“Tell me anyway.”

  “No,” Walker said as he shook his head, “Got other things to do.”

  “Boring,” David commented with a grin as Walker pulled up the notifications.

  With your discovery of a new Helix strand, the Omniverse has seen fit to reward you with one set of options.

  1: Receive the System Testing Suite: A series of upgrades for any System Architect that allows them to better understand if strand use is a wise course of action.

  Secondary rewards for your discovery of the Helix Undeath strand

  1000 Life resources

  1000 Death resources

  As compensation for not being granted additional Undeath strand resources, all currently discovered Helix strands will receive 100 resources.

  “Man, they really don’t want me playing around with Undeath.”

  “Oh?” David replied dryly, “Whatever could be the problem there.”

  Walker laughed, always amused by himself. Shaking his head, he said, “They only gave me one option for the rewards and didn’t throw me any extra Undeath strands.”

  “Mmm,” David hummed while thinking, “They always came in threes before, right? What do you think the other two options might’ve been?”

  “Nothing good, I bet.”

  Walker looked at his resource page and noted a single Undeath resource. Like Entropy, he decided not to touch it. Shaking his body to loosen up, he put a life resource in his hand before transferring it to the other.

  “Ready for round two?”

  “Yep, throw it at me, big daddy!”

  “Big da…whatever.” Walker reached in with his other hand and removed a single resource of Karma.

  “What?” David said with a perplexed expression, “You made unlife, right?’

  “You’re fucking weird.”

  “By definition, so are you.”

  “Come on, man, focus. If Undeath was so bad that the Omniverse had to shove the Regional Governer at me, then this must be just as dangerous.”

  “The Omniverse did what now?”

  Walker ignored him as he looked at the Karma resource in his hand. The strand visually showed a series of multi-colored pin-pricks of light, with one greater light source in the center. While the orbiting colors varied in size and intensity, the larger one in the center stayed steady, an off-white, almost yellow, orb. It never touched the darkness covering his body. In fact, it seemed to shy away from it.

  Sensing his feelings on the strand and thinking back to a farm boy from Tatooine, Walker got…nothing. Nothing, nothing. It was as if the strand would only become something when an outside force acted upon it. Testing his instincts, he brought the hand holding life a little closer. Suddenly, the strand of Karma in his hand began to glow a tiny bit of green in the center, slowly overtaking the yellowness of the orb. Walker pulled the hand holding life away and watched as the green in Karma slowly dissipated.

  “Huh.”

  “Why do you always say that? Do you realize how much you say that?” David demanded nearby. He looked at Karma in his hand, “So,” David pantomimed Walker bringing his hands together, “what are you thinking?”

  “I’m not one-hundred percent certain this is Karma.” Walker replied, just as a voice spoke around them.

  “Astute observation.”

  A lightning bolt struck Walker’s mind, “Wait a second, you know exactly what this is, don’t you? From the Guide token?”

  “That I do, but if I tell you and you don’t continue your testing things yourself, I believe it will influence the rewards you receive. And trust me, you want those rewards unblemished.”

  “So the Omniverse is watching?”

  “Yes,” Was the only response he gave.

  Walker snorted, “Thanks for the help.”

  “Of course, anytime.”

  Walker looked at the two strands in his hands again. The green of life in his left and the multi-colored strand that certainly wasn’t karma in his right. Bringing his hands together slowly, the strand in his right took on a greater hue of green the closer they came to each other. With only a few inches left, the orb in the center filled up to the brim, and the strands took action on their own.

  The life strand was swallowed by the orb.

  Each point of light surrounding the new double strand took on a life of its own, as the now green orb doubled in size. Like a black hole in the reaches of space, the orb began to suck in all the points of light, growing with each no point disappearing into the maelstrom. As it finished, Walker was holding a large green ball of energy, only a few shades off the original color of his soul.

  Feeling something odd with his arm, he shifted the strand over to his left hand in a flash, worried to see what results might’ve occurred from the merger.

  “Huh,” David responded as they both noticed the flames of his darkness now looked different.

  Center to where the strand had sat, light green flames now rose from the area, a stark contrast to the darkness of his soul that he’d more than grown used to. The further down his arm he looked, the weaker the coloring became. Even as they watched, the black coloring overrode the green, not unlike when Ulysses first defeated the Godeater parasite to form his universal core.

  “Definitely not Karma,” Walker commented as he noticed the same result affecting his left arm.

  “No, I wouldn’t think so,” The reflection commented in return.

  Without wasting any time, Walker pressed it into his overlay. The strand surprisingly fought him, but after Walker’s vision began to turn green, it went in without any fuss.

  Congratulations Architect Dante!

  You’ve discovered the Enhancement strand!

  “Well, that’s not Undeath, at least.” Walker commented, “It says it’s called the Enhancement.”

  “Enhancement, huh…yah, that’s not Karma,” David replied, doubling down on the theory that, yet again, the Evolvers didn’t know what they were doing.

  “It’s not surprising that they’d get the name wrong. You know, based on how it was affecting my soul, I bet that’s exactly what the strand is. Some kind of Soul strand.”

  “So…what does that mean?” David asked.

  “I don't honestly know.” Walker replied with a shrug and a smile, “But isn’t that the fun of being out here? Discovering new things?”

  David gave him a nod and a soft smile as Walker looked at the reward options awaiting him.

  This time around, they came in the normal Omniversal set of three. The second reward was an Enhancement system, something that would allow him to selectively empower entities within the Universe, with the only cap being how many resources he placed into the system.

  The third was an invitation to something called The Upper Crust Society, along with a promise of several resources for first arriving. That sounded to Walker like another weird, entitled kid reward. Something to mollify the Strandbinders who experimented for material gain and status rather than for the joy of it or even to empower their universe.

  It was the first option he was most interested in, though.

  1:

  Receive the Spiritual Incitement ability: This ability is celebrated across the Omniverse as a natural Strandbinder's first true step toward Omnipotence. It allows the Strandbinder to instill an entity with a small piece of their soul, inciting their own to awaken in a safe and controlled manner.

  Walker didn’t really have a choice on this one. To have an ability that allowed him to safely Awaken anyone he wanted? Too easy.

  He re-read the ability description a second time, and the words natural Strandbinder and Omnipotence jumped out at him. Natural Strandbinder had certain implications, but as he had the O.S.T. now, it wasn’t strange to think there would be other ways to combine strands. Omnipotence, however, was a word that translated to all-powerful or unlimited power. It made him wonder if that was the road he was walking down and, if so, if it was something he even wanted.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Shelving that thought for later review, he explained his choice to David, receiving a grin as he finished and made his selection.

  Congratulations Architect Dante!

  You’ve received the Spiritual Incitement ability!

  …

  Secondary rewards for your discovery of the Everlasting Spirit strand

  500 Enhancement resources

  1000 Life resources

  1000 Karma resources

  “You know what we could do with that, right?”

  “Yep. Though it makes me wonder, is the System Linking ability something that Kwaya created, or something they received from the Omniverse as well? Because if we’re able to create a system and sacrifice this ability to it, then-”

  “Then we can create a system for the soul.”

  “Exactly,” Walker said with a snap of his fingers, “Meaning that for anyone who reaches a certain level or tier, we can now offer a new way to gain power that doesn’t rely on knowing a Primordial. Hell, we can call it the Primordial system and just do away with any confusion.”

  They spoke for a few more minutes about how that would work, Ulysses commenting often with his Omniversal insight, before Walker knew he was just stalling and it was time to move on to the next combination.

  Grabbing the liquid darkness of death and throwing it into his other hand, Walker paused for a moment before doing the same with Karma. Quickly tapping into his overlay, he renamed it to Soul so he would no longer be confused by the Evolver’s misunderstanding about strands.

  That done, he pulled out the second strand and looked back and forth between Soul and Death.

  “I’m not going to lie; this will probably be pretty dangerous.”

  “You are already isolated in that part of my body, Walker.” Ulysses said softly, “The only danger is to yourself.”

  “Risk and reward, yada yada,” David said, attempting to bolster his resolve, “Plus, I don’t have a lot of time left. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Walker rolled his eyes and slowly brought the two together. As it had done with Life, the Soul strand took on a hint of darkness in the center. Without pausing to think about it, as he knew he might chicken out, Walker suddenly pressed Death over. Soul ate it right up.

  “Umm-”

  Where life had freely absorbed the tiny pin-pricks of light, the black orb that used to be the soul strand instead latched on to them with long cords of liquid darkness. Rather than inviting them to the center, it drained them in place, until Walker was holding a large, rotating orb of liquid.

  Unlike with Undeath, this didn’t feel evil or malicious. It felt like…consumption. Like a ravenous hole in the center of his palm.

  Something strange did happen as Ulysses spoke up in the air.

  “Ow, ow, ow.” The Universe calmly said repeatedly as small areas around Walker’s hand holding the strand seemed to break down. A ripping sound could be heard as a tiny piece of the universe nearby suddenly tore, a white expanse showing its place. From that tear stood the rotating geometric shapes Walker had long ago associated with Dimensionality.

  This thing is tearing the universe apart? Walker thought as he watched the area around him slowly become unstable. What the fuck is this?

  “That seriously hurt,” Ulysses said in a too-calm voice, “Can you please absorb that thing quickly? It isn’t a good feeling when you have pieces of yourself getting ripped off.”

  “Isn’t it, like, a percentage of a percentage of a percentage of you?” David commented as another tear occurred, the blue strand of space now floating in the darkness.

  “That matters not. I have to replenish each tear with other parts of my body, otherwise, whatever is on the outside can get in.” As he said so, the place where the Space and Dimensionality strands came from filled in with the darkness of Ulysses’ body. “I should also warn you, the effect from that strand is expansive. I can feel the grip of it reaching beyond your secluded location.”

  Knowing Ulysses meant it, Walker pushed it toward his overlay. As he did so, for the first time, Walker watched as his overlay became jittery. The closer the orb came to his face, the more his overlay seemed to freak out.

  The Strandbinder knew there was a small amount of time remaining before his overlay shut off completely, with no understanding of what would happen then. Desperately, he pressed it against his eyes and flared the darkness of his soul. Using a bit of learned control, Walker smothered the strand in the power of his innermost self, willing it into his overlay. And not a moment too soon, as his overlay began to darken and fade just as it slipped into his resources.

  Congratulations Architect Dante!

  You’ve discovered the Reclamation strand!

  “Thank you,” Ulysses said as David asked, “What’d yah get?”

  “It’s called the Reclamation strand,” Walker replied, just a little breathless from the danger of what he’d done. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he spoke again, “Based on what we saw, I’d say it breaks down things to get the strands out of them.”

  “Neat.”

  “Not neat,” Ulysses replied testily, “That wasn’t a good thing, Walker. It hurt like hell, and I don’t appreciate having my body chopped up. Promise me you will never use it in its basic form again.”

  Walker noted the seriousness of what Ulysses was saying and agreed with it, “I promise I won’t without warning you,” he said, hedging for the future, “and I’m sorry about what you had to go through.”

  “Mmmhmm,” The Universal Personality said. Then, his presence faded into the background. While standing in the Symphony universe and for the first time in a long time, Walker didn’t feel Ulysses focusing on him.

  I’ll have to make it up to him somehow. Walker thought to himself, I didn’t know what that combination would make.

  Filing that away in his mind alongside so many other mental notes, Walker looked at his rewards.

  The first reward he reviewed as an option was a tax system, something Walker loathed in every way possible. He wasn’t one of those taxation is theft types, but he didn’t have any pleasant memories of them either. He could see the value in having such a system, but from what the description said, it worked by taxing his entities in strands.

  How in the fuck would that even work?

  He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to waste a reward on guessing.

  The second reward was far more interesting. It offered him the recycle ability, something that allowed him to select an area or even a person and extract the strands that make up its parts. There were requirements and restrictions attached to it, probably to keep it from being abused too greatly, but it had a lot of value in his eyes.

  The last option was a large allotment of resources and a second invitation to the Omniversal Strand Repository. Something he’d declined the first time around, but now had to re-think as he’d never seen the Omniverse offer a reward twice. Walker wasn’t dumb enough to think he shouldn’t be aware of that.

  Instead, he sent a message, quickly receiving one in return.

  Xandar: Well if it isn’t my little budding Strandbinder. How can I help?

  Dante: I’m just curious. I just discovered the Reclamation strand, and the rewards offer an invitation to something called the Omniversal Strand Repository. Is that something I should take? I don’t know what the restrictions are for you helping me.

  Xandar: I see. Well, you’re right to message me for this, but unfortunately, I’m not a Strandbinder. My family has been managing this Region for some time, inherited from our help in the Frayish wars, but I don’t have a great amount of information on strands and their rewards.

  Walker winced, hoping he’d get an answer this time around.

  Dante: I see. Well, thank you for the help anyway.

  He was about to close out the chat when another message came in.

  Xandar: What’s the rush? I said I didn’t know much about it, but my own Strandbinder might. From what I know of Strandbinding and discovery rewards, some of them can be shared with others. I’ll speak to a few in my employ and see if I can’t get you that invite myself. Consider it a gift from me to you, no strands attached.

  Walker: Haha, thanks! I appreciate your help.

  Xandar: Of course. I’ll keep in touch.

  Now that Walker had a potential way to get an invite to the repository, that only left one option. He pulled up the description again to get a feel for it.

  2:

  Receive the Recycle ability: An ability that allows Strandbinders to target and assimilate resources directly from environments. This ability is empowered through the Reclamation strand, and can be increased in size and scope based upon the understanding of the Strandbinder using it.

  Without needing to speak to anyone, Walker selected the ability.

  Congratulations Architect Dante!

  You’ve received the Recycle ability!

  …

  Secondary rewards for your discovery of the Reclamation strand

  500 Reclamation resources

  1000 Death resources

  1000 Soul resources

  When Walker stopped reading his overlay, he noticed he was alone.

  “Oh yeah,” He said to the darkness around him, only just remembering that David had said he’d be popping soon. Walker quickly created a new reflection who now had all of his updated experiences.

  “So, that’s a pretty weird ability.”

  “Yeah,” Walker agreed, “But being able to recycle bodies for strand resources is interesting.”

  A portal opened up nearby, Walker already knowing what that meant. “Stop, I’ll go through myself,” He said before Ulysses could shove him with space. A small dose of Kinetic energy, his reflection grabbing onto his shoulder, and he suddenly stood in the white world of Ulysses’ Metaphysical body.

  The part was already waiting for them, impatiently tapping their foot, “Did I hear you say you received the Recycle ability?”

  “Yeah, what of it?”

  Ulysses waved a hand, and a screen appeared. It showed a world filled with multi-colored Jellies. “I’ve already farmed thousands of these creatures-”

  “It’d be ranched. Farming is mostly for crops; Ranching is raising livestock.”

  David nodded beside him, “He’s right, it’s Jelly ranching.”

  “Whatever,” Ulysses slashed his hand down, and another screen appeared beside the original. This one held two more planets, though the Jellies were much larger than Walker remembered, “I’ve been isolating the larger ones and breeding them selectively. Have you ever seen a Jelly and a Jelly get it on? It’s quite the experience,” He sighed, “I am not one-hundred percent certain yet, but I believe the larger the Jelly, the larger the strand delivery will be from their eventual death. Already, I have collected several strands from them. But it isn’t a simple process.”

  “Okay,” Walker said, not getting it.

  “Don’t you see! Your recycling ability can collect all the resources all at once, and with greater efficiency than my meager methods!”

  “But I’m not going to be here all the time?” Walker said, “How would that work? Are you going to put them in stasis or some kind of Temporal slowdown?”

  “I could do that, or you could do as you spoke to the previous David about. Create a system and sacrifice the ability to it.”

  “Maybe…maybe. I’ll think about it, alright?”

  Ulysses nodded, “That is all I ask.”

  “Thanks. Can you make another portal back to where we were? I have one more to go.”

  “Ah yes, the Trinity strand. Life, Death, and the Soul. What was it you thought it would create?”

  “An afterlife,” Walker said with seriousness. “Apparently, it’s something required, though for reasons I'm still unsure of.”

  “And if it isn’t what you think it is? What then?”

  “Then we improvise,” Walker said with a grin, just as a dark portal opened up behind him. Turning around, his reflection grabbed onto him again as he stepped through.

  “Good luck.” Ulysses said from the other side, just before it closed.

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