The meteor flew overhead, a white tail preceding it shucking off blue and white pieces as it moved towards his first landmass.

"What the fuck is that?"

"That is an ice meteor. The protocols system for delivering lifeless ice." Virgil said, while also staring at the meteor nearing Walker's hard work.

"But it'll destroy what we built," He felt his face flush at the idea of being set back on his already short time limit.

"The alpha protocol would take into account any damage to your landmass and correct it upon the events end." Virgil said, cool as can be.

Walker sat there and watched as the meteor grew closer and closer to his small planet before asking a serious question that had been bothering him.

"Isn't this all just a bit dramatic?"

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked, turning towards him.

"They slapped rocks and soil together, teleported me here..."

"Portaled"

"Whatever, isekai'd me here...kind of. Then randomly threw together a large amount of materials with no warning and no meteors. Now suddenly an ice meteor is needed for me to have water?"

"I see your point, Walker. I had not thought of it that way."

"Yeah, it's dumb."

"Perhaps they feel the drama will add to your feelings of wonder and power?"

"I didn't make the meteor. It just popped up."

"True, but its appearance is a result of the work you have put in. I believe if you see this as dramatic, further events will be even more so."

"What further events?"

"Keep watching Walker. This is the moment your landmass is completed."

Walker grumbled to himself as a piece of ice broke off of the meteor. It smashed into the empty bed of granite and cracked the small planet, pieces of it flying away.

"Oh come on, what the fuck."

"I said watch Walker."

After a few moments, the pieces seemed to rewind themselves while simultaneously the ice melted at a rapid pace, neatly filling the previously empty bed while the planet healed itself.

"That is a preview of the temporal subsystem. The drama was likely to represent the multitude of ways you can use it in future creation tasks."

"That's still a bullshit way to do it. Why not just a tutorial? A simple breakdown of what you can and cannot do?"

"How do you learn best Walker?"

"Visually."

"Indeed."

 

Task 1: Create your first landmass complete!

Please name your landmass.

 

"Stupid names" Walker said, always struck by this one simple problem. Thinking it over for a minute he inputted the name into his overlay.

 

Landmass: The Crater is named.

Congratulations!

You've unlocked the entity creation system.

Using your new subsystem, and working with your assistant, create your first entity.

As a little help, we've added a small amount of your creation instrument's material back to you.

Good luck Creator!

 

The chalk, which was worn down to a nub as he'd worked on the landmass, filled back out halfway. Remembering what Virgil had said before about limited resources, namely the chalk, he could see how the protocol was giving a little help to its Creators. If he had no chalk left, he'd be stuck with his first entity being a termite or a flea.

"Walker, before we start, you should now look at the entity subsystem in your overlay."

Walker did as asked and found that one of the empty boxes now said the words entity creation. He clicked on it and a large menu opened, a great range of creatures appearing before him. The list of Earth's creatures ranged from Aardvarks to Zonkeys of all things.

"What's a Zonkey?"

"It is a mammal crossbreed from a donkey and a zebra."

"They got a donkey to have sex with a Zebra?"

"Yes, Walker, what else do you see?" Virgil asked while shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"Why are you so excited about this? Can't you see what I have listed here?"

"No Walker. To keep the protocol fair, I am not allowed to view your entity system in the beginning. If I could view it, I would be allowed to make suggestions that would put you far ahead in points and throw off the entire system. Your birth planet's biodiversity is profound and unbelievable. Many creators, without knowing it, are extremely limited in their choices"

"What do you mean?"

"Earth is a unique location to my understanding. You have millions of different insects, animals, trees, and even bacteria. It is not completely unheard of in the universe, but it is very rare."

"Kind of like A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"

"42" Virgil said with a chitter.

"Did you just laugh Virgil?" Walker asked in astonishment. Thus far his manner of speaking seemed only a half-step off of robotic.

"I did. You have read that novel quite a few times, and I found the entire premise wonderful."

"Me too haha."

Virgil chittered again before getting serious. "To get to the point, there will be some creators who only have one biodiversity choice due to the formation of their society or species, whereas your planet worked through the basic single-cell evolutionary system, moving through each step until you have reached what you are today. That means your choices, while not unlimited, are profound and should not be discounted. You have a chance to greatly succeed here, all because of your ancestors."

"So I'm set up for success," Walker replied with a half-smile.

"I would not go that far, Walker. But despite your obvious genetic predisposition and mental health issues, you have a real chance to succeed, whereas many are greatly limited in the scope of their options."

"Okay, so what should I pick?"

"My advice Walker, and do not feel as if you must take it. This is your task after all. However, I feel that you should select something small. Something you can work with later as needed."

"Something small, something small....okay."

Walker scrolled down his options until he found one that he felt fit the idea of small and would be comfortable in The Crater. He clicked it and saw the blackboard light up from the corner of his eye, showing the words "The Bobbit Worm". Walking over, he found a basic drawing of his first potential entity and sighed in relief.

"Thank god they predesigned it."

"Indeed. I am not familiar with this species as it is not in any of your memories."

"Yeah, I just saw Worm and figured it was our best shot."

"Well, there is no going back on this once you begin modifications, Walker. There simply is not enough Creation resources to sustain changes. Are you sure you want to choose this Entity for your first?" Virgil said with an odd look on his face.

"Yep, it's just a worm. I figure at the worst, it can feed anything else we make."

"Okay, then please make any changes you would like to your entity. Your creation instrument has already been taxed for the illustration, so any changes you make will have to be small"

Walker noticed his chalk was indeed much smaller, the remaining being only the size of his thumbnail.

He looked it over as he got close. It was a little stranger than the basic earthworms people used for fishing. It had jaws, first of all, that extended out past a curved mouth on both sides, and it was quite a bit longer than he thought it'd be, explaining the reduction in his amount of remaining chalk. The length of the worm had small barbs sticking out on its sides, and it was segmented with rings throughout its body. The end portion of the worm was stubby and round.

"What changes do you think I should make" He asked Virgil.

"This is your first entity Walker and you have no real experience with this. I believe you should make a change, as the alpha protocol does not want standard unmodified entities from your homeworld, but I'm not sure what changes those should be. I'm sorry." He paused, "I do know what changes you should make, but I am not allowed to say. However, it is a worm. What would you change about it to make it fit in best with your landmass?"

"I don't know" Walker said, thinking it over. "Maybe instead of that stubby tail, we should harden it a little, and I can sharpen its jaws a bit as well to make it easier for the worm to eat."

"Please keep in mind, neither of us know much about the Bobbit Worm. Because you have not studied it in your former life, I have no memories to work from. You need to be cautious, as we do not want to make an unknown entity too powerful."

"Yeah, I'm just adding a little extra to it."

"Okay then, I agree."

With that settled, Walker drew the symbol for rock on the tail end portion of the worm, believing it would harden.

"Is that right?"

"You are reusing the designated illustration for rock on your entity," Virgil asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yah man, you know, dysgraphia."

"Ok then, proceed."

Touchy

He erased the rounded jaws sticking out to the sides, and slowly, meticulously, sketched sharp jaws that should have the same amount of range as the originals. On a random flair, he angled the jaws a second time inward so they'd latch whatever they bit. In the end, he had barely enough chalk to call it that, seeming more like a piece of dust in his grip.

"There, one modified Bobbit worm. What do you think?"

"I think it'll be a predator," Virgil said deadpan.

"It'll be fine. We nailed the first landmass, now we'll nail the first entity."

"If you are sure, please click the materialize button."

"No 3D image this time?"

"No, that was a one-time deal, Walker. And to be honest with you, you did not quite use it to its full potential"

"I could've done more with it?" He asked with confusion.

"You could have, yes. Specifically while looking at that hologram, you could have separated your landmass into different accomodating biomes for future entities, or begun the process of allowing vegetation to grow. Instead, you looked at it and materialized the start of your world immediately afterward."

"Well shit man."

"Indeed. In the future, if the alpha protocol offers additional help, please greatly consider what it is and why."

"Understood. I'll click the button now."

The button had sat in his overlay during the conversation, blinking for his attention. Pressing it, they watched as his worm appeared, floating over the blackboard. The jaws appeared incredibly sharp, and instead of the stubby tail looking hardened, the entire body seemed to be steeped in armor plating made up of concentric rings.

 

.....Scanning.....

 

The worm spun slowly and gently pulsed with a glow colored in gold. The entity flashed brightly before the overlay spat out the next part.

 

Task 2: Create your first entity complete!

As your entity is modified from its original form, please name it.

 

"Not quite what you thought it would be Walker?" Virgil asked.

"No, but it's pretty close. What do you think?"

"It is assuredly a predator with those jaws, and you gave it hardened armor with your addition. Whether it could survive against another Creator's entity, I am unsure."

"Well, we did the best we could with what we have, Virgil. What do you think I should name it?"

"I believe it will be quite vicious."

"Maybe," He tapped his chin, "alright then."

 

Entity: Slicer is named.

Congratulations!

You've unlocked the seeding system.

As a little help, we'll add your entity's dietary needs to your landmass until you can create your own.

Please seed your entity when you are ready.

Good luck Creator!

 

A "Seed' button appeared in his overlay.

"Anything special to this?"

"It will place a copy of The Slicer onto your landmass, and then what it needs to survive will be provided by the system so it can maintain itself. It should not be a problem."

"Okay, here we go." He said before clicking the button.

The worm disappeared from over the blackboard and...nothing else happened. Walker strained his eyes on The Crater but it just looked like a grey and blue world placidly sitting in the middle of space.

"I can't see anything," Walker complained.

"Oh right, your visual acuity. Please watch here for now." Virgil's eyes shot out two beams, providing a 3D hologram again. It showed Walker's small planet in fine detail, zooming in on a single modified Bobbit Worm undulating across the soil. The Slicer dropped itself into the water, and swam around quickly, moving from one place to another in a fast zipping fashion.

"I thought it'd be slower with that new armor on it."

"The system recognized that the armor would weigh it down, and compensated by increasing the muscle mass of the entity. Later you will have to do it yourself, but for now, the alpha protocol still has your training wheels on. The first entity tends to be a....crapshoot, as you would say. Prelim Creators do not have a lot of information about what they are doing, and their assistants are only allowed to help so much. The system looks at what you've created, and installs modifications to assist you in creating a desirable first entity." He pointed at the hologram, "Oh look, they are adding its food."

They watched as several fish were added to the water, bringing more life to Walker's world. The slicer didn't notice at first, still zipping around the water. The moment it did...

"Jesus fuck what was that." Walker yelled out, backing away from the image.

Virgil looked in confusion at what he was seeing. "One moment please," he said, seeming to rewind the imagery. They watched as he moved it forward in slow motion. The hologram showed the former Bobbit worm still swimming from side to side, placidly making trails in the water. That was before it saw a fish. The instant it did, they watched as it clenched its pincers together a few times, then shot like a bullet straight at its target. The moment it pierced the fish, it ripped its pincers back faster than even slow motion could show. The victim, just swimming harmlessly only a moment before, exploded into pieces from the violent treatment.

"it seems Walker, that your first entity is an alpha predator of a high degree. That should be quite a few points." Virgil said, an odd note of pride in his voice.

"What the fuck man," Walker said as he ran a hand down his face. "Is this thing going to kill everything I put into The Crater now?"

"Most likely, and you probably should not make more as they will be quite territorial. But look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"Now you'll have a chance when the Creator Wars start."