System Access

Founding

    David watched as Father and Nehrgan worked, trying to close the door to the Western Reach, day after day, trying to keep it shut.

    Nehrgan had already tried to remove it, but within hours the Hall of Doors would be freezing cold again, its stone glowing that unnatural shade of blue.  

    It had been weeks since the two of them had returned, disoriented and suffering from starvation, telling stories of a miles high cyclone of ice and stone that had stopped them from making progress forward or back, ravaging their bodies and sapping their energy.

    They talked about hiding behind boulders and hills to avoid the wind, how they'd fought to survive in their month away.  Father, who David had come to believe was unshakable, had a wild and terrified look in his eyes, insisting on the creature beneath the ice they stood on that had followed them every step, its shadow dwarfing even the town he now presided over.  When he'd recovered, he begged for information about the the town, about his beloved Imerium, the only thing that had gotten him through the ordeal.

    Nehrgan, quiet under the best of circumstances, didn't speak at all for days, just sat looking at the doors in the House, touching them occasionally, caressing the frames that had been so meticulously crafted according to Videa's designs and planning.  His first words were, "All of my doors led back to the same place...and I...I won't go back.  You can't make me go back!"

    Corix's eyes twinkled as he thought to David, the depth of his voice carrying to his thoughts, "I think we may have a problem.  We are not prepared for our two wisest members to be so badly hurt."

    "Where are Xakep and Videa," David asked aloud.

    "I don't know," Corix replied, "I don't know."

    Putting Father and Nehrgan into their room and leaving them to rest, David said, "I don't understand...Father said they were gone for a month...but they were only gone for an hour or so, weren't they?"

    Corix nodded and replied, "Yes...but its clear something is not right out at the Western Reach...if Xakep and Videa return, we will need to discuss this with them."

    Several more weeks passed, and two months after Father and Nehrgan had returned, an inky black shape formed in the Hall of Doors.

    Days passed as this form began to take shape, and David soon began checking on it several times a day, worried that whatever had hunted Father had found its way into the House.

    Nehrgan worked like a man obsessed, trying everything he could think of to shut the door, even resorting to trying to put furniture from the upper floor in front of it.  He worked alone, with Father overseeing, his hands still shaking in terror, barely able to hold a tool, let alone help his System.

    It was during one of these frantic attempts that they returned, standing side by side and moving as one.  They put a hand on Nehrgan's shoulder and he stopped instantly, filled with the feeling of an animal caught in the headlights, their presence, for a moment, so powerful that he felt he might be turned to dust by that single touch.

    Their voices rang out in unison, quiet and firm, "The door is no longer yours, Nehrgan."

    Tears welled in his eyes as he turned to see them, the people he'd worried about, despite his panic to shut this door to the Reach.

    It was Xakep and Videa, but something about them had changed, though Nehrgan struggled to see what it was.

    They moved past him and each of them touched opposite sides of the frame, and the door slid shut silently, glowing runes forming along the center of the door itself, spiraling into a circle, some kind of seal that filled Nehrgan with fear.

    It reminded him of the cyclone.

    It reminded him of the place he'd seen beyond his doors, that infinite space where he'd seen it.

    As the seal finished forming, the two of them collapsed, their energy spent and their bodies at the edge of survival.  

    He wondered where they'd been...but some part of him knew exactly where they'd been.

    What he had seen, what his mind had rejected the very notion of...they had been there, trapped inside with it, lost in something he'd never seen in all of his years.

    Nehrgan looked at them and his heart welled with pity.

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    Xakep woke to Videa holding him tightly, crying gently in her sleep, calling his name in her nightmares.  He touched her forehead with his and in her dreams, he waved his hand and cast aside the monster that was hunting her, injecting his feelings for her in its place, and she stilled, her grip growing gentle, but still holding him.

    It had been this way for the last week, both of them waking up at odd times of the night and morning and needing to comfort each other this way.

    They hadn't left their room since they'd awoken, hadn't spoken with anyone, though they'd gotten multiple requests, both on their terminals and in their minds.

    The first couple of days, they'd just cried.

    Cried until their heads hurt, until their bodies shook and just held each other until the other would stop.  When the other would start crying, they'd comfort each other and say it would be ok, even though they both knew it might never be ok ever again.

    Watching her sleep, Xakep knew that their minds had been altered, changed and that they could never go back to what they had been.  He could feel it in them, a part of them that had become...almost elastic, flexible in ways it hadn't been before.  

    Whatever it was they had taken at the end, before they blacked out, it had some kind of power, though he hadn't spent the time to figure out what that power was.  

    Videa clutched him, responding to his thoughts about the power, about the ordeal and a sense of pleading came from her.

    She didn't want to think about it ever again...and neither did he...but they both knew they had to, knew they probably couldn't not  think about it.

    The altar was thousands of miles away...but...it was with them, always right behind them, threatening to consume them if they weren't careful.  They'd been pulled from the edge of the cliff...but it was unstable, always on the verge of collapsing, and so more so than ever, they needed to keep moving forward.

    But deep down inside, he knew that it was actually far, far worse than just the two of them breaking down...this thing, this being that existed within its own universe...it couldn't be contained forever.  No...it would break free eventually, might already be in the process of doing that...and when it did...it would stretch like a tide across all of reality until it was all that was left.    

    Somewhere in his mind, pieces began to fall into place, parts of a puzzle that had sat in the back of his mind ever since he'd met Videa, and now that he noticed it, he made a note to look at it and figure it out.

    She grasped up at him and pulled him down to her, kissing him gently, and said, "Please...just...sleep."

    He smiled, gently, lovingly, and lay down with his head next to hers and let her mind pull his into her dream, falling into a deep sleep with her.

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    Xakep stood at the head of the conference table, looking out at his friends.

    Father sat, much more calm, with Nehrgan leaning against the back of his chair.

    From what he'd heard, the two of them had been through some pretty bad times as well out at the Reach...he was happy they were still here.

    David, sitting more upright, had the look of a more mature young man than the teenager he'd first met.  He'd stepped up in a big way, and with Corix's help, had helped Father run Imerium and even managed more requests for people to settle in space directly around the House, being sure to let them know the full terms of that endeavor.

    In all, the House now had about thirty more people living around it, using the resources to make things and being building wealth that had already started being stockpiled and distributed as written in the charter for Imerium.

    The growth of Imerium was going nicely as well, but Xakep now knew that if they wanted to accomplish their new goal, to have even the slightest chance to properly sealing the Western Reach, they would need many more people and much more power.  The foundation was already in place, with their original plan to take control of the world building a solid groundwork for the necessary growth, but they would need to ramp up their plans significantly.

    "The Western Reach," Xakep started, sending a calming thought as Videa flinched, "as Father, Nehrgan, Videa, and I have seen...is a continental sized seal."

    Father nodded, his calm exterior concealing the frantic feeling he got when he thought of his time in the Reach.

    "Thus far...its worked as best it can, but...I think that its in danger of being broken.  Whatever it is sealing defies comprehension...it is simply too powerful for us to leave things as they are...so with that said...Videa and I both believe that we need to change our original intended methods.  We'd hoped to work slowly, doing what we could to gather strength and take things as we could...but with the Reach as a factor, we've both decided that we need to be more aggressive."

    David looked at them confused and asked, "What do you mean by aggressive?"

    Corix hopped from David's shoulder and onto the table, looking directly at Xakep, and said, "You intend to declare war."

    Father looked down and Nehrgan spoke gently, "What of the town charter with Imerium?"

    Xakep sighed gently and spoke, his voice firm, "I have no intention of becoming a tyrant.  I don't want to prove how strong I am or hurt people unnecessarily.  I have no illusions about what this means, and I am no stranger to the concept of it.  People will die because of this, and people will likely see us as monsters for a war coming to their doorstep over something they have no idea of...but you've seen it, Nehrgan.  You know what's waiting beneath the ice, and if we don't stop it...the kind of horror and devastation it will cause will be beyond stopping if that seal is allowed to fail."

    "I've seen war as well...before I came to this world and met Nehrgan, I served as a soldier in an army during the great war," Father began, "and I've seen what happens to good men when the cause they fight for becomes bigger than they are.  I saw terrible things done to people by soldiers who might otherwise have never dreamed of acting that way.  I feel you are offering us some form of choice in all of this, Xakep."

    Nodding, Xakep leaned forward and put his hands on the table as he said, "I'm offering you all, right now, the chance to leave.  To leave the network and go your own way.  What Videa and I are doing is going to be destructive for countless lives.  We will disrupt the order that many people have lived by for generations and we will take every town, city, and country until we have the world in our hands, and the resources to permanently seal the Reach."

    "You certainly don't mince words," Corix said, a low chuckle in the back of his avian throat.

    "He can't afford to.  In their best case scenario, they're making themselves enemies to the entire world," Nehrgan mused.

    "I won't beg you to stay.  I won't even try to convince you that you should," Xakep said as Videa stood and put her hand on his shoulder.

    "Xakep has asked me not to do so as well...but I want you to consider one thing before you make your choice," she said as she motioned for a screen to appear.

    A map of the world appeared, the size of it dwarfing the Earth, and she said, "Right now, there are at least ninety seven other Users and Systems out there, and from what you've said, and reports I've finally had a chance to review, the vast majority of them are out wreaking havoc."

    Father nodded and Corix shrugged as she continued, "I think we know why that's happening."

    The entire room went silent as the group focused intently on what she was about to say.

    "The reason we believe that the seal is weakening is because the energy we've all been feeling, and that we've been tracking, is the energy of the thing the Reach is sealing.  We believe that the other Users and Systems have all been affected by this being and that there is a solid chance that it is stealing the souls of Users and Systems who have been corrupted thoroughly enough."

    Father rubbed his temples and said, "That would make a lot of sense."

    Nehrgan nodded and touched Father's shoulder as he said, "I think we'll stay.  We need to be available for Imerium...but also, you're right...I did see a small part of it.  Just that small glimpse almost drove me mad.  The two of you were with it, in its direct presence...if that didn't break you, didn't corrupt you...then you may be the only chance we have to stop it now."

    Corix looked at David and said, "We can agree to this as well...but if David is to fight, he will need to be trained properly, by someone with actual combat experience."

    He looked at Father and said, "I know a little of the world you come from, Father, and fighting is very different here than it was on your home...we will need an actual trainer."

    Father smiled wryly and said, "This is my home, my avian friend, but I do understand."

    David leaned back into his chair and said, "Does Enes have anything to say about this?"

    Xakep looked around and asked, "Where is Enes?"

    The dragon spirit descended from the ceiling and said, "You saved me and have given me another chance to live a life that was taken from me.  You will have my support in your endeavors, Xakep."

    Nodding to Enes in thanks, Xakep said, "Alright, now that we're agreed, the next step, we believe, is to begin modifying the House."

    David c****d his head and asked, "Why's that?"

    "War is a tricky thing, young man.  You must have the resources and planning to launch an offensive, and the tactics to do so correctly, but must also be prepared to defend yourself from inevitable attack.  Few people wish to be warred against, and many believe the fastest tactic is simply to remove the leader of the assaulting force."

    Xakep nodded and said, "Exactly.  To that effect, Videa and I will be working on modifications to the house that will allow us to grow and refine our powers, defend ourselves, house a defensive force and create a staging point for the army we're going to build."

    Father raised an eyebrow and said, "Monks and some strongmen from Imerium do not make an army, my friend."

    Nodding, Xakep said, "You're absolutely correct.  That's why we're going to take one."