"Get the fuck over there." Walker yelled at the fat primigenial as he pointed at the Tree of the Gods, "I don't want to see any other gods damned tasks either!"
"But!" The woman in the gold dress said, raising a finger in the air.
"No! Fuck off!"
"Yeah! Fuck off!" Cagna said, mimicking him and pointing. Rimi stopped her so he could explain Walker's hypocrisy on cursing.
Zeus took Dionysus by the arm, as apparently that's what his name was, and dragged him over to the tree with the others. The woman in lace and the woman in gold continued to yell at each other, their arms moving with sharp gestures as they continued to harangue each other. He was just happy nobody was fighting....yet. Walker ran a hand through his hair.
"Just...fuck me man. I'll deal with it later." He said as he started pacing. He stared at the back of the primigenials as he moved, before coming to a sudden stop, "Noooooo....no. It'll get worse. They'll just come to a consensus and try to fuck with me when I'm trying to work on other things." He turned around to find Virgil so he could ask for advice, but his assistant was busy working with the evolution chambers and not paying attention to what was happening around him. "Mmmm, no more help from Virgil. My world, my creation, my plans. Rimi!" He yelled out. "Do you remember all the stuff I told you when you were first expelled from Virgil."
"Yes Walker." Rimi said with a salute.
Ignoring that, Walker said, "Good, do the same speech with Cagna here. I'm sorry little one" He said to the pink squirrel, "but Rimi will have to walk you through everything. I need to deal with these fuckers and I can't have them screwing around with me while we design what is arguably the most important system we'll ever have." He turned back to Rimi. "Please break it down for her well and I'll answer any questions she may have when I get back."
"Understood Creator!" He said with a smile, and after a quick word with his sibling, they walked a slight distance away to be alone.
Ignoring the second time one of his assistants had used his title rather than his name, Walker did what he hadn't done since he first arrived from the translocation.
He took off his purple suit jacket and threw it on the ground.
He didn't know why he had kept it on the whole time. In a review of his own mental state, he figured he was still holding onto his old life as a teacher and the professionalism he always tried to bring to the job. But, with one swoop from his student Nicholas, he'd thrown that professionalism in the garbage. By not only taking it off, but throwing it on the ground, Walker knew he was symbolically moving away from his past. He untucked his cream-colored shirt as rays from his newly stolen sun shined on him, then stomped over to the Tree of the Gods. His increased hearing picked up on what Echidna was saying as he unknowingly approached from out of their sight.
"...you can't treat him that way Dio. He is not like our previous Creator, even Zeus thinks so." The bearded god nodded begrudgingly. "I've spoken with him, worked with him, and seen him stick to his word and his oath. He is trying to be more than his predecessor. His un-awakened predecessor. You have to respect that."
"I, in fact, do not have to respect that. Who is he to tell us what to do. He can't be much older than seventy!"
"I'm the god damned Creator of Symphony and you're standing on my world." Walker said as he drew close enough for them to recognize him.
"And what does that even mean?" the fat man countered.
"It means I was picked, and you weren't. If this were your place, would you want some douchebag jumping out of a fuckin fruit and trying to give you orders."
That seemed to short out his brain for a moment as he paused before saying, ".....hey, fuck you."
"No sir, fuck you!"
"Calm down everyone!" Echidna said, still trying to broker peace between them.
"I agree, this won't go anywhere positive." The golden-dressed woman. "I'm afraid I rudely never introduced myself. I am Athena, the great goddess of wisdom."
"And cheating bitch." Added the lace-covered woman.
"Arachne enough!" Athena harshly reprimanded her. "Or do you want to be erased with the rest of us?"
"If it takes you down with me, I'm all for it!" Arachne yelled back.
As they began ignoring him again, the entire group exploding into long-held biases and a millennia-old pattern of contention, Walker began to feel a fuzzy vibration in the middle of his chest. He'd felt it the last few times he'd grown angry, and seeing these two starting their argument in front of him, and wasting his time yet again, it began to vibrate in tune with his frustration. Rather than ignore it as he had done in the past, he paused for a moment and tried to understand this newly recognized sensation. Focusing on himself and attempting to block out the discussions around him, he found it was a little lower than his chest, almost directly centered on his body. He tried to....push....on it mentally, and found an undiscovered and invisible muscle he'd never realized that he had. He bunched the muscle up and pressed, watching in wonder as a pulse of green washed out of him. The primigenials stopped fighting as the green soul power hit them, so Walker mentally shook himself and grabbed the moment, yelling, "STOP".
Everyone went back to looking at him rather than each other, so he continued, "Here's the deal. I'll stop treating you in a disparaging way if you start respecting me and my time. I can't keep coming over here and stopping whatever it is you're doing or have you throwing new tasks at me anytime you want. I'm a busy Creator damn it! I literally just made a star and two exoplanets, even if all three are technically on fire right now." He took a deep breath. "Look, I know you had a lot of power and authority in your former world, and it isn't lost on me that your former status is eradicated, but you need to move on and adjust to the role that is given to you. You're primigenials, sure, but you're also still trapped on this planet until we figure out something better. Work with me, please. Or at the least, try not to work against me." He ended his short speech with his arms out wide in a pleading gesture.
All of the primigenials looked at each other with questioning faces, as if asking Should we listen to him?
Echidna was the first to speak up, "I agree. This is his world and his chance at being a Creator. I believe in him." She stepped away from the others and came over to stand by Walker, looking at the rest. Minos gently nodded and then moved to stand beside her.
Zeus looked at the three new arrivals before sighing, "As much as it pains me to say it, I agree. This awakened threw off the balance we have held since the beginning of the multiverse, but I recognize he did so purely by coincidence. I am not fool enough to believe that attempting to sabotage his world will help us." He put a hand on Dionysus's shoulder as he said, "I will stand with him, as long as it protects my children from oblivion and allows for the awakened to thrive." Then stomped over and turned his head away, refusing to look at Walker or the others.
Walker looked at Zeus and thought As long as he's done being an asshole just to be an asshole, that works for me. He looked back at the other three but the woman in lace, Arachne, had already crossed over and stood directly beside him. She gave him a wink.
"I am not against you Creator." Athena started to say, arms spread wide to encompass Sonata, "This is a w-wondderful world you have here. I am..."
"My world's down there." Walker said with a hooked thumb towards Symphony, "This is more like a managing moonlet."
"Of-of course. As I was saying, I am not against you, I am just for my fellow Primigenials. Since the dawn of time we have provided for humanity and the world t-"
"That's great and all." Walker said as he interrupted what looked to be quite a long speech. He placed his hands in his pockets, seeming completely at ease, "But your siblings and other people will still have to abide by my rules, now and in the future. No more running out of the Tree of the Gods and trying to interrupt whatever I'm working on. No more random tasks that fuck me up and attempt to force me to do what you want me to do. I know you have some control over what the tasks require."
"How am I to stop them?" She asked with a dreadful look on her face.
"Grab them? Trip them? I don't care. Just keep them here until I am able to come over and speak to everyone. It's not hard to miss that more of you have joined the party on this relatively small moon."
"I under-" Athena was interrupted a third time by a small and thin pulse of purple. It barely reached Walker and he felt almost no pressure from it at all as it broke against his body.
"Fuck this shit." Dionysus yelled out. He'd been quiet the whole time, but his face had turned a brighter red the longer he'd listened. "She's the goddess of wisdom you tool. How do you not listen to her."
"Dio..." Athena said.
"No, I just don't get it. He was a mortal, what, only a very small amount of time ago? Whats your deal bro? Why do you have to be such a piece of shit."
Walker's voice became very quiet as he looked down at the grass below his feet, "It is quite simple, and I've already said it to you a few times, so I won't be saying this again. This is my world. If you ever want to find yourself on Symphony and the wonders we are building, you will do what I say. You can't hurt me here. You can't get your wine, or your girls, or anything else without my say so. I don't even have to delete you, just ignore you." Walker looked up and directly into the god's eyes as he watched him shrink with each word that followed, "You don't matter to me. You're nothing but an old memory of something that used to matter, but has faded into such a low-scale myth that it is barely even taught at junior-level colleges. Festivity modification? Why would I even need that? How does that help the future citizens of Symphony? The first thing you did was insult me, my assistants, my work, and offer a task that I couldn't complete for a very long time. You're selfish and stupid, and I'm done with you." Walker looked across to the woman in the gold dress. "Make your choice, or join your brother in irrelevancy."
There was no pause. Without looking at the god of revelry, she crossed over and stood beside Arachne, for once not fighting with each other. Walker stared at Dionysus for a moment longer, but the fat god had taken a seated position, leaning against the tree and staring up at the stars. Walker turned his back on him with an exaggerated motion. He spied Echidna speaking quietly to Zeus but he didn't have the time to analyze it. Looking at the golden goddess he said, "What is special about your modifications? I know you know, but nobody has explained it to me and it can't be as basic as I think it is."
She opened her mouth and looked over at Zeus. He gave a deliberate nod, so she spoke up, "Our modifications are not like the protocol's version. When you make changes to your....entities....it is primarily surface level or superficial. You are not truly modifying who they will be going forward in life and experience. The primigenial's modifications are closer to... I suppose with your vernacular and memories, you would call them bloodlines. Zeus's electricity modification, when placed upon an entity, will cause it to have a natural affinity to all things electrical. Lightning, static electricity, all things that have to do with electrical energy."
Walker thought on that for a moment, before saying "So it just makes them better attuned to an element that fits within their affinity?"
She nodded, "That is a basic version, yes. They will also be more primed to become an Awakened, and have children that will also have the ability to become awakened."
"So it'd like making an electrical dynasty?" Walker asked.
"I believe that is an excellent word to use. Dynasty. Also, as you did not delete Dionysus as you warned, I will give you a bit of extra information for your civility. We are only allowed to give three tasks for each of us, with the exception of our branches leadership. Zeus how many tasks are you allowed to give."
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Four." He said with a grimace.
Athena nodded again, "Yes. Although minor gods like Arachne, Echidna, and Minos are only allowed to give two each."
The black laced woman came close and smiled as Athena spoke of her, "Speaking of", she began writing in the air.
Walker grew alarmed at her motions. "What did I say!" He yelled out and pushed on his power. He somehow directed it, and Echidna stopped writing as the green pulse stumbled her.
She straightened up quickly and said, "Trust me Creator, this one is not so bad."
"Why should I trust you?" Walker said back with a suspicious look.
"Because I truly only care about you and the other mortals." She replied in a serious tone-of-voice.
He thought on it for a moment, shifting his weight from one foot to another, before giving a sharp nod, "Fine, but don't disappoint me."
"Of course." She said with a smile, and began writing in the air again. Walker's overlay lit up.
.....Scanning.....
Optional Tasks Updated!
- - -
New Primigenial task: Give Arachne a hug:
I hope you will trust me now.
Hugs received: 0/1
Task giver: Arachne, The Weaver
Reward for completion: Textile Modification
Walker had enough time to say, "What?" Before she quickly walked over and wrapped him in a hug.
Arachne whispered in his ear, "Make our people great. Make them strong."
"O-okay then."
.....Scanning.....
Primigenial task Complete: Give Arachne a hug:
Hugs received: 1/1
Reward for completion: Textile Modification
She stepped back quickly and began waving in the air again.
"What?"
.....Scanning.....
Optional Tasks Updated!
- - -
New Primigenial task: Wave at Arachne:
I will help watch out for them.
Waves received: 0/1
Task giver: Arachne, The Weaver
Reward for completion: Arachne added to the seeding system.
Arachne immediately began waving at him with a sad smile on her face, "Be good, Creator."
Walker waved back, once, and watched as she faded away.
.....Scanning.....
Primigenial task Complete: Wave at Arachne
Waves received: 1/1
Reward for completion: Arachne added to the seeding system.
.....Scanning.....
Congratulations Dante!
Arachne the Weaver has been added to the seeding system. They have been placed in stasis and you may place them at a time of your choosing.
"That was quite strange."
"No, it is not." Zeus said in a quiet version of his booming voice. "She has always gone against the requirements of her. One of the greatest weaver's in the history of the world, but she hated restrictions on herself or others. The only reason she joined the Awakened was because she made my wife, Hera, a particularly grand piece of art that touched something deep within her. It took me twenty years to get her to agree to make it." Zeus sat down with a sigh. "I didn't think she'd go against the covenant. She was barely one of us, and had great difficulty passing the first trial, but still"
"Yes, it is quite sad." Minos said from nearby.
"What is quite sad?" Walker asked in confusion.
"I'll explain." Athena said to the others as she refocused Walker's eyes on her, "When the tree was first placed within the protocol, we made a deal with the system. If, or when, we were released from the tree, we had to follow certain rules. Rules like any tasks that we give you, must progress your strength or value within the protocol. The requirements were simple. The tasks had to have some level of difficulty, and also must force you to attempt something new. Zeus's task skirted the boundaries and you found a way to answer that in, pardon the pun, lightning speed." Zeus winced. "Dio's task forced you to advance a civilization to the point that they were producing their own wine, and Echidna's forces you to really look at your religion and decide what you stand for, thereby they fulfilled the requirements set upon them."
"What happens if you don't fulfill the requirements?" Walker asked with a pit in his stomach.
"You become just another mortal." Zeus said from the ground. "And everything that comes with it."
"You made the bitch mortal, bro." Dionysus said from near the tree.
"I get it!" Walker yelled at him. "Can you muzzle him?" He asked the gods father. Godfather?
"It has been tried."
"Yah, and it was pretty hot!"
Walker shook that image out of his head. "I thought the protocol couldn't influence the Awakened?"
Athena nodded, "Good, yes. They cannot influence the Awakened directly, but many within the Council know of the rules by which we live, and how to influence us directly. All Awakened have a code they live by, as well as certain rules we must follow. For instance, if you make a covenant with another, and you break it, you also break the part of your soul that connects to your conscious mind, and therefore lose the power to interact with and control it."
"That seems like something that can easily be abused." Walker replied with some trepidation. "Does that mean every promise I ever make will be tied to my soul and eventually break my link?"
"No no. If I say something like, "I promise to always be chaste.", my oath will not connect it to a covenant and therefore I will be spared from any repercussions should I break it. But, if I say, or even sign a contract stating, "I vow on my oath to never restrict the knowledge of soul-empowerment to another Awakened."" A blue glow expanded then contracted fast enough that Walker wasn't sure he'd even truly seen it. "Then I will be bound to my oath and any repercussions that may invoke. We all signed a contract with the protocol in order to be released from our prison."
"What were the specific words used in the oath?"
"That is unimportant." Zeus said, his moping over Arachne apparently over as he stood to his full height. "What is important is what you plan to do with us, and those other primigenials who will eventually exit the tree."
Walker scratched his chin, "That's a good point." He began pacing in front of them, "The truth is, if your modifications really do create bloodlines that increase the affinity of those who carry them, then that's just another tool my world can use. I need that. We need that. But, as I said, I cannot have you all come screaming out of the tree anytime you're released and throwing random tasks at me."
"What would be your solution then, Walker." Echidna asked after a quick conversation with Dionysus.
"You can only give me one of your tasks at a time, right?" He asked the now grouped-up Primigenials, standing in a half-circle around him.
"Correct." Athena said as she stepped forward after a quick nod from Zeus, intimating that she'd negotiate for all of them.
Walker asked an obvious question, but one he needed to absolutely confirm, "And they can only be tasks that challenge me to progress through the protocol?"
"Yes." She said again for everyone.
"Okay. To get an understanding of how this will work, I'd like to ask you an important question. What is the ultimate goal of all of you?" Walker said, and scanned his eyes left to write one-by-one.
"To ensure the future of my children." Echidna said when his eyes landed on her.
"To find great battles." Minos said in his small, but now excited voice.
"To assist in building a world of wisdom and enlightenment." Athena said, her deep blue eyes unblinking.
"To spread the strength of the Awakened throughout the fourth rendition." Zeus rumbled.
Walker nodded, "Then make them tasks that are viable within a reasonable amount of time. I won't be able to make WINE! For a long TIME!" Walker yelled at Dionysus, unwittingly rhyming at the fat god, still separated from the others and sitting near the tree. The god of revelry waved him off. "Make it reasonable, and I will do my best to get you there. You're all interested in eventually being seeded into Symphony correct?"
"Yes, but not as mortals if possible." Athena added.
"I can work with that. If you're ready, one by one give me your tasks and I'll see about knocking them out. Echidna and Dionysus don't need to, as that's already ongoing."
Walker looked at Minos who gave a small nod and began waving his arms in the air. One by one the other primigenials did the same, with Zeus taking quite a long time. Walker's overlay began updating and he waited until they were all done before he looked at them.
.....Scanning.....
Optional Tasks Updated!
- - -
New Primigenial task: Find a great warrior:
A world needs defenders Walker. Find a great one.
Great warrior found: 0/1
Task giver: Minos, The Bronze Battler
Reward for completion: Toughness Modification
New Primigenial task: Create a library:
With knowledge, power. With power, responsibility. Spread the word of logic.
Library created: 0/1
Task giver: Athena, The Goddess of Wisdom
Reward for completion: Brilliance Modification
New Primigenial task: Seed three awakened
Please keep this between us. I apologize for how I treated you. Please do not look too harshly on my son. He cannot help who he is, and has always only cared to make the world a more "fun" place. Spread the Awakened Walker. Build a strong starting point for us all in this rendition. You can do it. I will stand beside you.
Awakened seeded: 0/3
Task giver: Zeus, King of the Gods
Reward for completion: The Lightning Bolt Icon
Walker took one pointer finger and tapped at his forehead in frustration, "Minos's task is basically already done. I can show you that in a moment if you don't mind waiting." The bronze awakened nodded, "The library and seeding will take me time."
"What task did you give him?" Athena asked Zeus. Apparently, they couldn't see each other's tasks.
"I asked that he seed three Awakened. They do not have to be we five, but they must be seeded upon Symphony."
"Nope. You never said I had to seed them onto Symphony." Walker pointed out, "You need to read the fine print. Now, what the hell is an icon."
Zeus's face quickly grew red. Not as red as it normally was when he was angry with Walker, but it still seemed like something had riled the god up.
Is he mad at himself?
Athena waited a moment for Zeus to speak, but when he didn't, she pointed to a badge of an owl on her dress before saying, "This is my Icon. Our modifications are bloodlines, as stated before, but Icons are wholly different. When your oath begins to manifest physically, you have to look internally, similarly to how you discovered yourself in the first trial and became an Awakened. There is a similar, although much more difficult process to find your Icon. Once you are able to manifest it, you can further move down the road of soul-empowerment until it is upgraded to an idol, although only Zeus here has done so from among the Greek Primigenials."
The king of the gods nodded once as some of the red coloring left his face.
Athena continued, "Icons are specific to each individual person, and no two are alike. Gaining your icon is where you begin to shift from the physical stage, and into the reality stage, but you have quite a long period of time before you reach that point."
Walker nodded, "Noted. I'm sure I'll ask questions as we move forward. What does having access to the Lightning Icon do for Symphony though?"
"You can attach it to the followers of your religion. It grants them special abilities that the protocol doesn't, and won't, have access to." Zeus rumbled. "It isn't specifically lightning though, that's just the shape my icon manifested as."
"Sooooo...."
"So you will find out after you complete my task!" Zeus yelled at him, his old anger leaking through.
"Calm." Echidna said, dragging the word out as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Zeus quickly reigned it in and walked away. "Sorry, he still isn't used to others questioning him."
"Old habits die hard as they say." Athena said while shaking her head at the king of the gods. "We will have to make another deal before you seed a prime god, Walker."
"What kind of deal?" Walker asked.
"One you will not like, but that we" She received nods from the two minor gods nearby, "Have all agreed upon while enduring our prison. The other branches have agreed as well. When the time comes to seed a prime, we will discuss it."
Walker sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Alright then. I'm going to go get some work done on something that I've held off of for far too long. Please keep Dionysus and Zeus from interrupting me."
"We will do our best." Minos said quietly, and went to stand next to the god of revelery as Echidna and Athena headed over to Zeus.
Walker felt at the area he normally felt vibrating when he was upset, but it was quiet again. He shrugged.
"Okay! Let's make some milestones." Walker said with a clap of his hands, and headed over to Rimi and Cagna as Virgil continued to work on the evolution chambers nearby.