Walker left an emotional brown squirrel behind as he traveled through the tower. He could say, easily, that Virgil was his best friend. Did they fight? Sometimes. Though fight would be a strong word to use. Disagree loudly would be more accurate.

  But through it all; the fear, the panic, and the victories that kept them churning through everything, the Supreme Assistant had something else. Along the road of survival, Virgil had become like a brother to him.

  Did he know what his body was made of? No idea. Did the system force him to work for Walker? Absolutely. But there was more to it than that. Virgil was special. Unique. One of a kind. And a hell of a lot smarter than Walker- there were no doubts about that.

  Everything would be right as rain the moment they left the Evolvers behind. He was assured of this.

  With a pep in his step, Walker visited the control room, but no matter who he asked or where he looked, he couldn’t find the Egyptian Prime Ra anywhere. Then he remembered that the old Primigenial was already waiting within the seeding system. Pulling up a monitor, Walker placed him near his fellows in New Olympus with a message to Zeus, then left to find Rimi and Cagna before leaving. An unwelcome update came in at that moment.

  Unknown changes occurring.

  The Tree of the Gods is maturing!

  ...Scanning...

  ...

  The Tree of the Gods has borne fruit.

  Walker paused for a moment, shook his head, then went about what he was doing. If he remembered right, and nowadays he always did, the Chinese Primigenials were due out next. Magni and the Nords didn’t like them much, but Athena had said they were just misunderstood.

  Cultures that diverged greatly from your own always seem a little crazy at first. You had to dive in with two hands and two feet to really understand people. Whoever had come out would be fine on their own for a few hours. He hoped.

  Walker quickly headed over to the small tower, as it was being called, to tell a particular pink squirrel something. Cagna almost had a heart attack when she was told that Ulysses wanted to bring her on to help him run things. The Universal Personality was interested in activating milestones all across his universe, and who better to be a sounding board than the young squirrel who helped build the system. She was ecstatically jumping up and down when he left, the former Creators around her asking if everything was all right.

  When he informed Rimi, however, the large black squirrel waved it off. Since he knew Walker was on a quickly approaching deadline, he spoke as fast as he could about the Lore system, with his interest in it getting activated soon being very clear in the frantic movements of his hands. Walker agreed, spent a few minutes talking to a few subsystem and standard assistants to make sure everything was running well, then made the march to the top of the tower, the portal already waiting for him.

  Ulysses was waiting for him, instantly pulled him into the white space. It took a few minutes for Walker to get him up to speed on everything that had happened, but the part had one particular question in his mind when he said.

  “Rimi didn’t seem excited?” He asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “Honestly, I couldn’t tell. He was so wrapped up in the Lore system that I think the idea of activating the Monster system across your body kind of slipped through his mind entirely.”

  “But he’s a Supreme Assistant, right?”

  “Yep, but he and Virgil aren’t the same. I feel like it’s a title more than anything. Since day one, Virgil has always been excellent at multitasking. I could give him twenty things to do and he would simultaneously work on all of them at once. Rimi has never been like that, even when he upgraded. Maybe their initial memories alter their personalities enough that it sets them on a course to being efficient in different ways. Virgil’s better at multitasking, while Rimi is better at tunneling ideas for all that they’re worth.”

  “Virgil did get all of your memories at once.” Ulysses pointed out.

  “True. In a way, you could say Virgil is similar to yourself. Built on the foundations of my memories, but different enough to be his own person.”

  Ulysses nodded at that, “That’s a fair point. Now,” He clapped his hands together, giving Walker a light dose of deja vu, “Are you ready to see a few of my ideas?”

  “Hit me.”

  The part in front of him grew hazy before splitting into several others. Each stood tall, wearing a different outfit with different builds, even though they all shared the same face.

  One part was tall, with broad shoulders and a certain rough edge to him that spoke of great difficulty if you engaged them physically. Another was relatively thin, wearing wholly unnecessary glasses and had a bright green clipboard in hand. In varying degrees, they all gave him different smiles as the clipboard part began speaking.

  “I feel like the Mastery, Profession, and Skills systems could use an update. Right now, the Skill system is already on version 1.82. I’ve been altering the consciousness rate that we add into them to breed the best efficiency standards, but I’m also finding problems with the skills. Often, they aren’t evolving in the right direction. Take this as an example,” He pointed at a screen that appeared from nowhere, as a part in a long white robe stepped forward.

  [Field Dressing]

  Level 1: Basic

  Level 5: Binding wraps

  Level 10: Object removal

  “This is taken directly from a test planet in my foot.”

  “Your foot?”

  “Ignoring four dimensionality, the southern directional angle of my body, yes. As you can see, basic is basic. A skill with a flat bit of nothing. As we designed, it gains consciousness over time, slowly adapting to the entity's needs as they use it. In this example, they reached level five by practicing their field dressing on entities that suffer from things like burns, or broken ribs. Minor injuries essentially. By level ten, they were in the field itself, helping their people against an enemy who leans into the class archery style of guerrilla fighting.”

  “So their skill gained object removal as a focus.”

  “Exactly. As we envisioned, each skill is made of dozens of smaller skills within, adapting to each other and growing to further encompass the mana veins within. However, by level twenty-five, and after draining several bacterial infections, the skill updated to the following.”

  [Embalmed Dressing]

  Level 1: Basic

  Level 5: Binding wraps

  Level 10: Object removal

  Level 15: Preservative wrapping

  Level 20: Fluid Draining

  Level 25: Mummification

  “Oh shit, yah. That’s not right.”

  “Exactly my point. So, here’s my suggestion. We alter the progress of the skills to create a Skill system two-point-o. Instead of allowing the skill to move on their own based purely on consciousness, we have it so at level ten of a skill, the entity can select from a few options to somewhat guide the skill in the direction they’d like it to go. Giving the same option at levels twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, and obviously, level one hundred to complete the change before the eventual reset. However, that would mean-”

  “Connecting it to the Omniversal Communication system.”

  “Precisely.”

  Walker sighed, “Make a portal to the core please.”

  Ulysses gestured behind him, “Already done.”

  Rolling his eyes, Walker turned around and made his way to the Core. Withdrawing a sizeable amount of Primordial Energy from the bank, he stepped back into the white room and pointed out a glaring issue.

  “You realize, in order to add it to the Communication system, I would have to go about officially making a Skill, Profession, and Mastery system. Right? We’ve always just kind of done everything through you.”

  The beefy part wearing dark gray armor shrugged massive shoulders, “Weren’t you planning on visiting the time rings while you were here anyways? You’ll figure it out. Plus I’ll have a gift for you before you leave.”

  “Great, hopefully the parasite doesn’t get me by then.” Walker ran a hand through his hair, small gray streaks gently mixing in with the dark brown.

  “I thought it was contained?”

  Walker pointed at the streaks, “More like temporarily reduced.”

  The part that looked like nothing less than a biker, full leather gear and all, laughed with a broad smile, “You’ll be fine. What measly little thing could ever kill Walker Reed?”

  I try not to think about that

  Walker waved a hand at all the parts, “So what’s all this then?”

  “Oh, that’s a part of Mastery and Professions 2.0. I analyze the Milestones of the entity, then show them three representatives that I feel will be their best choices going forward. My control of dimensionality is to a point where I no longer need to create living copies of individuals anymore.”

  The clipboard part snapped his fingers and all the parts physically changed their features to match Walker’s own, “Now, I can demonstrate different skills and potential future paths that will have a greater impact on the entity.”

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Uh-huh. And I’m supposed to create all of this during my time in the rings?”

  “Yep.”

  “Gurr-reat” Walker said with a sigh, “You know at some point I have to go back to Symphony for the last battle, right?”

  “Duh!” The muscular version of Walker said. He brought forth his hand and an extremely thick book fell into it. “While you’re in the Time Rings, read this. I’ve had a few percentages going over how you created systems in the past, and we feel this will work best. It also has a few suggestions for systems you’ve considered in the past but haven’t gotten around to making yet. I figure it will take you about ten years to absorb it all.”

  “Ten years? But this isn’t-” Walker accepted the book and felt as if a planet’s worth of gravity had landed on his hand, knocking him straight into the floor.

  “I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge about how the Omniverse created the Guide Token and the Bounty System Manual. Now, I can compress information into very small objects that can scale exponentially.”

  “Yay,” Walker said with a groan as he lifted himself up, leaving the incredibly heavy book on the ground.

  A portal opened up nearby, small strands appearing in the background, stuck in stasis around the entrance. The muscle Walker picked up the book and gently tossed it in as he said, “You really shouldn’t litter.”

  “Noted.”

  On Sonata

  As Walker spent several years in the time rings, Sonata's preparations for the final battle entered a new gear.

  In the main room of the Tower, expansively adjusted by the structure’s consciousness for the hundreds of assistants currently in place, Virgil walked in with a solemn air. Stepping near a wall, the Supreme Assistant placed a crystal object, one that counted down to the final seconds before the last battle of the Creator Wars. As he left, two assistants left with him as he spoke to them about quickly producing concepts and magic using the two machines they hadn’t had time to work with yet.

  Rimi and his group of assistants focused even further on the Lore system. He’d sent hundreds of notes to Walker about what the system should entail, and by the first hour of Walker’s disappearance, he was suddenly granted access to a brand new system. One, that allowed him to update it in real-time.

  By the second hour, two more systems appeared in place, assigned to a zig-zag patterned and newly minted full assistant, as well as one with hexagonal yellow marks across its fur. These were the long ago promised Marriage and Dynasty systems, forcing Cagna to retroactively attach her old milestones to them before their effects could reach the populace of Symphony.

  In the third and fourth hours, Virgil received a notification of being assigned three new systems. The Soul, Reincarnation, and Linking systems were all enough downloadable information that if he were only an advanced assistant, he would’ve instantly been promoted to Supreme. As it was, he sent a message to Walker asking for two new assistants to be added to each, and watched it happen within less than a second of his requests.

  Each time Walker went to the other universe, a massive amount of messages reached out and touched every assistant on Sonata, as well as many inhabitants of Symphony. But between the fifth and seventh hours, none reached them. It went on long enough that Virgil and the other assistants grew worried about their Creator. Those fears were allayed when Virgil received a message, resending it out to the others, that Walker would soon return.

  Within minutes, the Creator walked into the main room of the tower, his hair now only holding a few shades of brown. He looked tired and worn out, but that didn’t stop him from staring at each face in the room as if re-memorizing them.

  “How long?” Virgil asked, the first to speak up in the now silent room.

  “Long enough,” Walker replied with a sad smile. “I’m going to send a message out. We’ve only got an hour and a half until the final battle and there’s one last thing we need to do.”

  Walker opened up the broadcasting ability and sent out a clear message to his people.

  Greetings Symphionians,

  In a little less than an hour, standard time, the final battle will begin.

  We have been told that our task will be monumental. Impossible even. That we cannot win.

  To fight that sacrilege, the idea that hope is already lost, I’ve installed several systems that will empower those of you smart enough to reach out and grab them.

  The Skill, Profession, and Mastery systems have all been updated and upgraded. You will find that your skills adapt better and cleaner than they did before. Your Masteries and Professions will feel like they are a greater extension of yourself rather than simply a button to press.

  I’ve also activated the Enchanting system using the power of Odin himself. With it, advanced craftsmen such as Hephaestus, Bailan, and others will be able to take your equipment to whole new levels.

  You may be asking yourselves, why did I give you all of these systems for growth while we have so little time left. That’s simple.

  I’m going to do now what I’ve done in the past.

  I’m going to advance Symphony by fifty years.

  You will not notice the change in time, except at the very beginning. Temporal adjustments are unique in that way. You will also not be able to message me. I’m afraid time is going to move just a little too fast for you to get a response.

  During your advancement, I ask that you prepare for the final battle. All progress should be communal, working together to empower yourselves to fight what may come. Rely on one another to see your strength grow. Fight the fights that need fighting, no more.

  And remember…This isn’t a struggle or a battle for me, or even yourselves. You will be contending with forces from the greater Multiverse for Symphony, and the ideas that it holds.

  Teach them that although perfection is an illusion, a Symphonian will always strive to obtain it.

  That is all I have to say.

  I would give you more time if I could, but sadly, we just won’t have enough.

  Thank you for everything that you do.

  Make me proud, Symphonians.

  Without waiting, Walker clicked into the Temporal subsystem and accepted the charge for fifty years. But instead, he received a notice.

  Warning: Due to the abuse of some Alpha Protocol Creators, the Temporal subsystem has been temporarily suspended.

  “Knew it”, Walker said with a smile. Opening a temporary portal, he stepped through and appeared above Symphony. Looking down at it, and the small structures that he knew would one day become something so much more, he pulled out a large dose of Continuum resources.

  Due to the size of the half-planet, it took him dozens of minutes to make it large enough to encompass everything. Once he had it large enough, he injected fifty years of standard temporal resources into the center, then activated it all at once.

  Time below sped up as years began to pass by, and the use of the continuum rather than the temporal subsystem was far less controlled. When he’d come up with this, he’d considered entering Symphony himself, so he could help guide his people. But they didn’t need that. The Founders and Monsters of Symphony knew what was needed right now. He had to trust that they would prepare themselves well.

  Portaling back to the Tower, he made a mistake. Rather than taking himself back to the main room, his mind had thought of something else in the portals creation. Instead of the main tower, he found himself in the small one. As he looked around, he found the Blitzburg staring right at him. The Former Creator was seated comfortably, legs crossed on the ground. With all four arms he waved at him.

  “Hello, Creator Dante.”

  “Hello,” Walker said with a nod, he turned to leave when the former Creator spoke again.

  “You’re only doing the bare minimum with your magic, you know.”

  Walker turned back to him, “What do you mean?”

  “Magic is not just a resource to be drained. It is meant to be cultivated. To be understood. Each form of magic is its own world. What you are doing right now is essentially brute-forcing a concept of the universe to your own ends.”

  Walker placed his hands in his pockets, “Do you know what concepts are?”

  “Of course,” The Blitzburg said with a soft smile, “We discovered them several eons ago.”

  “Okay…what are they?”

  “Something to be discovered in time.” Placing four hands on the ground, the Blitzburg pushed itself up, “If you will let me. I would like to stay here.” He gestured at the tower, “I feel as if what you are doing here is unique, and I'm sure my people would agree with my choice.”

  “And if I said we wouldn’t be staying in the Evolver multiverse for long?”

  The former Creator tilted their head to the side with another smile, “Then I would welcome the adventure.”

  Before Walker left, he shook the creature’s hand. As he stepped toward the door, the former Creator left him with one more thought, “There’s something wrong with that tree out there. Something deadly wrong.”

  Walker looked back as the door closed behind him, “I know. I’m counting on it.”

  The time counted down as Walker stood on a massive balcony holding every assistant in Sonata. They all watched as Symphony slowly transitioned from the mold that it was into the society it would be. His notifications went absolutely haywire as the Alpha Protocol adjusted to time skipping without their fingers on the pulse. But he ignored all of that. It was enough to just stand and watch.

  Great fires broke out. Twice he watched a city disintegrate before his eyes. But more rose up in their place. Many, many more.

  Ten times now, Landmasses scheduled for additions had appeared, floating out of space and gently connecting with the planet. Virgil and Walker had long ago built a system to keep adding new ones in. Each was a different set of Territories, monsters, and environments. Walker had spent a little time adjusting the formatting of the powerful Landmass system to include Dungeons, Runner trials, and everything else they had come to see as essential to Symphony.

  Every ten years, two new landmasses would descend. It would be an eternal world of progress and innovation. A world of exploration, as he’d promised.

  When the Continuum strand began to wobble, Walker knew it was time. They only had minutes until the final battle began, so he quickly leaped through a portal, absorbed what remained of the strands, and looked down upon his world.

  He had so little time that after checking to make sure that those he was closest with were, in fact, alive, the timer’s countdown began to rumble.

  Each number that counted down had a physical presence as it pressed itself against his skin. It felt like the entirety of Rendition 4AA was holding their breath as the final seconds echoed across a universe.

  Finally, the message he’d been waiting over a hundred years for appeared.

  Congratulations Creators on making it to the final battle of the Creator Wars!

  As this is the final battle, I’ve been allowed to give you an update on what we’ve seen throughout Rendition 4AA’s Alpha Protocol.

  This rendition has broken all of the records, both good and bad. We’ve seen one of the greatest winnowing of any Alpha Protocol ever, as well as the greatest amount of discoveries in our long storied history!

  What began with over a million Creators, is now reduced to just under six thousand!

  Wow!

  Some of you may have realized that the Temporal Subsystem was disabled quickly following the fourth battle. We felt it was a necessity due to the amount of Creators using the newer system to kill or otherwise incapacitate their fellows.

  While we enjoy a bit of ambition and, if we’re honest, bloodshed, the amount of Creators going offworld to eliminate their competitors was to such a high level that we couldn’t in good conscience allow it to continue.

  Sorry about that!

  And, as many Creators were so very interested in sending your creations out to ravage others, we’ll be performing a mass translocation, returning all creations across the multiverse back to their home planets.

  …

  Now, under the auspices of the Alpha Protocol Council, here is how the final battle will work.

  Due to the greatly reduced amount of Creators remaining in the rendition, and the large amount of you who have discovered the Cosmic Genesis system, the Alpha Protocol Council has decided to use some of their resources to create a combinatory planet for all Creators.

  What does that mean?

  It means that every single planet, person, and species you’ve created that still draws breath will now become one!

  Isn’t that just fantastic!

  It’s never been done before! I was beside myself when they told me.

  Anyways, that’ll be kicking off here in just a few short seconds. Before that happens, a word of warning.

  The Alpha Protocol Council showed you your rank at the meeting held shortly after you all completed the fourth battle. Did you really think that those ranks meant nothing aside from rewards? Heck no!

  The higher your rank, the higher the challenge the ranking Creator will face.

  After all, fair is fair!

  Good luck everyone! I hope to meet you in the Center when this is all over.

  The final battle begins in

  5.

  4.

  3.

  2.

  1.

  Alpha Protocol Council changes detected…

  Three things happened at the same time.

  One: Walker came to the sudden and surreal understanding that he had at least one member of Symphony somewhere in the Multiverse who was not currently in the fourth rendition.

  Two: All of his planets disappeared at the same time, and with a blink, a massive landscape appeared before him as every planet at once combined. Oceans, buildings, great mountains covered in giants, and hundreds of Mana Trees reaching into the sky.

  Three: The sun disappeared, plunging them into darkness.

  Walker closed his eyes, “Well…fuck.”

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