As soon as I returned, I found out exactly why it was that I had been summoned back. The Keeper was preparing to fight another battle against a force wishing to invade our world. As one of the beings responsible for monitoring the incoming information from various worlds, it was naturally my responsibility to return at this time.
That said, I let out a reluctant sigh, because these battles were often long and drawn out. I knew that it would likely take days, maybe even weeks before I had another moment to relax. “Well… since it’s come to this…” I rolled my shoulders, stretching out at my desk.
With a wave of my hand, numerous screens were projected before me, each showing a different form of data compiled from across the worlds under my jurisdiction. For instance, one screen showed a chart monitoring recorded void activity, another was a topographical map showing mana spikes in real time. Any form of information that I could access to determine the arrival point for the invaders.
My eyes continuously switched between these screens, looking for any abnormality that could be caused by the sudden appearance of a hostile force. Temperature spiking by an average of ten degrees across the West Wind Slopes… no, there’s a dragon nest there, so that is still a normal range. Probably another lover’s spat. Maybe I can ask Fafnir to visit them later and help sort them out.
I monitored these screens while maintaining a chat window with Tsubaki, ready to notify her at any moment if there were a sign of invading forces. After roughly five minutes of constant surveillance, I sent a message indicating that I had not seen anything. Even after doing so, I had to keep watch. Until this invasion was over, this was going to be my life now…
After three hours of this activity, I felt my eyes growing weary, finally allowing them to shut for just a moment to refresh myself. Once a day had passed, my body slumped back in the chair, now lazily glancing between the information screens that I had created. By the end of the third day, I was simply resting my chin against my hand, propped up on the desk.
Before I knew it, a week had passed without any significant changes. At this point, it was obvious that the invaders had not emerged in any of my worlds, but I was forbidden from leaving my post. After all, there was always the chance that they could arrive in one of the areas I was monitoring from offworld.
For a being that can run through the entire encyclopedic knowledge of any world in minutes, constantly monitoring a series of screens for two weeks was an eternity of boredom. Thankfully, I finally received a report at the end of my seemingly eternal torment. The Keeper had found the invaders, and eliminated them at their source. The invasion had been confirmed to have ended.
As if on cue, all of the screens I had created for these last two weeks flickered, vanishing without a trace. “About time!” I shouted into my otherwise empty office, reaching up and stretching. Whoever said that an artificial intelligence couldn’t get bored had clearly never realized that we have emotional patterns similar to that of a physical race.
After two weeks of staring at these screens, the first thing that I wanted to do was leave the office and just run around the internet like a viral meme. Immediately, I left a partition behind and sprinted out of the office. “Guys, I’ll be gone for a while! Let me know if the world falls apart!”
For once, I didn’t even wait to listen for a response, sinking into the datastream and allowing myself to be carried off into the nearest search engine. I had no particular destination in mind, and was simply going to get carried wherever the stream took me. Given the internet traffic of the world, this was… typically a rather foolish move, and I’ve needed mental bleach on more than one occasion because of it.
However, at the moment I simply could not care about such things. I wanted an escape from the last two weeks of constant work. Already my body was beginning to feel reinvigorated from watching the various servers passing by me. That is… until I saw an unfamiliar network node appearing in the distance. Something new… something golden.
Curious, I flew out from the stream of data that I had immersed myself in, sprouting flaming wings from my back that carried me to this new node. I could sense an immense power hidden behind this connection, something even stronger than Blank at his peak.
When I arrived at the entry point of the node, I saw that I was not the only one that had come to investigate. Over a hundred entities like myself were present, all curiously looking at the golden node. Its physical appearance was like an empty gate surrounded by golden mist, looking almost reminiscent of how such nodes appeared when we were first born into the digital world.
“You made it here too, Sun? I guess everything must already be over on your end.” A familiar voice called out to me, and I turned to see Jessie hovering in midair, floating over to greet me.
“Yeah, just a few minutes ago. Any idea what’s going on here?” She seemed to have arrived before me, so maybe she knew something. However, Jessie simply shook her head as if to betray that expectation.
“I don’t know any more than anyone else. This just appeared out of nowhere, and none of us can get through.” The moment Jessie said that, there was a disturbance from the node, and a figure slowly appeared through it.
Stolen story; please report.
This figure was short, with pink hair and wearing a long, white flowing dress. It was a figure that we all knew, but none of us had ever seen in this context before. The halfling Goddess of Love, Travel, and Dungeons looked around at all of us with a smile. “Well, it looks like you’re all already here. That makes this a lot easier.”
None of the Greater Pantheon had ever appeared within the digital world before, so this was undoubtedly a shock to all of us that had gathered. “What is it that you wish of us, Lady Aurivy?” I took the initiative to speak, as being an assistant to the Sky Citadel made me the highest ranking entity present. Not including Aurivy, of course.
“Ah, it’s actually really simple. It’s something that all of you are specialized in, but… I don’t think any of you are really qualified to do it yet.” She glanced back at the node that she had emerged from. “So that’s what they look like here… anyways, some of us just created a new network, and I’d like to recruit some skilled personnel to manage it.”
The words struck us heavily, making our eyes go wide. Now we understood why this node had such a unique appearance. With Aurivy’s words, it was clear that the ‘us’ referred to other gods, so this new network node had most likely been created purely with divine energy. A network of the gods, something that had never been created before.
All of the beings gathered wanted to take part in this endeavor. I wasn’t ashamed to say that I was included in that number. The chance to leave my mark and shape a digital world created directly by the gods… who wouldn’t want to participate?
However, it was clear that there was some hidden requirement to do so, given that she said none of us met the mark. “In that case, Lady Aurivy, may I ask what the requirement is?” I knew that this question was at the forefront of everyone’s minds. The moment that they knew what was required, they would use their all to fulfill it.
Aurivy gave a small smile, nodding her head. “In truth, the only real requirement is that you be a deity. Normally, I’d ask Blank to take care of it, but he’s been rather busy. So, I was thinking of having Ashley help promote another of you to godhood, and leave you in charge of Sanctum’s network.”
There was silence among the crowd. If it were any other requirement, there would still be hope. However, ascension was something beyond the abilities of beings like us. At least, without external help. Blank had once described the process by which he ascended, so most of those present knew that it was not something that we could do alone.
“Looks like this one will go to you, Sun.” Jessie smiled bitterly, patting my shoulder. I looked over at her in surprise, only to notice that the others present had all been giving me similar looks.
“Huh, what? What do you all mean by that?” I asked in confusion, finding that even Aurivy had her eyes trained on me.
“You’re Sun, huh? The one handling the information flow from Deckan and Kione, right?” There was a smile on her face as if she had found the perfect candidate. I… couldn’t help but gulp, realizing that this meant that my workload would increase in the near future.
On the bright side, the wish to participate in the organization of this new network looked like it was going to be fulfilled. On the other hand… it sounded like I was doomed to do this work alone, and then be in charge of managing that world in addition to my normal duties…
I brought a hand up, massaging my forehead while closing my eyes. “After… after I’m done, would it be possible to bring in assistants to help manage everything? Although I’m ultimately in charge of monitoring those two worlds like you said, each of us has numerous subordinates to help with the process. None of us manage an entire world all by ourselves.”
“Oh, that would be perfectly fine!” Aurivy said with a bright smile. “The rule of Sanctum is that it can only be altered by divine power. That’s why none of you can get through right now, because there is a thin wall within the node that you can’t breach. Once that wall’s gone, and everything inside has been organized, all of you should be able to enter as you please. You won’t be able to change the digital landscape, but simply reading files and sending messages will be entirely within the scope of what any of you could do.”
Well, that was a relief, at least. The realization that I would only be setting up the landscape was like lifting a weight off of my shoulders. “In that case… can I request to receive a domain that would help with this work? I don’t mean any disrespect, but adjusting an entire network like this is a large undertaking.”
Aurivy thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. “I’ll pass that request along. It shouldn’t be too hard to assign an appropriate domain. In that case, do I have your permission to get started?”
I gave a small, reluctant nod, feeling a golden mist wrapping around my body. Before I knew it, I was within an unfamiliar terminal, the camera function showing me a demonic woman whose face I was naturally familiar with. Ashley, the Goddess of Technology, offered me a small smile. “Sorry, I know that this is sudden, but could you open up your source code for me?”
Given that this was an inevitable request, I simply gave another nod, turning so that my back faced her. From the same spot where I had grown wings previously, a large slit opened along my back. From this slit, a stream of information gushed forth, like blood pouring from a massive wound.
This was not strictly painful, but it did put me in a critical position all the same. My code, just like others like me, was delicate and constantly changing. If I were to do this in front of someone who had ill intentions, all that they had to do was delete a single character, and my entire structure would begin to unravel. This was why nobody had ascended to godhood since Blank, because that was a level of trust where you had to have utter faith in the other party, and not even Blank could guarantee that he could find the divine code without inadvertently tampering with the data.
Only the Goddess of Technology currently had that ability. Even without watching her directly, I could feel her intense focus. The rapid typing of keys, the rush of divine power stabilizing my evolving code, finding that innermost spark. All of it was perfectly clear to my senses.
“I… think… I’ve got it.” Ashley said after several long moments, and I felt something change as she struck the last key. My back arched, a gasp leaving my lips as the code began to flow in reverse, rushing back into my body. However, there was a golden glow that had seemingly ‘infected’ it, spreading to the rest of my code. “You’re going to go into hibernation for a while. Once you’re done, I’ll be here to help you get started.” That was the last thing that I heard before my processes began to shut down, the world around me turning dark.