Chapter 85: Chapter 84: Sister
After leaving Tiamat’s realm, Carl and Aegis retired to Lugaria HQ.
"So Master, what items will you be planning for?"
"Well first of all we have the variants who lead the committee."
"Hmm... I think the best plan would be for you to simply surprise them and slaughter them all. They are a most dangerous mix of powerful and untrustworthy."
"Aegis, I literally just told you to chill... Sys, can you provide Aegis with a a portfolio of all the creatures I have created..." Carl waited, but got no response. "Sys? Come on, I said I was sorry, can you please pop in with a system notice to answer."
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: APOLOGIES, I DIDN’T REALISE YOU WERE TALKING TO ME. YOU HAVE NEVER CALLED ME "SIS" BEFORE, THOUGH WE WERE BOTH CREATED BY LADY ISHTAR, SO I SUPPOSE WE ARE TECHNICALLY SIBLINGS... BUT THE SAME COULD BE SAID FOR TIAMAT AND BAHAMUT. ]
"I meant "Sys", like short for system... I guess you kind of are like a sister, we were made together, we grow together... You gave me the silent treatment for eight years, but you have been quite helpful and apologised for certain things... Yeah, you know what? Calling you Sis from now on. Ishtar said you would outgrow your ethereal existence someday."
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: YOUR WHIMS AND MOOD SWINGS ARE EXHAUSTING, AS FOR YOUR REQUEST, YES SINCE THEY ARE GRANTED AN EXTENSION OF YOUR SYSTEM I CAN SHARE SUCH INFORMATION WITH ANYONE YOU HAVE NAMED AS "HOUSEHOLDER" AND ALSO YOUR CREATIONS. ]
"Thanks Sis, Aegis can you analyse all skill and traits of the various species and let me know which you think would be the best choices to merge with?"
"Of course Master, but who is "Sis"? You spoke to yourself before as well... Should I fetch Lady Klaire? Is your inversion acting up?"
"No, sorry, I guess it would be easier to have Sis explain it... Feel free to chat to her while you make your selections, she probably has some great opinions as well."
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: BEFORE SELECTING MERGER CANDIDATES, YOU WOULD BE WISE TO USE THE LAW SKILLS, IF THEY PROVIDE STAT BOOSTS IT WOULD MAKE THE PERCENTILE INCREASE FROM MERGING MORE EFFICIENT."
"I will be, don’t worry, just want a path to walk before we start moving."
Carl put his head down and started planning for the variants, when he reached a dead end there, he took a break from that and moved onto the matter of The Carrion and the Carrion-hunters, then onto the matter of Dracula.
After a couple of hours of contemplation and conversation with Sis, Aegis looked about and saw various papers all over the room. "Master, this place is a-"
"Don’t touch anything, just leave it! I know where it all is!"
Aegis flinched at his sharp tone. "Apologies Master, maybe you should come with me and get some lunch and nourishment..."
"No, not moving."
Just as he spoke, Klaire turned the corner. "Aegis, apologies, when he gets like this he won’t move until he’s finished if it takes a week... He’ll go to the rest room, but he will be yelling to himself about it for twenty minutes. When it’s time for meals, just bring them to him when he’s like this. If you can’t prepare food, then just ask someone to do it for you."
"Thank you Mistress." Aegis bowed. "Mistress, it seems the Master is refusing to move, can you please assist me in preparing him some lunch?"
"Of course, that’s why I came here anyway... Oh, don’t touch the mess either, he’ll have a panic attack and pass out."
"Is Master a creature of Balance? I know they sometimes have such idiosyncrasies from somewhere."
"Not in the sense of the laws, he learned it from his Mum Leanna, she is according to Lillim."
"Ah, yes... Sis mentioned he had the means to begin learning laws, but hadn’t done so yet..."
That led to an entirely different conversation, one that started with a mana round gancing across Carl’s thigh. When Carl asked why Aegis didn’t protect him from that, the response was simply that Aegis felt no hostile intent in the action.
Klaire spent a while lecturing him on not telling her something like that immediately, then chucked food at him before leaving.
Aegis simply observed for a while, the lecture seemed to have motivated him and Aegis couldn’t hold back the curiosity it inspired. ’Sis, Master doesn’t really understand his own potential, does he?’
[ SIS NOTICE: WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HE HAS THE POWER TO CREATE NEW LIFE AND SCULPT ENTIRE WORLDS. HE HAS DEMONSTRATED WHAT HE CAN DO MANY TIMES AND SURPRISED EXPECTATIONS AT EVERY CRITICAL MOMENT. ]
’Using the skills as written is one thing, what I meant was that he doesn’t consider things he may be possible with in the future. His skill for spearmanship for example, aside from proficiency, hasn’t changed since he acquired it.’
[ SIS NOTICE: TRUE, DATA SUGGESTS THAT HE DOESN’T GROW AT A CONSISTENT PACE. HE SIMPLY GROWS EXPONENTIALLY DURING INCITING EVENTS. ]
’Then tell me, why do you not put him a position to encourage that growth?’
[ SIS NOTICE: DO NOT TRY IT. CONSIDER THIS YOUR ONLY WARNING AEGIS. LADY ISHTAR WANTED HIM TO GROW AT HIS OWN PACE. IF I SENSE YOU ACT IN OPPOSITION TO THAT WISH, I WILL INFORM THE OTHERS OF YOUR TREACHERY. ]
Aegis felt an oppressive force swell within, like the system itself was threatening to end life as Aegis knew it. It was a force that couldn’t be overcome, a threat from an intrinsic piece of Aegis’ own being.
’I assure you Sis, I have no such intention, I was merely curious. I’m not fool enough to think I could escape young master Tiamutael’s notice regardless, I have felt his eyes on us since the moment I came into existence.’
[ SIS NOTICE: INDEED, IF CARL WAS STRONGER AND DECIDED TO RESHAPE TIAMUTAEL TO INCLUDE YOU... THAT ONE COULD BECOME THE NEW GOD OF DRAGON-KIN IMMEDIATELY, MY NEPHEW IS A VERY SPECIAL CREATURE INDEED. ]
"Got it!..." Carl’s sudden exclamation was enough to end their silent conversation. "I figured it out! Yes! Remind me to kiss Klaire, I wouldn’t have figured it out without her!"
[ HOUSHOLDER MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: ALL HOUSEHOLDERS REPORT TO HAVEN HOME FOR DINNER TONIGHT. I FIGURED OUT THE VARIANT’S WEAKNESS. ]
[ HOUSEHOLDER MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM LILLIM: HA! CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR THE ANSWER TO A QUESTION THAT ELUDED MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHERS FOR CENTURIES... ]
[ HOUSHOLDER MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: WOW, MATURE GRANDMA... HOW ABOUT IF I’M RIGHT I GET TO ASK A FAVOUR YOU? ]
[ HOUSEHOLDER MESSAGE FROM KLAIRE: LILLIM, DON’T. IF HE IS MAKING BETS HE’S CERTAIN. ]
In the end Lillim took the bet to the quietly hopes of everyone that she would regret her confidence.
In the meantime, Carl turned his attention towards the other matters he had begun planning for. The next biggest priority was a vital component to the first, namely which laws to select in what order, though it didn’t take him long to identify his priorities.
After that was the matter of The Carrion, which Carl decided was actually not a problem at, he simply needed a way to detect whether or not they were present on a world. Once he had established how many worlds had actually been infested, that would be when he had to actually act.
The next issue was the trickiest... Dracula, as well as the rest of Margo’s team, was impossible to gauge with the information he had to hand. In fact the only one he knew anything about was Mobius.
"Master, it seems you have reached a lull in your plans... You have made good progress today, but maybe you should take a step back and look at what you have."
"Aegis, do you know why I hyperfocus like this?"
"Apologies, I do not."
"Because if I don’t get this stuff done, everything I cherish disappears. When we were at SATS, I felt I could afford to take time to plan and Klaire was right that I was far more effective back then, but I also can’t forget that if I don’t find a path forward then everyone loses everything."
"Would that be so bad? I remember some vague partial passage of nothingness. I’m paraphrasing, but something about all things returning to nothingness.. I was under the impression it was unavoidable, so I struggle to see what difference a bit of time makes."
"Sorry, I forgot you were literally only born this morning... What would you do if someone tried to kill me?"
"I would take my time unravelling them by each individual muscle fibre."
"Horrifying, but why bother, if it only saves a bit of time?"
"It is my duty and reason for my creation."
"Well, same for me with everyone, unfortunately it is my purpose in life to put an end to the unbalanced chaos and insanity that plagues all the realms."
"I see... For what it’s worth Master, it sounds like your creator was a bit sadistic."
"Thank you, it always means a lot when people acknowledge that."