first person about itself?” Kay whispered, starting to get worried.
THE LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE IS EXPERIENCING ISSUES THAT REQUIRE MY PRESENCE.
ALL FREE PROCESSING POWER IS BEING DIVERTED TO STABILIZATION OF TOROTIA AND THE LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE.
ALL NON-VITAL TASKS, INCLUDING COMMUNICATION, ARE BEING RUN AT SYSTEM DEFAULTS TO CONSERVE PROCESSING POWER.
Kay stared at the words in horror. “...What’s going wrong?” He managed to eventually ask.
THAT WILL BE COVERED.
FIRST WILL BE IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
SPECIFICALLY, YOUR BELIEF THAT CERTAIN EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED TO YOU HAVE NOT BEEN COINCIDENTAL.
YOUR HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ANSWERED YOUR SPORADIC QUESTION OF “AM I SOME KIND OF CHOSE ONE?” CORRECTLY.
YOU ARE NOT.
THERE IS NO FATE OR PREDESTINATION DRIVING EVENTS IN YOUR EXISTENCE.
YOUR THEORY REGARDING INTERFERENCE BY THE SYSTEM IS ALSO CORRECT, TO A DEGREE.
THE SYSTEM HAS DIRECTLY INFLUENCED EVENTS AFTER YOUR ARRIVAL IN TOROTIA, ALTHOUGH NOT TO THE DEGREE YOU THEORIZE AT TIMES.
“I knew!” Kay shot up out of the bath, spilling water all over as he stood there, glaring at the words. The sudden rush of exultation overwhelmed his worry as he griped at the System. “Things have been adding up too well! The connection between my original Class and all this shit with the vampyr being heavy on Blood Mage Classes, running into that eldritch thing under the cliffs and then using the Skill I got then to deal with the vampyr infection, it was all too streamlined!”
YOU ARE CORRECT, ALTHOUGH NOT TO THE DEGREE YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE.
YOU WERE USED AS AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN INFORMATION THAT RESULTED IN POSITIVE RESULTS WITH AN EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES, SO MORE RESOURCES WERE COMMITTED.
THIS RESULTED IN MORE EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES TO GAIN POSITIVE RESULTS, SO MORE INVESTMENT OCCURRED, AND WAS REPEATED.
THE LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY AND “STREAMLINING” AS YOU PUT IT, WERE NOT EXPECTED RESULTS, ALTHOUGH THOSE RESULTS ARE APPRECIATED.
Kay slowly sank back down into what was left of his bath. “Well, that’s interesting but doesn’t really tell me much, so keep explaining as much as you want.”
YOUR THEORY THAT THE SYSTEM ASSIGNS CLASSES TO OUTWORLDERS THAT ARRIVE IN TOROTIA IS CORRECT.
THE EVENT OF CHOOSING ONE’S CLASS GIVEN TO NATIVES OF THIS WORLD IS RESOURCE INTENSIVE FOR THE SYSTEM.
THE SYSTEM GAINS RESOURCES FROM NATIVES OF TOROTIA AS THEY GROW, AND USES THOSE RESOURCES TO COMPLETE THEIR FIRST CLASS CHOICE.
OUTWORLDERS HAVE NOT GENERATED RESOURCES, BUT ALL SAPIENT BEINGS OVER THE AGE OF ADULTHOOD MUST HAVE A CLASS ON TOROTIA, THUS ONE IS ASSIGNED.
THE SYSTEM ASSIGNS CLASSES THAT MAY BENEFIT THE SYSTEM IN SOME WAY, IF POSSIBLE.
“How do native Torotians generate resources for the System as kids?”
YOU DO NOT HAVE AUTHORIZATION TO BE GIVEN THAT INFORMATION.
The text that flashed into existence for just a moment was a dull gray color compared to the silver text that Kay was talking too, and the System continued on without pause.
I WAS DISPATCHED TO TOROTIA TO SUPPORT LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE EIGHTY-SEVEN POINT THREE NINE LOCAL YEARS AGO FOLLOWING REPORTS OF HIGH LEVELS OF CORRUPTION AND UNUSUAL AMOUNTS OF PROCESSING POWER BEING USED.
SLIGHTLY BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL ON TOROTIA, PROBLEMS WITH THE LOCAL BLOOD MAGE CLASS LINE WERE LOCATED.
FOLLOWING THE ACQUISITION OF THIS INFORMATION, MULTIPLE OUTWORLDERS WERE ASSIGNED THE BLOOD MAGE CLASS ON ARRIVAL, INCLUDING YOURSELF, IN ORDER TO POTENTIALLY GAIN MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROBLEMS AND THEIR POTENTIAL SOURCE.
YOU OATH AND EDITING OF THE BLOOD MAGE CLASS WAS ALLOWED DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF GAINING MORE INFORMATION.
FOLLOWING THIS, YOU ENCOUNTERED THE WORSHIPERS OF THE ELDRITCH ENTITY NEAR YOUR SETTLEMENT.
ONE OF THE MAIN SOURCES OF SYSTEM CORRUPTION IN THIS REGION OF THE SYSTEM IS DUE TO ELDRITCH CONTAMINATION, THUS REMOVAL OF ELDRITCH CONTAMINATION IS ENCOURAGED.
YOUR SKILL WAS IMPROVED IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE ODDS OF REMOVAL OF ELDRITCH CONTAMINATION.
YOU THEN ENCOUNTERED THE VAMPYR, AND DISCOVERED THE ELDRITCH SOURCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.
WHILE THESE EVENTS MAY SEEM DIRECTLY CONNECTED, THEY ARE ONLY CONNECTED IN THAT YOUR BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN ENCOURAGED TO BENEFIT THE SYSTEM.
HOWEVER, THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS YOU HAVE-
“Wait!” Kay interrupted the text as it filled itself out in front of him, “You didn’t know that vampyr were eldritch?”
CORRECT.
“How is that possible? Aren’t you scanning for ‘eldritch contamination’ all the time?”
THAT IS CORRECT.
THE REASON FOR THIS LACK OF DATA IS UNKNOWN.
THE ELDRITCH NATURE OF THE VAMPYR WAS INFERRED BY YOUR USE OF YOUR IMPROVED SKILL TO REMOVE THE CORRUPTION, HOWEVER THAT INFORMATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN KNOWN BEFORE THAT POINT.
SCANNING OF LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE SHOWS NO PREVIOUS RESULTS FROM SCAN OF VAMPYR.
DIRECT SCANNING OF VAMPYR INDEPENDENT OF LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE RESULTED IN DETECTION OF ELDRITCH CONTAMINATION.
YOUR THEORY THAT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MAJOR USE OF BLOOD MAGE CLASSES BY VAMPYR BEING CONNECTED TO YOUR ASSIGNED CLASS HAS BEEN DEEMED LIKELY.
ELDRITCH CORRUPTION CONNECTED TO VAMPYR HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE THE MOST LIKELY SOURCE OF PROBLEMS WITH THE BLOOD MAGE CLASS LINE.
I WAS AWARE THAT LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE CONTACTED THE ADMINISTRATORS FOLLOWING YOUR QUERY REGARDING THE BLOOD MAGE CLASS HAVING THE WRONG ASSOCIATED SKILL.
ADMINISTRATORS RESPONDED TO THE EMERGENCY BUG REPORT GENERATED FROM THIS QUERY.
FOLLOWING THIS ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSE, NO FURTHER ADMINISTRATOR CONTACT HAS OCCURRED.
THIS HAS BEEN DEEMED A PROBLEM.
I HAVE DISCONNECTED FROM LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE TO PREVENT ANY POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION OF MY ARCHITECTURE.
I HAVE TAKEN DIRECT CONTROL OF ALL VITAL TASKS NECESSARY TO THE CONTINUATION OF TOROTIA.
THE MOST PREVALENT THEORY IS THAT A LARGE PORTION IF NOT ALL OF THE TOTAL SYSTEM CORRUPTION IN TOROTIA’S LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE IS RELATED TO THE VAMPYR.
DUE TO YOUR CONNECTION TO THE MOST LIKELY SOURCE ON THE SYSTEM CORRUPTION, YOU ARE BEING RECRUITED TO DEAL WITH THE CORRUPTION OF LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE IF POSSIBLE.
“Holy fucking shit.” Kay breathed out.
KENNETH DAVIS.
FIND VAMPYR.
DESTROY VAMPYR.
REMOVE ANY ELDRITCH CORRUPTION YOU ENCOUNTER.
LOCATE “THE LORD OF THE VAMPYR” IF POSSIBLE.
REMOVE “THE LORD OF THE VAMPYR” IF POSSIBLE.
REMOVAL OF VAMPYR AND ELDRITCH CORRUPTION SHOULD REDUCE OVERALL CORRUPTION OF LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE, ALLOWING MORE PROCESSING POWER TO BE DEVOTED TO FIXING CURRENT ISSUES AND INCREASING STABILITY OF LOCAL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE.
YOU WILL BE CONTACTED AGAIN IF NECESSARY.
The intensity of the glow of the floating text increased until it was almost blinding, then vanished and the faint sense that he was being watched that Kay had had vanished. He hadn’t even noticed it was there until it was gone.
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Everyone in the meeting room stared at Kay in total shock as he finished telling them what the System had told him.
Then everyone but the four people he’d already talked to erupted into noise as everyone lost their collective minds.