Symphony Book 3: Edited Chapters 41-43

Chapter 41: Pain

For Walker, the time between his overlay shutting off and turning back on was but a moment. He hoped that it was the same for everyone else. Other than that, there was not much else that was different after the Omniverse upgraded everything after coming here. 

Which naturally led him to be angry at the Evolvers again.

They had intentionally been shitty to their citizens. Restricting their ability to communicate with others and limiting their potential for greater abilities. They were about me, not we. Spending resources on upgrades for their citizens probably wasn’t even a thought for them. Hell, they’d spent resources to restrict the anonymity setting.

The more he thought about the Evolvers and what they put people through, the angrier he grew. It got to a point where he had to stop thinking altogether just to contain himself. But almost as quickly as the anger had risen, it faded away. He had work to do, and he’d already had a break.

After staring into the darkness for a few minutes to get his emotions back under control, he pulled up his inventory. It was time to test something out.

Omniversal Manual: The Bounty system

As soon as he clicked on it, a book appeared before him.

It was thick and ranged in hues from brown to black, with red writing on the cover that his translator picked up on. While it did its thing, he also noted that it was worn out. Some of the pages appeared slightly torn, and he briefly wondered if this was an Omniversal hand-me-down and who might have held it before him.

The translator came through; the chicken scratches changed before his eyes until they appeared to him in American.

The Bounty system

Tsk’ing, Walker spoke to the emptiness around him, “Not very helpful.” He clicked on Identify next.

The Frayish guide to the Bounty system:

An all-inclusive guide to everything the Strandbinder needs to know about the Bounty system. This book contains over twenty-five thousand pages of information, including instructions on integrating it with other systems, modifying and adding items, and the proper treatment of your heroes.

Twenty-five thousand pages? He thought, turning the book over, Where?

Walker opened the cover and found a small inscription on the left.

May this guide help you and your people to prosper—waste not that which death has taken.

Walker appreciated the sentiment.

He turned the book over. There was no way it had twenty-five thousand pages in it. By comparison, it was half the thickness of a standard dictionary. There was something fuckey going on with this book. Walker skipped a few pages and read the title at the top of the page.

Attaching the Bounty system to individual entities

“Alright, fair enough.” He skipped toward the end, scrolling through until he found another chapter title.

Reputation: The ill seeds of unearned tales

“Cool turn of phrase.”Instead of losing all the time it would take to read twenty-five thousand pages, he would use a skill he’d chosen over many others.

Walker clicked into his overlay and tried to find the Universal Translator. Of course, it was near the bottom of his eclectic System-granted abilities.

The Extract upgrade:

An upgrade to the Universal Translator, this ability allows the esteemed member of the Order to scan documents and extract them in their entirety.

Warning: This ability comes with a pain threshold. The greater the threshold, the more that can be extracted at once. Further expansion of the mind or the member’s Primordial limits will raise the threshold accordingly.

Walker noticed two things right away. The first was that it was talking about an expanded mind. The second thing he noticed was the phrase Primordial limits. 

He knew Primordial energy well. It was…well… everywhere. But this was the second time he’d seen Primordial used as a way of speaking about people directly. The CLE had called him a Primordial human. Was that because he was a lower life-form? No, it couldn’t be, or Primordial energy wouldn’t have such an impact across the versi…

Walker thought back to his closest interaction with Primordial energy, the collider. That was where he’d gotten the Origin from. The same material that had been implanted in all of the gods.

Right now, he was in the third stage. From the talk of the Primigenials, he had thought that the fourth stage was the last. But now he didn’t think so. Maybe that was just as far as they’d been able to go. 

With his own infusion into them, it was likely that their limits had been further raised. It didn’t matter that he’d just wanted to remove the stain of the Awakened, but now, he may have just created a bigger issue.

Always more to think about…

But right now was the time for testing, not thinking. Clicking the ability, then the book in his hands, his screen changed.

…Analyzing…

…

Warning:

The knowledge contained within is expansive. New terminology and concepts will challenge your current understanding of the world, strands, and your connection to both. Pain will occur at a level that exceeds your ability to adapt.

It is suggested that you extract the information in pieces.

Another screen popped up.

100% Extract: Death likely

75% Extract: Death likely

50% Extract: Mental damage likely, information lost

25% Extract: Mental damage possible, information lost

10% Extract: Pain likely, Nominal retention

Please select from the options available:

“What would’ve happened if I weren’t at the third stage? Two percent?”

Walker looked down at the book, understanding just how long it would take him to read it. Instead of losing that much time, he could just click a button and have it downloaded into his brain. Pain would come, sure, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d gone through a little pain to save time.

Making his decision and acting before he could think about it, Walker clicked on ten percent and accepted.

The book glowed with a golden sheen in front of him, just as something punched into his brain. Thoughts and images cascaded around, other people’s writing and conjectures feeding into different parts of his brain. It felt like small parts of him were being pushed down. Important memories. Critical moments. Matt.

His mental catalog, which he had now spent a good amount of time building, was being pulled apart by a third-party ability that had no qualms about what was important to it. When it finally stopped, Walker heard a voice speaking in the background.

“Walker, are you okay?” A small rumbling came out.

A throbbing pain echoed from multiple parts of his skull as his brain sorted the new information.  Odd thoughts, like strand combinations, began to filter through. 

The Consciousness strand, which he’d only used a little in the past, had a whole new range of capabilities he’d never considered. As did Soul Constructs…and Potential energy. He’d barely even touched Potential energy, but as it appeared in his mind, different combinations reached out and spoke to him. Guided him. Told him that everything he’d been doing was not only blind but dangerous.

Another combination made the connection, and Walker reached out a hand, placing a small amount of kinetic energy in it.

“Walker, what are you doing now?”

“It’s okay, man. I…absorbed a big book. It had a lot of stuff in it that’s going to help us out.”

He went to work, mentally cataloguing the new information as he found it. Anytime a new thought appeared, he shifted it in, pushing it into an Omniversal category with a label marked Frayish. Each combination presumably had something to do with the Bounty system, although he still wasn’t sure what. He’d assumed the ten percent mark would allow him to absorb it sequentially, from start to finish, but he didn’t think that’s what had happened.

Walker clicked on Extract again while still holding the manual in front of him. The ten-percent extract now said it would cause mental damage, meaning he had to wait. 

He snorted, then ducked his head as it caused the throb to explode in pain. Squinting one eye open through what felt like the world's worst brain freeze, he clicked on his inventory and found the option for it to take the manual back.

Walker sighed as it disappeared from sight and temptation. If only ten percent gave him a bunch of ideas about how to better create strand combinations, one hundred percent would be powerful indeed.

As the throb ebbed, he wondered why they had strand combinations in a manual about a system. Considering it, he made a logical leap. His idea about combining strands into the skill system wasn’t unique. In fact, it may just be something that the Omniverse does as a matter of course, making his thought unoriginal.

He gave a light laugh at himself.

Oh, poor Walker. You only made your own universe and created a civilization from nothing. Boohoo, you’re not special enough.

“Why are you now laughing? You were in pain a moment ago, yes?”

“I’m fine, Ulysses,” Walker said as he waved a hand to show he was okay.

“And the Kinetic energy?”

Walker looked down, just now remembering it was still there. Strange what you can get used to. He’d only put a few resources into it, and already it looked like it had faded. The energy wasn’t sparking as fast as it normally was.

Interesting

Not wanting to waste the resources, he considered the combination. It seemed straightforward enough. Kinetic plus Dimensionality. What could go wrong? Looking out at the darkness, Walker explained his experiment to Ulysses so he wouldn’t be caught unaware.

“I see. Yes. I believe that this should work. I….feel it.”

Walker nodded, “Me too. So, we ready?”

“We are.”

With the approval of the one being who might be more affected than Walker himself, he began. Holding Kinetic energy in his left hand, Walker took Dimensionality in his right. This was the first time he’d be testing what would happen when combining strands from different strand categories—Dimensionality from Cosmic, and Kinetic from Energy.

Remembering how much pressure it took to create the double strands in the past, Walker took them both and immediately brought them together. This wasn’t just a test of combining strands across categories, but also a small test of reliability in the information he’d just extracted from the manual. Both had major implications moving forward, and he needed to see if what they’d taught him was true.

According to his stray thought, Dimensionality and Kinetic should make gravity. However, whether that was going to happen or not was still uncertain, as pushing the two strands together was…impossible. Neither strand wanted to work with the other. It wasn’t like when combining the doubles of the past. They just bounced off of each other, rather than the small connections he’d felt during his Cosmic testing.

While Walker’s face turned red from the effort, Ulysses spoke up, “Walker, would you like some help?”

“Help…how…” Walker got out through ground teeth. He couldn’t let up the pressure, as he wasn’t sure what would happen if they were to combine disjointly.

Suddenly, Walker felt an enormous pressure descend on both of his hands. It felt like a god had grabbed his arms and pushed them together.

“Just a little help.”

The space around Walker’s hands seemed to crack, small tears appearing as Ulysses calmly said, “Whoopsie daisie,” just before Walker’s hands met in the middle.

Two things happened then. The strands combined, Walker feeling great pressure from the now double-stranded creation sitting in front of him. The other thing that happened was the reason it was sitting in front of him instead of in the palm of his hand. Both of his hands had shattered from the pressure, and a great amount of blood now leaked into the darkness covering him.

“FUCK!”

“I said whoopsie daisy,” Ulysses not so contritely responded, “it's your fault for being so…breakable.” The tears in space around him disappeared a moment later, “See. I learned how to fix tears in my own body; you should do the same.”

Looking at his mangled hands while trying to hold back a scream, Walker then looked up at space, “You’re kind of an asshole.” He said through gritted teeth to keep from screaming. His eyes found the double strand again. It looked like nothing less than a rotating ball of energy, its lightning form changed to an orange gas. The fringes of its coloring tapered off into white as it continued to move in heavy circles, seeming to dance with itself in an empty universe.

He felt as it started to take a greater hold on him, dragging him towards it. “Fuck me, I’m not going to be able to put this in my resources.”

“Then don’t,” Walker felt as Ulysses seemed to shrug. “It will be good for me to study it. Here,” the double strand looked like it was gently slapped, and a moment later, it flew out to the darkness of Ulysses' body. “Now you don’t have to worry about it.”

Walker sighed as his painful work floated out to the emptiness, “Well…shit.”

“It seems that your manual was right.” He paused, “What else did it talk about?”

Walker waited until a few of his fingers fixed themselves, the joints painfully straightening as he held his hands to his chest. Breathing a sigh of relief at the pain lessening even a little, he looked up, “It talked about different methods for expanding system AI. I thought, if we could do it for system A.I., couldn’t we do it for you as well?”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is,” Walker said, holding for a second as another bone slotted itself correctly, “How would you like to be my guide?”

Chapter 42: An Alternate Trinity Strand

“By guide, are you speaking of the token you received during your strand tests?”

Walker started to respond when another bone shifted back into place in his hand, “ye-yep!” He breathed out in relief while pulling up the description he’d been denied before.

Hello Architect Dante

This is an Omniversal Guide token

Due to the integration of your first universe, you will have two options for how to use it.

You may place a call out to the Omniverse, wherein the REDACTED will cover the transport fees of a guide who will assist you in understanding the new environment you find yourself in.

Or

You may merge the guide token with an expanded mind.

Please select one of the available options.

A “local” contacts tab was now present in his overlay. As he clicked on it, Ulysses appeared with a brief breakdown.

Ulysses: The Universal Personality

Simple enough.

Using his new-fangled share button, Walker sent the information over and then requested to add each other as contacts. Ulysses did so right away, popping up on Walker’s contact list. Curious about what it might say, he asked Ulysses to tell him about his contact description.

“It says Walker Reed: System Architect, Creator, Primordial Human.”

“That’s a lot of titles,” Walker replied while scratching his head.

“Hrmm, I believe that each is a title associated with something else. System Architect for the Omniverse. Creator for the Evolvers. And, similarly to my own title, Primordial Human to describe what you are.”

That tracked. “Why do you think it says Creator instead of System Administrator for the Evolver Multiverse?”

“Maybe the Omniverse is aware that you don’t want them to know you’re the System Administrator? Or, more likely, the System Architect title supersedes the authority of an administrator, thereby replacing it.”

“So it could be like camouflage to protect me from them?”

“Perhaps, or perhaps not, we may never know.”

Walker clicked on the Guide token again, “We may if we make you my guide.”

“Are you sure about this?” Ulysses's voice boomed out, “I already feel like I’m going to have enough to do here. Just learning Dimensionality is taking up most of my attention.”

“How much attention are you giving me right now?”

“A little over one percent.”

“That little?”

“Yes, which is still more than I should. To be frank with you, Walker. Our conversations thus far have not been the most enlightening.”

Walker waved a hand, “Fair, fair. But, what if you only had to give me a fraction of a percentage’s attention?”

“That A.I. empowering you spoke of earlier?”

Walker suddenly felt the space around him change, as if he were the single most important thing in the universe at that moment.

“You now have five percent of my attention. How does it work?”

“Uh,” Walker paused as he adjusted to the feeling, “So, we tested out the manual’s information, and gravity is good to go, even if I didn’t get the reward.”

“Correct, it has been very beneficial for me to learn from.”

Walker gave two thumbs up, “Great, happy to hear it. So, since one of the combinations worked, I can make a somewhat reasonable belief that another will.”

“What’s the combination?”

Walker looked deadly serious, “Reflection with Consciousness.”

“A Trinity strand?”

“Just so,” he said with a nod, “If we combine the three, my brain is telling me it’ll create something I can use to empower AI. However, there’s this other wiggle in my mind—like it can do so much more than that.”

“A wiggle?”

“A big one. Like, I almost have all of the information, but it’s just out of reach.”

“I see,” Ulysses went quiet, using the five percent for all its worth. Walker spent that time examining the new Overlay upgrades more closely. Trade was interesting. He’d set resources as restricted, but as the System Architect, apparently, that didn’t apply to him.

“I think we should try,” Ulysses said with a loud boom, startling Walker out of his overlay. “If you believe it will empower me, I will put my trust in you.”

Walker took a second to center himself, then said, “I mean, not too long ago, you were me. Not trusting me is like not trusting yourself.”

“To a small degree, that is true, Walker. However, I no longer think the same way you do. Your thoughts are focused on one thing at a time, whereas I find myself bored with doing so. Even as we speak, I have a dozen experiments moving through my body, testing the limits of time, space, and dimensional forces.”

He didn’t like the sound of that, “So you’re actively aware that you’re evolving. Will that be a problem?”

“No more than it is with anyone else, Walker.”

“And if I empower you, are you still interested in managing a few of my systems? I’m not sure what the Evolvers can see over there whenever I make a new one, so-”

“I remember your thoughts on the Sapient’s systems, Walker. That is fine.”

“Alright,” he replied with a grin. “So, are we ready to do this?”

“Excited now, are we?”

“Just ready to see what else is gonna happen. Just so you know, I’m going to combine this into my overlay. I feel like this is one whose rewards I’ll need.”

“I understand.”

Walker gave him the plan, fully understanding both the impending difficulty and the potential reward. But as he’d discovered across his existence, life was about challenging yourself. Since he’d left Sonata, he’d visited another Creator’s world, experimented with strands, and created an entire universe with his own hands. 

But this step would finally begin to push him to new and unique systems. It was the best thing he could do for his people.

Once Ulysses agreed with Walker’s plan for how to combine the strands, he created a dozen reflections of himself. Soon enough, twelve Davids looked at Walker, ready and willing for the next step.

“Ready?”

A few nodded, while one particularly loud David yelled out, “Just do it already!”

Ulysses boomed in with his ascent, and just like that, his next trial started.

Placing the Reflection strand in his hand, he transferred it over while taking the brown of Consciousness in its place. Raising his hands high, he looked over at the Davids, and they moved, splitting into two teams of six on either side of him. With their hands on his arms,  Walker guided the Consciousness and Reflection strands together as small beads of sweat dripped down his back.

He felt the pressure of the Universe’s attention ratchet up as his hands grew closer, “Really interested in this, huh, Ulysses?”

“Ten percent only, Walker.”

With careful and controlled movements, his hands came together in the middle. As they met, rather than the clash he had experienced with Cosmic power or the odd reverse magnetism of the Gravity combination, this one felt like jelly trying to smother a hard rock. Consciousness flowed over and around the Reflection strand rather than seeping into it. It squirmed and shifted, forcing him to focus twice as hard on getting it into place.

It was an odd moment for him.

His planned need for both the Davids and Ulysses quickly fizzled out as the strands refused to hold against one another. It was a bust, and all twelve of the Davids around him knew it as they eyed the two strands rubbing each other in his hands.

“Stupid…”

“Well.shit”

“Walker, that way isn’t going to work.”

“I know! Okay! Just….” He looked at the strands and did his best to mash them together, but no matter what he tried, they wouldn’t go. Then he had an idea. Walker covered himself fully in his darkness and put his idea into action. 

Just because the Davids didn’t have soul powers, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t lend them some of his own.

Remembering Kwaya’s lesson, Walker closed his eyes and pushed on his soul, willing it to extend past his body. It wasn’t easy, as he hadn’t practiced since first learning the skill, but eventually, he managed to cover both of the Davids next to him.

“Kinda tickles,” One of them said with a laugh.

“Shut up, idiot,” Walker snarled while still maintaining the projection, “Get your hands on it. Push it together!”

They stepped forward and did as he asked, but it still wasn’t enough. When they realized that two wouldn’t do it, Walker called over more.

With gritted teeth, he pushed his projection even further, but rather than covering their entire bodies, he only covered their hands. It was already too much to spread himself so thin. Feeling a small wet liquid run down his nose, he pressed on. This had to work for his plans to come to fruition.

Unknown to Walker, one of the remaining Davids tried coming at it from the bottom, but Walker hadn’t placed any part of his soul there. As he touched the Reflection strand, he stopped all motion, his mouth opening wide. In the blink of an eye, his body morphed into a blue and white streak, then was sucked into the strand itself.

“What the fuck?”

“Jesus, is he dead?”

“We’re not really alive, idiot.”

“Focus!” Walker screamed as he felt warm liquid running down his eyes. “Don’t touch it unless you’re touching my soul!”

It was a stressful time for all involved, but through working together, they eventually began to grow close.

“Get the left!”

“I got it!”

“Your left or mine!”

Walker couldn’t hear them anymore. All he knew was that his soul felt like a rung out dishcloth, and his mind felt worse than the last time he’d almost broken it. It even took him a moment to remember when that was. Oh yeah, only a few hours ago.

“Get in there!”

“That’s your home! Are you too good for your home!”

As his disorientation grew, Walker felt a small implosion occur in his hands, but strangely, there was no pain.

Opening eyes filled with crusty blood, Walker blearily looked at the new Trinity strand in his palm. It looked like a floating, blue-grey starfish made of gas. Honestly, it was one of the strangest things he’d ever seen.

While the Davids around him celebrated, Walker gritted his teeth. Putting the Universal strand into his resources had come close to killing him, but these things had a short shelf life. If he didn’t do it now, he’d have to go through all of this again, and that had zero interest for him.

Walker placed the Strand on his overlay, and it went in smoother than any he’d ever tried before.

He gave the Davids a half-smile before he entered his usual resting state when working with strands.

Walker blacked out. 

Chapter 43: Expansionist

Walker came to floating in light, a welcome change from the darkness that had enveloped his vision for however long he had been here.

He grabbed the back of his head, futilely trying to stop a headache from coming on as the pulsing of his own heart caused him pain. “How long was I out?”

“A little over two hours, which is quite long compared to your normal downtime.” Ulysses's voice boomed out, a tinge of concern evident within. 

Walker had no clue how he did that with space.

“I was not sure when you would awaken and had to bifurcate my focus to ensure your well-being. We even had a visitor, but alas, you were… indisposed.”

“Alas? Wait,” He tried to cover his privates, but as he moved his hands down, something stopped him, “What?”

A cloth-like material was covering him. Now that he was becoming more aware of things, he noticed a few key differences from when he’d blacked out. First, he had clothes on. Second, where the fuck was that light coming from?

Walker squinted his eyes toward the source, which, due to its brightness, was easier said than done. Just beyond the Cosmic Life Engine, something small sat, no bigger than his thumb. The radiance it exuded, however, covered the whole area in light.

“What the fuck?” Then he remembered why he’d panicked again, “Wait! Did they see me naked?”

“Oh my, yes. Xandar came by a few minutes after you became unconscious. They dropped off what he called a ministar, as a Welcome to the Omniverse gift.”

“Really? How nice,” Walker said with a gritty smile, his headache still pounding away.

“I thought so as well. It seems that Governor Xandar’s business is tied to the modification of celestial objects. I believe he also shared his contact information with you if you woke up. Ah, here it is.”

Walker’s overlay updated.

Xandar: Omniversal Regional Governer

Add to contacts?

Yes/No

His first chance to meet an official from the Omniverse, and he was unconscious and naked while covered in blood. There’s no way that was a good look for him.

He was afraid to ask but did so anyway: “What else happened?” he asked sullenly.

“Walker, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Apparently, this is common for newly integrated Strandbinders. The Governor arrived, took one look at you, and decided you needed some clothing. Personally, I believe it’s rather fetching.”

“Gravy.” He looked again at his new clothing. They were dark, almost pitch black, and had coned shoulder pads that seemed to extend a few inches off his body. It was all one piece, the top and bottom interconnected with a sheen that seemed to move whenever his eye shifted.

“Well, it’s official; I’m in the Sith now.”

“Ha-ha,” Ulysses boomed out, “Identify them. You’ll see why I think they’re great.”

Name: Omniversal System Architect’s Uniform

Item Type: Full-Body Protective Clothing

Crafted by: Strandbinder Josh

Description: The standard uniform for an Omniversal System Architect.

Functionality: This uniform holds many adaptive qualities that allow it to be protected from the rigors of strandbinding.

Limitation: Protective qualities are directly connected to the amount of ambient Primordial energy.

“Josh?”

“Yes, I noticed that as well. Should you make something, I believe it would say, Crafted by Walker, the System Architect.”

“Or Dante, the Creator”

“Pardon the implication,” Ulysses replied, “But titles are like clothing, you wear what you need to.”

“Ha-Ha,” Walker said sarcastically in reply. “So he gave us some gifts and then took off?”

“Yes, but not before we spoke for a time. In particular, he found it interesting that there was a Universal Personality and that you had not yet used the Guide token. I believe he said the word, curious”

“That’s right!”

He clicked on his overlay a second time and pulled up the guide token. The options appeared again, and he already knew which one he was going to choose. But first, he needed to know what he’d gained from his newest Trinity strand.

Congratulations Architect Dante!

You’ve discovered the Spirit strand!

“Well…shit.” He was now connected to the Omniverse, meaning that discovering the Spirit strand was not something new here. It was probably something a Strandbinder found forever ago.

Further thought was put on hold as more information updated.

With your discovery of a new everlasting strand, the Omniverse has seen fit to reward you with three sets of options.

1:

A collection of strand resources to further assist you in your discoveries, including some you have not yet discovered

Warning: You will lose access to any rewards associated with discoveries pertaining to received strands

As well as:

Portal access to The Omniversal Strand Repository

The reward changes were nice. It was always good to have options. Re-reading it a second time, he focused on the word repository. So, a one-stop shop for strands? He re-read it a second time, ignoring the other options for now.

What did that mean? Were strands a kind of currency in the Omniverse? If so, he needed to get more.

He pulled up the second option.

2:

One Cosmic Life Engine Upgrade: Upgrade your Cosmic Life Engine to receive multiple strands at a time, allowing for the increased speed of universal development

Warning: Use of the Universal system disallows any Cosmic Life Engine upgrades

As well as:

A slight increase to your Primordial energy allotment at an increased rate of 20%

“Ask and ye shall receive.” He said with a chuckle. This was the second time he’d directly needed something from the Omniverse, and it appeared. 

The first time was when, shortly after receiving the huge Bounty system manual, he’d gained the option for the Extract upgrade. He wasn’t sure if he was being Deus Ex Machina’d, or if the Omniverse was just trying to help him along his path.

As he understood it, the more life he seeded throughout his universe, the greater the income of Primordial energy. The problem was, he didn’t get a lot of resources from his Omniversal allotment right now. In the grand scheme of things, it was quite minimal. But it wouldn’t always be that way.

But to have a permanent modifier that increased the allotment? That was powerful. Plus, what did adding other strands to the engine even do? He wasn’t sure, so he moved on to the last set of rewards on his screen.

3:

Receive The Architects Codex: A multi-volume compendium of advanced principles and common laws for managing a singular universe.

As well as:

Interface access to the Omniversal Chat system free of charge: Standard cost: 20,000 Primordial resources

“Ooof,” escaped his mouth before he could help it.

Walker felt Ulysses' focus on him, “Something wrong, Walker?”

He shook his head, “No, but maybe you can help me out with this. What would you rather pick? A bunch of free strands that also lets you access some kind of strand bank, a permanent upgrade to the life engine, or help in better putting together the principles of running the universe?”

“You mean, the principles of running me?”

Walker shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

“Hrmm,” Walker felt his heart skip a beat as Ulysses’s attention intensified, “Those are all good options, but I feel that you’re not giving me all of the information. Which has the greater long-term potential?”

“Well, probably not the first option, the strands. It seems to take away the potential for rewards too.”

“Why do you believe they included it as an option?”

“I think….I think maybe it’s for hereditary strandbinders. Like, the kind of kids who became Strandbinders because their parents are. It gives a bunch of free strands, but you miss out on the discovery rewards. I feel like it’s a “get rich quick” kind of thing, assuming that strands are traded and sold for prescribed values.”

“So, an option for spoiled children?”

Walker nodded slowly, “Yeah. They’re not about the discoveries, they’re about making money, or as I’m now understanding, Primordial energy.”

“And the other two?”

“The second option lets us use different strands within the Cosmic Life Engine, and gives a twenty percent boost to all Primordial energy that comes in, which, if I’m being honest, isn’t a lot right now. If we picked this, it’d give us great long-term value as we seed some life, but nothing right now. Nothing immediate.”

“Do you need immediacy?”

Walker twisted one hand left and right, “Not really, I guess. There are some things that it would probably help with, but I feel like we’re doing okay for now. I mean, the last option is more about being an Architect and how to better manage your universe, which to me, has a lot of potential for the here and now. But, then again, I have a universal personality.”

“A me,” Ulysses confirmed.

Walker shrugged, “Yeah. So, I know the first option is out, but having that third option could help us both out. I dunno, it’s a little tougher than the last set of choices we had.”

“You can guess how I feel about the options already, Walker.”

“Yeah, I know, the second just has too much potential. It just sucks that we don’t have a way to get our rewards in early. Oh well.”

Walker selected the second option.

Congratulations Architect Dante!

You’ve upgraded the Cosmic Life Engine!

Please allow us a moment

…

Secondary rewards for your discovery of the Everlasting Spirit strand

5000 Spirit resources

10000 Temporal resources

10000 Dimensional resources

10000 Consciousness resources

Walker shared the notification with Ulysses, enjoying its ease of use.

“The resources didn’t splash across all of the categories.”

“Yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe it's because we crossed over categories to make it? Or maybe it's just because it’s the Omniverse and not the Evolvers. I don’t know.”

Just then, another notification came in.

Cosmic Life Engine upgrade imminent

please wait…

Walker watched as a rainbow-colored bolt of energy shot through the small hole connecting the CLE to the Omniverse. With a gentle splash, it arced over and touched the engine.

One moment, the engine was still as could be, cold, lifeless, and inert. The next, small arms started to rise out of it, reaching above until they found a set height. When they stopped, a small bit of energy began to cascade off of each in different colors.

It was the second arm he looked at that told him what was happening. There was a slightly transparent energy flowing off of it, and with how often he’d covered himself in temporal energy, it couldn’t be anything else. Strands were now intrinsically tied to the CLE. He was bout to investigate further when Ulysses’ voice boomed out.

“Allow me.”

Walker felt gravity assert itself underneath him, but when he looked, there was nothing there. With a grin, he jumped and felt the weightlessness of space reaffirm its hold on him as he gently soared to the arm in question.

“You figured out gravity?”

“Only a small amount. Your strand has been very beneficial, as is the Kinetic storm blowing across my body. It seems to be a twisting of order. An alteration to a dimensional rule.”

“That’s pretty cool, man.” Walker replied, the grin still stuck on his face even as his headache slowly lost its grip.

Walker reached the arm and touched it, causing his overlay to take over.

Congratulations Dante!

You can now add Temporal resources directly to the Cosmic Life Engine

Please select how many resources you would like to add.

Universal temporal increase of 10%: 1000 Temporal resources

Universal temporal increase of 50%: 4500 Temporal resources

Universal temporal increase of 100%: 8700 Temporal resources

“Fuckin discounts, man.”

“Look at this,” Ulysses said and sent over a share of his own. It was a complete list of all the new strands they could input and what the effect on the universe would be.

“How did you do that?” 

“The Cosmic Life Engine is directly attached to me, Walker. I can use it as I see fit. I believe the Omniverse sees us as partners. A Personality to oversee the health of its body, an Architect to oversee the people and creatures who populate it. Bound together by common goals.”

“Huh, that could make one of my ideas work then.”

“What’s the idea?” Ulysses said as Walker felt some of its attention move away from him.

“I think I can straight give you some of my strand resources.” And just like that, the attention came back to Walker tenfold. It felt like he was on stage, naked, in front of a concert hall filled with people. 

“You would do that?”

“Bound by common goals, right?” Walker said nervously, “I mean. I’d have to keep a large amount of resources to myself, of course, for you know…Symphony and my solar system in the Evolver verse. But I feel like if you had control over the resources, you could manage things here while I’m gone and really kickstart the process.”

“I see. What kind of resources? Life, perhaps?”

“Oh, for sure, yeah,” Walker said with another nod, another drop of sweat beading down his back, “Temporal, some Consciousness, you know, the greatest hits. Maybe even some space.”

“Space?” He shared another update with Walker, highlighting deep discounts for rapid universal expansion. Doing some quick math in the back of his mind, he figured out what he could spend for now.

Clicking over to trade, he found the option and selected Ulysses. However, when he went to resources again, he found an option he didn’t know existed. Walker clicked through everything, making a few big decisions, and then accepted the trade. Ulysses spoke up a moment later,

“What is this?”

“I don’t know what things will be like during the Creator Wars, but I’m feeling less and less like I want Symphony to stay a part of the Evolvers when all is said and done. I’m thinking that we may need to move at some point, and what better place than here? This is my payment to you, to ensure that you have this place prepared for when we come over, and to make sure you’re happy with our arrangement.”

“Okay…but Walker, this is a lot. I have a general understanding of how many resources you had at the time of my making. Are you sure about this?”

“I am…” Walker replied, steeling himself for the repercussions he would receive from Virgil when he returned.

“Okay, than I accept.”

The trade went through a moment later.

Architect Dante has completed a trade with Universal Personality Ulysses

Resources trade to Universal Personality Ulysses:

10,000 Life resources

10,000 Space resources

15,000 Temporal resources

Architect Dante has created an allotment for Universal Personality Ulysses

25% of all incoming resources will be automatically diverted to Universal Personality Ulysses for the foreseeable future.

Architect Dante may rescind this allotment at anytime

Trade complete!

Walker felt a little weak for a moment there, as if he was swimming while his body stayed still. Immediately, the Cosmic Life Engine began to churn and make noises, but not before another notification hit him.

The Symphony Universe has exchanged Space resources to increase its current expansion rate by 100%

The Symphony Universe has exchanged Life resources to increase its organic growth rate by 1100%

The Symphony Universe has exchanged Temporal resources to increase its current speed by 100%

Three shockwaves fired out of three different arms on top of the Cosmic Life engine: one in blue, one in transparent-seeming white, and one in a very thick halo of green.

Walker waited for the feeling to pass, then moved over to the main CLE screen. One he’d been putting off in the past just because he didn’t want to get distracted. After he touched it, a series of options appeared before him.

Now that their agreement had been reached, and Walker was sure that Ulysses would rely on him in the future, they spoke for a time about what to seed through the universe. For the first time, rather than treat him like an unknown and potentially dangerous entity, he treated the personality as a partner, similar to how he and Virgil worked together. 

After agreeing, Walker keyed in commands for what they wanted the engine to do and tried to control himself as waves of mostly transparent, green, and blue waves fired out of the machine. 

It wasn’t until Walker was selecting the spawning genera that his options changed and were upgraded. He found new options for evolution, cross-breeding, and naturally occurring magical worlds. Walker and Ulysses spoke about it, and Walker agreed to another change.

The engine gave out a new pulse after he donated another set of resources, though this one was like watching a rainbow explode.

You can now add Potential Energy resources directly to the Cosmic Life Engine

Please select how many resources you would like to add.

Universal ambient magic increase of 10%: 500 Potential Energy resources

Universal ambient magic increase of 50%: 2500 Potential Energy resources

Universal ambient magic increase of 100%: 5000 Potential Energy resources

The engine had told Ulysses that Potential Energy, or magic in layman’s terms, was fairly present within the Omniverse. They further stated it was only the dictatorial administrators and architects who kept their citizens from enjoying its benefits, and Walker would never be that.

Walker input the final commands, then clicked accept.

Universal Cosmic Life Engine settings created

Current model: Stable Expansionist

Celestial alignment: Random Accelerated Growth within safety parameters

Restrictions for celestial alignment: All Celestial objects must be outside of the center, with one exception

Exception found: The Conduction planet

Genura alignment: Random accelerated growth of all found within Architect Dante’s systems

Restrictions for genura alignment: None, with one exception

Exception found: Bobbit Worm

Environmental production: Varied

Walker looked it over with a keen eye. This is what they’d agreed to, and of course, he’d excluded the one species he didn’t want to ever see again.

“Fuck you, Slicer. I may forgive, but I don’t forget.”

“What’s that?” Ulysses boomed out.

“Nothing, partner. Anyways,” Walker took a single resource of spirit, placing the gas-like strand in his right hand. “Are you ready to do this?”