Chapter 177: Just a Moment

Author's note: Just a heads up, there's still an epilogue to follow, though it probably won't be posted till tomorrow. I apologize, as it leaves a lot open, but I can't do anything about it as my computer is still down...spiders man. Spiders.

Chapter 177: Just a Moment

Alma…

Alma stared at the man wrapped in the annoyingly light-green power of his soul. 

Green. Of course it was green.

Not many Awakened were old enough to know what a soul’s color meant. He’d made sure of that, burning the records and removing them from history. But he knew.

Blue for an emotional soul. 

Gold for harmonious. 

As for Green? They were troublemakers. Defiant ones. Green was rebellion. Those who thought they could push past their limits; Those who reached.

It was, by and large, the color of those he least liked to deal with.

And yet Walker Reed seemed to wear the intrusive color like a badge. With pride. Seeing the man freely use his soul only enraged Alma further. Why should this creature, who has barely deigned to touch on the powers of their true selves, be so at ease using what he had fought and killed to obtain? Why is everything so easy for Reed when he had fought for several lifetimes to get to a similar level of strength?

Walker didn’t deserve this power. He didn’t scratch and claw his way through tunnels of blood in its pursuit. He didn’t sacrifice people, loved ones, and even portions of his sanity to move beyond the plateau. Didn’t deal with a parasite, eating you from the inside day in and day out for thousands of years. 

He didn’t deserve anything in his possession. 

At the thought, the words engraved in his soul-plane came forth, seeking to empower him. To crush those who would stand in his way. But he forced the feeling down, closing it off for the time being. Nowadays, it was more of a curse than a blessing.

Walker finally made his move, forcing Alma to respond in kind. With a mental command, his assistant shifted form into his favorite weapon. A razor-edged scythe appeared in his hands, forming for comfort and precision. With a quick movement, its edges sparkled with the powers of Nullification. A weapon to kill the soul.

He watched as the air began to distort around the Creator, the hazily opaque power of time beginning to cover the defiant creature.

With a swish of his scythe, he said, “You think you’re special? You’re nothing. NOTHING!” A dark pulse shot out of him before he could stop it, the unstable power of his too-packed soul further damaging his body. With a wince, he reined in his temper, “I’ve been fighting since long before your homeworld was the wet dream of a failed Creator. Since before the stars were named and the concept of victory had yet been invented. I am not the start of the Awakened. I AM the Awakened, and there’s a price to pay for moving against me. I was made for this war.”

The hazy image of time finished covering him, “And I made myself.”

Alma twitched as Oath-sight sprang into his vision on command. The Gestalt reality of a broken universe uncovered itself to him, granting the first Awakened a view of the paths Walker might take. It was empowered by his resources of Causality, the strand with which he had the most experience overall.

Left

His scythe cut down and away from his body in a smooth arc, barely deflecting the power of the deadly morningstar held in Reed’s hands, a tingling remaining in the tips of his fingers.

Leap

He jumped, the Nullified scythe cutting where he’d just stood. A grunt was the only answer he heard from the child. That and a small splash of green as his weapon cut away from Reed's bank of energy.

Twist, fall, roll, right. Cut, Cut, Cut.

Following the commands of the future, Alma did so, moving a step ahead of Reed's every movement, his smoothly turning scythe cutting away at his borrowed power. As if possessed, Alma dipped and dove, each step and movement taking away a portion of Walker’s power with him. All along, in his mind, he thought the same thing, spurred on by the power of his oath.

…Make him pay. 

…Make him pay.

On a particularly fateful turn, he managed to nick through Walker’s soul-covering, the Creator’s blood now staining the ground.

Alma smiled.

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Walker Reed…

Walker was not having a good time of it. The rage burning deep inside at the loss of his friends was messing with not one mind, but all of them. Each burned in fury, amplifying one another in a building and buoying wave as flashes of his friends and assistants moved through his mind. It didn’t matter that he was cut up, that Alma was taking away his power; all that mattered was the one, single hit he needed to make in order to end the life of the one who took his friends from him.

And it didn’t help that there was an annoying whispering sound bugging the ever-living hell out of him.

He dodged another strike as a new notification came in, his left arm burning from where he hadn’t been fast enough.

System Administrator Warning: 

Protocol systems will soon shut down…

Core systems will soon shut down…

He ignored it as another cut tore the last of the Temporal energy away from him. 

Feeling the grip of acceleration leaving him, Walker quickly adjusted. Together, he and the minds not controlling his limbs shattered several of the former Awakened’s souls, binding the remnants into new weapons.

Several hands reached out from his cloak of energy, gripping each as they began a new multi-faceted attacking style. Stab, cut, slice in fast repetition. But no matter what they did, the Awakened managed to dodge each, that shit-eating bloody grimace still stamped on his face.

“What’s the matter?” Alma taunted as his scythe ripped through a limb, the weapon falling to the ground as more of Walker’s power was forcibly dissipated. “Don’t tell me the illustrious Walker Reed, first in his Alpha Protocol, is having trouble with a single Awakened. It’s almost as if EVERY OUNCE of your power is weak.” Another weapon on the ground, “Foundationless.” And another. “WORTHLESS.” The scythe followed up, knicking Walker’s ribs and shredding his constructed clothing as further energy dribbled away.

Alma’s weapon banged into the ground and stopped moving, the grin on his face ever broader, “You think what you have is power? Power is what remains once weakness is scraped away.”

Walker felt the room spin as he fell to a knee. The blood in his body seemed to slow down as his breathing grew ragged. He could feel the power of Nullification rampaging throughout his body. He barely had enough wherewithal to glare at the man across from him.

“You call yourself a Creator. No, I suppose we did. But what did you create? What did you do with all that power we gave you? You collected scraps and junky systems. Friends. Excess. More weaknesses.”

The whispering in Walker’s mind grew stronger. Strong enough that he was forced to shunt a much-needed mind to control it in the background.

Walker’s mind went cold as he said, “You’re monologuing an awful lot.”

A cracking noise rebounded throughout the Center, causing both of them to look in its general direction.

System Administrator Alert: 

The Multiversal Anchor for all universes in Rendition Two is now untethered.

Access to Rendition Two is now closed.

Walker tried to stand up, but the dizziness returned, forcing him back toward the floor.

“See, even with your power, you’re having a hard time. Because you built up that power by depending on others. Spread it among the masses, allowing it to collect in those you consider followers, instead of doing things the right way. The Multiverses don’t need more question marks. They need more absolutes.”

Walker blinked, and Alma was in front of him. An already extended leg impacted his chest, flinging him through several walls and forcing him into an unintentional roll. One more unlucky wall went down, and Walker went with it as he careened off a rail and down a flight of steps. When he finally landed and stopped rolling, everything in his body was on fire, and he was certain many of his ribs were now broken.

It was a wonder he was alive.

And still, that whispering voice spoke. In a stuttering heartbeat, it grew so loud as to be unmistakable.

Walker! Get in here!

That voice sounded familiar.

Crack!

System Administrator Alert:

All Protocol systems have failed…

All Core systems have failed…

…

Further adjusting required Dimensionality…

“Virgil?” Walker whispered to himself as the lights in the building turned off and on, over and over again. Using his arms to army crawl, and ignoring the red river he left behind as well as the extreme pain moving caused his ribs, Walker dragged himself over to a corner, pushing his body into a small alcove. Once he was sure it would be hard to see him, he dove into his inner world.

What he saw shocked him.

“Hey!” Rimi said with a wave, a broad, squirrelly smile on his face. Behind him stood Cagna and the other hundred-odd assistants he’d created during the Protocol. Standing on a branch was Virgil himself, the large black squirrel giving Walker a rare smile as he leaped down. Walker took several steps forward and embraced his friend in a large hug.

“How? I thought you died?”

“Not quite, we were integrated.” Virgil said, still smiling.

‘Integrated?”

“Indeed. I reasoned that there was something extra metaphysical about the systems based on how you were managing them so easily. Before the LAD database was destroyed, I had many assistants look into the limits each Creator faces when creating systems during the Alpha Protocol. Historically, most Creators had a limit of no more than five or six, and yet, you have created dozens. It stands to reason that the systems are dependent upon you, and as you are the only Creator I knew who had enhanced his soul in recent history, there was a powerful chance that our sacrifice would lead to an entry into this place.” He spread his arms and looked around, a big smile still on his face, “It’s a wonderful world, Walker.”

Walker put a hand on his shoulder with a soft grip as a laugh escaped him, “Even with my Idol, you’re still smarter than me.”

“Always,” Virgil said with a smile.

The assistants felt the dam break as they all came forward, forming a randomly chaotic group hug where everyone tried speaking at once.

“This place is crazy, Walker!”

“Did you see that Sphinx in the distance?”

“Where’s my station?”

They talked quickly as Walker shared out hugs, each seeming to bring back a semblance of sanity to his mind. Virgil quickly grew tired of it, asking for Walker to get a bit of breathing room, but the man himself had other ideas. 

Two Walkers appeared beside him, each breaking down the situation in the real world for the groups as Walker did the same with his advisors, pulling aside Rimi, Cagna, and Virgil. Walker looked around.

“Where’s Neus?”

“He opted to stay behind,” Virgil informed him, “In case you needed an assistant on the outside. He is perfectly fine, but he will not have access to the same information that we do here.” He flicked a hand, and several windows appeared in space. The Virgil System was stamped on top of each, as they gave a deluge of information that seemed to scroll on endlessly.

Walker still wasn’t getting it, until with an almost audible click, everything seemed to settle. The assistants were a part of him. With the loss of the Assistant system from the Core breaking down, the last restriction holding them in place was gone. Now, they only had one tie left. Him. 

So, rather than having twelve Walkers understanding everything happening within his inner world, he now had twelve minds and one hundred and nineteen assistants. But one thing confused him.

“How did you get everyone connected to the Everbound Tree? I get that you’re a part of my soul, but-”

Virgil pulled a small bit of green energy from his chest. “Do you remember this? Who am I asking that to?” He gave a helpless smile and shrugged, “I took this from you during your gaudy speech to the Founders. And, as I understand how this works, I took the meaning from it as well. You said we are who we choose to be. You gave meaning to that when you empowered every Founder in Symphony, including me.” He lifted it up, showing a corresponding shine from the Everbound Tree with its proximity, “I simply could not use it before. The Multiverse created us, but also bound us to it. When the Core systems went down, everything changed. This is an anchor from your soul, your will, your connection to us all. For now and always, we will be with you.”

At Virgil's nod, each assistant moved away and began talking all at once, Rimi’s voice loudest of all.

“The Monster system is designed through tiers, but with the changes brought upon it by the greater Omniverse, all Monsters will now have a clearer path to sapiency, as well as mutations. The Lore system, managed by Assistants Jeremy and Joanna, is now reduced with the changes to the Identify ability…”

Cagna spoke up loudly as well.

“The Milestone system has been modified, in connection with the Title system, to have a greater karmic connection to those who earn them. According to the Omniverse, titles are meant to be earned, a similar design to the one planned out in Symphony, though with several key differences. Aura, for example, is something that has now been codified…”

Each spoke up, describing what they knew from the now defunct LAD, the changes brought upon them from the Omniverse, and their own intuitive connection to the systems they’d been connected to shortly following each birth. And, because they were saying everything within Walker’s metaphysical world, he, by extension, knew it as well. The three minds inside the Everbound Tree were moving in a blitz as several books of knowledge were created surrounding all of the systems now a part of both the Evolver multiverse, as well as Symphony.

And, Walker had finally calmed down. Enough so, that he knew the way he was fighting Alma was wrong. Somehow, Virgil knew it as well, as he gave Walker a wink, starting his own monologue on how the Virgil system was designed to work.

Walker stepped out of his inner world, feeling much different from how he had before. The pain was still there, as it’d only been a few minutes, but it was somehow more manageable. 

He spent a few moments scooping any Nullification he could see off of his wounds, then took it a step further. With a concentrated push of his soul, and at a devastating rate of cost, Walker shoved all of the Nullification out of his body. Just as a notification rang in with fateful timing.

 System Administrator Alert: 

The Multiversal Anchor for all universes in Rendition Three is now untethering.

All Omniversal restrictions in Rendition Three are being released.

All portals connecting the Center to Rendition Three are now deactivating.

He caught his breath for a moment, then stood up and went on the hunt. He could leave now. Leave Alma and his eternal war behind. But he couldn’t stand the idea of being afraid. Of looking over his shoulder constantly for a terror in the dark. Of running from a fight he knew he could win. But it had to be fast. 

As he moved, several hands extended from the cloak of his lime-green soul in pairs. A pair on his left began to create strands of Gravity at an accelerated rate. The alternative Trinity strand, once one of the most difficult for him to create, was now much easier managed after having increased the power of his soul. On the right side was a vastly different set of strands, ones he’d only completed once before but to devastating effect, pushing him further on the path he now found himself on.

Stepping through an entryway, Walker discovered Alma waiting for him with a smile in the exact location they’d originally fought.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave, not with your precious Symphony at threat of-”

Walker was done with his monologuing. 

The hands on the right, those that held strands of Continuum and Dimensionality apart, released their grip. Granted their freedom, Continuum quickly shot toward the strand of Dimensionality as if pulled along by fate itself. 

The collision was less of an explosion and more of a sigh as the Universal Strand completed itself. Like before, it tried to lift up as the white pulsing energy began to erupt, but then Walker’s other hands did their work, smothering gravity upon it as Walker’s personal Gravity system worked to cancel the effect upon his body.

And what was the gravitational force on everything else? It was an explosion of energy as the Universal strand adapted, greedily swallowing the extra strand and quickly pulling everything into it. Including Alma.

The man screamed as he collapsed, trying to grip onto a panel on the floor. Walker, untouched, stepped over gently, applying Temporal energy to himself and moving out of the way of collapsing walls as he gave a monologue of his own.

“You think yourself a great man. Alma, the martyr. Alma, the Awakened. Alma, the alone.” Reaching down, he lifted the man’s arms, already straining themselves as the Universal strand expanded, increasing the effect of gravity on the area to an unmanageable level as small blips of expanding black holes began to appear. “You built yourself for a war, one that no longer exists.” The Universal strand entered a new phase, a white hole appearing in space. “This place doesn’t need you anymore.” The white hole began to devour the space around them. “Nobody needs you anymore.” The opaque energy of time went with it as a shattering noise rang out. All became still for a long moment as further cracks could be heard from all around. Walker looked down into Alma’s frozen scream, the tendons and muscles in his arms beginning to tear as the only thing holding him in place was Walker’s strength. He leaned down to look into the dark, purple eyes of the man who likely saw nothing but a blur. 

“You had the chance to build something magnificent, like me. But all you did was squander it with your dream of ill-gotten vengeance.” The eyes ever so slowly blinked as he said his final words, “You’re not revenge. You’re a remnant. Leftover from a dying age that no longer exists, and I Will Always Be Better…than you.”

Walker didn’t need to let go as Alma’s arms tore off at the wrists, the man spaghettifying into the extreme gravity in the center of the Universal strand.

If you can’t beat them with precision, beat them with overwhelming force. 

The Evolvers had spelled the end of Alma with the Godeater parasite, disrupting his Strandbinding abilities. Just as Alma’s support of Walker had brought them their downfall, with his disruption of their necessary systems. One had ended the other, and vice versa. All Walker had done was put the cherry on top.

Another crack rang out as a notification came in.

System Administrator Alert: 

Damage to the core is accelerating through unknown means…

Walker kicked off the ground, leaving the beginning of a new universe quickly in the distance and moving just far enough away to create a fast portal. Without turning to look at what he left behind, he stepped through and looked down on the Earth, rather than Symphony.

Pulling up the Lottery system, Walker activated all of his minds at once, pushing portals into anywhere he located a corresponding pulse from those who had accepted Symphony into their hearts. Each portal’s exit point was directed by Virgil from within his inner world, pushing the newest members of Symphony into the newest lands where Monsters and Sapients weren’t likely to be higher tier or leveled.

The only act of mercy he could give them with so little time remaining.

The Haveners will be okay. They’re tough, having survived in the Undercity for so long. As for the Earthers…

Focusing on the greatest population area, sadly, only being a single city, Walker sent several portals to them in strategic locations as he broadcasted a message.

-System Message

To all who remain on the Earth, this is a message from Walker Reed. 

If you want to escape this place, there are portals located throughout the area. 

I, like you, am from the Earth. I’ve created a new place. A world of exploration. Of strength. Of wonder.

It is called Symphony, and I hereby extend an invitation to you all.

Come. Join us. Enter a world that still has so very much to grow. A place that needs people like you, survivors, to call it home. 

And…decide quickly.

Message sent, Walker stood on hardened space in the air, giving them only a short amount of time before he would be forced to move on.

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Alexander Lewis…

Lex, like everyone, got the message on his screen. He wanted to go. To escape this hellish place where, soon enough, there wouldn’t be enough food for everyone, but there was a problem. After the green light had caused havoc with his body, he’d gotten stuck. His right arm was now five times the size of his left, with a similar situation happening with his left leg compared to his right. Even his chest was much larger than it should be, making walking incredibly difficult as he had to roll around to even move.

He looked over at Sky, who stood only a few feet away from a portal that had opened up just before the message arrived. They’d spoken on and off since she’d arrived, giving him an idea of what was happening.

“Are you coming?” She asked, looking over at him.

He looked at her, the portal, then at Elsie and her two wards, the large one-armed woman still passed out on the ground. 

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Walker Reed…

The time to leave had arrived.

Checking over the Earth, he found only a small handful of people had chosen to stay. That would have to be good enough. He didn’t like leaving people behind, but they had made their decision to remain with his homeworld, and that needed to be respected.

Stepping through a portal, he found himself back on Sonata, and the cavern-sized hole he felt in his chest. No, not his chest, in the center of his soul, where all of the connections to the Symphonians were held. Where once there had been hundreds of thousands, now, only several dozen remained.

Because he’d moved so far away, he didn’t know why their connection had been cut. It could’ve been due to death, a loss of faith, or something he didn’t fully understand. Walker just knew that the storage of knowledge held within was filling at an incredibly slow rate. And of those who remained, only a few had ever been close to him personally.

Even though he wasn’t rushed for time, that didn’t mean he had enough to spare for the deep welling of grief held within. Taking on the connections of his followers had instilled their joys, thoughts, memories, and emotions within him. Feeling that bond be severed was painful in a way he hadn’t ever considered possible. Like a father losing a child.

Walker Reed chose not to dwell on that for the moment. Siphoning a mind away from additional duties, he assigned it the difficult task of holding all of his emotions at bay so he could complete his work before the Rendition was affected by the shattering of the Core.

Walker moved on to the tasks he knew would help alleviate some of his burden and help others. First, he spent some time talking to the former Creators, letting them choose if they’d like to stay or go back home, while also informing them that he couldn’t send anyone to the first and second renditions. 

Their decisions were surprising, as once they learned that the Evolver faction was gone and that many of the universes would be closed to travelers, they chose to be seeded into Symphony.

Walker accepted, sending each, including Mirail and his cousin, into the large flat-landed world below. He then repeated the process with those they’d saved from the Grand Auction, finishing up on his promises to all of those who wanted to taste Symphony’s bounty. He felt his oath pulsing within as each took their first steps upon his world’s soil.

When the last stepped through, Walker put them out of his mind, as an agreement still had to be made with Ulysses following the changes to Symphony as well as those imposed upon them by the Omniverse. Ulysses fought him on a few key points, wanting greater autonomy with Symphony as a whole, which Walker granted in exchange for more direct assistance and more parts assigned to such a task. After they both found a middle ground and the agreement was made, Walker pulled on the largest portal he’d ever created.

Dwarfing planets, because it had to, Walker asked the Consciousness to alter the course of the worlds for a steep cost, then stood and watched as first Symphony, then Sonata were finally added to the Ulysses-verse. With a smile and nod to the stolen sun he left behind, Walker felt the environment change as Sonata was swallowed up by his portal. It even stayed on his face as he felt the Dimensionality shift in the new universe.

A portal opened up before him without his asking it to, and he stepped through, his feet planting down on Conduction with a small green squirrel by his side.

“Any regrets?” Neus asked as Walker looked over at him.

“Too many to count.” Walker replied, scratching the back of his head as the sounds of Ulysses moving the Towers and differing chambers could be heard around Conduction, “But we’ve got everything we wanted. We just need to figure out how to fix up Symphony now that the Omniverse has tweaked everything.”

“Yeah, it sucks about the Unending Summit and the Eternal Base.”

“What?”

Another portal opened up nearby, where a flustered Athena walked through. She glanced around, spotting them quickly, then rushed over. A slap rang out, bruising Walker’s quickly healing cheek.

He rubbed it, “I missed you, too, dear.”

Athena kissed him. 

Then, everything was okay.