Each Egyptian Primigenial approached Walker one by one to offer their task. Again, rather differently than the Primigenial branches who had come before, the atmosphere was starkly quiet, with the somberity of a funeral after a long and joyous life. The Primigenials, ancient gods that had been spoken of with reverence for hundreds of generations, individually presented Walker with new areas to focus on and new rewards to earn.
Their prime, Ra, wasn’t the only one to offer what seemed like some kind of building. Each of them did, with an associated task that initially had seemed strange but started to make sense the longer he thought about it. Every task was concerned with improving the civilizations across Symphony. Upgrading the land or people in a manner that would help future generations.
However, the word civilization had a different representation in Symphony. Walker designed each territory to be independently focused, with separate ecosystems, rulers in the form of Founders, and different treasures and materials naturally growing within them. It had been a drastic change from what Walker had originally designed.
But the longer he had spent working with the Founders and seeing just how differently each viewed their forthcoming seeding, the more he had realized that his initial plan was flawed. They didn’t necessarily need to all be one large landmass, but instead, to have some sovereignty. Working with Virgil and the other assistants to create model landmasses had taken up the majority of his time during the displacement. And now, each new hexagonal land structure came with natural barriers that separated them from one another, be they mountains, rivers, empty deserts, or even ice in a few locations.
All that to say, the offerings of the Egyptian pantheon were a new boon he would gladly take. It also meant that as he gained each Primigenial's reward, hard decisions would have to be made on who deserved them, as they were a limited supply. Rather than just give them away, Walker would have to think of a way for them to be earned. A way for the people of Symphony to further build their civilizations to new heights, with their new buildings only enhancing an already fantastic Territory.
Geb, the god of the Earth, was the second to approach. His task lay in feeding the world, with the attached reward being something called the Earthfather root. He backed away with a respectful nod.
Horus came next. The Egyptian god of Nobility and Protection offered a Falcon monument in exchange for Walker showing him moments of outstanding leadership, however he was supposed to do that.
Others approached, with seven of them having exited the Tree of the Gods at once. All of the tasks seemed doable-practical, even. It felt like Walker was receiving a secondary Civilization series from the Alpha Protocol. While the Greek gods had created tasks that almost seemed random, and the Nords had their trials for individual empowerment, the Egyptian’s offerings were to build a better world. One that could sustain itself with time.
Walker greatly appreciated that.
After thinking about how to complete each, he came up with an easy solution: send them to the main monitoring area and give instructions to the assistants on what to show them. It should be a quick and simple way to get the Primigenial’s initial tasks completed so they could move on to the second task sets. There was no way they’d be more difficult than the Nords.
Overall, it was all going rather smoothly-that is until the last one approached.
The god approached in measured steps, much slower than those who had come forward before. Stopping, they planted their feet firmly and began the same type of ritual the others had done. Walker had initially thought it was a woman, with their long, black, and perfectly straight hair, a sightly complement to their dark tan complexion. But the jawline was off, and there was something masculine about how they held their shoulders, erasing his doubts. Then again, after all of the experiences Walker had gone through, gender was the least important thing about a person.
When you lived in a universe of monsters and gods, magic and superpowers, there were more important things than the potentiality of a binary body.
...Scanning...
Optional Tasks Updated!
- - -
New Primigenial task: Create an afterlife:
The soul of an unawakened entity is everlasting. They hold a power that needs to continue on. You must create an afterlife, Creator.
Afterlife Created: 0/1
Task giver: Osiris, God of the Afterlife
Reward for completion: The Sanctuary of Osiris
While the beautiful god slowly nodded at him, Walker’s thoughts turned inward.
Didn’t Hades already give me this task? Why would I receive the task twice? One thought naturally led to another; I know I haven’t been as on the ball about completing it, but that’s only because I’m not exactly sure how to do that yet. Nothing I’ve seen in Odin’s Book of Runes or the Bounty system manual has said anything about it. All I’ve heard is that the previous Creator of Earth had done so, but no details on how they did it. Is it an actual physical location? Is it metaphysical? Am I just being held back by the parasite again?
Walker chuckled inwardly while his face gave away nothing during the ceremony.
Questions, questions, questions.
There were still multiple strands that he hadn’t messed around with, and based on what the Evolvers named them, he had an idea of where to start in creating an afterlife.
Life, Death…Afterlife.
Each category of strands had different attachments and combinations, with the third strand in the series always being something that directly impacts the first two. With Cosmic strands, Temporal and Space were directly affected by Dimensional. With energy strands, Essence could bottle up all the crazed power of Kinetic and Potential energy. So it made him wonder internally, what in the ever-living fuck did Karma do?
It certainly held to reason that the Protocol, legendary in their terrible creativity, could have badly named Karma in the first place. Walker could interact with the combined strand and find it was something completely different than he had expected, as had occurred with his ill-advised use of the Golem strand. So he knew better than to trust whatever label the Protocol had given it. He’d already toyed around a little with the Life and Death strands and had a basic idea of what Karma did, but he hadn’t combined it into anything yet.
All of this flashed through his mind as the Egyptian god of the afterlife stepped back to their group. Standing in a row, they all bowed to him once, holding the position until he bowed in return, then stood up straight. The Egyptian prime spoke in a crisp voice that reminded Walker of his speech teacher in college.
“Our tasks are offered, our rewards, yours to hold after completion. Creator Walker Reed, bringer of life, we trust that you will see these tasks through to the end for the betterment of your people.”
Walker bowed a second time, as Athena’s drilled protocol required of him, “I will see the tasks completed in an honest, earnest, and complete manner. I thank the Egyptian pantheon for their trust and will honor our agreement as it has been brokered.”
They began to turn away when Walker immediately broke protocol, “Umm, so I have a way we can get this done quickly if that’s okay?”
Standing back in a row, they looked at each other without speaking. Reaching some kind of silent accord, Ra spoke, “We are listening.”
Walker created a temporary portal to the monitoring room, the large black form of Rimi standing ready as he had already messaged him, “This room will show you all what you need to see. For those of you with specific tasks relating to food and shelter, please speak with Neus, who will arrive shortly. You will recognize him as the large green squirrel.”
“Green squirrel?” Geb asked in a deep voice.
Walker nodded with a smile, “Yes. He will likely have a small amount of anxiety when you speak to him, so please be kind.”
Ra looked at the others again before his eyes found Walker, “We agree to this change of requirement.”
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With no fear or hesitation, the Prime stepped through first. Osiris followed immediately after, with each Primigenial taking their turn in a calm and orderly fashion. Walker received a message from Rimi that everything was okay, including a quick wave from the other side of the portal, then closed it up.
A soft hand touched his shoulder, “That was well done. How fast do you think the tasks are going to be completed?”
“Slower than your father taking his clothes off,” Walker replied to break the previously strict tension. He laughed as the grip tightened, then took a quick look at his messages. Virgil had sent more than a few about what he’d learned from Mirail, as well as some ideas about what to do with Walker’s largesse of planets. Cagna had an idea that would require his help, including some unsubtle wording about further empowering her in the protocol. And a few dozen messages were waiting for him from Ulysses asking how the event went.
He ignored Mac’s messages.
Walker didn’t dislike the planetary item holder, but the guy tended to over-message everybody he met into oblivion. If Walker had replied to every message Mac had sent, he’d never have gotten anything done. Honestly, he was considering donating an assistant to the soul construct just so he’d have someone to speak to. A wise man once wrote: it’s lonely out in space.
Athena noticed him nodding at a thought and waited for him to speak. Walker looked over at her, his black and green eyes flashing, “Can you find Hades for me? I know we haven’t seen him for a minute, but I will probably need his help in this.”
His betrothed smiled at him, “Of course.”
“Thanks, cutie,” Walker said, giving her a quick kiss before creating a portal to Cagna. The pink squirrel must have been surprised to suddenly find her Creator in the room, as evidenced by how she was currently speaking to her under-assistants.
“No, Fartoosh, you can’t make milestones related to sex. Walker already said he doesn’t like them.”
“Why?”
The pink squirrel slapped a hand against her head, “Do I need to send you back to orientation? Sex is something he doesn’t like. He’s never said as much, but it’s obv-oh.” Cagna finally noticed Walker standing there, a grimace on his face, “Hello, Creator. I didn’t expect you to get here so quickly.”
Walker waved it off, “It’s fine. Fartoosh,” He said to the small green and blue-dotted squirrel, “I don’t dislike sex. In fact, I like it very much. But Cagna’s correct in that it doesn’t feel right to create milestones around…um…carnal relations?”
He looked at the pink squirrel, who shrugged at him as if to say, I don’t know.
“But you already have milestones for walking? That’s a basic physical act as well.”
“Fartoosh…report to orientation immediately. I’ve already informed them you’re coming.”
“Yes, Manager Cagna,” The abject squirrel replied. He quickly got up and left the station, refusing to look anyone in the eyes.
Walker looked over at a large pink squirrel with her hands on her hips, a sickened expression covering her face. “I don’t know how some of these new assistants come out like that. As soon as the solids ended and the lined and dotted began, we started to notice odd eccentricities. Orientation will take care of him, but he’ll be back there a week after he returns, mark my words.”
Walker laughed, “Now you know how I felt when first getting all of you guys. Each of you asking the same question.”
“Are you my Creator,” Cagna replied with a squirrely smile.
Walker snapped his fingers, “Just the one. Neways, what did you want to talk about?”
“I’d like access to the Event system.”
Walker grabbed a seat in a dotted chair too small for him, “Why? You already have access to Skills, Milestones, and you’re helping design a few other things besides. You don’t think you’re taking on more than you can chew?”
“I don’t chew.” Cagna said with a flick of her tail, “But I want access because I want to implement limited-time milestones. Ones that after you earn them, will allow the entity to keep the points, but there won’t necessarily be a record for them to review. I’m worried that as the entities live longer lives, they’ll start to see their milestone list grow to the point of being almost useless. Monotonous. You taught me that living in Symphony was an adventure, an exploration of new worlds, territories, and cultures. I think only having the important milestones listed should be a part of that, and we should cut down on the ones that aren’t necessary.”
“Alright,” Walker nodded, “And what does that have to do with the Event system?”
Cagna sat in a much larger pink chair in front of him. Walker noted the four other assistants in the room stopped working on their screens to listen in, “Myself and the other members of the Milestone team believe if we had access to events, we could begin to create limited-time events that would allow for a whole new way of looking at Symphony. Limited-edition Milestones! Think of it! Complete the event, gain milestone points.”
“You don’t think this is going to flood the Milestone store? Make things a little useless as far as skills go?”
“No-I do not,” Cagna said with a shake of her head, “I know Symphony has only been active for a short period of time, but already you can see that many entities are only sticking with the skills granted by their incipience. I believe that if we introduce limited-time events and milestones, it may change how the entities perceive their skills in a quantitative way. Maybe if they had extra points, they’d take a risk on a skill that is outside of what would normally be a part of their kit.”
Walker had to admit she had a point. The skills in the store were expensive, and allowing the citizens of Symphony to use limited-time events and points to expand their repertoire was in line with how he wanted the world to run. One where even the Baker down the street knew how to hold a spear, or the Swordsman enjoys painting just to set aside some time.
“Just events?” He asked after thinking on it.
“Well…”
“What now?” Walker asked with a slight smile.
“I could tie them into Territories as well if Neus would just give up a little piece of it.”
“You know Neus wants to manage the Territory events. He even has an under-assistant to help with just that.”
“I do, but you don’t want an assistant like Neus to have control of Milestones, do you?”
Walker tapped his chin, “Good point.”
Clicking into the newly updated system screens, he found the newly updated area and dragged Cagna’s portrait to the relevant systems. An update happened, one he’d expected after taking on that much information.
...Scanning...
Congratulations Dante! Your Advanced Assistant has upgraded to a Supreme Assistant!
Cagna’s chair broke from under her, but she didn’t seem to mind as her eyes opened in the midst of her download, “Oops.”
She looked the same as Virgil and Rimi. Even sitting down, the massive black squirrel was feet over him. Only after a heartbeat, she shrunk back down to her still-large pink-self.
Walker tilted his head as he asked, “Why go back to what you were before?”
“I’m not Rimi.” She said with a multi-toned giggle, completely out of place on that body, “I don’t have any hero-worship for Virgil.”
“What?”
She ignored him and began waving at the under-assistants in the room as they congratulated her. A moment later, a new pink chair was in place where the old one had been, an assistant already cleaning up the shattered debris. Supreme Assistant Cagna sat down and gave Walker a dead-eye look, “Don’t you have things to do? I know I do.”
“Right,” Walker said with a smile, “Thanks.”
Walker had a few new notifications. They came in rather consistently nowadays, a byproduct of having so many entities, monsters, and everything in between. Even creating all of the Landmasses had caused him a huge headache as they’d come in one at a time. It’d mostly been resources, but a few rare materials had sneaked their way in.
One notification was different.
...Scanning...
Primigenial task complete: Build a grand city:
Grand Cities Created: 1/1
Reward for completion: The Obelisk of Ra
...
Optional Tasks Updated!
New Primigenial task: Bless four entities on your world
Gifts. Blessings. The power of our homeworld is barely a stroke of paint on the canvas of Symphony. Bless your entities with greater power.
Entities blessed: 0/4
Task giver: Ra, King of the Gods
Reward for completion: The Furnace of Ra
“Huh,” Walker said after reading it.
“What? And why are you still here?” Cagna replied in an annoyed tone.
Walker didn’t answer. Instead, he opened a portal to the monitoring room, where the Egyptian prime stood, a deeply calm expression on his face. “I had thought, Creator, that the task would gain your attention.”
He bowed, forcing Walker to bow back to him before asking, “Since I apparently have your obelisk now, can you at least tell me what it is?”
Ra ignored the sharp look a few of the Egyptian Primigenials threw Walker, “Of course, Creator.” He waved a hand, and Walker watched as the lights in the room changed, bending to the god’s control. In front of him, a tall obelisk topped with a yellow jewel stood out as the lights flickered on and off to form an image, “My obelisk is a part of a set of monuments that work together. Should you complete all of my tasks and gift these to a-” He looked over at Osiris who nodded, “territory, they will gain much in the ways of controlling the power of the sun.”
“And all of the Egyptian tasks are going to be like this? Parts of sets?”
“Just so,” Ra replied with a nod, “We are all at least in the third stage. Symphony will gain much by working with us.”
Walker scratched the back of his head, “Okay, okay. And the blessings?”
Geb nodded at Ra, who nodded back, making Walker want to tear his hair off, “Yes. We believe the Greeks called them Icons.”
Walker blew air through his mouth, “Fine…fine. Okay. Fine. I can do that. Do you all mind staying here a bit longer? It’ll be a minute before I can pick out the people who should get…um, blessings.”
“That is acceptable,” Ra said with a bow, each of the Primigenials matching him. Walker bowed to them, then stepped through another portal to where he knew no one would be: his bedroom.
He was wrong.
“Hey, dick.” A grinning Hades said to him.
Walker put his face in his hands.
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