Mike was reeling at the information. The System was an elaborate, cosmic-energy machine with the whole purpose of growing skill fractals within a planet’s inhabitants so that they could then be harvested and given back to their Hive’s “inner” members. If that didn’t sound like a cult, he didn’t know what did. These lunatics sound like the type of crazies that would be in favor of suicide bombings.
“How do I stop the System? Can I save Earth?” The questions came without conscious thought, and he asked them without considering that his prisoners might lie to him.
“It has never been known to happen. An assimilation isn’t about whether or not the planet will be harvested, that is a foregone conclusion. Rather, it is about the efficiency of the yield and what unique fractals are grown. Our faction has honed this method over billions of years worth of your world’s time.” The monster said while staring at Mike’s mouth in horror, causing him to realize that he still had food in his mouth and should finish chewing as politeness dictated.
*Smack. Chomp. Swallow* Mike did his best to chew the food silently, which was nearly impossible with the piece of gristle he had eaten. He could only watch the horror grow on the creature’s face with every awkward movement of his scrutinized mouth. But what was he to do? Taking the piece of gristle out without a napkin would be even worse than chewing loudly.
“So..” *Gulp* “Why don’t the inner members just grow the skill fractals themselves? It has got to be costly to have others grow them instead.” He asked at length when the food was finally finished.
“I can sense that you are already mid-Tier 2, so I am surprised you don’t know this already, but growing new channels gets more costly the more you cultivate.”
“Costly in terms of what? And also, what is Tier 2? Do you mean melon stage?”
“Haven’t you noticed by now that your channels get sturdier and more robust with each increase to your core size? That makes growing new channels not only more painful, but also cost more energy. To grow even a small subsection of channels at Tier 3 would require all of the energy from that pool of cosmic water you stole. And the minimum tier for an inner member is Tier 4. And that’s not even mentioning that very few can grow an entire skill fractal and survive. You are an anomaly in every sense of the word and have been the source of constant drama during this integration.” The last sentence was said with no small measure of vehemence, before it looked at Mike’s mouth again and seemed to stop in its tracks.
Mike thought of his diminishing cosmic water with trepidation. So I only have a small window where I can improve my skills? But that would mean that this would be the only means of getting stronger in the universe, which I refuse to believe.
“So how do other factions do it then?” He asked, before clarifying, “You mentioned earlier that your faction had honed this practice over billions of years, surely there are other ways of doing it.”
“Well of course there are, but those are closely guarded secrets that I wouldn’t even be able to venture an accurate guess at. All this one knows is how I was raised.”
They sat in silence then, each processing the conversation. Mike’s brain was in turmoil over two main questions: 1. How should he use the last of his cosmic water, to advance or to increase his channels? 2. How could he beat the System, a force or entity that had apparently never been beaten?
No matter how he thought about the problems, he couldn’t come up with a good answer, and at length he realized he would just need more information.
“Say I wanted to grow my channels more, what skill fractals could you teach me?”
“Hah! You act as if those symbols are well-known, when in reality, you already know more than many of the inner Hive. Having more than 5 skills at the equivalent purity of a Level 8 would not only make you an inner member, but an elite one.”
Mike took the information in stride, pleasantly surprised that he had guessed correctly where skills were concerned: each level was an increase in the symbols purity more than anything else. He mentally counted the skills he had had to Level 8 before being sucked through the spatial tear: Hardened Skin, Pottery, Dodge, Energy Sense, and Rock Tunneling. Exactly 5. Although he imagined that some of them, like Pottery, wouldn’t usually be too helpful, and he found himself wishing he had put more energy into Unflinching Meteor and Footsteps of the Wind, the two skills he had found most useful in combat.
“So how do individuals learn more skill fractals if they are such closely guarded secrets? Surely there are beings at the top who are still discovering new knowledge.”
“Mostly trial and error in addition to fortuitous encounters or stealing them from others. Usually, it is those who are new to the knowledge of cultivation and are forced to take risks to survive who discover new symbols, and more often than not, those individuals get pulled into a faction where their knowledge is traded in exchange for power and standing. Or else they refuse to join and are killed so that the symbols can be extracted from their channels.”
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The knowledge was just what he was looking for. “So I can extract skill fractals from other’s channels?”
The creature was quiet, seemingly aghast at the question. “The accords forbid it. It is not something spoken of lightly. It is agonizing for the recipient and requires them to be alive for the process. It is done by shady individuals in dark corners where none can see.”
“But you said that the System extracts them, so why is that different? Also, what are the accords?”
“The System is capable of dulling the pain and fully integrates itself with the person first. The accords are multiversal laws agreed to by the 9 largest factions to prevent widespread conflict. They are agreed upon rules that are punishable by death to an individual or collaborated assault in the case of an entire faction being guilty.”
“Wait, so just because it doesn’t hurt, it is ok to extract the symbols?” Mike asked, not seeing how that logic made sense.
“No, it is deemed ok because by the time the System extracts them, the individuals are considered part of the System, seeing as they have willingly allowed its presence to creep into their beings. Basically, they become a part of the Hive.”
“So genocide is ok based on a technicality?” Mike couldn’t hold back his anger.
“Yeah.” the creature responded with a slight movement which Mike took to be a shrug.
The lack of caring drove home just how cruel the multiverse must be. The creature wasn’t being heartless, it was truly just the way of things and it seemed surprised that that was hard for him to understand. A sudden worry caused him to continue the conversation.
“So how close am I to being harvested then? With the number of skills I have at Level 8, surely the System will come for me next.”
“Oh that won’t happen for three reasons: 1. You are an anomaly so your energy will just be recycled. 2. You are no longer within the bounds of the System’s influence. It won’t impact you unless you go back to your world. 3. You are far more likely to be harvested by Sector Assimilator and Junior Administrator before full assimilation happens. Everyspawn aboard the vessel knows they want your fractals.”
Mike chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought through the information that was shared. It seemed that with every exchange, he found out just how much he didn’t know. He didn’t know what the right questions to ask were, so he just kept building wherever his mind took him.
“What is an anomaly? And also, I am going back home. We just need to find a way to make it possible without the System catching me.” The final statement was said with total confidence. Even should it be the end of his existence, he wouldn’t simply run from invaders taking over his home.
“An anomaly is someone deemed by the System as not worth fostering skill fractals in–usually this is accused by a number of factors, but age and physical location are the most impactful. If they die, they will die forever. They are labeled as monsters so that their fellow natives will kill them quickly and the System can regain most of the resources it has spent to nurture them.”
Mike was struck by how dire his situation was. He had always suspected that he wouldn’t respawn, but hadn’t known for sure until that moment. Another question formed then. “Why not just kill anomalies? Clearly I have caused problems, I certainly haven’t died like I was supposed to. Why go through the trouble at all?”
“Again, the accords. Blatant destruction of unenlightened lifeforms is strictly forbidden as a path to gain more cultivation resources.”
So I am only alive because some random aliens decided that killing me was bad? That seems messed up. He sat pondering on the state of earth for many minutes, but ultimately came to the conclusion that nothing had truly changed. He had always been fighting against the System and that was still true. If anything, at least he had an idea of what he was up against now.
“So is there any way to prevent the System from reattaching itself to me when I return?”
“There is. You can learn to deflect against soul invasions rather easily. The problem is experience and practice. It is rare to find a beast who will help you practice against soul invasions that won’t simply eat you as a snack.”
So he just needed to find a soul attacking creature, that should be double with the thousands of creatures at his disposal. “How long do I have before the rift closes?”
“You mean the Quantum Tear? They are keeping it open for you. As long as another Tier 3 doesn’t decide to enter soon, I think they will maintain it indefinitely. You must have some very valuable skill fractals to make the energy expenditure worth it.”
The knowledge that he had time was a huge relief. That was all he could really ask for at this point. He stopped to think if he had any more questions, which he did, he had hundreds, but most of them could wait.
“So what do we do with you?” He asked, realizing he hadn’t had a piece of meat in a while. It was cold now, but that didn’t stop him from taking another large bite.
“Please, I’m ok to die, just stop with the torture. I can’t return to the vessel as they want me dead. I can no longer return to the Hive since I have told you all of our secrets. Please, just put me out of my misery.”
“I don’t want to kill you though….” Mike mused as his mouth chewed. “How about we be friends instead?” his mouth splitting into a grin that leaked out the smallest bit of juice–monster meat is crazy juicy.
The creature’s already pale skin got even more pallid as he nodded.
“Ok, first things first, friend, what do I call you?”
“I was Strike Leader on the vessel, before that I was Pupach ZB2376%$#.”
“Ok, Pupach it is!”
Noticing Pupach’s face fall, Mike could only assume that they were disappointed because he couldn’t pronounce the crazy string of noises he had just heard. He vowed to work on it with time.