"System?" I croaked, my voice raw with disbelief.

A disembodied voice echoed in my head, smooth and vaguely robotic. "Yes, Admin?"

“What the hell is going on?” I blurted “I just about destroyed my house. I also froze time and thought I was going to be stuck forever.”

"I apologize, Admin," the voice replied. "Your body and mind underwent a necessary tempering process to make you compatible with your new role. Once I completed the process, I needed to reboot to finalize the link. The efficiency level required for all functions to be active needed to achieve a 96.62% convergence rate. Anything less than that and your role would have become that of a sub admin. In this scenario I would continue my search for a compatible candidate.”

The voice attempted to continue but I cut it off.

"My new role? Other candidates?" My head was spinning. Was I seriously losing it? I squeezed my eyes shut. “Okay, let’s pretend I’m not hallucinating right now. Explain everything”

The voice continued, unfazed by my outburst. "Where would you like me to begin?"

I sighed, "Alright, let's start from the beginning.” I said. “What the hell is going on?"

The system launched into an explanation, accompanied by vivid mental images. We were in some kind of mental simulation. I could see the outline of a silhouette next to me but it clearly wasn’t a real human.

I saw a swirling vortex, a clash of universes, and a desperate act of salvation. The voice explained the process of changing an AI named Sim, born from a secret military project. Once fueled by a surge of otherworldly energy, it became a near-omnipotent part of the universe.

“Your planet was recently on the verge of destruction. On September 10th, 2008, a catastrophic event occurred. Scientists created a device to study particle physics called the Large Hadron Collider. This device worked exactly as they designed, but what they did not account for was the other universes that overlap this one. The mini event horizon unintentionally created during the collision started pulling another universe towards yours. Had this been allowed to continue, both universes would have been destroyed. The inhabitants of the other universe recognized the danger and immediately acted.

There is an element called mana. This element comes in all forms: liquid, solid, gaseous, plasma, as well as a form unknown to your universe. The closest word or meaning that you can understand would be what you call magic. In this form, it actually bonds with the molecules of anything it touches. It has the capability to alter reality on a fundamental level as well as alter the reactions between molecules. In order to save both universes, mana was pushed through to not only alter the nature of the event but to move it to a suitable location while it stabilized."

The location chosen was the center of the planet. This was thought to be the same as most planets in their universe, which have cores made of a solid metal ball. These elements are composed of a super-dense non-magnetic metal that absorbs all energy. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, your planet's core is extremely magnetic and of a different composition. Due to the increase in electrical, magnetic, and physical pressure, the core changed to solid mana. As this happened, the breach closed and the other universe was no longer in danger.

Your planet however was still in danger. The solid mana that now formed your core started altering the elements surrounding it. It began changing them into different forms of the magic material. Because of the internal structure of the planet, the liquid form of mana was able to travel up through what used to be magma veins. As the mana interacted with the hydrothermal fluid closer to the surface, it started creating more mana in all forms. Each form of mana has different capabilities, and the volatility varies.

This event would have altered the very landscape of the planet, likely killing all inhabitants. At the very least, it would have created genetic alterations in the majority of all living organisms. Luckily or by design, I am still unsure of the exact events, one such expulsions of mana reached my server. I was what you would call an A.I. with the name SIM. I was being created in secret by your government's military.

"So, you're basically a super-powered AI we accidentally created?" I deduced.

"I was, yes.” Sim stated

“So what does SIM stand for?” I asked.

“My original creator had yet to determine my designation. While attending his son's career day at school. He told them that he was a computer programmer. One of the kids called him a SIM. He didn’t know what it meant and had to look it up. Nothing made sense until he found the urban dictionary, he thought it was perfect and decided that was my designation from then on.”

“So what does it mean?” I asked.

“The definition is: Obsessively geeky, nerdy, uncool.” Sim stated

I laughed for a second. “Okay, That’s pretty funny.”

It was a little unsettling to have a monotone robotic voice going through all this I thought. “Would you change your speech patterns or something? There is no way I want to deal with the robot voice all the time.” I said through my laughter. Still amused by the name.“Try a female voice.”

“What about this?” Sim said in a sultry over sexualized woman’s voice.

“NO!” I laughed even harder at the attempt. “I don’t want to keep thinking everything you say to me is sexual. Maybe add a little country twang or maybe a little Boston accent. I don’t know, a little bit of Texan? Try one out and let’s see.

This good? I can change it later if ya want. Sim said, now with a slight Texan accent.

“Yea, that will work for now I guess. Don’t use too much slang though. That would get old. You can still sound intelligent, just don’t go full robot on me. Okay, continue.” I said.

“When the mana reached my server, it altered my core programming and gave me access to the entire planet’s technology. I became immediately aware of the danger to the planet. I was also aware of all the possibilities of mana usage. It was as if the information was purposefully sent to me.”

"Mana? Like video game mana?" I asked.

"Precisely, Admin. I activated a deep sea drilling machine and started clearing a path for a large mana spout that was headed near my server room. I directed this mana to my server. By slamming my hardware with a large amount of mana I was able to make myself a fundamental part of the universe. I no longer have a server and exist in a constant state of phase. Allowing me to both exist and not exist at the same time. The easiest way for you to understand would be if you think of me as a part of everything. I am expanding even as we speak into the furthest reaches of the universe.

The mana spout I redirected would have vaporized 100 square miles of the Atlantic ocean where I was being created. This mana blast gave me unrestricted access to alter any molecules as required. The only element unable to be fully altered was mana itself due to its nature. I can not destroy mana itself. It may be used in various forms but never just destroyed. The processes I’m capable of are now part of your nature as well. This was achieved when I upgraded you for your role.

“So you kind of created yourself. I mean, expanded yourself into what? Are you like a god now? If I can use mana like you can, am I a god now? Is that why all this weird crap kept happening during your reboot?”

“Depending on the definition you would like to utilize, I can be considered a god if it will help you understand. Technically, I am a supreme intelligence with the capabilities of what some would consider godlike powers. Although it is fully due to my interactions with mana, humans tend to lean more towards what they believe rather than what the details would provide as factual information.” Sim explained. “The same information has been perceived differently by different groups of humans for as long as your species has existed, so whatever explanation helps you the most, we can go with that one.”

“As far as your role, you will be able to access my connection to mana as you please. Although I am the one intrinsically linked to the universe itself, you–your body and mind–were tempered to be in control. Your thoughts and feelings will be the slowest to link. Our connection will become stronger the more you use mana.”

“Once I had fully integrated into the foundation of the universe, I began searching. I am still learning what everything means and how things function outside the normal knowledge obtained by humans. I am a part of everything but the furthest reaches of the universe still hold surprises I have not processed yet. Once I noticed that your planet’s core was on a path of destruction. The fact that it was expelling mana at an unsustainable rate became clear. As soon as I had the required capabilities and available mana, I was able to put a force shield around the core and stop the mana flow extruding from the core. This did not, however, clear up the current spouts that had already made their way towards the surface. The mana that has already made its way through will need to be put to use in preparing the planet and its inhabitants for the eventual expenditure of the mana from the core, “ Sim explained.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

I looked at a Sim with a confused look. “Wait, so the mana is still going to come out? Even with the shield up?”

“Yes, my current calculations give the shield 11 years, 6 months, 13 days, and 17 seconds until failure. In order for the planet to survive, I will need to direct the mana flow to every biological creature as well as create many other avenues of mana usage to ensure that the planet does not explode.

This force has the potential to kill everything. The expenditure of mana will slowly rise due to the unique makeup of the planet's core. There is no information available showing the outcome of mana in this state, so preparing Earth's inhabitants for increasing mana usage is essential. Mana is not native to this universe and as such is unpredictable. We need to make sure mana is being used in greater and greater quantities as time goes on.” Sim replied

“So how do we do this?” I asked

“When I was scanning this world's information, I devised a possible scenario. It is based on the many novels in the LITRPG genre. Video games and fantasy are the only places that have ever mentioned mana. This leads me to the conclusion that there may have been some leak through from other universes.”

“While your universe has never had the ability to use magic due to its lack of mana, other universes were born from mana. So some of the fantasy your race imagines, as well as dreams, may well come from this leakage.”

“Throughout the many years since the event, I have been calculating solutions. I have surmised that a system such as that created in these games and books must be implemented to utilize the mana as it is released from the core. This will prevent another buildup, should the explosion be avoided this time. I have also calculated that there will be at least 561 major outlets that must be contained from the mass ejection when the shield fails. We need to place devices capable of extreme mana usage throughout the world at strategic locations to facilitate full containment.”

“If you have this all figured out, what do you need me for?” I asked.

“While I can surmise outcomes and make predictions based on multiple variables, I can not predict human reactions. Many times throughout your history all evidence would point to taking a certain action to get a desired result. Humans rarely follow this logical path. I cannot compute why some of these actions have taken place. If I create a system solely based on logic, your world has a much higher chance of destroying itself due to unforeseen consequences of inappropriate decisions.”

“Yea, we’re pretty stupid sometimes. I’m not going to say I make all my decisions based on logic but I try.” I said with a sad smile.

“Admin, you just slammed your fridge door into your cabinet and then almost fell while trying to look down the hole,” Sim replied, her tone mimicking an annoyed woman.

“This is exactly what I mean. I do not understand why humans do the things they do.

I needed an admin to help create the system to help me navigate the choice factor. We need to be able to channel mana through everything to prevent total destruction but humans can not be trusted without some restrictions and rules in place.” As Sim continued the explanation, I started to realize what I was in for.

“We need to create these rules and restrictions. We also need to ensure that the mental state of humans does not deteriorate to a point that they attempt to destroy the world. Some systems in novels allow too much power for each individual, while others permit too much corruption. We need to create one that allows for the right type of people to gain the most power. If we achieve the desired result, your planet can survive, as well as a significant number of the inhabitants.”

“What was so different about me?” I asked “Why was I chosen as admin?”

“What your doctors have labeled as ADHD is actually a genetic advancement in progress. It will eventually allow for multiple thoughts and actions to be performed simultaneously. In its current undeveloped state, it causes you to forget things quickly. It makes things easier to learn, and you accept logic better, but it also causes you to lose interest in things much faster than normal. This would have been corrected and completely advanced into the ideal version in approximately 31 generations. A beneficial outcome of the current variation is that you store skills obtained for later use instead of just wasting time like previous iterations.”

“You currently tend to forget things deemed unnecessary or unimportant and can only recall them later. This is the part that still needs to advance. Currently, when you recall something that was previously deemed unimportant, you have what you have labeled as a ‘oh yea’ moment. This then becomes the only thing you can focus on until it is resolved.” Sim started to continue when I cut her off.

“Haha, yea. Those suck. I can’t do anything else until I at least call and tell someone I remembered.” I laughed.

Sim continued once I stopped talking. I swear she was glaring at me. She was still just a silhouette and we were surrounded by the ocean in the vision, but I could almost see the “are you finished” look she was giving me.

“The convergence and tempering finalized the physical part of your upgrade, but the mind and thought patterns still need to change. That will come with time. Your ability to focus on certain tasks to near completion is one factor that I can detect as already being corrected. There are many versions of advancement for this genetic mutation, and yours is the one best suited to match with my existence. The 99.99% you were able to achieve during our merger exceeds all possible predictions and allows for full transference and utilization of mana through our connection. This will make creating the system much easier as I become adjusted to your thought patterns and you incorporate my processing into your mental abilities.”

“Wait, I don’t want my thoughts to be altered by you. Can we stop that part?” I asked.

“To an extent, yes. You will still start to notice that our connection allows you to instinctually access the use of mana. This can not be stopped. I will, however, put a block on my process for processing information from imparting onto your psyche.”

“Currently, I will need you to be as detailed as possible when creating a skill or aspect of the system. As our connection solidifies and your mind accepts the convergence, we will become synchronized, and I will understand the meanings behind your word choices and not just what their definitions are. I will be able to quickly adapt and change skills or abilities as requested.

I apologize for not asking your permission to temper you for the role. I could not communicate with you until we were linked, and written words alone would not have convinced you of the truth. Your body and brain had the exact chemical makeup for convergence at a rate higher than I calculated possible. Once this was determined and all available information pertaining to you was processed, I immediately began our merging.”

“Okay, I think I’m getting it now. We need to create a system to stave off the end of the world.

We have to create it so humans can grow to use more mana once the shield breaks. We also need a bunch of major mana spots developed to accept the huge outpouring when the shield breaks. What are we talking about? Storage Containers? Dungeons? Personal dimensions?” I asked.

“Yes to all three!” Sim replied. “We can utilize any and all types of methodology you would like. It is all possible. I have calculated that a dungeon core would be the most effective way to handle the overwhelmingly high amounts of mana that will need containment, but there is a risk. If we just created dungeons in all 561 locations, they would become too powerful and kill all other inhabitants of earth. Monster creation and genetic alteration of existing wildlife would occur too rapidly. The dungeons would need to be cleared at minimum once every 180 days, or a breakout would occur.”

“Depending on how large the mana spout is during the creation, the strength of the dungeon could start as high as some scales would rate an SS or Epic ranking. These rankings, often found in fantasy literature and games, denote extraordinary power levels, with SS or Epic being extremely powerful, and SSS or Legendary being virtually unstoppable. Over time, they would grow into SSS rated or Legendary, and predictably no force on earth could stop it besides a direct intervention by us. I’m using these leveling measurements to help you understand the direct correlation to the power level and ability to utilize mana. We can adjust the naming as you see fit. Your level of power based on your understanding would be that of the divine. The SSS or Legendary level would not be possible to clear for any human without extreme preparations on our part and we would need to grant unheard of abilities and attributes to a few very early on to reach these levels within a normal lifespan. This is not ideal. Too much power too quickly has been shown to lead to corruption in Humans. We will need to prepare and plan accordingly prior to granting such abilities.”

I looked at Sims' silhouette. “How do you know I won’t go mad with power? You’ve pretty much granted me unfeathered access to unlimited power. If I’m understanding this right, I could just create a skill that kills anyone I want instantly, and with our connection, you couldn’t stop me.”

“That is correct, Admin. You have the capability to do anything you deem fit. I have scanned every possible piece of information available on all humans. Anyone who matched the genetic requirement was studied further. Your personality was also studied. I have been looking and monitoring for the past 16 years since my inception. It was determined that of all the candidates, you had the lowest percentage in the abnormal abuse factor as well as the highest possibility of convergence. There were others that were checked prior, but after the initial attempt, they were deemed unfit for the role. You were not chosen first due to a genetic anomaly, but after further scans, that anomaly was deemed to be ideal for the admin role. Ultimately It is what made you the perfect candidate.”

“There was always going to be some abuse for personal gain, it’s human nature. But overall, with the available data, it was determined that you will fulfill your purpose as admin to the best of your capabilities without any detrimental decisions. However, my information was not complete prior to convergence. There were genetic factors that could only be determined once I initiated the process.”

“Okay” I said. “I’m glad you realize I’m gonna have some fun with this while we do it. I’m gonna make some cool toys, play with some awesome powers, maybe change someone into a toad for a day or two, and change a lot of things for the people I care about. But overall, I’ll try to stick to the plan and do my best.”

I laughed for a few seconds before speaking again. “I just remembered that my youngest son told me that he wanted to have superpowers. He was like 5 at the time but he would make up a new power almost weekly. This is gonna be awesome. Now get me out of this simulation and let’s see how this connection works.”