I was once told a story of how I was born.
When the First War of the Gods ended, the World knew “peace.” With a shared interest in their own survival, the survivors left behind the continuing violence that had plagued them for a millenium and a tentative acceptance of each other. They kept to their enclaves, growing fat on life and experience, fed to them by their lessers. Though true immortality was as much out of reach of them then as it is now, the vast bulwarks of experience they gathered were enough to force youth on themselves, at least for a while.
But as the centuries passed, the predator that was time stalked them all. They drew more desperately on the enchantments covering them domains, but the wear and tear on them led to only more maintance and, rarely, failures. And given the brutes’ tendency to just copy rather than undersstand, soon the first gods died of old age.
Hah!
The fools.
Alas, their incompetence led them to finding a second thing in common: a desire that the enchantments just work and that they could draw the experience needed to hold back death.
The ‘greatest’ beings in all creation found they all had a single desire: Me.
----------------------------------------
Year 608 Before System
In a deep, dark room far below the castle above, a red-headed human lady in blue robes worked feverishly, without food, without water, without rest. Pure crystal was carved with hair fine grooves and pure copper spontaneously smelted to fill it in. A dizzying geometry of shapes was slowly, but surely, being filled across the surface of the man-sized hexagonal cylinder. She adjusted a neckscarf which, in certain cultures, would have been a clear indicator of a scholar.
The door slammed open.
“Systia!” the male halfling cried out as he strode into the workshop. “My friend, I’ve missed you!”
The goddess wiped her hair back, to get a better glance at who interrupted her and smiled briefly, before frowning. “Adonite, how did you get in here?”
“Through the door, of course!”
Systia rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant,” she replied before focusing back on her work. “I wasn’t supposed to be interrupted until this was done.”
“Well obviously you’re done,” Adonite sniped back. “We all felt that shockwave of experience. The question is why you’re still down here.”
Systia snorted. “That was just first seven systemic domain enchantments connecting together. I had to do them all simultaneously to anchor the structure properly. I’ve connected another two, but I’ve got ninety-plus to go, and then actually the enchantments to work well. So, yes, I’ve still got a lot to go.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
----------------------------------------
Year 252 Before System
In a high, bright room at the top of a glass tower on a high mountain, a red-headed human lady in blue robes worked carefully. Pure crystal was carved with hair fine grooves and pure copper spontaneously smelted to fill it in. A dizzying geometry of shapes was slowly, but surely, being filled across the surface of the man-sized hexagonal cylinder. She adjusted a neckscarf which, in one culture, would have been a clear indicator of a scholar.
The door slammed open.
“Systia!” the male halfling cried out as he strode into the workshop. “My friend, I’ve missed you!”
The goddess wiped her hair back, a few grays peaking through to get a better glance at who interrupted her and smiled briefly, before frowning with a few more wrinkles. “Adonite, how did you get in here?”
“Through the door, of course!”
Systia rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant,” she replied, but set her tools aside, before peering back at her work. “Though I suppose I am done now. The world systemtic domain enchantment covers everywhere but the Fellands. The gods each have their experience access points. And the internal logic has been cleaned up well enough.” She smiled brightly as she turned back to Adonite. “Version point zero one is ready to go.”
----------------------------------------
Year 0 of the System Age
In a bright green glade deep in a forest filled with life, a red-headed human lady in blue robes worked carefully. On the one hand, pure crystal was carved with hair fine grooves and pure copper spontaneously smelted to fill it in. On the other hand, she manipulated virtual logic within what she was beginning to tentatively label the System Interface. She adjusted a neckscarf which, in certain historical cultures, would have been a clear indicator of a scholar, but now just seemed like a symbol of the goddess herself.
A door was slammed into the ground.
“Systia!” the male halfling cried out as he strode into the workshop. “My friend, I’ve missed you!”
The goddess wiped her hair back, a few streak of gray running through, to get a better glance at who interrupted her and smiled briefly, before frowning with even more wrinkles. “Adonite, why did you bring a door here just to slam it on the ground?”
“It’s a running gag.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“It’s an amusing joke or comical reference that appears repea—”
“I know what a running gag is,” Systia interrupted. “I have no idea what running gag you’re referring to.”
“Really? Isn’t it obvious? How often do I visit you?”
“Yes, no, and I don’t really keep track of that.”
“Egh, spoiler sport. Is it staircase wit if the punchline is a few centuries later?”
“…”
“Never mind. Anyways, how’s this System coming along?”
“Ugh, I can’t believe the pantheon picked that name,” she muttered under her breath. “Well, I updated it to version zero point eighteen last week. And it’s been acting weird; haven’t quite pinned it down yet.”
“A flaw?”
“No, the opposite actually. The rate at which flaws appear has fallen significantly and a lot of them seem to be self-resolving. I… I had written some basic error-handling rules that could automatically grow, but they shouldn’t be working this well, this fast.”
“Well, that’s good, right?”
“Outcome-oriented, yes. But the fact that I don’t understand how a part of the enchantment is working anymore worries me. The… System is a powerful tool. We’ve already grown so much more powerful because of it. I’d hate for us to lose control of it.”
“Well, what’s the worse that could happen?”
----------------------------------------