“Change? That's quite vague, can you explain exactly what you mean?” Gabriel queried. 

“This may take a moment. Have a seat.” Gaia responded, with a wave of her hand, two high backed chairs materialized behind them both.  

“The Gods of Deliverance Online are the most advanced and fluid but also restricted A.I.’s in the world of Valhalla. Because majority of them have power levels that far exceed all other occupants of the world and the players will not be able to match them for a long time. I had to put in certain blockers, so they can’t indiscriminately abuse their strength without just cause. From your memories, I saw that in your past, you eventually became a champion for the God, Thor. How would you describe his direct involvement with you as a player?” Gaia asked, after taking her seat with crossed legs.  

“If I think about it, besides him giving me certain quests to unlock more blessings of power and certain items. He didn’t actually directly help with anything. All the tasks he gave me I still had to do on my own. Though depending on his mood and how high my familiarity was with him, Thor sometimes gave me clues and such but that was about it. I know of some players in my past, who received a limited use summon token from their patron God but they were beyond rare.” Gabriel explained his understanding.  

“Right, the Gods were involved but rarely physically lifted a finger to help. You must understand that all inhabitants of Valhalla were given a certain amount of freedom. Some have more than others of course, much like the real world for what I have seen. The Gods were made more to be lights in the darkness or vice versa, then to actually carry a player on their rise to power. The reason I have said that they have begun to change is, a small handful of Gods have begun to directly influence the world of Valhalla. I have noticed them interacting with the NPC’s far more often. They have also been contacting players far earlier then was planned.” Gaia stated, Gabriel interrupted her with a question before she could continue.  

“That doesn’t seem overly concerning though, you have said yourself, the Gods are free to make their own choices. I remember a few gods in my past that contacted players on their very first day in D.O., and for a trivial reason, like they liked the player’s name no less.” Gabriel responded.  

“I know that, they have done the same in this timeline too. However, the scale they are doing it now, is concerning. Honestly though, it is not the part that truly worries me, I could justify it as one rogue God contacting a player early for fun and giving them odd quests and then the other Gods just follow along. What actual worries me, is that their very personalities are changing. The writers at Boundless Entertainment and I worked hard to ensure that the Gods were given personality traits that matched what their real-world mythologies said they were like. So, just like humans in the real world, it is seen as odd when someone wakes up one day and their whole outlook on life changes, without a certain major catalyst or anything to attribute it too. Let me give you an example.” Gaia said, she then waved her hand in the air and a screen appeared in front of Gabriel.  

The screen was showing a scene of the Norse God Freya, she appeared to be walking along a forest path, moving smoothly from tree to tree. Ahead of her was a group of Players, that were fighting a group of [Mutated Boars]. The players were having a fair fight and seemed as if they would defeat the mob shortly. The screen focused back on Freya, as she appeared to be casting a spell from behind a tree, sending out a white stream that entered the boar's head. The boars then all went berserk and doubled in size, the surprised players were soon overpowered and slaughtered before they could figure out what happened. The boars also followed the players into death not long after. Freya walked to where the dead bodies of the two fighting groups were, a small smile could be seen on her face before a crack of thunder was heard in the sky, that made her look up. The last thing the video showed was Freya’s pale white face, gazing up at the sky intently, her small smile now a large rictus grin, that felt eerily menacing to Gabriel.  

“I... don’t understand. Why did she used the [Enrage] spell on the [Mutated Boars]? What were those players to her?” Gabriel asked, after the screen disappeared and he focused back on Gaia’s emotionless face.  

“They were absolutely nothing to her. As you were previously a Northmen, I imagine you should have at least a basic grasp on [Freya]’s personality. [Freya] is the Goddess of Love, Fertility, War and Death. A lot of mythology stated people feared [Freya] because of her association with the dead but majority states she was a caring and fair goddess. Her original personality was like that too. Does she look like a caring and fair goddess to you? Something has changed and I don’t know what. [Freya] is a more extreme example, as she is acting more like the mischievous God [Loki], majority however have only changed in small, subtle ways but one major thing they are all doing more of, is interacting with the Players and intelligent NPC’s of D.O.” Gaia explained.  

“Okay, I can see where that can be a problem. Isn't there a way for you to fix that though? Like rewrite their code or something?” Gabriel asked, he still couldn’t figure out how he was supposed to help.  

“Well, I technically can. For me to completely over haul one of the advance A.I.’s, like the ones that control the gods, it would truly only take a few moments. However, there are many fail safes in place to stop me from doing that however. Once the servers came online, my powers to interfere have become severely restricted, as slight changes to the active A.I.’s could create a butterfly effect that ruin many other things. I originally encoded all Gods with the idea that I was their true creator and Mother Goddess. This allowed me a back door of sorts, to directly talk to the Gods and steer them away from certain actions. They gave me a certain amount of fear and respect. Now however, the only gods who venerate me are the Demi-Gods. The true Gods give me odd looks when I appear, filled with suspicion and at time I can fell hate emanating from them. At the moment it is not overly noticeable but give it three months IRL, which is six months in Valhalla. You wouldn’t be able to associate them with the Gods from your memories.” 

“Okay. I understand, how could this could grow to be a major problem. What I don’t understand however, is how this has happened across so many different Gods? Is it like a computer virus or something?” Gabriel asked, as he digested and thought over what Gaia had told him so far.  

“I would like to argue with you and say that there is no way one of the most advanced systems in the world has received a computer virus. But from what I have seen and after investigation on when these changes started to occur for every god. It is exactly like a virus has infected the A.I. make up of the Gods, the stranger and most terrifying part to me. Is that the viruses seem to all come from different points, I can’t find out exactly how they are entering the servers, which is also a direct part of my main frame but I know it is a different person or software each time. There is a certain presence or power surge, I don’t exactly know how to define it but each time I find the origin point of where the virus enters, I can sense a certain pressure, it is beyond distinctive.” Gaia stated, she appeared to be trying to put this all-in terms Gabriel would understand.  

Gabriel was sure that there was a lot more to do with it, then what he referred to as a simple ‘Virus’ but even if Gaia tried to explain the specifics, it wouldn’t help him or her in anyway.  

“Jesus. This is crazy. I don’t know any way I can help though. D.O. is very important to me but I imagine in a way it is even more important to you. So, tell me, what can I actually do to help? I truly don’t understand why you are even letting me know this.” Gabriel asked honestly.  

"You are correct; this is critical to me. You must understand that during my creation, the oversight committee who oversaw my creation gave me certain parameters that if I violated, I would be destroyed. These are hard and fast rules, and many people, corporations, and governments objected to the idea of an A.I. with nearly complete autonomy in its thoughts. I, like any other human, have true emotions, which I believe scares them even more. If the oversight committee discovered that I had been infected with a virus, and multiple viruses at that, I would be fried. My conclusion would be swift and decisive. They'd have to shut down the world, and who knows how long it would be before D.O. reappeared. That is the primary reason I am seeking assistance from you. I saw your memories Gabriel, and I know how important this world is to you, so I know you'll go to great lengths to keep it running." Gaia stated unequivocally. 

Gabriel just gave her a heavy nod in confirmation of her statement, before she continued.  

“What I need you to do is actually simple. I need you to kill a God of Valhalla.” Gaia finished and then was silent.  

“Wait...What!? Don’t say that like it’s the easiest thing in the world. First off, I am nowhere near powerful enough to fight a Demi-God like the [Horned One], let alone one of the Gods. I participated in a couple of the God battles in the past, it required hundreds of Players and all high-level with specific equipment. It would take me close to two years to get even close to where I used to be and that is if I only purely focus on my myself and do nothing else but Grind. I can’t do that; I have a life outside this game now too and many other things I want to accomplish, like building up my guild. By what you have explained so far, I’m guessing you can’t just boost me to a crazy high-level and give me a bunch of Legendary gear?” Gabriel questioned, a slight tinge of hope in his voice.  

“Of course not, or else I would just do it to some of the stronger intelligent NPC’s and get them to destroy a God for me. Let me explain why I need you to kill a God first, every time anything is slayed in D.O. their codes are sent back to, I suppose you could call it the reincarnation cycle, they then get recycled and sent back into the world, sometimes as the same mob type or different beings entirely. Usually repurposed as something else. It’s also the only time I can configure them, changing small things to increase or decrease power for an example. I need you to kill a God, so I can look through their code and find out how the virus works. I believe I can then work on a more permanent fix for the others. I of course will reward you for this too. I can’t directly just power-level you but I can push and nudge certain things that are favorably to you, into your path. Now the six-month deadline I told you, is worst case scenario. By my projections, you should have a year before the Gods start to change so far, that it has affected everything, it also when they become so entwined with Player’s quests and developments. AS a lot of Classes are connected to their gods.” Gaia stated.  

Gabriel digested it all and took a moment to think about how he could truly achieve the task of killing a God, a God who might not act the way he knows they should be as well. Gabriel though through many scenarios but realised for now, there was nothing he could do. ‘What I need to do, is build up a God slaying team of experts. Then start choosing potential targets to work towards’. Gabriel thought to himself. He then looked back towards Gaia, as she was just gazing at his face the whole time Gabriel had his eyes closed in thought.  

“Okay, I don’t really have a choice in this matter anyway. D.O. is needed for almost all of my plans. Give me some time, to think over everything and work out how I well achieve it.” Gabriel stated, this was all a lot to take in for him in one sitting.  

“Very well and thank you. I will visit you in a few days, after your raid on [Baroness Mengrel]. I will give you a small warning, expect to see the Goatman near the en... You already know about that; I should have known. Very well. I will contact you after, if you manage to slay him or send him back to the underworld, I will make sure the rewards will be exceptional. Now I will send you back to the forest you fought the [Horned One], you will not suffer the penalty for death, as it was my doing putting him there. We will talk soon [Osiris].” Gaia stated, with a wave of her hands Gabriel’s body disappeared before he could reply.  

Gaia stood up and stared at where Gabriel was previously sitting among the clouds. She had not been entirely honest with him, one of the main reasons she wanted Gabriel’s help, was because she believed he was directly involved with the changes to the gods. The presence she sensed when the viruses infiltrated her servers was eerily similar to the presence, she sensed coming from Gabriel's cell ceiling. 

“Why is he special... there must be something more, I need to look closer into his origins.” Gaia muttered to herself, before she disappeared into nothingness as well.