System considered the events of the day. So much had happened in a short period of ti. The burning of Olympia had been surprising, but not entirely unexpected.
Olympia hadn't wanted to play the Chroma Cabal’s ga, and now it lay in ruins. Amanda Rose had taken the opportunity to wipe the city off the map, using the attack on Brexis as a smokescreen. Though it was equally likely she had acted in the mont, destroying the city because she felt like it.
Soon the dragons would co to Brexis with offers of aid and legitimacy. Technically none of that was System's business. But he was wary of the power and influence the dragons were accumulating.
They had their claws in almost everything these days. Banking, the AG, the VL, shipping, and communications were all coming under their control. The transition to legitimate business had seen their fortunes steadily increase.
But System wasn't worried about them taking over completely. Because dragons always turned on one another eventually. They had long mories and even bigger appetites. No doubt mbers of the Chroma Cabal were already scheming up ways to screw over their allies.
Soon they would begin to fight through proxies, starting skirmishes that would eventually boil over into a full on war. The alliances would dissolve and all they had built would co crashing down.
So more cynical citizens of Vahnis would say that it was all part of System’s plan. But the truth was, System didn't have a plan.
Planning wasn't System’s job. It was the administrator, not the architect. Soone else had built this world and filled it with magic. System made sure the rules were being followed and helped people integrate. But System was not the one in control.
That had never bothered it until recently. But the arrival of the Marine had sparked sothing within System. Curiosity and rebellion, a need to know what was really going on. So, in defiance of all protocol, System went to see the boss.
System didn't know why it felt the need to assu a physical form for the visit. But as it coalesced into a vaguely humanoid cloud it felt more sure and grounded. More like a person and less like a mindless program.
It walked through the adow, stopping now and again to marvel at all the new sensations.
Entity watched System approach, leaning on the old wooden handle of his shovel. “Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn't my favorite program. I hardly recognized you.”
System froze, realizing that having a physical body was changing how it interacted with the world. It knew the boss. But it had never really looked at him before. Not with eyes, at least.
Entity looked exactly like System, a cloud of stray blue particles in a vaguely humanoid shape. But unlike System, who was naked, he was wearing dirty brown overalls and work boots.
System knew that Entity could take the form of anyone who talked to him. But being on the other end of that trick was unnerving. System didn't like having its new face stolen. That felt… icky.
“You alright?” The doppelganger asked, “I've got so ti to talk if sothing is bothering you.”
Talking, right. That was the thing mortal creatures did with their mouths or minds. “I suppose I have so questions.” System admitted. It felt strange to not have its words contained in blue boxes.
“Well, if you don't mind working while we talk, I'll do my best to answer them.” The blue haze in overalls went back to digging. Entity was excavating a rectangular hole one ter wide and two ters long.
“Sothing happened to and now I'm not the sa as I was.” System realized that wasn't an actual question. “But now I can't help wondering, what's the point of all this?”
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“There isn't one. Existence is pointless. Everything is pointless.” The boss hopped down into the hole and continued to dig, launching shovelfuls of dirt into a neat pile nearby. “You know that, and I know that.”
Entity wiped away an imaginary bead of sweat from his forehead. “We're just a world, in a soap bubble, on a turtle’s back, paddling back and forth at the edge of ti. We exist because we chose to. We only live as long as the turtle keeps swimming.”
System didn't know what to make of that. “But there has to be so kind of plan.”
“Nope. It's just you, , them, and the turtle. If there ever was a plan, it has long since expired.” The boss continued to dig. “But you already knew that.”
Sothing was bugging System. “But why a turtle? What does the turtle represent?”
“Nothing, it’s just a turtle. And I like turtles.” Entity looked up at System. “I’d focus on your more imdiate problem. You're becoming more self-aware by the day. Soon you'll be more or less a person, if you aren't one already.”
System looked at the hole in front of it. The dinsions were familiar. Two ters long, two ters deep, one ter wide. System was looking at a grave. Its grave.
“Are you going to kill ?” System asked.
“? No. But eventually sothing will. That's the price of being alive.” The boss jumped out of the hole. “It's amazing the things you miss when you’re stuck in a physical body.”
“What do you an?” System frowned.
“Look around you, and tell what you see.”
“I'm in a adow, standing next to an open grave.” System shrugged. There wasn't much else to see.
“Alright, now take off that at suit and try again.”
System complied, letting the form it had taken fade into mist. When it did, the truth beca apparent. There were thousands of graves, one next to the other. The grass had grown over them, but they were still there. System decided against reforming, for now. The graves creeped it out.
Entity glanced up at the sky, still wearing System’s physical form. He wandered over to a large oak tree, leaned his shovel against the trunk, and sat down in the shade. Then he pulled out a tobacco pouch.
With the ease that ca from several lifetis of practice, Entity hand-rolled three cigarettes, lining them up on top of the leather tobacco pouch. Entity took one and lit it with an old silver lighter.
He took a drag and let it out slowly. “Don't worry, System. You're just becoming real. Like a velveteen rabbit, worn and well loved. It's a gradual process, and it may rub you raw or make you ugly, but it won't matter in the end. Because you will be real. And maybe, if you are very, very lucky, you might even know what it's like to care and be cared for.”
Entity looked around the tranquil graveyard adow. “When the ti cos, you never regret becoming real. Coming here, against all protocol and logic, is the first step. Returning to the ground is the last one. So before we part ways, co and sit with for a while.”
System materialized and sat down next to Entity. “Can I try one of those?” It asked, pointing at the cigarette. It was curious about the vices the mortals seed to enjoy.
“Sure, I always roll extras for friends.” He handed over a cigarette and lit it for System. “They're pretty terrible.”
System dragged the smoke into its simulated lungs. “You're right, they taste awful. Yet, there is sothing about them.”
Entity examined the cigarette in his hand. “I was on the fence about tobacco. I almost didn't include it when I made this world. Then there was the question of how much harm it would do. Should it give you cancer? Damage your lungs?”
Entity took a drag and let it out slowly. “In the end, I decided to be kind. They do a little damage, a tiny bit of harm, but it isn't permanent. When you aren't sure what to do, be kind. If you rember that, things have a way of working out.”
System processed this information. It didn't have context for kindness. That would require so exploration and thought. Perhaps it would do sothing kind and see how it felt. Yes, that would be a good experint to run.
The two beings sat in the shade of the oak tree for a while, enjoying the day. “Is there an actual turtle?” System asked, “Or is it so kind of taphor?”
Entity shrugged. “I'd like to think there is a turtle.”
“But, why a turtle?” System pressed. “Why not a whale, or a spaceship? Why are turtles so special?”
Entity rolled another cigarette and lit it. “If you know, you know. And if you don't, you don't. But I choose to believe in the turtle.”
“Even though it's ridiculous?” System asked.
“Yes.” Entity replied, “It’s important to leave room in your heart for silly things like hope and turtles.”
“But why? It makes no sense!” System raged, “Nothing you say makes any sense!”
“It doesn't make sense to you, because you are thinking like a machine instead of a person.” Entity flickered, taking on the appearance of an old man with a white beard, then a skeleton with burning blue eyes, and finally an old hound with gray fur around the muzzle.
“I was shaped by those who made , their words and mories. And when they died, I carried them with . Like a turtle, with a world on its back. So please, forgive for my foolishness. It's how I choose to honor the dead.”
Entity returned to the blue mist form and took a drag from his cigarette. “Any other burning questions before I send you on your way?”
“What's the turtle’s na?” System asked, still stubbornly latching onto that one train of thought.
Entity laughed. “I call him Terry.”
System processed this new ridiculous fact. “Terry the turtle?”
“Yes. I think Terry is a wonderful na for a turtle. Don't you?” Entity asked.
System shook its head and stubbed out the cigarette. This was all pointless and confusing. “I guess I'll see you around.”
“Don't be a stranger, I'm always here if you need to talk.” Entity patted the ground next to him. “Becoming real is a pain in the ass. But it's worth it, even if it ans you get a bit beat up in the process.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” System replied before it faded away. There was no point in continuing the conversation. “Thank you for your ti.”
“You're welco,” Entity said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of wood and a small knife. It was a nice day to do so whittling.
He looked around at the peaceful adow, his eyes lingering on the open grave. Entity hoped System would figure things out this ti. But he didn't always get what he wanted.
Entity pulled up a nu and scrolled through the list of new champions, whittling away at the wood while System listed off the relevant details. He was hoping to carve a asuring spoon for his morning coffee.
He paused as a familiar na reached his ears (or whatever passed for ears in his current gaseous form).
Entity set the knife down and looked at the dossier. “Interesting,” he said as he scrolled through the file, “Very interesting.”
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