Walker put the journal down next to his computer, and stretched as he checked the damnable timer.

Time remaining until the next battle: 112 hours.

"Better." He said to himself with a smile. In his last session, he'd gone over quite a bit of the coalesced knowledge he had gained in college. His awakening seemed to be paying off more and more, as his mind felt like it was a lonely light in a vast sea of darkness. When he wanted to remember something, he could pinpoint the timeframe that it happened and just pull it up. It felt like he was flipping through a dictionary in search of a word he'd once known, but instead of words, he was looking for his memories. From basic architecture and building to finding clean water, the entirety of everything he had ever learned, which was quite a bit across his life, was slowly returning to his grasp at a thought and a need. Walker remembered once telling his students that, after a week, they'd only remember about a quarter of what he had just taught them. Walker no longer had the average man's memory problems, and this was just the start of his awakening.

For his scriptures, and he was slowly but surely running out of space in his journal, he was trying to do his best for those who would one day follow him. Walker wanted to teach them the right path forward. An informed path. A focus for future generations of Symphonians...

Symphians?

Whatever.

Thinking that over, he already knew what his third scripture would focus on, and with a spring in his step, walked over to his assistants to get an update on what had happened in the last eight hours.

"Yo!" He said when he got close to Virgil and Rimi.

"Hi Walker" Rimi responded with a wave, while the larger squirrel simply nodded.

"What'd I miss?" The Creator said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"The Tree of the Gods grew larger." Virgil commented, a strange look coming over his face. Walker looked over at the tree and noticed it had certainly grown. He had paid attention as he walked over to the evolution chambers too, absently noting that the walk took quite a bit longer than it had in the past. It seemed like each time a major push forward occurred with Walker's plans, the tree grew accordingly. Weird.

"Sonata grew again?"

"Indeed. I would say it enlarged about twenty percent this time." Virgil said as he spread his arms, encompassing the size of the moonlet.

Walker whistled, "That much? So what does that mean?"

"I am unsure. As you know, I still have no information on what it does from the alpha protocol."

"You can't just analyze it and figure shit out?"

Virgil slowly shook his head, "No, I cannot."

"Bummer." Walker said, scratching the back of his head. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Yes. I have placed the prey into the desert, and also taken the liberty to look in on a few of the other zones with Rimi here." Hearing his name, Rimi waved again with a smile. "I also added some variation to the Craters fishlife while you were out, and discovered what my new functionality with the landmass system involves."

"Oh really? So, what do you get to do?" Walker asked in excitement, hoping he could finally skip all the landmass creation in the future and focus on his awakening and forthcoming civilizations.

"I can copy landmasses in their entirety, as well as work with the new auxiliary system." Virgil said with a smile, his brown tail slashing the air behind him.

Walker's head fell just a fraction, before he lifted it and emotionally rolled with the news, "That's great!" He didn't want Virgil to know how much that had let him down. He wanted...no, he needed to focus on building Symphony's people, not just mountains and rivers and all of the minutia that came with it. But Virgil didn't need Walker's sour mood to dampen his recent excitement.

"Indeed. The auxiliary system is quite fun as well, you should take a look at it."

Walker tilted his head, "What does it do?"

"It is a landmass scheduler. When you build landmasses in the future, you can now place them in holding until you are ready for them to join Symphony. This way, while you're focusing on other systems, new landmasses can drop in as needed and you will not have to focus on them quite as much."

Walker clapped once, "Heyy, that isss good stuff! And now that you can copy landmasses and schedule them, I just need to make a bunch of...like....blueprints for you."

"That is a very good idea Walker. Now, if you do not mind, can you please advance Symphony by seven days in a moment."

"Can I do that when I get back?"

"Get back from where?"

"Chipper!" Rimi yelled from beside Walker, startling him as he took two steps back. "You're going to see Chipper right?"

Walker recovered his equilibrium quickly, "Indeed I am buddy, plus I need to seed Raganoth the Bleeder. It's not fair to leave him stuck inside some kind of stasis bubble."

Virgil put a hand to his chin for a moment, then nodded, "You are right of course. You would not want to be rude to a being that powerful before unleashing him on Symphony. The advancement can wait."

"Yayyy" The small blue squirrel said, and Walker smiled before pulling up his monitor. He zoomed the screen over to Chipper, double-checked that he wasn't interrupting anything, gave a quick thumbs up to his two assistants, and hit the Avatar ability.

Sonata faded out and Symphony faded in. Walker had placed the monitor so that he would be only about ten feet away from the Mana Tree when he arrived. He looked up, and up, and up to the top of the 100 foot tree in all of its glory. The blue branches and cyan leaves stood proudly, as Walker's eyes took in the slight color of pure magic permeating the nearby air. Perhaps the greatest thing he ever made for all of Symphony was this tree and its fellows. Their roots spread and touched along the bottom of his entire world, connecting each of the lands together. A rustle started a dozen feet above him, and a four-foot tall white squirrel jumped down in front of him, hands glowing. The Guardian tilted his head left and right as if sizing him up, before writing in the air, "Can you read this?"

"Hello Chipper." Walker said with a bit of a deja vue. He really admired the Guardian and what he had done for Walker and Symphony as a whole. The forthcoming conversation made him very nervous as he NEEDED it to go well.

"How do you know my name?" The Guardian spelled out with an extra large question mark.

"Well buddy, I am the all-powerful yet ignorant and entirely mortal person who made all of this." Walker replied, spreading his arms wide to encompass everything around them. "This world, Symphony, was my idea and creation."

"I do not understand."

"Well, let me explain everything to you, including what happened just nine or so hours ago." Walker said, taking a seat in the grass as Chipper continued to maintain a confused look on his face.

It took a little over an hour to break everything down, with Chipper only asking a few questions before prompting Walker to continue with what he was saying before. When they reached the second battle, Walker told him about Chomp and Phil, the boss rounds and the deal the protocol offered. He ended on how Chipper performed, and spoke grandly about his final fight versus the council's Sentinel.

"So we came in second, which was a bit of a let down. We don't know who came in first, but Virgil, my assistant whom I told you about, thinks they must be some kind of genius Creator the protocol rarely sees. Either way, coming in second let me create that" He said, pointing to the bright yellow star in the previously dark sky. "Without you, there's a good chance we wouldn't have been able to create a sun, or some more things I have in the works. You're Symphony's first real hero, Chipper, and I'm afraid we're not done yet. So, even though you have given so much to me and Symphony as a whole, I'm here to ask for three more things, if you'll oblige me."

Chipper wrote back, "And what is that, Walker."

"One, I'd like to be your friend, and not just your Creator. You're a good soul Chipper, and I have had just enough friends that I can recognize you would be an excellent one to have."

Chipper gave him a look that Walker interpreted as a smile, "That is an easy request. Done."

Walker smiled back, "Thank you. Two, I need you to keep an eye on Raganoth the Bleeder. He'll be new here and, if he wanted, could really damage everything I'm trying to build here. I'm hoping he was honest before when he spoke of trying to live a new life, but you never really know if people are what they say they are."

Chipper nodded once then made a continue gesture with one of his hands.

"And three, I'd like you to be my first disciple and also follower."

"What does that entail?"

"Well buddy, that's still a little ways away. But, when I get my Holy Scripture I told you about done, you'll be the first to get the chance to read it. It'll explain quite a bit about how the world works and give you a basic education that you can then expand on further if that's what you want to do. Its your choice. Raganoth and being my friend are more than enough for me to be continually grateful to you and give you a little more attention than I give everyone else, but taking on the discipleship and joining my soon to be religion would tie you to me...forever."

"I see." Chipper wrote back. "May I think on it friend Walker?"

"Absolutely and I would've asked you to wait regardless, as it isn't something that will be a light burden. I'm not entirely sure what becoming my disciple or a follower of the Unending Summit would entail, no pun there, but I am hopeful it would only be beneficial to the both of us."

Chipper seemed to think for a few moments, chewing on one of his nails. Walker could've asked him about the bad habit, but he ultimately felt it was better to just let the Guardian consider everything in silence and without nagging him.

The albino squirrel came to an internal understanding, squaring up his shoulders before writing, "I agree to Raganoth the Bleeder, but please give me some time to consider your third request."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Of course." Walker said, standing up and putting a hand out to his friend. "In my old world, we would clasp hands to signify that a deal has been made. I don't see a reason why we can't do that here."

Chipper gave him a squirrely smile and reached up, taking his hand in his own, "Then a deal has been made, friend Walker."

"Excellent" Walker said, smiling back and pumping their arms up and down once, "Then a friendship for me, and a friendship plus a new potential friend for you. Now, while I would love to stay down here and hang out some more, I'm afraid I have somewhere to be and you have a new friend to become acquainted with. If you'll excuse me."

Chipper looked confused, writing "We are not hanging fri...." But Walker had already clicked the Avatar ability and disappeared. No more than a few minutes went past before a giant yellow wyvern materialized from nothingness and settled on two legs and wings nearby.

"Where am I now!" Raganoth bellowed to the world.

"What?' Chipper asked the air as the massive creature appeared in front of him.

----------------------------------------

Walker was already back on Sonata, watching through the monitor ability with Rimi and Virgil. As they viewed Chippers first exchange with Raganoth, the albino squirrel slowly approaching and writing in the air, he felt oddly like a parent first placing their child in daycare, watching his kid to make sure they got along with the other kids.

"What are the odds that Raganoth goes feral?" Walker asked his two assistants.

"I would estimate there's an above-average chance for the poison wyvern to return to its roots and attempt to destroy Symphony."

"I disagree." Rimi said with a shake of his small head. "I believe he will settle in quite nicely."

"Well, time will tell as they say. Rimi keep an eye on him. Raganoth doesn't have a kernel so you'll just have to try to look in on him from time to time." Rimi gave a salute. "Anyways, it's time for a new assistant so we can start up the Milestone system."

Rimi cheered loudly, jumping up and down, while Virgil's face changed to one of disgust. "Can you not just change my form for the time being?" he pleaded with his Creator.

"No can do bud. This form is how I know you , it'd be super weird if you were suddenly Godzilla or a giant hairless ape or whatever else is in there. What if we changed you into a small t-rex and Rimi changed with you? Sorry man, I know it's selfish, but you can't actually die. It's just super uncomfortable right?" Walker asked with some concern.

"Yes, that is true. Fine, I am ready." He said, spreading his legs and affecting the same stance Walker had seen Chipper use during the second battle.

Walker clicked the subsystem assistant button and it lit up a neon pink.

.....Loading.....

.....

Expelling new subsystem assistant.

He was much less shocked the second time those words appeared, calmly watching as Virgil coughed, already reaching down the length of his throat. Rimi, compared to Walker's first time viewing this, was actively cheering.

"Come on little brother or sister!"

"You know that you don't really have genders." Walker commented as Virgil seemed to grab hold.

"Who cares! Push, my sibling! Push!"

"That's not..." But Walker was interrupted, as with a final loud cough, Virgil pulled the new assistant out and threw them a short distance away.

"I hate this", Virgil said in a roughened voice.

Unlike Rimi's oddly blue coloring, this one was a bright pink, and the new subsystem assistant immediately unrolled from their pillbug-like form and stood up.

"Are you my Creator" A high-pitched voice that sounded just like Rimi asked.

"He is! I said the exact same thing!" Rimi shouted with exuberance. "He likes to be called Walker though."

"....Walker...", the new subsystem assistant said, testing out the word.

"Hello little one. I'm Walker, this is Virgil and that's Rimi." He said pointing to each. "To get things going quickly as we're on a time limit, I'd like to name you, is that okay?"

"Of course." The small pink squirrel said while standing stock-still.

"If you don't like the name, please let me know." Walker waited for a moment, but the new subsystem assistant didn't move. "You can just move your head up and down if you agree, or from one side to another if you disagree."

"I understand." It responded quickly, giving a too-fast nod.

"A little slower with the head movements and you've got it." Walker said with a thumbs up, receiving a slow one in return. He began pacing with his arms behind his back, "So we have a naming convention we've been using for our assistants. The protocol calls me Dante, my first assistant is Virgil, and Rimi here is named after the first character Dante meets in a poetic adventure that is a little too complicated to go over right now." He spun around quickly to keep the pink squirrel in his vision. "In the story, the second creature Dante meets is named Cerberus, which may not actually work as, unlike in the story, we may actually meet someone named Cerberus." He said with a raised eyebrow. Minos looked across at him from where he was talking to Echidna and slowly shook his head. "Okay then, Cerberus will work. Now..."

"I would like to be named like my sibling, how would you describe Cerberus?" The pink squirrel said.

"He is a three-headed dog." Walker said, taking the interruption in stride and replying calmly. He stood there waiting for a similar moment he'd had with Rimi to occur.

"Oh, oh!" Rimi said with a hand raised, Symphony's newest assistant naturally imitating him. "Virgil, what is the word for dog in that poems language."

"In Italian, the word for dog is either Cane or Cagna." The elder squirrel said quickly.

"I choose Cagna." The small pink squirrel said, then moved their head up and down almost in slow motion.

"Cagna it is!" Rimi said, jumping up and down as he hopped over to his new sibling. "I like you!"

"I....like you too." Cagna said with another small nod. When Rimi's hopping took him to his sibling, he took their hands in his and began jumping up and down until Cagna began jumping with him. Rimi laughed uproariously, and after a few moments, Cagna joined him.

"Alrrrighht. This is going to get bad as we get more assistants isn't it." Walker asked Virgil who was also silently watching the two energetic squirrels in their play.

"Indeed."

"Has anyone made as many systems as I'm planning on making?"

"How many are you planning on making Walker?"

"A little more than a dozen?"

Virgil looked at his screens for a moment, then said, "You would be among the few who have ever created that many, but not the one with the highest amount. One Creator in the third rendition has over fifty, although I'm told that the amount of systems he created stifled his world, rather than helped it."

"Hrmmm, good advice there." Walker said with a hand to his chin. "Well, the one we're going to build now is the system that sets up all other systems. Without it, nothing will work quite right."

Virgil nodded, "I see. I believe with Rimi and C-Cagna, you will have all of the assistance you need. What would you like me to work on while you build the Milestone system?"

"I'd like you to start work on a few different genera at once. We can't alter the Warclaws according to the protocol, so they'll just have to go without the benefits that everyone else will receive."

Walker sighed as he looked at the evolution chambers, "We have five evolution chambers now, so I'd like you to start work on a balanced monster for a new territory that will primarily be a mountainous biome, and I'd also like a new monster for the Sea we're going to be building up over time. One that isn't as predatory at first, if you don't mind. Perhaps a seal type. Once you have those started, I'd like you to place a male and female human into each evolution chamber and see if you can't find a way to make them more resistant to disease and genetic manipulation. When you have any free time thereafter, start looking into the combiner ability. Don't use it, just consider what it can do. Leave the last evolution chamber untouched in case something comes up."

"You're finally starting to take charge of everything?"

"I feel like I need to." Walker said. "This has been coming for a long time, and there's going to be a lot happening all at once pretty soon." He looked up at the star for a moment, his eyes protected by whatever the protocol did to keep him relatively safe. "We've made big strides since the second battle, and the sooner I step up what I'm doing, the better."

Virgil nodded, "I agree. I'll get started right away Creator." He said, before walking over to his work.

"Don't start that again!" Walker said as his hands slapped the outside of his legs.

"Walker! Walker!" Rimi said, waving him over. "We've decided on something together. I am a boy, and Cagna is a girl."

Walker affected a confused look on his face, "Why does gender matter? You're both essentially space dust that talks."

"It doesn't, but we think it makes things more fun." He began hopping up and down as Cagna continued with a too-slow nod.

"That's pretty weird, not gonna lie." Walker said, still confused by why gendering them would matter in the slightest.

Cagna began speaking slowly, her face scrunched up in thought, "Maybe..."

She never got to finish what she was saying though, as Walker immediately became distracted as his overlay lit up.

Unknown changes occurring.

The Tree of the Gods is maturing!

.....Scanning.....

.....

The Tree of the Gods has borne fruit.

"Son of a bitch!" Walker swore as it was, quite possibly, the worst timing for this kind of event.

"Oh yeahhh motherfuckers!" A fat pale man wearing a green vest and purple pants came bounding over while two others chased him. "Where's the drinks bitches!"

"Fucking come on." Walker said, slapping a hand to his forehead. "I don't have time for this shit, seriously."

"This is not godly behavior son!" Zeus thundered at him as the overly ripped king of the gods unceremoniously ran to catch up.

"Up yours bitch! I'm the god of parties baby! Show me the party, show me the food, show me the ladies! What's up little girl" He said to Walker, who was actually taller than him. "You wanna fuck around?"

"What?" Walker said, exhausted by another unusual event happening right when he was getting a grasp on things. He spied more people running behind Zeus to catch up.

"Walker! You have to listen to me!" A beautiful woman wearing a gold dress said as she ran up to him. "I'm the goddess of wisdom, I can help you so much!"

"She's full of it! All of them are full of it!" A woman wearing a conservative black lace dress said as she followed right behind her. She spat on the ground, "You should listen to me, I'm the only one here who believes in you! Believes in the strength of humanity!" She finished with a single lace-covered fist in the air.

"Lies! This harlequin is only interested in herself!" The golden-dressed woman said with scorn.

"You're one to talk. Why don't you go make another owl"

"That owl saved the world once!"

"It was an idiotic animal, as they all are, and it attacked a weakened Harpy because it was blood drunk and had accidentally invaded its nest!"

"How dare you!"

Walker could literally feel his heart beating in the sides of his neck. As the two primigenials yelled at each other, the vibration from his heart beat battered away at his mind, further ratcheting up the stress he'd felt since first seeing the Tree of the Gods maturing. He grabbed the sides of his head and tried to calm down, but it didn't help. He tried to slow his breathing and focus on clearing out his mind in a meditative manner, but that didn't help either.

After several minutes of the two women screaming at each other, and Zeus yelling at his supposed son, he couldn't take it anymore and snapped. "Shut the fuck up!"

As Walker screamed loud enough for even the creatures of Symphony to hear him, a massive pulse of green shot out of him in a wave, stopping everyone in their tracks and causing Echidna, Minos, and the black-laced woman to fall to a knee. "I am so tired of you all trying to tell me what to do. NO MORE." Another smaller pulse came out, pushing the black-laced woman over entirely and causing a few of the gods to stutter back a step. "My name is Walker Reed. Walker Reed! I am not your servant. I am not your pushover. And I AM NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH!" A pulse even larger than the first shot out and knocked the rest to a knee, curiously skipping over all three of Walker's assistants. "I have work to do, monumentally important work. If you want to speak with me, you will stand by that bastard tree of yours and wait your turn. If you cannot do so, I will step into the system and delete you myself. The time for ordering or pushing me around is over. I am the Creator here and this is my world. If I want your advice, I will ask for it. You all fucked up so badly that your former creator threw you in prison. I won't make that mistake, I'll simply erase you from existence."

"Whose this bitch think he is?" The fat god said, looking at the other primigenials.

"He is the Creator." Echidna said from the ground, getting up at a nod from Walker. "And he is right, let us go back to the tree of our siblings and speak quietly amongst ourselves."

"Where's the wine?"

"There is none." Minos said in an even quieter voice than normal.

"No wine! No fuckin wine! Absolutely not." He said, and began to wave his hands through the air.

"Oh no."

Walker's overlay lit up.

.....Scanning.....

Optional Tasks Updated!

- - -

New Primigenial task: Find Dionysus some wine:

I need wine bitch. Call me Dio. Hey, do you have any girls around?

Barrels of wine delivered: 0/10

Task giver: Dionysus, The God of Revelry

Reward for completion: Festivity Modification

"Son of a bitch."

Dionysus looked over at him with a cherub smile as he said, "Yeah she was."