Chapter 377

  A System Wide Conspiracy

  “Sweep the leg Jhonny! Sweep the leg!” I scream, my voice amplified by the various tubes and transistors within Raygunnr that help amplify and project my voice across the Regional qualifying match.

  I can’t even see Jhonny, as I am still in update purgatory, trying to select and make updates. The only reason I even shouted at all was Raygunnr’s subtle prodding a moment ago of, “aren’t you going to encourage Jhonny Innerflame for his competition?”

  That’s when I used the line I had been holding back all this time. A line that I knew would inspire him to victory. Focusing for a reply through the various forced update screens I pause and wait. Then like clockwork I can almost feel Jhonny’s sudden attention on me. Then I hear him reply.

  “What if he hits me with an illegal Crane-kick to the face?” Jhonny’s voice echoes back. This is good, he’s joking which means he isn’t too frightened, but I don’t want him to take this moment too lightly.

  “If you get taken out by an attack that you know is coming and don’t even try to dodge then you get what’s coming to you!” I shout back.

  Laughter.

  With that, I hear the laughter of the other people around us. Their reactions are muted and groggy, but this is all important as I’m currently trying to worth through this distraction, as I am not fully in control of myself at the moment.

  I’ve been drugged.

  At least that is the best description of how I now feel, and why I’m feeling so off recently. Ever since Terra-Ulacrum sacrificed herself for me, and all I could feel was bitterness at her selfless action.

  I don’t know when I first realized that I was being played.

  Perhaps it was when the forced blue update screens clouded my vision and were not able to be muted or appeased, even after selecting my Auras, which was normally enough to allow me to minimize them. But their bright blue screens were up and blocking everything.

  Fortunately, part of the regionals was that we would need to wait for our competitions to begin. While we waited, we were encouraged to sit around and watch the other participants compete. Which is why I was now inside Raygunnr, given enough time to watch a cursed blue screen as I made changes. Changes that would affect me, my Simulcarums, and hopefully make it so we could all survive what was going to happen next.

  Maybe it was that I had just recently gone through my own emancipation process from the system that I was finally able to see the effects that the system had over me. Where I was finally able to feel deeper affections towards others around me. Both a blessing and a curse when it came to understanding just how much certain people mean to me. Even Raygunnr has grown on me like a Stockholm Syndrome inspired weed, and not just because he is my suit, but because don’t tell him this, but sometimes he might be funnier than I give him credit for.

  Yet, this recent emancipation also let me know that the system was in fact able to mess with my mind. And maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I think if you can alter some thoughts and actions for morality’s sake, then couldn’t the system do the same for other aspects of our life as well?

  This is a thought that I have had for some time now, and all I can safely say is, yes. My thoughts are not entirely my own. I’m not being controlled per say, but rather I feel that my emotional distress levels have spiked, and are subtly being influenced.

  Just as a doctor would prescribe sedatives to help a patient deal with trauma that was causing direct acts, so too was the system now providing inhibitors that dull my reactions.

  I can think this, as I can now see the lines of energy where the system is forcefully interjecting itself into my consciousness. Tiny almost impossible to notice streams normally, but I can see them and their effects now. I think the real reason I can now notice their influence and appearances is that they now have to originate outwards and slowly find their way to my brain. Whereas before they were in my brain and radiated outwards.

  Chills.

  Slightly concerning the level of control the system had and still has over us. How for years that originated from me, making me think that it was part of me. Yet, now that it has been removed from its central point, I can see its effects and notice its impacts on me almost immediately.

  The reason for the injection? Well that was simple, as I was supposed to go to the Void Realm, likely to learn something or do something there that I could hopefully copy to influence this world. As a bonus, the system likely wanted Penelope to go with me, a companion similar to Zero, especially as Zero is working with Dragon-Ulacrum on their final hatching moments.

  I also realize that this level of obfuscation is clumsy, as if the system itself is trying to hide something by pulling a page out of my own playbook. Mainly making something so obvious, that I had to focus on the immediate part before me, while something happened in the background that I wasn’t supposed to see.

  For now, I can see the odd energy being injected into me. I can see how it is able to swiftly flow through many of my meridian channels going straight to my brain and other relevant organs. The brain to soothe my mind and block me from experiencing extreme stress. The adrenaline glands are also being targeted and suppressed at the same time, as I feel my ability to draw upon rage or other more violent energies being repressed.

  It’s sickening, I feel queasy from the thought of this foreign substance being forced upon me. Forced in, and administered by an sudden infusion of karmic energy. But this isn’t karma, not really, just karma was the obvious delivery system for this drug.

  Again, it feels sloppy, as if the system is trying to show me all of its tricks. And worse, it is still working.

  I will either need to complete the remaining six actions, which I should and need to do, or I can try to figure out a way to work around this forced suppression of my emotions.

  That is the only reason why I don’t make the final selections, as I don’t like this idea of being drugged to be forced to act a certain way. Almost as if it is forced obedience.

  Revulsion.

  My body physically convulses at the thought of being forced to behave a certain way.

  “You okay there?” Raygunnr asks in his Mana Language, but I am now adept enough to feel his concern in the use of his Mana.

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  I want to lie, to say everything is okay, but then I feel my Pixie nature kicking in, forcing me to tell the truth.

  “No, I’m not okay,” I respond honestly. Sadly, I can tell the difference between this pixie nature forcing me to tell the truth, and the system’s forced nature of trying to subdue my thoughts and actions. It’s subtle but this want to tell the truth is from me, from my consciousness of wanting to tell the truth. I also secretly like the idea of getting around the real truth by still stating the truth. That is me, and part of who I am, and therefore immutable. Whereas this alien substance is just wrong, slimy and oily to the touch, coating and corrupting everything that it touches. I know the substance won’t stay, as it is already being broken down in my system, but just the fact that this has always been a method of control that this world had at its disposal is revolting.

  Again, why the system would be so blatant in its use and implementation of this inhibitor is beyond me, but I am going to use this moment to come up with a cure for it.

  Just as I emancipated myself, allowing for the full range of emotions to finally be unlocked. I will stop this substance from continuing to hinder my thoughts. I mentally try to grab the oily substance, only to find it breaking apart into tinier slimier segments that disperse wildly.

  That’s when I remember my old cleaning method for getting oils and oil paints out of the kids’ clothes.

  “Soap, baking soda, and warm water, all I need,” I repeat the formula to myself. In this world with soul bound clothing that can repair clothing over time, such recipes are easily lost or forgotten. But for an old mother and grandmother like me, the recipe is ingrained in my brain.

  “What?” Raygunnr asks.

  “Nothing don’t worry,” I reply as I realize I did speak out the old recipe loudly. Still, no time to dally, as I can still feel this foreign product dissolving within me, a sign that is noticeable by the way the intense blue of my screens is slowly dimming away, even now. Allowing me to see through the screen and take in more of the competitions that are going on around us.

  “Soap,” I say, only to then shake my head and again not try to draw the attention of Raygunnr. Even though I can already feel a certain level of tension rising within Raygunnr, but I don’t have time to focus on him. Instead I work on the formula that I know should work.

  In this case, I use concentrated Qi as the soap, it is roughly the same consistency as what I remember soap being in the real world. From there, we go with baking soda, a powdery substance, I think about what is available to me, and then realize pixie dust, aka ephemeral energy is likely the closest thing. Wondering how to get the baking soda into my body, I think for a moment and then try something crazy. I flap my ephemeral wings through my body.

  Giggle.

  At that, Raygunnr giggles.

  “Shh, stop that,” I hiss, as I go back to focusing on my task at hand.

  “Sorry, but that tickled,” Raygunnr apologizes. Only at that comment do I realize I am just wildly whipping around ephemeral energy within his body, an energy source that many have said does tingle. I guess it would be the same thing as having a sudden itch in your lungs.

  “Sorry,” I reply back, and then get back to work.

  I can tell my words likely had an effect as I feel Raygunnr’s posture change, but I’m still focusing on my process. Fortunately, my crazy idea did work, as the ephemeral energy did in fact manage to clump onto the compressed liquid Qi. With that, I encircle the foreign oily film and get enough to encapsulate the substance, using multiple globs of this mixture to push and ultimately herd the alien substance into one concise spot.

  Then I cover it, and pause, thinking that should be it, only to realize, I am missing something.

  “Right the heat,” I think to myself as I then begin to cultivate Qi and Mana quickly and violently in that one specific area.

  “What? OHH—” Raygunnr states, but I am already tuning him out as I am focused.

  “Everything okay?” Mallory’s distant voice asks, but I can already feel her presence, even though my Angel’s Sight is still being forcefully repressed for whatever reason. The more I work, the more distant sources I can see and begin to make out. For a moment I get distracted, trying to see where Penelope is, only to realize that she is right next to me, right in my apparent blind spot.

  Flinch.

  “Shh, she’s focusing,” Penelope states, and this time I can even see her holding up her finger in front of her lips.

  “She is, oh wait, her tongue is out—” Mallory states, but I am already beyond that, as I can see and feel the pressure within my body lessening as I slowly burn away the alien substance to my body.

  The moment the substance is gone, I pause wondering if that was enough. Only to pause as I realize the system noted I was successful.

  Seeing the Skill prompt, I am momentarily confused. Until I get the final notification from the system.

  That was it, no experience, no noting of my newly identified purging concoction as a power. Just the note that I unlocked a Skill, and that I unlocked what appears to be multiple Bloodline Evolution Perks.

  There was a pause, almost as if the system was trying to resist giving me the rewards. Again, I could almost see how the system was divided in this process, not quite certain how or why. Other than it did seem that at its core, part of the System truly wanted to help, while the rest was decidedly against me. Well, not just me, but it seemed that the greater system as a whole was a way to control us and keep us mostly docile, as if it was a way to keep us from reaching our true potential.

  Or maybe I’m just being paranoid. Not that I don’t have good cause to be paranoid, as the system clearly had try to inhibit me moments ago.

  Angel’s Sight.

  Just as my normal sight kicks in, allowing me to relax slightly as I can now see the energy fluctuations of the world around me. That’s when the system finally decides to list the last of my hidden quest rewards.

  With those Perks, I feel the final mental slots fill up in my mind. It is interesting that with Demi-God ranked bloodline perks I can unlock Auras. Not certain if that is just a carry over from my mind being into unlocking the mystery of Auras from a moment ago. Or if this is where everyone was meant to be by the level 500 originally? That is scarry to think that I might be behind the curve at just unlocking Demi-God auras at this stage. Makes me wonder where we were supposed to be originally, then I pause and realize this is likely a false assessment. There is no way we were supposed to be at the Demi-God bloodline status already? Right?

  Still, I can feel everything finally clicking into place, as I am almost ready for the final transformation.

  I am just thinking this, when I pause. I am lost in my thoughts, when finally the bright blue lights of the forced system screens in my mind are dismissed, at which point I realize that I am inside Raygunnr, who is apparently standing outside of a combat arena. Yet, rather than everyone focusing on the match that was happening around them, they all had their eyes on me.

  Everyone, Jhonny’s opponent, Jhonny himself, everyone. Everyone's complete focus was no on me.

  Seeing him just staring at me, I pause shaking my head, wondering if I did or somehow missed something.

  That’s when I realized I did miss something, but am suddenly feeling a bit nervous with everyone staring at me. A self-defeating process, as I can feel Karma once again wrapping around me, and acting as a neural delivery mechanism, but this time I am prepared with my home made soap and baking soda recipe.

  My upper lip gets slightly cold, a sign that I am focusing, but this process is still new to me.

  “Find the alien source, herd it, wrap it, and finally zap it!” I exclaim excitedly. I can feel my Skill in System Emotional Manipulation Resistance increasing rapidly.

  Realizing everyone is still focused

  “Jhonny, this is how you get crane-kicked to the head!” I shout.

  “What?” Then like that the crowd that had been stunned into silence a moment ago suddenly all sprang to life as if awoken from a dream. That’s when a slightly nervous Jhonny straightens his posture and gives a wave of his fist, signifying that he is ready. His opponent is slightly slower on the uptake, but they too shake their fist to signify being ready.

  “Begin,” the referee shouts, only to correct themselves, “again.”

  Yeah, I had somehow stopped everyone, was it my new Demi-God Aura? It almost has to be.

  I’m glad in that I now have time to work on applying my remaining six class updates at a time that is better for me.

  Now there is just one last thing to do, and it has nothing to do with updates. Now that I no longer have a fuzzy feeling forcing my mind to go blank, I realize what I must do next. I need to get save the girl and be the hero. Of course, the girl in this case is me. Well an aspect of me, but still she needs to be saved.

  I am just about to cast the spell that I have been working on and trying to perfect for what feels like months, but has only been a few weeks. Yes, I am going to create a rift powerful enough to breach space, one that will be reinforced by Cosmic energy to reinforce the areas where the tunnels end.

  Holding up my hand, I am about to cast the new version of the spell, when suddenly I get another system message. A message that makes me pause, but only because it is a final warning.