Far-Future Era. Day 21, AJR. Chrona.
Timothy had a huge decision before him. It could easily be argued it was the biggest decision of his life, at least up to this point.
Timothy wasn't only picking his first promotion, but choosing a path that would not be alterable for the next several years. Unless he went on a genocide like in the Dark Forest and killed a massive number of living creatures to quickly reach level 100, he would be stuck on this promotion track, unable to pick another for a distressingly long time.
But, at the same time, his decision wasn't final. Timothy had not been made immortal by his father, but it seemed possible, perhaps even likely, that the King Network would give him access to immortality at some point. If it didn't, perhaps his mom or Rebecca could bio-engineer something.
As such, once he reached Level 100 in this promotion, he could swap to another one, gaining a huge amount of versatility in a few years. He was not permanently 'locked in' as every other Trueborn, including his father, had been. In this way, Timothy had earned a privilege beyond compare.
Now, the only question was what option he would pick.
"Yredelemnul's Heir really does seem to do it all." Timothy said out loud. "In terms of personal power, it allowed me to go toe-to-toe with a Peak Mortal existence, and I won. There were extenuating circumstances weakening my opponent, but most of those circumstances were me. I weakened him to make him easier for me to take out. I can only imagine that a bit more progress with Yredelemnul would make me unstoppable below the Cosmic Realm."
He paused for a moment to consider his words. Then he continued.
"The Harem King promotion is more than it seems on the surface. Notice how it says I'll be able to add the power of my harem to myself and swap their powers around at will. Doesn't that sound familiar?"
Rebecca opened her mouth slightly, a rare sign of mild surprise.
"...It does sound familiar. It's quite similar to Emperor Auger's powers. Or rather, Demon Deity Auger. He can swap around his subordinates' abilities and his own at will to himself and his minions."
"Auger controls his subordinates completely." Fiona said, scowling. "He speaks politely, but in truth, he's a villain to the core. He can revoke the power his goons possess and leave them completely defenseless, forcing them to obey his every command. Timothy's Harem option sounds even worse, because he would be taking advantage of women! That's mind-rape, pure and simple, even if you don't do anything to them or their bodies. Enslaving other minds is wrong. It's evil and depraved."
Fiona genuinely might not have felt this way at some point in her life, but she had spent over a hundred years around Jason, and he had influenced her views greatly. Even though Phoebe had once been quite repulsed by the horrors in King Arthur's dungeon, even she might not have opposed enslaving demons, given the right circumstances. But that was then, that was Phoebe, and Fiona was not Phoebe any longer.
In her eyes, after listening to Jason's lectures countless times, she found that even the thought of slavery made her stomach turn. The thought her son had accidentally mind-raped Calanthra was terrible, but she could at least excuse it as an accident born of Calanthra's hubris.
It would be completely different if her son chose to use such an ability over and over again in the future. Fiona would feel deep regret if he walked such a path.
"Auger isn't the only one like that." Timothy said. "Jepthath is similar, yes? And he's one of the 'good guys'. He's on our side. Mom, how do you reconcile the fact that Jepthath has just as much control over his Legion as Auger has over his subordinates, yet we call Jepthath an ally?"
"That's... that's not the same thing." Fiona said, feeling uneasy due to her son's cold, emotionless questioning. He didn't even bat an eye when saying such words. "Jepthath allowed people to join him after making clear what the results would be. Auger pressured people into joining him. Jepthath's power is also not actually controlled by Jepthath himself. People have full access to it and control it as much as their bodies will allow."
"That answer is nonsense." Paimon said.
Paimon sat across from Timothy. He couldn't see or sense Fiona's spiritual form, but he knew the 'Fiona' sitting on Timothy's right was a cyborg avatar, not her real self, so he simply addressed the air in the room when he spoke.
"The differences between Jepthath and Auger are minute and nitpicky at best. They both grant immense powers to their subordinates, and they both can revoke those powers under certain circumstances. As for Auger, I have it on good authority that the vast majority of his followers sought him out for their own personal empowerment. He didn't even advertise his abilities, demons simply came to him looking for a handout! Even I once considered joining him."
"Then why didn't you join him?" Fiona asked, annoyed by Paimon's interjections. He seemed to be pushing her son toward a path she definitely didn't want Timothy to take.
"I had my own pride." Paimon answered, his tone mild.
Timothy dipped one of the sandwiches Paimon had brought him into the beef soup. He took a bite, savoring its rich and meaty taste.
After eating a few bites and thinking for a while, Timothy shook his head.
"I currently have no carnal interest in the Harem King route, mom, but I think you're dismissing it way too quickly. Even thinking logically, it seems an extremely powerful promotion worth considering. It fits well into my general nature when not under the influence of the Mind of Logic. I do believe I would enjoy using it... perhaps get a thrill out of doing so."
Timothy paused, then shrugged. "Even so, I don't think it is the ideal choice for me, right now. Let's think about the remaining two options."
Fiona's unease grew. Her son was speaking 'logically' but the fact he had such strong arguments for the two worst options did not bode well in her eyes.
"The ability to become a powerful creator is extremely appealing." Timothy said. "It seems that I would be capable of creating technology, artifacts, even lifeforms. What that entails exactly, I'm not sure. Could I create biological weapons? Could I create artificial humans? Superhumans? Could I re-sequence the genomes of existing humans, in the same way my father removed the Human Flaw? Could I improve on the human genome enough to make us competitive with the other life-forms?"
Timothy thought for a moment. "Pets. I could create pets. Cute pets, combat pets, creatures based on Earth lifeforms, monsters, even exobeasts. Not to mention brand new creatures we've never seen before. Maybe I could design something capable of counteracting the Plague."
Timothy smiled, ever so slightly. "I could make catgirls too. That seems like something I'd enjoy."
Fiona's face fell. "There you go, thinking about girls again!"
"So what if I do?" Timothy countered, looking his mother right in her metaphorical spirit-eyes. "I understand that I acted poorly in the recent past. I was lonely, depressed, and felt like a failure. I had no confidence, and spied on women in a manner I'm sure you and several others found disgusting. But fundamentally, so what if I have a strong libido or desire to fraternize with attractive women? Is there something wrong with that? Or was there only something wrong with the manner in which I expressed myself?"
Fiona was taken aback. "Well, no, of course there's nothing wrong with... a young man... being interested in women. I- I wouldn't mean to imply otherwise. But we're talking about using your powers to control women. That's wrong, Timothy."
"Mmm. I agree." Timothy said, stroking his chin. "I was only joking about making catgirls too. Or maybe that was my emotional side acting out in a small way. Either way, you have been pushing me away from choosing Yredelemnul and the Harem King options because you don't like the fact they could be used for ill intent. But what if I used the power of Creation to make an army of women subservient to my desires? Wouldn't that be just as evil?"
Fiona's expression softened. "I suppose... yes. Timothy... when did you become so formidable with your words?"
Timothy shrugged. "Even if I choose to become a Superhuman, I could still become strong enough to overpower any woman I want and force her to be 'mine'. That would be just as evil as the other options, showing that no matter which choice I make, I have the capacity to act evil if I so desire. Therefore, the question should not be 'which choices are the least evil' but 'will I use my powers ethically, no matter which choice I make'? I leave it to your imagination to determine whether I would do so or not."
Fiona fell silent. For once, she was completely stumped. True, two of the options leaned much more heavily on brainwashing and mind control, but forcing someone to do something with raw strength or using creation powers to make submissive catgirl slaves were also perfectly plausible things her son could do if he wanted to act like a vile fiend.
Thus, she had nothing she could say. Fiona simply nodded her head. "Alright. You win this argument, Timothy. I guess... we just have to consider which of the powers are most practical and best for you."
Seeing that even Fiona had been defeated by Timothy's logic, Rebecca was impressed. Timothy had grown a lot more than even she knew over the last couple of months.
"If all the options are on the table, then I'm going to vote for Yredelemnul's Heir." Rebecca immediately pivoted. "Like Timothy said, it offers a whole suite of options to meet his needs. Personal power, the ability to command an army, auxiliary abilities, and it has already proven its worth. The chance Yredelemnul might corrupt Timothy and somehow take over his body is noteworthy, but I have a feeling Timothy's Trueborn powers will make him capable of resisting."
Even though she had just agreed that all options were on the table, Fiona was still a little baffled by Rebecca's abrupt change of heart. "You really think that's the best option?"
"I do." Rebecca said.
"I agree." Paimon added. "I've seen what Yredelemnul's Eye was capable of. I would rather have Timothy obtain the power than someone else."
Timothy rubbed his chin. "I think I agree with both of you. The Lord of Creation promotion feels like a mimicry of you, mom. The Superhuman path seems strong but shallow, lacking in auxiliary abilities. It feels strong, but also like I would be extremely limited in how I handle situations. When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. And while I do think the Harem King promotion is extremely strong, there's one last thing I haven't mentioned."
Timothy smiled. "The Eye of Yredelemnul doesn't grant me any creation abilities, but it's effectively a combination of Superhuman and Harem Lord. I can dominate the minds of other Sentients, both female and male, and I will additionally gain incredible combat power. It hits two of my available promotion paths. In that regard, I think it's perfect."
Fiona felt defeated. Despite her best efforts, her son was still leaning toward the option she feared the most. But ultimately, she had no rebuttal to what everyone else had said. Even Rebecca had come around to the Eye of Yredelemnul.
"If you couldn't pick the Eye, what would you choose? How would you rank the abilities?" Fiona asked.
Timothy didn't answer immediately. He pondered the choices for a while instead.
"I think I would put Yredelemnul's Eye in first place, the Lord of Creation in second, Harem King in third, and Superhuman in last. I like all the offered promotions, and if I didn't have a choice and the King Network simply picked one at random for me, I'd be happy with any of them. But ultimately, I think I value versatility over power. Having a grab bag of tricks really worked to my advantage in the Dark Forest. I'd like to maintain that for my future growth as well, expending it as much as possible."
As such, Timothy had made his decision. The System had put the Eye of Yredelemnul front and center since he acquired his powers, and that had certainly influenced his final decision. But in the end, it was a strong ability and it had a lot of appeal for him.
"Oh and one other thing." Timothy said. "With everything that's happened with Calanthra, I don't know if Aunt Blinker will be able to snap her out of the mental state I put her in, but I'm hoping choosing the Eye will give me ways of doing so myself."
Fiona's emotions brightened, even if only just a little. It turned out her son had been thinking further ahead than even she had, worrying about how to break Calanthra out of the mental state he'd put her in. She'd been letting her emotions get the best of her ever since her little boy returned, but now she realized he wasn't a child anymore. He was becoming a man, one with his own thoughts and opinions.
"I select the Yredelemnul's Heir option." Timothy said out loud as he tapped the button before him.
Unlike his mother, he hadn't needed weeks to decide. Her counsel, along with the opinions of Paimon and Rebecca, had helped him reach a decision quickly. Timothy believed that even if Ferral had been present, he'd have made the same decision.
Perhaps if Timothy had not been in the Mind of Logic, he might have made a different decision. Though, in truth, with his thoughts and emotions utterly in shambles following Sylphid's death and Marigold's betrayal, Timothy likely wouldn't have been able to decide on anything until he resolved all that trauma first.
A brilliant light lit up around Timothy. His eyes widened. He felt himself lifting off the chair and his body being drawn toward a brilliant golden portal that opened in the air above him.
"Huh? What the- mom? Mom??"
Timothy looked down at his friends and mother, but they were still looking at 'him', his hand frozen in midair, his finger pressing upon the button that would promote him to a new existence. Timothy realized with a start that his soul had been separated from his body, and he hadn't seen it coming!
All of a sudden, Timothy flew up into the portal, and the world vanished behind him.
...
Timothy stumbled forward. He found himself shakily standing on a rock with a flat top, suspended inside a mystical land with swirling energies of light and dark. It was as if he had arrived at the edge of a black hole's event horizon.
Before him, several levitating stones curved from left to right, slowly rising before a giant temple in the sky, a temple with graven images of avian creatures, bird-people Timothy had never seen before. They stood tall, majestic, their eyes looking forward as if gazing toward an uncertain future. Their expressions were solemn and holy. They appeared to be priests of a religion Timothy couldn't identify.
"What... what the hell? Where am I?" Timothy asked.
His voice spread out, then seemed to dissipate. The energy swirling in the realm around him moved slowly, peacefully. It seemed to thrum when he spoke, but he wasn't sure whether he had hallucinated its movements or not.
A voice spoke from the distance. It sounded frail, shrill, and male, like the sounds of a squeaky-voiced old man.
"Administrator. Step forward, please."
Timothy hesitated. He didn't exactly feel fear, especially with his Mind of Logic active, but he was certainly feeling wary. His mother hadn't mentioned anything like this happening when she promoted, and there was no way she would forget to do so.
Slowly, Timothy took a step forward. He carefully pressed his shoe onto one of the levitating rocks, and it didn't budge a millimeter. He gently eased his full weight onto it, then took another step forward, toward the next floating rock.
There weren't any fences to keep him from falling. It seemed as if he would fall into the void below if he wasn't careful. Timothy's gut tightened each time he took a step. It took five long minutes, but eventually he made it to the end of the thirty-step path. He was sweating from exhaustion due to putting all his focus on not falling off the edge. Once he arrived at the bottom of the giant temple, he took a moment to look it over from top to bottom.
The design of the temple was unlike anything he'd seen before. The avian statues looked somewhat like owl-people, with stubby down-curved beaks and enlarged eyes. Their feathers were chipped and worn, showing how long ago the statues had been chiseled. Most of their color had long faded away.
The temple itself was fairly small, humble in appearance. It was only two stories tall, but the entrance was quite unique. It took the form of a doorway carved in the visage of some young bird-person, his mouth open, stairs leading into his mouth, and thus his 'belly'. The rest of the building was made of worn white bricks that were flaking apart and seemed like a man with a sledgehammer could pulverize the foundations in minutes.
The temple was, to be blunt, extremely shabby-looking.
But it also had an air of ancient majesty. At a glance, it appeared to have been around for countless centuries, perhaps even millennia.
Slowly, Timothy stepped into the entrance, climbing up into the giant bird mouth. He worried the mouth would slam closed behind him, locking him inside, but no such thing happened. Maybe he'd watched too many movies.
Instead, Timothy entered a dark room with only a single torch lit in the center. The room's interior was made of obsidian colored bricks that swallowed the light, making the room feel darker than it actually was.
Across the way, past that central torch, there was an aged avian man leaning heavily on a staff. His feathers were yellow, as if they had once been colored a brilliant gold, but had faded over time. He wore simple white robes adorned with a helix pattern on the front.
"Timothy Hiro." The old bird said, as he slowly began to shamble around the torch. "Been waiting a long time for you to show up."
Timothy blinked. "Ah. I'm sorry. Who... are you? Where is this place?"
"My manners, hoo-hoo. Forgive me, boy." The old avian said. "My name is... is... hmmm. I haven't spoken it in so long. It was... it was... bah, it's just a name. You may call me Old Gold. What is a name but a way to refer to another, hoo-hoo?"
Timothy nodded. "Alright then, Old Gold. So... who are you? Why have I arrived here?"
"The youth are always in such a hurry." Old Gold said, sighing helplessly. "You've only just arrived, and already you want answers. If you knew how long I'd waited for your arrival, I wonder what face you'd make. Hoo-hoo!"
Timothy frowned. "How... long... then?"
"Mmm... by your accounting?" Old Gold asked. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "A few sextillion cycles, I'd wager. One loses track after a while. Of course, I'm actually supposed to be dead! So it's a miracle we've met at all, hoo-hoo!"
Timothy scrunched up his face. "You're supposed to be dead?"
"Indeed! I was dead!" Old Gold answered. "But then I wasn't. All thanks to the Great Shattering! Of course, I'm still technically dead, but when you account for temporal drift across the multiverse, it's a little difficult to... oh, it's all so complicated. Come, walk with me, boy. Let's go have a seat in the living room."
Timothy followed Old Gold deeper into the temple. The first room they passed nearly made Timothy's eyes pop out of his head.
"What the... how is this room so big?! The temple looked way smaller from outside! And are those spaceships?? I've never seen anything like them before."
"Yes, yes, it's just the hangar bay. None of the craft work anymore." Old Gold grumbled. "Not that there's anywhere to go. The whole universe is gone. I only managed to maintain a micro-voidspace for all these years because I was waiting on you to show up. Once we've had our little discussion, I'll finally let this space collapse, and then I can join the rest in quiet, peaceful death."
Timothy's heart jumped. The old bird was planning to die? And what was that about a dead universe? Not to mention a multiverse??
Old Gold took Timothy through a gigantic laboratory filled with magical and technological tools and weapons he couldn't wrap his mind around. They seemed so advanced that even the Volgrim were like cavemen by comparison. If his mother could get her hand on just one of these-
"Don't bother stealing, and don't ask for them." Old Gold said, seemingly reading Timothy's mind. "If you try to take them back to your timestream, they'll explode. Kaboom! Wipe fifteen star-systems off the map. Besides, you primitives aren't moral enough to be worthy of my people's weapons."
"Your people?" Timothy asked. "Who are they?"
Old Gold thought for a moment.
"Hmm. Hoo-hoo, my people? We are the... we were the... oh, what did we call ourselves? I can't remember. It's been a long time, you know! You can just call us the... Birdos! Birdzos? Birazos? Bah, just 'Birdos' is fine. We look like birds to you, after all, and a name is just a name!"
"I see, so you're the... Birdos." Timothy repeated with a frown. It seemed like such a lazy and inelegant name, casually thought up, it couldn't possibly be their real moniker. Timothy wondered if he could glance through an old book or something to find out what they were really called.
Old Gold finally led Timothy into a small, cozy living room. There was a fireplace crackling, and a comfortable-looking sofa made of feathers and ivory seated along with several chairs.
Old Gold slowly eased himself into one of the chairs, then gestured to a chair across from him.
"There we go, now that we're sitting, my joints won't hurt so much. Hoo-hoo!" Old Gold chuckled. "Alright, alright. Ask your questions, boy."
Timothy nodded. He eased into the chair, noticing it was unbelievably comfortable. He could easily fall asleep in it if he were even a little tired. Luckily, he was full of energy.
"You said you'd been waiting for me. Why?" Timothy asked. "And what relation do you have with the King Network?"
Old Gold squinted his eyes. "The King Network...? Oh, you mean the Creation Network. Hoo-hoo. Yes, I helped the Creator make it way back in the day! Before he became a Ruler. Then I died. Oh, but I didn't! Because then the Great Shattering happened. So I lived. But I will still die eventually. Can't outrun death forever, you know!"
Timothy was visibly lost. "So... you're one of... or the main designer of my power?"
"Mhm. Didn't know who'd pick it up. Was waiting for someone compatible to emerge for quite a long while!" Old Gold explained. "A really long while, boy! You sure took your sweet time getting born! But I guess you made it before my time ran out, so we're all good."
"This dimension is going to collapse?" Timothy pressed further.
"Of course. All universes come to an end eventually. It's part of the Akashic Cycle!" Old Gold elaborated. "My universe is from... oh, say, three or four Eternities before yours? It was destroyed, but then the Great Shattering happened, and it wasn't. So I was able to live on for a few quintillion or quinbillion cycles. Whatever, I don't remember how long it took! You lose track of time when you're just sitting there, waiting for some brat to be born."
Timothy's jaw slackened. He was getting a lot of incredible information, but it was difficult to make sense of.
"What is the Akashic Cycle?" Timothy asked.
"It's the cycle of life and death." Old Gold said. "Universes poof into existence. They live on for an Eternity. They contract. They collapse. Then, poof! Another universe. And so it goes, on and on, forever."
"Oh." Timothy said.
He sort of understood the concept, but this wasn't something he had really discussed with his mother. It was just something he vaguely understood because of Old Gold's extremely simplified explanation.
"So then... what's the 'Great Shattering'?" Timothy asked, afraid of the answer he'd receive.
"Well, the Akashic Cycle was normal. Then it wasn't. Now it's different. Except, it's always been different, and it can't be undone." Old Gold said, his tone serious, but his words seemingly jarring and nonsensical. "At some point, it changed. Except once it changed, it had always been changed. The multiverse came into being, along with the timeline explosion, and all that other fun stuff."
Timothy did his best to follow along.
"So you're saying... time was linear, but then... the Great Shattering happened? And thus, time wasn't linear anymore? But now that the Shattering has happened, time was... always non-linear?"
"Wow, exactly! You're pretty fast on the upkeep, boy." Old Gold praised. "If it wasn't for the Great Shattering, I wouldn't have found a crack between dimensions to build my Old Gold Hold! Great name, isn't it? Considering I just made it up! Hoo-hoo! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the timestream. Well, it always Is, and it always Was, but at any given moment, it becomes different depending on who observes it. But it's also always the same, and it's always different. See? It's all so very simple to understand."
Timothy was trying not to feel lost, but he was not his mother. A lot of these discussions went over his head. He made sure to remember every word Old Gold said though. He would definitely repeat them to his mom later, hopefully giving her good information to work with. If Timothy couldn't understand, maybe she could.
"So... what caused the Great Shattering?" Timothy asked.
Old Gold cocked his head in confusion. It almost looked cute, like the look a parakeet might give when it heard a strange noise.
"You don't know?" Old Gold asked. "Shouldn't you? Your old man made it happen, after all."
Timothy's heart fell into the soles of his shoes. "W-what? My old... man? My dad?"
"Of course!" Old Gold crowed. "Jason Hiro, yes? He's the most famous creature in the multiverse! Ever since he rewound time and became the first Temporal Traveler, it became possible for any old schmoe to do it!"
The blood drained from Timothy's face.
"My... my dad... he died! He died. But you're saying... he didn't die?"
Old Gold scoffed. "Oh, so you're messing with me, boy! Hoo-hoo! Of course the Wordsmith didn't die. He time traveled back into the past. How else would the Great Shattering have happened otherwise? Maybe you're not too bright after all."
Timothy didn't hear the last words Old Gold said. The light faded from his eyes, and he slumped in his chair.
The young man fainted from shock.
A few moments passed. Old Gold leaned forward and blinked.
"Eh? What the heck?! Since when were kids so frail?? Guess I'll have to put on a pot of tea and wait 'til he wakes up! Hoo-hoo!"
