Chapter 89: Chapter 88: The Unknown Law
Carl checked his system without delay. "What? No notifications? Did I seriously not get anything from that?" Carl was left both disappointed and confused.
"Stop jumping to conclusions please, after studying the passage you must pass the test, so what did you learn from the first passage?" Sis came and sat opposite him.
"Creators are their own worst enemy. They put a piece of themselves into their creations and are forced to face themselves in the process."
"Wow, encouraging..." Klaire muttered sarcastically from the side of the room.
"It might not be encouraging, but his answer is correct. You have acquired the skill "Law of Creation" and the second passage’s single-use skill."
Carl looked at Klaire. "What do you think, keep going with one to the end or keep them at the same level?"
"Honestly, I feel like Creation is pretty much the core of your being. You might as well make it official."
"Sis, what’s your opinion?"
"Honestly, I don’t like these origin laws... They seem like they are just sulking about past mistakes..."
"Yeah, but that’s why I want to learn from their mistakes. I don’t want to be bothering you and Klaire in fifty years because I missed my chance to."
Getting the impression that they were both leaving it up to him, he simply continued to learn all passages of Creation.
He flew through them in no time at all, reaching the final question in a little under two hours from when he started the first passage.
"What is the enemy of Creation?"
"Creators, we really do just make our problems everyone else’s..."
"Correct... You have earned the passive skill "Recognised Creator". Congrats, but that was depressing."
"Was that supposed to be difficult? I feel like I’ve learned this stuff already. Look, I’m sorry guys, but do you mind if I do the law of Change now? I feel like I’m missing something important."
"I don’t mind, Klaire and I are snacking and chatting...."
"Yeah, I’m enjoying it too, she managed to enlighten me about a few things..."
Carl decided some things were better left unknown and dived into the law of Change.
The story it told was exactly the same as Creation, as were the questions.
"Okay Carl, this is becoming the most boring quiz ever." Klaire said as she started reconstructing the gun she had stripped and cleaned for amusement.
"Wait. Carl, there is another question. What is the law of Creation’s and The law of change’s true name?" Sis looked genuinely confused, then Carl slammed his fists on the table and cheered.
"Knew it, it wasn’t adding up. Their true name is the law of Divinity, Creation and Change are the functions of Divinity, but divinity is also the origin of all things."
"Carl... You just got something weird, It’s a passive skill, called "Origin Point"... It’s like the skill "Neo Deus", nothing but question marks. You did get another passive skill, "Divine Knowledge", as well as an active called "Divinity Manipulation"... You know what, you can read your system, why do you even need me to tell you what’s right in front of you?"
Carl and Klaire looked at each other, before replying in unison. "Because it makes it feel special."
"Yeah... It also makes idiots like Carl forget to study their stats and skills. I should never have given him analyse. If he experimented with all his skills as much as he used to, just imagine how much stronger he would be now."
"You know what, you’re right. It’s too late to take away analyse, but make him look at his screen more often. On that note, are you going to learn the other laws?"
"Yes and no. I don’t have the single-use skills anymore, but I have the ability to develop my natural understanding of them because they are all parts of the law of Divinity."
"I see. Can you grant knowledge on the Divinity to me?"
"I don’t think so, the strange thing is I think the laws have different forms and interpretations."
"I guess that makes sense, or a lot more people would have knowledge on them."
Carl stood and asked the two of them to stand as well. "First of all Klaire, I’m so sorry for scaring you while I was unconscious. Secondly, Sis, I’m so glad you’re safe and welcome to the family."
"Do you know everyone and everything, or are there some things you’ll need help with?"
"I will probably need help with physical things, I have all the information I could need, but I don’t have any practice with a body that Carl doesn’t do on a regular basis."
"So you can hold a knife and fork, but you won’t be able to juggle?" Carl asked.
"Actually I can, luckily you’re a clown." Sis replied, annoyed by the oversimplification of her physical state.
"Aww, you two are actually adorable. I wish you grew up with us Sis, SATS would have been so much more fun."
"Actually I don’t think we would have got on very well... I don’t like it when you shoot him."
"You know, he really doesn’t deserve a sister like you."
After that Carl and the others all decided they needed to update everyone else on what was going on.
Before they could introduce her to everyone though, Carl had to introduce Sis to Leanna and Alisha. He hadn’t said as much, but Carl really did want her to be like a proper sister, she was the only one that shared his origins in their entirety.
They weren’t wired to reject her and the moment they met, they welcomed her gratefully. They didn’t fail to point out that they felt robbed they didn’t get to raise them together, but Sis pointed out that Leanna technically did, because she was aware of almost everything that happened after Carl’s birthday.
It didn’t do much to satisfy them though and they started moaning about Ishtar pretty quickly, they even pointed out that she could have made it so she manifested on his tenth birthday as a younger girl, which would have let her grow up with him and helped her understand the emotional side of growth.
It was clear that they just would have liked to raise another child though and so Carl and Sis just let them rant about it for a bit.
"Personally, I’m glad you waited, it would have made the committee even more interested if you hadn’t."
"You mean we would have had to share a room and your sneaky make out sessions with Klaire would have been more difficult."
"Sneaky make out sessions?" Leanna asked the question more as a threat than anything else.
"In my defence... Saying "no" to a banshee translates to "shoot me" so I did it out of self-preservation." As he spoke, he felt a strong grip fall onto his shoulder.
"Carl, you know how bad that sounds, right? Besides, if you were opposed to getting shot, then you would have stopped trying to annoy me years ago."
"Can you punish him later? I’m getting quite sleepy after manifesting and would rather get everything done so I can sleep."
Temporarily saved, they went to go and bring everyone up to speed.
It didn’t take particularly long, though the half-gnome made everyone feel a bit awkward as she ogled Sis like her first dinner in a week and Gillian had to run interference.
"You know, this one might actually be game... Why don’t you go make her a wardrobe and some means of defending herself and see how far you get?"
"You know Gil, every so often you say something that makes sense."
No one could believe it actually worked as Alysse skipped away to work on some presents for the latest object of her affection.
"Wow Gil, having your fiance about has changed you..." Carl laughed, bringing the whole table to a jarring silence.
"Gil has a fiance?" They said practically in unison, though Lillim’s reaction was slightly less restrained as she opted for "someone wants to marry the idiot? Never let her go."
"So you guys just never told anyone did you?"
"Pretty sure most people knew... Wait, no, I guess I didn’t really hang-out with you guys much at SATS."
"Well you guys can quiz Gil about that later, Sis is already pretty tired, so we only really came to get everyone on the same page and grab the kids."
After that, they all retired, but Sis quickly found out that sleep was not as easy as humans made it look and that there were common physical acts that Carl’s experience didn’t help with.
What that translated to, was girls and kids in one room and Carl laying awake.
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: SINCE I CAN’T SLEEP AND YOU’RE TAKING CARE OF SIS, DO YOU MIND IF I HEAD BACK TO HQ AND CATCH UP? ]
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KLAIRE: SURE, BUT TAKE AEGIS ON ORDERS TO CONTACT ME IF ANYTHING SEEMS OFF WITH YOU, I DON’T LIKE THE FACT YOU’RE FINE AFTER BEING OUT FOR TWO DAYS. I’LL BRING SOME FOOD OVER WHEN SIS FINALLY CONKS OUT. ]
Carl did as instructed and called for Aegis, giving the order Klaire made a condition, then headed out to HQ.
When he got there, Blanc and Sophie were occupying the workspace as well.
"Sorry for interrupting you two, I can do my planning elsewhere..."
"Nah, you don’t need to worry, our date nights are just work all-nighters or gaming." Sophie giggled. "Want some of the coffee Gaia gave us? How bout you Aegis?"
"Err, make Aegis’ watery, last thing we need is a hyper Aegis..."
"Yeah, that could end badly, floor three was a mess thanks to the two-day massacre." Blanc added. "From what I saw and what you said, you mostly have all your immediately plans done. What’s next?"
"Next Is getting the pet shop set up. I have a few ideas, but it won’t be opened for business until Noah gets back. I also want to get my new powers under control, which means studying... On that subject did you finish deciding what pets I should merge with?"
"Yes... They were all a bad fit however, instead I made a list of several pets that would be far more efficient."
"Did you tell Blaine, or Noah?"
"No, I didn’t want to act without orders."
"Well consider this the order... Good job."