So that was a bad idea.

Mostly.

After a whole lot of anger and failing to yell at me coherently, Livvie has at least… I don’t even know.

Accepted it, I guess? That I got her pregnant like she wanted…

Apparently she wanted the other part of the process too, but. Well.

No.

I’m good. Sorry.

It’s one thing if I’m under a compulsion that makes me literally feel the… whatever. All of it, all the strange emotions required to want to do that.

But the closest I have for my fox wife… are memories of feelings, memories of wanting to have feelings. And that’s not remotely enough.

Anyway, her anger turned into some kind of strange sorrow, coursing through our link as she leans into me sobbing.

Sorrow, but with some amount of happiness as well… joy, even.

Why did you do that? my second first wife projects through our link as she moves to embrace the both of us. You really didn’t understand what… what she was asking for?

Nope, I project back. She saw you pregnant, she saw Hope, and she wanted in on the experience… or so I thought.

Izzy sighs lightly. Yes, she wanted the experience… the whole experience. And you denied her part of it.

…

I… don’t know if I can give her that, not like I have for you.

The compulsion? she asks, squeezing a little tighter.

Yeah. Yeah, the compulsion. As best I can tell, your Mantle only affects you and the targets of your own affections… and, well. You, obviously.

Yes, and me.

…

…

Although… I wonder.

(Oh good, another terrible idea is on the way.)

It doesn’t surprise me much that these thoughts would spark another admonishment from my old former Assistant.

(Of course it doesn’t, we keep doing this. Don’t we? And I doubt it’s ever going to change at this point,) she huffs.

Probably not, I mentally shrug.

But that won’t stop me from suggesting it, at least.

I’m curious about something.

What’s that? my wife asks.

My experience as Astraea already tells me that this might not be received well, though I’m not really sure.

What effect would it have on me if you had another partner? A wife or something like that? Would I feel anything for them as a result of your Mantle by association, or would it stay isolated?

***

They’re still plotting. I can tell.

All of them. Light, dark, it doesn’t matter.

I’m a game to them.

Just like all the rest…

…

Eris suggested it’s because I haven’t made an effort to befriend or ingratiate myself to either side… or any side, really.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

But she also didn’t deny their plotting… which is no surprise. They absolutely are.

And that’s fine! I could just kill them all, one by one… or lock them in space like… like… whoever the hells that was. I don’t even care.

There’s a better way though…

“This… actually isn’t a bad idea.”

My former Assistant paces the length of her workshop… and back… and forth again.

“Is it really that surprising? I was supposedly you, right? You have nothing but good ideas, or at least that I ever hear about.”

“And you just answered your own question. Everyone has bad ideas, idiot. It’s just that idiots are the ones who air the bad with the good.”

“I see.”

Markus observes mutely… or at least he would be, if the possessed book weren’t fully engrossed in whatever doohickey he’s currently working on. These two really do make an excellent team, Nyx designing and building gadgets where Markus handles the enchantments and more magical aspects of their function – something the daemon has missing ever since losing her Class.

“No thanks to you.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s all my fault our sister is an asshole.”

She snorts. “My sister. You may have my body but you are not me.”

“Fair enough,” I shrug. “So the idea.”

“If we can pull it off, I think it might make a real difference. But the consequences…”

“Consequences be damned-”

“Of course you’d say that,” she interrupts. “You never think about what your actions really mean, do you?”

“Nope!”

And there’s that trademarked Nyx facepalm. Have I missed those? I think I’ve missed those.

“In all seriousness… do you really think it’s a good idea to let the gods play as mortals in a more literal sense than the usual Vessels and Avatars and everything else? Because I sure don’t. The whole point of the Record as I understand it is to maintain divine churn… basically make it so the gods get bored and let themselves die or whatever, get reborn as mortals, and allow someone else to play god next. Right?”

“Right.”

“And this completely defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?”

I shrug. “Mother hasn’t blasted me into oblivion for thinking about it so I assume this is something she at least tacitly approves of, and as far as I can tell she’s the one running the show.”

“I… don’t want to think about that. Let’s not think about that.”

I shrug again. “Not like I can forget. Anyway, we just need to build safeguards against it. And even so, the gods are still going to get bored of playing mortals with time… it just might take a lot longer. This is basically something that would replace the gods being reborn with their memories, and instead eventually choosing to be reborn without them.”

“You’re not wrong,” she says while rubbing her chin. “It’s an awfully big risk just for… why did you want to do this again?”

“I know you can read my thoughts, but I’ll humor you. It’s an awesome idea, really just extending part of the u-comm thing to the gods, sort of… and combining it with mortal ‘video games’ or whatever you called them.”

“Bullshit. You just want them occupied so they’ll leave you alone.”

“Bingo,” I emphasize with a pointed finger. “But it’s the other stuff I just said too.”

Nyx sighs.

“Yeah, you know I’m not wrong. So let’s do it already!”

“I’m not even sure I want any part of this. Sure, it’s big, like really big, and if anything is going to make my name even more known than the u-comm it’s this… even if the mortals just think it’s a joke.”

“Hmm hm, can’t hear you, I’m already making the underpinnings!”

And I am, too! And completely ignoring her asking why she even bothers.

It’s not really that complicated… especially since I copied a solid section of one of the life simulator games wholesale, or at least its functional ruleset.

The player is born to a mortal family, with the race and standing at random. They start with no System, Class, anything – a true mortal.

And then, they live their new mortal life. For all intents and purposes, they become mortal, while still being a god. Their new life spreads out before them, and they live.

Learning, growth, ascendancy if they want it… everything.

Sure, it has a bunch of caveats, some of which Nyx has pointed out. But the one that concerns me more is how it’d create a whole host of mortal ascendants who reach the point of apotheosis and just… disappear as though they never existed.

Because effectively, they didn’t.

It’s not that I care so much about the impact on the gods themselves to see their plaything vanish and have to start over. Nah, they can deal with it. I’m more wondering what impact it’ll have on the mortals who form bonds with those player tokens.

After all, one of the selling points is that unlike Avatars and Vessels, nobody will be able to tell they aren’t just simple mortals.

Maybe… yeah, I’m going to do that.

“Okay so, I get your concerns, but here’s another idea. We build in a thing where when they get close to apotheosis, it shows in their Status and whatever that they’re a player token. Maybe that’d tip off the mortals around them that the person they know is actually the labeled god playing a role, and to not be surprised if and when they disappear. Maybe they’d even think it’s a good thing to have befriended a literal god or something! Sound better?”

“Not in the least!”

“Perfect, it’s already implemented!”

Shortly following another facepalm she asks, “Why are you even telling me any of this? You don’t need me to make anything, do you? This is just a thing you’re adding to the Record.”

“Actually…”

“Actually?”

I smile. “I want you to build a thing for it.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Ooh, double facepalm.

“Seriously though, I want some kind of headset thing for it. That way we can build off the image of the mortal game things, and also give me an easy launching point for the subroutines in the Record. Do you have any idea how complicated it is to make an entirely new way of interacting with the real based only around a god willing it to happen? Yeah, thought not.”

“Well, I haven’t been a god, let alone had access to something so batshit banana bonkers as the words of creation, so of course I don’t.”

“That’s… fair enough, I guess.”

With a heavy sigh she asks, “Alright, fine. You’re going to do this with or without me, so I guess I may as well have my name on it somewhere. Do… do you even know what the hells you want to call this abomination?”

“I sure do.”

…

“We’ll call it ‘Extra Life.’”