*** 

“My first units?”

            “Yes,” God replied, “These will be the units that you will have the most influence on; the pieces you can nudge with minimal resistance.”

            “I see five groups on the screen; do I have control over all five?”

            “Unfortunately no. You could in the future, but for now you don’t. We need to establish a proper connection between the causality module and the group, but I only have enough energy stored for one group. I stored it beforehand so that I could offer you a choice.”

            “How kind. Okay, I get it. Don’t look so sad. You don’t usually start with everything right off the bat in video games. So what do we have here?”

            “Yes, these are five groups who are the most capable, I believe, of handling transmigrators who are simultaneously the most open to influence.”

            The Blue Wishers.

            The Veloqui Family.

            The Bloodworks.

            The Dungeon Drive.

            The Red Moon Mercenaries.

            “What makes them more prone to influence than the common denizen, God?”

            “They worship deity.” At my questioning look, God continued. “These groups are devout. What that manifests as is that they are more willing to take hints from higher powers or they’re willing to offer themselves up to a higher power. Each group worships a God.”

            “A God? There’s more Gods than you?!”

            “Yes and no.” God brought up a panel of 72 deities. “These are all me. They are just different aspects of me. So while the groups worship different Gods, all roads merely lead back to me no matter how far apart they start.”

            “Do they know you exist?”

            “No. You could say learning that they are in fact a part of a whole is part of their own journey of self-discovery.”

            “What’s the point of that? If you don’t mind my asking?”

            “My own self-discovery. Those 72 parts all have their own drives and priorities. Through their clashes and their harmony, I come to learn a little bit more about yourself. Imagine if the worst parts of you clashed with the better parts of you, and you could see that clash as two people as real as you. Do you not believe you would learn even one thing?”

            “Hmm. Maybe. I feel like I have that clash everyday though,” I joked as I recalled how much of a struggle it was to pull myself away from games when something important had to be done.

            “The struggle you have and the struggle I have are the same at their root. It’s merely that when you’re scaled up to this realm, the struggle too is scaled.”

            “I’m not sure I fully get it; but it doesn’t seem like it’s something far beyond my comprehension.”

            “It may be due to your nature as a causality module now. You do now have a greater capacity. Regardless, we must be getting back to the topic at hand.”

            “Right, the groups. I was flipping through their profiles.”

            “Oh! Any favorites so far?”

            “Veloqui Family. I want the Veloqui Family.”

            “Any particular reason for them?”

            I had plenty, but none that I wanted to say aloud. The Veloqui Family was composed of seven core members who had connections to other aspects of Remnant Ark. It was also an all-female crime family when it came to the core members I would have the most influence over. The girls looked really cute from what I saw flipping through their profiles.

            “Hey,” I replied, ready to change the subject, “Why do you have crime families running around? Why didn’t you make a better world?”

            God sighed, and became dejected once more- he was very prone to this, poor soul.

            “I am still learning. I am still in the process of recognizing my own conflicts and deficiencies. Unfortunately, that process leads to the opportunity for more… unharmonious behavior occurring. Where there is Free Will, there is Sin. As A God, my role is to help guide my denizens to making better choices for themselves, but that road is long and fraught with mistakes… But that is why I have my lower selves! With them, I was at least able to curb some errant denizens, and in a few centuries, I am sure I will be able to redeem all my citizens!” God became animated again and pumped his fist. “It will be hard; there will be suffering, but I strive for a brighter tomorrow!”

            “Right, that’s great. So the Veloqui Family, I see here that they mostly deal in weapons? And they keep a grip on the rest of the tenth floor?”

            “Yes. The Veloqui family follow the Goddess Velqa, the Goddess of Clandestine Encounters, Assassins, Retribution and Crows. While Velqa dabbles in more… aggressive matters, She is ultimately someone who does so in the pursuit of a safer world. There’s dignity to her work.”

            “So she’s an I’ll-Do-The-Dirty-Work type person?”

            “Yes. I am very proud of her.”

            “So in practice, her followers-”

            “They do their jobs as properly as they can. Everything they do is for the sake of stability.”

            “And she won’t mind that I’m influencing her followers?”

            “She won’t know. My lower selves see the pull of the causality module as their own whims. Only you and I are above this causality module in this regard. Though, we are accountable to a higher module.”

            “So she won’t break in here to kill me?”

            “Not unless she experiences an extreme evolution that causes her to become more than the whole.”

            “Is that possible?”

            “Only if a transmigrator is exceedingly ambitious.”

            “Then definitely. I definitely want them.”

            “Very well. We will establish a connection to the family. That connection will ultimately allow you greater influence over their actions along with more access to their information. There, it is done.”

            “Hey, God,” I said as I looked across the newly created screens and panels before me, “Is this how my old world worked too?”

            “I’m not at liberty to say. I can only speak of my own experience, although I can say that your world is further up in the hierarchy.” God was probably smiling with admiration if his tone was any indication, “I’m sure your world is even more complex with even more amazing problems to solve and lessons to learn!”

            “Sweet! Oh wait, what’s this button? It has a shirt icon…. Whoa! God!” I turned to God, my eyes beaming, “I can dress them up?!”

            “Yes? You are the causality module. You can influence all of their choices. Though some are more expensive than others.”

            The reality just hit me. This was the ultimate simulation game. No. It was beyond that. For the first time, my mind comprehended the reality of my new life.

            “Heh heh heh,” I giggled as I played around with panels.

            “Do recall though, Strezza, every bit of influence requires energy. Hey… Hey! Are you listening?”