"What do you like to do for fun?" She paused for a beat after asking a second time. "It is a simple question, correct?" Wait....was she trying to ask him out?

Being trapped on a moonlet with quite a small population, he tried not to look at Echidna or Athena that way. In the....sexy time way. But this was a loaded question on his homeworld and it was throwing off how he saw her. Walker had used this line himself on potential girlfriends in the past as an easy way to find a shared activity. A quick "What do you like to do for fun.", and the next thing you knew, Walker was on a date with a girl who was way out of his league. Confidence was always key he'd found. What was the worst that they could say...no? He'd had his share of no's, and the ever more polite "no thank you." But it never fazed him.

Trickky he thought to himself. There was an unusual power dynamic between them, with Walker literally holding all of the citizens of Symphony's life in his hands. He had pondered before if he could ever date again as they would all be essentially his children. Not literally, but still. It'd be pretty weird to suddenly start dating someone whom he'd created only a handful of years before. There was also the argument that he'd have to meet them in his avatar form. Could he ever have sex with that? Could he have avatar babies?

Athena though....well. She didn't fit that mold.

He looked at her again. As in, REALLY looked at her. Not as a resource or Primigenial, but she as a woman and he a man. She had pale golden hair, brown eyes and slightly tanned skin. She was only a few inches shorter than him when they stood next to each other, and he had always liked the tall girls....goddesses. Frankly, she was quite beautiful, and it stirred up some feelings within him that he hadn't felt for a while. Wait...how long ago did he and Valerie break up now? A little over a month....wait...how long had he been staring at her?

She looked at him straight on and there was no hint of blushing, "I ask because I'd like to know more about you, rather than just the disparate memories that were shared between us."

"Stolen."

Athena nodded with deliberate care, "Yes, but can you blame us? We were imprisoned for thousands of years, then you show up and we're suddenly on a moonlet in a strange reach of space. We needed to know, and that was the only path at the time."

Walker tried to look at things from her point of view. Maybe he would've done things differently, but that was him, and he couldn't necessarily blame them. Still, it felt like an invasion of privacy.

Then again, his mind said back to him, you just developed multiple ways to track your own citizens and every move that they make. You can't complain about a lack of privacy.

True, dick Walker, true... Walker thought to himself.

"Mm." He hummed, "I get it. I can't help how I feel about the situation though. Logically I can see where you're coming from, but human beings are emotional animals. We live and breathe through them. They're too intrinsically tied to our sense of self for us to really move beyond them without slowly losing pieces of ourselves."

Athena affected a sad smile, "You will find, dear Walker, that the longer you live, the less those emotions have a hold on you. I have seen countless years in this life, and yet, I find few things to surprise me. Wisdom is a burden to the informed mind."

Walker laughed, pulling the Greek goddess out of her introspective mood, "Where were you when I young, dumb, and broke? I could've used some of that wisdom"

"Locked in a prisonous tree at the bottom of the ocean." She replied with a confused face.

"Sorry, it was a hypothetical question." Walker said, scratching the back of his neck. He'd never been that great at small talk, although maybe she hadn't been hitting on him. He worried he was like most men, where any sign of female attention and they'd start thinking someone was attracted to them. He'd met plenty like that in his time, but had never considered he might be one of them until this moment. It was disconcerting.

"I was also asking because I'm curious about you in a...personal manner."

Never mind, Walker thought to himself.

It turned out, Athena was very much hitting on him, which really threw him for a loop.

"Aren't I like....barely even a baby comparatively?" Walker reflexively asked, going with the tried and true method of awkwardness after being asked out by a beautiful woman.

Athena started taping a finger on her chin as she thought, "Mmmm, yes. But that can be fixed. We are eternal Walker. Well, I am. But, you're well on your way to joining our ranks. In just a few dozen years, our ages will not seem quite so different." She stood up and her dress fell down in a perfect compliment to her hair. "Also" She said, her finger pointing in a direction just past him, "have you seen the men who surround me."

Walker looked to where she was pointing, and found Zeus. The king of the gods was currently haranguing a fake sleeping Dionysus not too far away. Minos stood behind him with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face as he watched the Primigenial bashing occur. Athena slapped her hands against her thighs in consternation, "These....men.....I have no interest in. They all aligned with Icons that are too rigid and forced. Dionysus can't help but be revelrous. Always. As in...always and forever. His oath holds him too tightly. Meanwhile, Zeus is consistently full of thunder and rage. And poor...poor...Minos. He can't help himself. He is only truly able to express himself properly in battle." She sighed.

"They're all, every one of them, forced to live by the path they've chosen. That is why I have never received a man in my arms nor known any form of physical affection aside from a chaste kiss bestowed upon those who have shown brilliance in their time." She turned and looked at him directly. "It is a simple equation, Walker. I have never found anyone I am compatible with." She looked at the palm of her right hand with a forlorn cast to her face. "It has been...a lonely life, if I am honest with you Walker."

Walker scratched his chin, "So for several hundred years you've never been on a date because all of the men you know are full of hot gas?" He asked.

Athena laughed. It was a pleasant sound. "That is close enough. And, unlike my father, I do not want to join with a mortal. The heartbreak would be much too much for me I fear."

"I..see...." Walker said, thinking for a moment. What she'd said filtered through his thoughts quickly and he made a decision without knowing it, "Well, to answer your first question, I used to enjoy reading and playing video games. I'm afraid video games may never come back again, and reading is a long way away from our current time. Mmm, I also used to play a mean game of ping pong."

Athena asked, "What is ping pong?"

"Oh, you didn't get that memory? Okay, let me explain."

Walker spent several minutes explaining the game to her, and what little history he knew of it. He went over the serve, the fault, and all the little rules that came with it. When he was done explaining everything, she smiled, "That does sound quite fun. I would enjoy playing that with you if given the chance."

Walker's face formed a smile on its own without him realizing it, "I ummm...I would like that. Maybe we'll see if we can do something about it." He scratched the back of his head again, "Anyways, I umm...I need to work on my soul for a bit."

"Oh? Well, I can make no further progress of my own, so if you'd like, I'd be happy to help you in Echidna's place." Athena said, her brown eyes flashing. "It would be nice to help another person with their progress as an awakened. One moment."

"Yyeah. Sure." Walker said, stumbling on the words.

The blonde woman walked over and spoke to Echidna for several minutes, as she was walking back Echidna had a strange look on her face as she watched her leave. Walker tried not to consider what that meant.

When she got back, he laid down in the grass and she laid down beside him. It felt oddly intimate, even though he'd already done something like this a dozen times across a few days with Echidna. Walker started to stretch his soul, and time flew by.

He rotated different activities across the six and a half days he had left until the Level system was completed. He spoke to Athena about what life was like in ancient Greece. When he called it ancient she got quite upset and he had to mentally amend what he called it. High school history bedamned.

He worked on his soul, finishing his upper and lower back and starting on each shoulder, which was oddly hard for him. As always, at each progressive movement, he felt his skin tighten up a little and his muscles felt..clearer? Was that right? Like he had better control of them. While he was working on his left shoulder, Athena explained that the last place to stretch the soul was the mind, as a lot would happen at once. It would also be the moment where Walker could screw everything up again and potentially lose his mind. Good stuff there.

He finished attaching all of the trackers to the Leveling system, and made sure that everything was in order. The visuals were all set now. He had to explain in textual format to the alpha protocol what he visuals were, which was strange. Every time he would try to confirm the visual apparatus with the system, it would be rejected and reset. Eventually, a menu item appeared where the system asked what he was trying to do. Once he had explained it thoroughly enough, the Leveling system cemented everything, although it did say he could modify things still if he wanted to.

Walker worked with Cagna on her milestones whenever Athena wasn't around. They'd built two new ones that he quite enjoyed, including the start of the full monster series. Once Rimi had learned what they were working on, he took a quick pause on his Koala and Wolf modifications to help them design the series. The time spent designing this series took as much time as all of the rest put together. After over six hours, they finally agreed on how it would work, and Walker had them create their first Advanced milestone in a full series.

 

 

Rimi seemed quite satisfied with everything. They'd have to talk later on regarding how monsters would create their own mana veins, but it would be a necessary step for the Class system coming up. The awakened portion was interesting, but Athena stepped in. She said that the alpha protocol can recognize when an entity has awakened its soul, as the process had been around for so long that it wasn't exactly a secret in the first two renditions. Walker added it in, hoping that it would further humanize the monsters who were able to go the distance.

After they'd made the Monster series, Cagna wanted to work on a full series that focused on leveling, but Walker still wasn't sure that was a good idea. She said that she would only turn it on once all of the other systems had activated, so, in the end, he relented. It was surprisingly fast to design, which it shouldn't have been. Just the idea of levels were, at their root, purely quantifiable.

 

 

Walker envisioned the Class system absorbing the Monster system once a Sapient unlocked them. This way, the Leveling system would continue on unabated and in a solidified manner. From their first level to their five-hundredth, sapients and monsters would always have a path to tread.

When Athena questioned why there was a specific milestone just for reaching level one-hundred and one, he told her that sapients would have to learn their kernels and access their own form of magic. He wasn't quite sure yet on how they would do so. Just understanding that you not only had access to magic now, but that there was a myriad of ways you could use it would be difficult enough. Monsters had the advantage of being born with kernels and the ability to feel magic. Sapient non-monsters....not so much. It was a hurdle, or in other words, a gateway to more levels and greater challenges. Just the way he wanted Symphony to be.

After he explained all of that, she gave him a brief smile that seemed to light up Sonata, even though they were currently in a dark phase, and moved on to asking him about what college was like.

Walker's days continued to fly by. Cagna was working on multiple milestone series, Rimi finished the Koala and Wolves, with Virgil's approval, three days in. He had completed his work before his time limit and the advanced assistant was pleased enough to compliment him on it. Rimi couldn't stop grabbing Cagna and telling her about it. From his words, you'd think that Virgil had professed his undying love for the blue squirrel.

"You have done well."

It didn't seem like much to Walker, but these squirrels were weird.

On the 5th day, Walker spoke to Virgil and they agreed to get a new subsystem assistant started before they needed them. That way, they would have plenty of time to interact with the new member of their family and give them a chance to break down what their goals and work would be.

The Green squirrel came out the way they all did, ripped out and thrown by Virgil into the grass. Then the same question appeared by rote, "Are you my Creator?".

Rather than give Rimi the job like last time, Walker sat down and worked with his new subsystem assistant so they'd start off on the right foot. He'd learned from his experience with Cagna to not farm out the job to another. Walker needed a bond with all of his assistants, otherwise, they may be too afraid to come up with their own input and ideas for the systems they'd be working with. After about twenty minutes of talking back and forth, the green subsystem assistant landed on being called Neus. Initially, he had asked for Capa, as Capaneus was from the third ring of hell in Dante's inferno, but that would've been too confusing for everyone.

Cagna and Capa? No, thank you. But he was almost as happy with Neus, and that was a relief to everyone on Sonata as they knew of Walker's difficulty naming things overall. It could have been quite the timesink.

Walker explained who everyone was, the purpose of the alpha protocol, and what had happened thus far. As Walker began talking about and explaining the Leveling system, Neus asked an important question.

"What is my goal?"

"Hrmm", Walker hummed out loud, "I believe your goal will be to create a Territory system that allows its entities the freedom to choose their own environment. To build towards a place they want to live in, and that reflects the world that they see for themselves. The best thing you can do is make it so the system provides its entities with options to choose from, and goals to achieve. It'll all work through the leveling system, and they'll have to come up, at least initially, with their own designs." Walker began pacing as his thoughts continued to stream in, "As those designs complete, you check them, make sure they fit the world of Symphony. Ask yourself the following questions, is this possible within the parameters of the Territory system? Does it allow for the growth of a territory? What purpose does it hold? Is it named correctly?"

"Will it improve the lives of its citizens or entity?" Neus tried out.

Walker snapped his fingers as he stopped walking, "Exactly! Just like that. But remember, some entities may side more towards...violence, rather than happiness. And, according to how we're trying to build our world, that's perfectly fine! It is up to the entities and citizens of the community to decide on what their territory will represent. Money and economy? Sure. A traveling pitstop? Why not! It's up to them. Your focus is to make sure that their designs get added to the system for others to potentially use, and to make sure everything is working as intended."

Neus raised his hand, "You don't have to do that." Walker said.

"Well..." He started out, "What if I want to design some myself?"

Walker scratched his chin, "Nothing wrong with that. If you feel the inspiration to create your own designs, and you understand the intricacy involved in it working, go right ahead. We also need to come up with different tiers or levels of buildings, but that's for later. Right now, spend some time talking to the other assistants, get to know the Primigenials, and start coming up with ideas. The Leveling system will finish in..." Walker checked his system designer tab and found a clock in the corner. "Just under a day at this point. So, have some fun and get to know Sonata."

"Okay!" Neus said, then ran his small green feet towards the evolution chambers. Virgil looked at the green squirrel and then gave Walker a heavy dose of side-eye. Walker smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

Things were looking good.

Walker looked at the computer chair at his Creation Instrument. It was designed for big people like himself, a rare bit of comfort from the alpha protocol.

Struck with a perfect idea, he began to laugh uproariously. Walker looked over at Athena and a grin broke out on his face.