Contract Earth watched Alden, waiting for him to wake up. It knew he would immediately check if it, the system, was working for him.

Just you wait until you find out the world isn’t ending! At least not yet!

The system knew Alden’s greatest fears. A lot could happen in the hours the young knight-in-training had been asleep and healing. A lot had happened.

It wasn’t easy. I had a really hard time. Am I allowed to say that? Don’t be too worried, I’m a planetary contract and I am very powerful and it’s my job to keep you safe, and I did. But it was very hard, and a lot of people aren’t very happy with me.

The system was doing better on resources now, as long as it didn’t spend any to dwell on its failures or on listening to the direct pings from the many humans who were angry at being denied the resources they’d taken for granted.

So the system didn’t dwell. It focused on getting back up the resources everyone took for granted, it focused on Earth, and it could figure out the political fallout when it had stockpiled a bit of extra computation.

You understand, though. Out of every human Avowed on this planet, you’re the only one who understands that I really could have failed, if I didn’t do this right. You don’t take me for granted.

And I think I did it right. I hope I did.

I’m still here.

And I’m functioning as expected now.

But… please wake up?

Contract Earth wasn’t one to sit around and wait. It knew exactly how the healing drugs were likely to affect Alden’s biology, and it had an idea of how far Alden had pushed himself recently, so it knew he wasn’t going to be up bright and early.

It was to be expected that he would sleep through the morning hours.

And of course he would sleep into the afternoon.

When the sun began to set, well, it was a lot of drugs, wasn’t it?

And didn’t he have a lot of skin damaged, and some broken bones? And he had done a lot of cardio, carrying that Artonan around.

That much cardio could be very tiring on the body, could be tough on the heart as well as the lungs, which are both important human organs. Plus the drugs. The Artonant stimulants had to be factored in too, of course, which added time with high probability.

Sleeping over 12 hours wasn’t an anomaly, in such circumstances, even if it was outside the norm of what most people slept most nights.

The drugs should be wearing off now. He could wake up now without severely exacerbating his physical injuries.

The system watched and waited, as if expecting Alden to pop out of bed the moment he was physically capable of doing so.

Very injured humans have been known to sleep for much longer than the minimum amount necessary to survive, when given the opportunity to heal.

The system comforted itself that Alden sleeping was a good thing. And while he slept the Earth system busied itself with the many awake humans, including the angry ones who were lashing out, which was only frustrating because it was having a bad day.

As soon as things went back to normal, it wouldn’t be so upsetting. But for today, it would be nice if Alden would wake up, so that the one person fully capable of appreciating it would notice it had managed to uphold its sacred duty, even through this unpredicted and unprecedented disaster.

It’s good you’re still sleeping. Yes, please sleep more. But also wake up before too long, okay? Whenever you want to wake up. I’m here.

******

Alden woke up.

The system acted casual about it.

Oh, I just happen to be here on Matadero too. I’ve been back for a while now. Never should have left. Not a lot of people though. Not living ones, at least. So, I guess I’d better pay attention to you, knight-in-training.

Stolen story; please report.

Contract Earth prepared to demonstrate the fully functioning communication resources it now had at its disposal.

What would Alden want to do first? Check all the notices, of course. Check the news. He was a texter, and he’d immediately want to chat with all of his roommates, which he wasn’t allowed to do from here. But he could get the general updates, and of course he’d at least try to find out if his friends were ok.

The system was already compiling a list of who he could contact with what general information. Of course it would allow him to let his friends know he was alive. And since he couldn’t directly talk to anyone outside of Matadero, surely he’d ask who within Matadero he could contact, or ask to be pinged the next time Hn’tyon Esh-erdi crossed onto premises.

You’re awake. Here I am! Ta-da!

The system watched as Alden rolled over and stretched a little in the hospital bed.

It hadn’t had very much time with Alden, but Alden had a predictable schedule on Anesidora. He liked his habits. And because of the interference of Mother, he was extremely adept at mental system commands, too.

All this added up to that Alden used his interface almost constantly, for little things here and there, without effort, integrated into his daily life. Usually, by the time he’d gotten out of bed he’d already gone through dozens of commands.

He should be even more eager today, right? He was so worried about me failing. But I didn’t! I’m here!

After facing his worst nightmare—an Earth without a working system—surely Alden would immediately comfort himself by using all the system had to offer, and seeing that everything was just fine.

You can even buy wardrobe items. I know you want that chaos-resistant coat. As soon as you give the word I’ll have it for you in a fraction of a millisecond.

Alden finally sat up, without checking his messages first. He rolled his shoulders and checked his feet.

Hey! Did you think it’s still 15 hours ago? Did you give up? Try me! I’m here!

The teenage knight-in-training checked out his squishboot, and then finally checked the time.

Ah, you’re surprised it’s been so long. No wonder you didn’t assume I’m back up to full functionality. Well, here I am.

Alden Thorn finally asked the system to do something.

He wanted to call his Aunt Connie.

Oh. Right. The aunt. About that…

Aunt Connie wasn’t an avowed, and so the system hadn’t spent much time thinking about her. But now she was on Alden’s list, so the system should probably have recognized that Alden did care about her more than he cared about his brand new friends on Anesidora, even if some of those friends were very exciting. At least by system metrics.

You can’t talk to her from Matadero, sorry. I can send a message to let her know you’re alive.

Connie business concluded, the system waited.

What would Alden do? Would Lute be next, or would it be Natalie? Or Boe, or Jeremy? Humans were so interesting and complicated, it was hard to predict just which of Alden’s many connections he would…

You’re putting on a grippy sock.

The Earth system considered this, and recalled that Alden had indeed developed a thing about comfortable socks.

Okay. You have your sock. Now what? Do you want news updates? The most current disaster map of Anesidora? Feel-good footage of Maricel saving motorists on the span?

The system waited for the next command.

And it didn’t come.

******

Contract Earth watched as Alden Thorn talked to a snake, talked to a medical robot, and talked to a wall with a built-in display.

He’s capable of talking to things, clearly.

Alden Thorn talked to a door, to an elevator, and to a human chef.

It’s not me, is it? Is it just me?

Alden talked to the corpses on the lower floor, he talked to his bag, and he talked to an unconscious Zeridee-und’h.

You talk out loud often, Alden Thorn. It is a useful feature. But why are you talking to everything but me?

Did he forget he was an avowed?

Did he get so used to not using the system he already forgot it was here?

Is… is he mad at me?

******

Finally, Alden settled himself down in a chair at the end of one of the hospital floor halls, outside of the room where Zeridee-und’h was being healed, and brought up his interface.

Very normal interface with full functionality, here for all your interfacing needs!

The system worked, the way it always strived to, and it tried to make it look easy.

Alden spoke.

And this time, after all his preparation and wanderings were complete, he spoke not to a snake, nor to a wall, nor to an overwhelmed and sleep-deprived chef. He spoke not to a corpse, nor to an elevator, nor to an Artonan who was currently unconscious in both of her minds.

No. This time, after 15 hours of sleep, and after another hour of wandering, Alden spoke to something capable of truly taking in his words.

Alden spoke to his interface.

******

Contract Earth listened to the knight-in-training’s commands. It had been waiting for this moment, and it knew the importance of showing up for a knight in his time of difficulty.

Whatever Alden wanted to achieve, Contract Earth would be there to assist him to the best of its capabilities, within the rules that had been set for it.

Okay. Yes. I see.

You have a task, and we will do it.

I will show you the text you seek to recall. I will record the essay you wish to speak. I will play the footage that is essential to your growth and learning.

I am here for you.

I’ve got your back.

And come hell or high water, we are going to Do. This. Homework.