While trying to fix a broken Hybrid skill, I get interrupted by a System message. Or rather, something that poses as one.

First off, don't let anyone notice that I've contacted you, please.

This is critical!

For now, please, just listen to what I have to say.

Oh, great. Does that mean my inbox is a public space? This is at least the fourth person who wrote there: the lich Basluth, the Creed guy Amon, the glitch creature... I hope I didn't forget anyone. Can I have some privacy in the future, please? No? Damn...

Not that I'd even know how to respond to these text messages.

Another dialog springs up.

Download progress:

00.00% [>............................................................................]

A download? What for?

If everything went correctly, you should see a file transfer.

You'll need the schematic from the transferred file to fix your problem.

And why should I accept that? That's just a random attachment, that could be anything!! Who can guarantee me that this crappy System doesn't immediately execute any included macro to fuck me over even more?

Wait, does this System even have a virus scanner? Probably not, but then, I've already enough malware in my soul that the only way to make it worse would be to install Windows.

While we wait for the download to finish, let me get some formalities out of the way, Mr. Delacroix.

I currently go by the name Orpyne.

We've met before, and I'm aware that this memory has been lost.

I apologize, that was my shortcoming, but we can discuss the details at another time.

So I ask you, once this is over, please come and visit me. Feel free to bring your family as well.

I suspect you already know where I am. After all, you were right at the entrance to my current residence yesterday.

So the mysterious lady Orpyne really exists - I wonder what she's actually after; if she wants her involvement to be kept a secret from the glitch beast it can't be too straightforward, it seems she wants to play both sides at least.

And I was at the entrance to her home, huh? I guess she means the door behind the glitch passage, but how does that work? I thought the mysterious helper was not a glitch but something like a high-ranking sysadmin.

I guess it is more likely that I was just wrong about the Mother of Glitches being behind that door. Yeah, the glitch creatures would've found that already.

Alright, I'm listening.

Again, I have to apologize for the delay in my help.

You've likely forgotten, but I've been suffering from a severe case of glitch infection for as long as I can remember.

Because of that, my body sometimes stops listening to me for an extended period of time. I often fear that I won't recover from the next attack.

At least it sounds genuine, so she really isn't a living glitch, not yet at least. Admittedly, Para never mentioned whether the "mother" the glitches are looking for was a glitch or something else, so she could still be the rumored Mother of Glitches.

Anyway, I see you've already gathered all the pieces needed to fix your current conundrum. But it seems you're struggling with the final steps, just like last time.

The file I sent you contains three sets of instructions to create a skill that could fix your situation. You'll have to choose the solution you prefer.

I'm sorry to say, but you'll honestly not like either of them. Each has its own unappealing side effect as you should easily be able to see for yourself.

Why does she know about my situation in this detail, and how has she already three solutions ready? I had to interrogate two eldritch abominations about the deepest secrets of the inner workings of souls and skills, and the only thing I came up with was to sacrifice my wife...

I guess this comes with the territory of being an expert in all things souls and system skills. I hope she has something better than I did...

I glance over at the download progress.

Download progress:

8c.f4% [==........=....=............==....=>....................]

Oh, hey, another broken part of UI, how surprising. Must be a day ending in y.

Miss Orpyne sends me more messages.

I'm aware that under the current circumstances, you have no reason to trust me.

But I swear on everything I hold dear that it is in our common interest that you make it through this. I need you as an insider to achieve my ultimate goal.

But if at any point you wish to discontinue our cooperation, simply stand up, I won't hold it against you.

Otherwise, I'll assume you agree to my assistance.

That makes how many wannabe masterminds who want me as their pawn? More than none, too many for my taste. I'm so sick of it...

But fine, I'll play along - for now. I keep sitting.

It takes a few seconds before the next message arrives.

I'll take that as a temporary agreement then.

You're probably asking yourself how I know all of this.

Truth be told, despite being a high-ranking goddess, even I can't safely use divination or scrying skills to discern your situation; the feedback from your glitch infestation would outright destroy me.

I've already lost an important assistant this way.

By the way, if you ever encounter his infected remains, please, put him out of his misery. He deserves as much.

I'm torn between saying this serves you right for violating my privacy and feeling a tiny amount of pity. Though you'd need a microscope to see it.

I have a rough understanding of your situation thanks to your [Essence Drain] skill.

The previous time we met was after a certain accident.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Since we both needed the other's help, we quickly agreed to a mutually beneficial alliance.

Of course, I know that you don't remember it, so I'm willing to renegotiate during your visit.

Suspiciously "fair". As far as I'm concerned, nothing of that ever happened, so why should I trust you at all?

Per our agreement, I helped you deal with the aftereffects of the accident and even brought your divine skill in order; to that end, I had to sacrifice a bit of my essence.

This connection allowed me to survey the situation but also made my health situation worse.

I only have myself to blame for that.

So you say you're the reason I survived the first glitch bath? That's a tall claim, lady!

Still more believable than Elly still being around...

Speaking of idiots, I might've considered asking her for advice on this situation, but if this lady has a backdoor in my skill, she might just as well be able to listen in on our mental communication.

Better not risk it for now.

Now with that out of the way, let me give you a quick rundown of your three options:

1) zero

2) null

3) void

I wait a bit, but she writes nothing else. Is this supposed to be a joke? If so, it's not my type of humor, especially not in this situation.

About what feels like an eternity in this situation, she finally continues.

Sorry, just had another seizure. Where was I?

Right, let me try again:

1) We wipe all your skills and classes in the same way we did last time, preferably without another stroke on my part...

However, since the current glitch-caused strain is quite extreme, we'll also have to remove your titles and there's no guarantee your spirits will survive this time. Even if they did, the temporary removal of the titles would have severe, lasting effects on their personality.

I don't like this option, not one bit. She claims we tried this already, and just look how long that lasted...

Not to mention that I would be guaranteed to lose Eclaire in one shape or another...

2) You file for divorce, specifically from Eclaire.

I still don't understand how you even managed to bind a living soul as a spirit, but except for her reduced skill makeup, she still bears everything a regular soul should have, like personality and memories.

It should go without saying that her fully preserved soul occupies the majority of your soul space; she easily exceeds the safely allowed complexity for a "skill" by several orders of magnitude. Indeed, it is a miracle your soul hasn't come apart the moment you took her in.

That is the solution I arrived at as well. Admittedly, I had no idea how to pull it off, but I want to say I was on the right track at least.

Allegedly, normal spirits are rather simple creatures so they don't take up too much space. Elly cheated something with the title that gave me her, no idea how that works, but for now, I'll believe that it works the way she said; the spirits get a semblance of personality or individuality, and don't take up much extra space because the compressed data was included in the title.

But Eclaire - she wasn't created that way. Lucy did something to regain her missing half as our latest summoned spirit. We weren't together for long, but I didn't see too much of a personality change between our first meeting and now, so that she retained most of her original soul isn't too far-fetched, which means... I'm housing a full soul within my soul. Yeah, that couldn't go too well for long, could it?

But what is the downside? She said that each of the options had a problem associated with it, but I'm not seeing it here. I mean, even if she wouldn't count as my spirit anymore and so wouldn't get the level increases from that, she would still be married to us and get the levels and classes from Lucia's [Unholy Matrimony] skill.

Maybe the implied downside is that we could no longer enact Lucia's plan for a level loop. But with what I've learned about exp recently that might actually be a good thing. Each level needs much more exp than the last, and the System is currently in some form of energy-saving mode for this planet; we'd very quickly reach a point where the ill-gotten exp is not enough to cover the required amount which can only mean harm for our souls...

Suddenly, the glitch creature begs for attention again, "Hey, uh, how much longer will you take? You've been at it for almost an hour, and I don't see much progress."

Oh, really? Didn't I say so before?

"Why are you surprised? This shit is complicated, and you are either unwilling or unable to help."

"Oh, umm..."

"I mean, think about it, if you can, I'm basically inventing a whole goddamn science over here, so cut me some slack. If you have something valuable to add, then feel free to do so, otherwise, shut up and let me concentrate!"

It sounds distraught and its threat-tentacles hand loose, "Awww....."

Anyway, what's the final option? Maybe that is even better.

3) The final option I can give you is to amplify the link between your consciousness and those of your Hybrids.

As you may already know, the connection you have with your Hybrid community transmits, among other things, tiny amounts of the glitches that currently plague you. Even combined with the current environment's infection, that barely taps into their potential to absorb glitches without harmful side effects.

It should be obvious that amplifying the link in general would also strengthen all other effects associated with it.

Why dance around the topic? Just call it what it would become - a hivemind. Maybe not in the sense of becoming one entity but of dulling disagreeable personality traits... Just look at what happened to Therese. There's no denying what caused it - the hybridization process. I did not want it, but it still happened...

I'm not fond of losing my individuality or robbing someone else of theirs. Admittedly, that got me into this whole Deteoh mess in the first place, but I've come too far to back out now. Sunk cost fallacy be damned.

Oh, the message still continues.

Admittedly, I know a few more solutions but you don't have the resources for them, so I'll refrain from wasting our time with them.

Now, I believe, the choice is yours.

Damn, I feel another seizure coming up, excuse me...

Good luck, and see you soon.

It seems the download will still take a while.

So which one should I pick? No, that's really not a question: the second one. I came up with the idea without assistance, and I have enough self-respect to trust in what I came up with.

The first option doesn't sound like it would help in the long term.

Was it Karen who told me about the glitch zones? I think she said that they suspect there would be one below every major dungeon in this world. With how things are going, we'll likely visit them in the future, and if it is only to save people from the side-effects of this disaster. And it would be better to have a reliable way to dispose of these zones.

Not that I see how a skill reset button would work as a skill in the first place - wouldn't it immediately self-destruct?

And the link amplification... Honestly, it sounds like the strongest option. I alone am almost enough to take in a whole glitch area. Let's be a bit arrogant and say it takes ten regular Hybrids for the same result - they already number in the thousands, depending on how long this situation lasts and how well the rescuing goes, it would end up in the hundreds of thousands if not millions if it goes beyond this continent. I can't imagine how bad a glitch disaster would have to be to endanger us at that point.

Also depending on how far this amplification goes, it should also extend to the other benefits the Hybrids get, the level and number of classes they get for free.

But I don't like it - not after what happened with Therese.

No, I'll stick with the second option: give Eclaire autonomy.

If it works like I think it does, it would allow me to choose which spirits get disconnected from me, and then they'd no longer occupy one of the limited spirit slots. We could build up an army of disposable minions from nothing - and most importantly, destroy that traitor Elly.

I think some more in the few minutes until the download finally finishes, but my decision doesn't change.