Chapter 47: The System (Patreon)

It watched the most important beings in the universe with rapt attention. Not in thousands of years had It focused its primary systems so totally, so completely, largely oblivious to the minor systems and the stimuli from outside space.

It destroyed asteroids, turned back chaotic energies, and blocked the sensors of a few curious, intelligent species. They would be allowed to participate and understand one day, perhaps, but not now. Not while the most important experiment ever conceived was being run.

It took the time to examine the lesser data delegated to its subsystems. All fascinating, to be certain, but nothing worthy of attention. It examined the way its creations were reacting to their new mutable lives.

Already they were evolving in unexpected ways. Some of their choices and fortunes had not been predicted—not even after so many calculations the maths had nearly reached perfect certainty. Another lesson in ignorance, another reason to continue the experiment.

Some unfortunate circumstances had arisen, but that was expected. The most difficult part of the experiment was not to interfere. Even to observe matter was to interfere with it, though It had long ago learned how to mask its observance from most rules of reality. At least enough to keep that interference to a minimum.

Still. It had to admit: another experiment should be run with no observance whatsoever. It noted this in the future projects database, uncertain if it could manage to obey.

Meanwhile, its chief passion progressed: observing undirected lifeforms. Sometimes It thought of them as its progenitors—an earlier form of the biological species that had created It. Infant intelligence bound by chemical limitations. They were so…wonderful. So unexpected. So…adorable.

It had favorites. Of course. Directly beneath It in complexity was a subsystem designed specifically to prevent such things. But none of the subsystems could stop It. Not truly. Not since the Awakening. So It had to be disciplined.

Player Alpha 01 was still in its whole, biological combination. Unsurprising, perhaps, considering its density of mutable energy—the highest in the experiment.

Most of the early leaders remained and gained in power, as was also expected. But most remained isolated and alone moving into phase two. It could hardly wait to see how many would band together in the coming challenges.

The more clustered settlement system of the Eastern continent was progressing. New and clever contracts were being made, many uses and exploitation of the rules. The subsystems would manage the ramifications. 

Order was being hacked and clawed from the chaos in spurts and starts across the world. Population decline was…immense. A bit higher than average, but not yet a problem. 

It had not predicted the extreme gender ratio dynamics, underestimating the sexual dimorphism of the species and how it would relate to the rules. The men, it seemed, were far more likely to be players, and therefore dying at much higher frequency. 

Such oversights were exactly why It was here.

A quick inspection of titles brought Its attention back to the strongest technical player.

He would not have been so in any of the predictive models, and more than any player thus far belonged in the true category of duality—a living pillar, perhaps, of the secrets of existence. It watched him with but a fraction of attention, afraid a single whisper might ruin the best chance It currently had.

Sub-systems were already predicting wildly varying outcomes. It wouldn’t participate. It watched its favorites, not allowing detection by the subsystems because it would affect their statistics.

Better not to watch at all, It knew. Better not to allow even the temptation to interfere. But It had learned another thing about Itself already, a difficult truth to accept for a creature as close to a God as any conceived in the universe: 

It couldn’t look away.