For as much peace existed on the small island bustling with blooming flowers and plant life, there was a heavy weight that sunk between the two undead Players.
Sally maintained a neutral glare with the vampire for a handful of seconds, before her eyes rolled back and she groaned. “Ughh, Theo, you ass. Tell me this is a prank, please.”
He shook his head slowly.
“I ought to knock your head off. Care to explain it all before I do just that?”
With a grunt, Theo deflated. “Apparently, since the System can only have one powerful entity - you know, the reason we almost died on the way back - my forced arrival ejected the true Creator out somewhere.”
“Swapped with someone from Earth…” the zombie rubbed at the bridge of her nose.
“Yeah. Turns out that adding pop culture references and trying to make the world more like the games I was used to didn’t really work out well, huh?”
She narrowed her eyes at him with a renewed glare. “So you’re the one who messed up the System?”
“Not entirely.” He gave the horizon a sheepish grin. “It was actually heading toward self-termination with the Creator gone, so I got it stable enough… even if it was messy.”
Sally sighed. “This is still a lot to take in. I can only suspend my disbelief so far.”
The vampire's fingers flexed on his suit slacks. "I, uh… I was the one that assigned Humphrey to observe the diner."
Although she glared at him, some of the ire was slipping away. No doubt Theo had ensured it was a closed loop, so everything that happened came to pass the way that it did… she didn’t have the brains for thinking about time travel too hard - but if he could tick off a few more confused questions, then she’d have to give up and accept it.
“In knowing that’s what happened, you made it happen?” She looked up at the sky and wrinkled up her face. “What else is due to your meddling hands?”
“Well… I also sent a message to myself telling me to trust you.”
“Otherwise Novice Theo would have split my skull open?”
“Fifty-fifty.” He grinned. “It could have ended up like those cliche zombie movies where I didn’t kill you because you were my crush, and then you’d eat my foolish brains.”
“As if I’d do that.” Sally thought back to the start of her adventure. “Well, that was also fifty-fifty, I guess. Can’t believe you kept that secret, though.”
“Would you believe that I had totally forgotten the messages not soon after seeing you? It didn’t say it was from the Architect, so I assumed it was some weird quest or lore notification.”
“Exhausting. I don’t have the energy to disbelieve you.”
“I thought you all had spotted me a few times. Kept seeing you stop and turn to glare at the distance. Was… nice seeing us all back then. When things were so simple.”
“What about Archie?” Her fingers drummed on the picnic basket. “He was supposed to be part of the Architect’s memories? And you couldn’t avoid a poison?”
Theo hummed. “It would be more accurate to say he was more like my live journal. I don’t really know how the System works like Chuck does, so I made do best I could.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“So that’s why he warned you about your death in the wasteland - you told him an Outsider would kill you a year after we arrived there.” Sally flopped back on the blanket and closed her eyes.
“Ironically, it was me being the Aspect of Death that corrupted some of the entities into wanting to poison me in the first place.” Theo removed his glasses so that he could rub at his eyes. “Even knowing I would die that way, I got too distracted by trying to set things up for us to succeed. I was only in that position for… two weeks, maybe.”
The zombie put her forearm over her eyes to try to block more of the pleasant daylight out. “Motherfucker. You’re telling me your foresight all this time was just because you set up the dominoes ready for you to do things subconsciously in the future… or past? I hate this.”
“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t know anything until I came back. Didn’t tell you because I felt… guilty. My Aspect powers allowed me to remove my Class selection cap, so that I would end up being able to select Vampire Lord. Was trying to get rid of the Bounty System so you wouldn’t be hunted down by Players. Little else I really changed, because I didn’t have the time or know-how.”
Sally tried to be mad at him, but didn’t have the heart or energy for it. It wasn’t his fault, and he did what he could. She could even see why he didn’t want to tell her about it. If had been her that went back in time... she would have made a huge mess of things. Letting out another sigh, she propped herself up on her elbows to scowl at him.
“When we get back, I want you to go to Chuck and tell him everything. Help him find the part of you that causes you to keep going back in time and get it fixed. Okay?”
He nodded. “I will do that.”
“Now I have to worry that you’ll vanish again when our picnic is all done.” She pouted.
“Technically, if it will happen, then it already has.”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence, pup.” Sally rolled her eyes. “I’m glad that there was some weird time dilation thing, so I didn’t have to wait weeks thinking you were dead for you to then respawn back home.”
“I’d never make you wait that long, Sally Danger. The things I’d do to be with you…”
She shook her head. “Nope. No more vague foreshadowing from you. Use those lips for something more important, like fulfilling your smooch quota.”
“I thought I was all paid up?”
“Oh, no.” She leaned forward to grab his shirt and pull him closer. “You’re working overtime today, fangs.”
----------------------------------------
An unknown distance away in the endless sea, a large alien spacecraft led a fleet of dozens of smaller vessels.
Inside this oddly shaped ship, the flight deck was a writhing mass of energy. The bipedal cockroach-like aliens scurried about transferring information, while a dozen larger and more decorated ones sat in seats amidst dark screens flickering with bright scrawling.
“Hive splinter Thirteen will be joining the fleet as we pass the G-56 sector, Master.” The mandibles of the smaller speaker clicked together as he addressed the seated individual.
In return, the Fleetmaster gave him a snarl. “Best hope reports are correct, and this is worth our weakened control.”
“Yes, Master. The information from our scout is beyond belief, yet they can tell no lies.”
The Fleetmaster grunted and waved the smaller roach away with his hands. A System World controlled by a Player where they had infinite respawn was an unheard of pairing. For as long-lived and nigh invulnerable as their species had become in stealing and absorbing worlds, they hadn’t been able to grasp onto true immortality.
It was worth bringing everything they had from across the endless sea to ensure they could gain control. The Players in this world were sure to fight back, and being able to respawn was a troublesome problem.
But they could be overwhelmed.
The fleet would bathe the world in his kin. Millions upon millions of roaches would clog up every living space, take up the breathing air, and filter out the sun.
If the controller of the System didn’t give in to their demands, they would smother everything from existence. Once there was no hospitable square inch for people to rebirth into, the tech-roaches could brute force their way into the System itself. A long process that might see thousands of his own kind die from the conditions forced on the target world… but the prize would be immortality for the rest.
Then the entire universe was theirs for the taking.
Every world eaten and consumed. Players and Monsters alike erased from existence. They’d keep on going until nothing remained. Just plain infinity. Featureless and devoid of life - aside from their spaceships.
And then?
Then they would try to punch a hole through reality and invade the universes outside of this constructed reality. They had seen the tethers bringing in new Players and connecting reality to this plane. All they needed was enough time and power, and the joint multiverse was theirs to rule.
The Fleetmaster’s jaws clacked in excitement.
Just one singular world. How difficult could it be?