When dawn ignites the crimson earth,
The stars bear witness, still and high.
One hand may break a world in fear,
Or raise it to the waiting sky.
The threshold hums with silent wrath,
Where fate is carved by blade or breath.
One path may shatter empires wide,
The other dares to conquer death.
<
LOCATION:SIROVA FAMILY COMPOUND
CITY: NEW SEATTLE, NEW UNITED STATES
DATE: MAY 15, 2163 | TIME: 8:30 AM
Three months after returning to her family's compound in New Seattle, Kaela Sirova began getting restless.
After the grueling trial in Budapest, she had been given a glimpse into the true history of the System and its formation.
She'd even met Elliot Voss. When she got home and told her parents about it, they couldn't stop asking questions.
Kaela and Elena's father, Darian Sirova, just leaned back on the sofa and waited patiently for Kaela to tell her story.
While she was in Budapest for only a week, there was a 4:1 time dilation inside the portal breach, meaning that Kaela had spent an entire month inside the space, hunting and killing hundreds of members of the incursion force.
She recounted all of that first, then got into the mysterious message from the System.
"It took me to a mystical place with three large arches," Kaela said. "Through the arches, the cosmos whirled slowly. Off to the right, Elliot Voss sat on a stone bench, waiting for me."
She took a sip of the cold water on the coffee table in front of her. Her sister, Elena, leaned closer, hanging on every word.
Elena was only two levels below Kaela, and as they both neared the level cap, they had a sort of friendly competition going.
When Kaela won, Elena was disappointed but had been a seriously impressive good sport about it all.
"What happened next?" Elena asked.
"The first and second arches took me through the earliest days when Elliot Voss rolled out the very concept of the System and formed the Core Council," Kaela said. "Mom, Dad and Vanessa, you three were all there. It was interesting seeing you all, almost 140 years ago, looking exactly the same as you do now."
Vanessa chuckled. "You're 134 years old yourself, and you haven't changed in a hundred years, so it isn't that strange, is it?"
Elena chimed in. "I see what Kaela means. At that time, aging was still a thing, so it would have been a novel observation."
Kaela rested her arm on her little sister's shoulder and smiled.
Little sister, meaning Elena was two weeks younger than Kaela.
Kaela remembered hearing stories of how Vanessa and her own mother, Mallory loved going through their pregnancies at the same time.
When the three of their parents got married in 2026, triune marriages were still a new thing. But by the time Kaela and Elena were both born in 2029, they were more common.
If you loved each other, and the System recognized the sincerity of your feelings, anything was possible. Even if that love involved more than two people.
"Anyway," Kaela continued, "the third arch showed me the history of the Tutorials, from your first small one to the efforts to assemble and prepare the Peacekeeper Force."
"It was amazing to see how far things have come from those early days," she concluded.
Darian watched his daughters with pride.
"You two make us so proud," he said. "I can't say it enough. So tell us, Kaela, what's next?"
Kaela laughed. "It seems I have some growing to do before I'm ready to see more. And apparently the System insists on me learning the history before I'm ready for Ascension."
She reached for her glass of water.
"Not that I'm complaining about that," she added. "You all know I love history."
Kaela and Elena spent the next three months traveling to Allovia and Namarien in Evirond. And, as always, closing rifts that appeared in North America.
Elena finally got her last two levels to put her at her own threshold.
And on Wednesday, May 15th, Kaela got an update to her System quest.
---
[Private System Alert – Legacy Access Level II - Granted]
Kaela Sirova, you are ready for Legacy Access Level II.
The further history of the System awaits you.
Level II Message Status: Unlocked
Do you wish to view the message now? [Y/N]
Note: You can return to this screen when ready.
---
That night after she went to bed and her house was quiet, Kaela brought up the message and selected Yes.
She was once again transported to the stone structure with three arches.
Elliot Voss sat waiting on the stone bench, a smile on his face.
Kaela walked over to the bench and hugged him. "That's from my parents," she said with a grin.
"Thank you," Voss said, "please return it to them in kind. Now, shall we begin?"
Kaela nodded.
"Alright," Voss said, ushering her into front of the first arch again. "Last time, you saw the preparations for the Peacekeeper Force that you now lead. We can skip over the actual Tutorial for the group, since you're familiar with it. But the global integration of the Force would be new."
They arrived at the arch, and Voss continued speaking.
"Go ahead and step through. We'll talk when you return."
Global Preparation
Kaela stepped through the first arch.
She looked around and saw the office space in Voss Tower from before. This time, the Core Council went over updates on several items on their agenda.
They were discussing all the tasks that need to be done prior to the global rollout of the System.
At the time, the Aetherdrones and Aethernodes that seeded the planet with nanites were just kicking off their first deployments. The Council was reporting on the nanite saturation levels at different points throughout the planet.
Now that the human body contained the ability to generate its own nanite field, Kaela found it fascinating that they had to begin with saturating the atmosphere with them.
A single infusion of starter nanites at birth was all that was needed now. All food consumed was first used to restore energy reserves, and then anything left over was converted to nanites.
There was very little waste left at the end, so at least that unpleasant biological function was almost entirely a thing of the past. Unless one overate, that is.
They discussed the deployment of 3D Forges, but the main topic that took up the rest of their meeting was the forward staging of Vitalyx.
And boy, did the Council have to pull some interesting strings to get it done. Bribing customs inspectors was almost like standard operating procedure then.
Kaela was pulled back, and after a whoosh of wind and blackness, she was standing next to Elliot Voss again.
"So," he said, "what did you think?"
Kaela had a puzzled look on her face.
"Knowing what we know now," she said, "it's interesting to see the lengths they had to go through to keep Vitalyx and all the other measures hidden."
Voss looked down at the ground.
"Yes," he said, "its actually quite sad. But those in power before the System would have hoarded the serums, made them scarce. Sold them for massive profits. Greed and small-mindedness were in great supply back then."
Kaela thought for a minute.
"Do you think the System has worked most of it out of humanity by now?" she asked.
Elliot Voss smiled warmly.
"Not 100%," he said, "but it sure has made a dent. You are surely aware by now that it can limit development in those who strive for all strength and no heart."
Kaela nodded.
"That's the chief way in which the System encourages better choices. But it will always provide choices. It's up to each person what to do with them. It's one of the core mechanics we insisted upon when designing it."
Kaela nodded again, definitely understanding why the original architects built the System that way.
She even knew people who had become constricted due to the way they were living their lives. There was one Peacekeeper who tried assaulting a woman he'd just rescued from a small incursion rift.
The System intervened in a way that… let's say made penetration impossible. He also found himself suddenly so weak that when the victim slapped him, he was knocked unconscious. She fled the scene, and as the head of the Force, Kaela received a report.
He was now manning a desk at an information kiosk in New Delhi. The endless and constant stream of absurd questions served as poetic justice. The fact that he now had an effective strength of a three-year old child served as actual justice.
At least until he proved he could be trusted with it again.
Voss brought Kaela out of her thoughts. He guided her in front of the middle arch.
"Now, go through the second door and we can discuss when you get back," he said.
Two Worlds
Kaela stepped through the middle arch, and the raucous sounds and delicious smells of a tavern in full dinnertime swing inundated her from every angle.
She looked around and realized she recognized this inn. It was the Riverstone Hearth. She was in Myrrindel.
She saw a Tutorial cohort celebrating victories from the day.
Kaela walked out into the street and chuckled as two young pickpockets failed at their craft and got a minor beating in response.
She turned, and was suddenly whisked to a different area of town. Valerie Connors, the Curator, was meeting with members of a group.
Kaela knew this was The Umbral Thread. She listened to their conversation and realized these were the early days when the fates of two planets, Earth and Evirond, were first being joined.
She was taken to a briefing at what appeared to be a counterterrorism center of some sort, where Graham Thorne, the Interplanar General himself, was giving a report on a terrorist cell trying to ritually sacrifice forty children.
The ritual was a way to bring a millennia old war from Evirond into Earth. A way to enslave humanity from within the confines of the System itself.
In the end, Grim and his colleagues were able to put an end to the threat on Earth, while The Umbral Thread finished it off on their side.
The fates of two worlds hinged on a small group of heroes working together. Kaela knew it wouldn't be the last time that particular theme came up in history, either.
She was brought back to the present.
Elliot Voss was seated on the bench again.
"Come," he said. "Sit."
Kaela glanced at the last arch before walking over to sit next to the patriarch.
"That last one," Voss said, "I think maybe you want to hold off on."
"Why is that?" Kaela asked.
"It, uh… wouldn't have been in any of your lessons. It's one of the darkest chapters from this period of history just before the System. I believe your parents can give you a better understanding of it than this arch will."
Kaela just nodded, her face taking on a downtrodden expression to match Voss's.
He stood and hugged her again.
"I'll see you again soon," he said. "The System quest will update when you're ready for the next set of arches. Until then, keep improving. I can already see the growth since the last time you were here."
Kaela just bowed her head as she was pulled from the dreamscape and back to her bedroom.
---
[Archive Access – Segment II Complete]
[Return available upon further progression.]
This quest will be updated when conditions for progress are met.
---
She acknowledged and dismissed the System message. But one question kept her from sleep for hours afterward.
What could be so terrible that he wouldn't even show me even now, 137 years later?