World Keeper

Chelsea sat in front of a large device, which resembled what could possibly be described as an inverted centrifuge. Rather than separating materials suspended within a fluid, there was a single vial of black fluid held in the center of the device, with dozens of black canisters arranged in a ring around it. These canisters contained various concentrations of energy and, when spun at high speeds, began to concentrate on the black liquid in the center vial.

Purchasing schematics from the market was a double edged sword. On the one hand, it gave detailed instructions on how to create the finished product within the world’s laws. However, it did not contain the theoretical or practical knowledge of why it worked. Without this knowledge, they would be unable to further improve on their purchased product, or even know whether or not they had produced it successfully.

That was why Chelsea gave the Keeper such a vague timeframe. She refused to allow Tsubaki and the others to go on an invasion if she was not absolutely confident in the materials that she provided them. Even if it extended the production period by hundreds of times, she would work on the fundamental knowledge necessary to truly understand these items.

The device humming to life in front of Chelsea was one such example, a rudimentary version of the production line needed to create the Mark of Emptiness. She watched, sensors aimed at both the energy capsules and the ink vial, scanning for any and all information that could prove helpful to their research. “How’s it going, Chel?” A voice called out, snapping Chelsea from her thoughts.

Turning her head, she spotted James walking over, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. She let out a long long sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she accepted the glass. “Not well. I understand that this is a form of enchantment, but it is completely different from the methods that we employ with our current technology.”

“Admittedly, that’s not entirely a bad thing. If I had to judge, I would say that this method is probably more suitable for mass production. Without the need to painstakingly enchant each individual piece, it would be possible to set up an assembly line that automatically enchanted every item that passed through it with the same ink.”

“Oh?” James arched a brow as he glanced towards the machine in question. “Isn’t there a void component to the final enchantment? You can’t just leave that to a machine, can you?”

“That’s the really weird thing about this process.” Chelsea spoke up, actually seeming a bit excited about this part. “One of the final components in the refinement process for the Mark of Emptiness is a Memetic Stamp. You just draw the void imprint that you want on the stamp, supply it with the ink, and it will replicate that void imprint, without risk of mutation.”

James’s eyes twitched a fraction wider. “Yeah, I could see how that would help. Though, that also makes it a really dangerous technology to put out in the open.” He added on, shaking his head with a sigh. “Shame that most of this tech won’t be viable to share with the public. Speaking of which, how are the other projects going? Any better luck with them?”

Chelsea smiled slightly. “We have the prototype Void Obscurer ready, and are in the testing stage. The secondary research team for that project is reverse engineering the schematic to see what else we can get out of it. As for the adapter… well, you’re the one in charge of that.”

James gave a bitter smile, shaking his head. “I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock on my end. Or, rather, a speedbump. There’s a lot of really advanced system code in it that I can’t make sense of, so we can only go slowly. I’d send it off to Ashley’s design team, but with the Admin Room in fast forward mode…”

Chelsea nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s not really an option for now. It would probably take them more than a Standard Month to properly decipher the code anyways, if it’s giving you that much trouble.” As she said that, Chelsea crossed her arms in thought. “Try bringing Blank in on this. Aside from myself, I daresay that he’s the most proficient system coder that we have. If it’s just the adapter, that would be fine for him to study.”

“I’ll give him a call when I head back. What about… the map?” He asked in a hesitant tone, and Chelsea let out a long groan.

“Gods, that map is going to be the death of me. We’re saving it for last, since we’ll need Dale to come down from the Admin Room once we have a prototype to test. It seems like it won’t just point towards his host.”

When Chelsea had first looked at the schematic of the map, it felt like it was going to give her a headache. Not simply from how much of a security risk the map was, but also because of how complicated its construction process. It required dozens of high-end machines that they hadn’t even invented yet. And while the production details for those machines were ‘kindly’ included in the schematic, each one was its own undertaking.

Worst of all, the fundamental nature of this map meant that there wasn’t as much that they could get from reverse engineering to understand its principles. Like the compass, it worked by detecting the flow of power in the world to identify the point where that power formed a nexus, which was the Keeper. It then displayed the map of the surroundings by tracing the information near the nexus of power.

At least with the other technologies, there were other uses that they could develop by studying how each device worked. Chelsea was already imagining other uses for these mass-produced tattoo enchantments. Permanent enhancements to speed, strength, and energy batteries were only a few of the possibilities running through her mind.

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It took three weeks after Tsubaki entered the simulation world created by Lifre before the book finally opened again. Lifre, for her part, was just lounging around in the living room, munching on some popcorn when the book flew open. Eyes widening, she sent out a mental call to the rest of the training group to summon them.

Because each round of training could last quite a while, Lifre allowed them to go about their normal business while they waited, so long as they didn’t leave Olympus. Admittedly, she hadn’t expected it to take three full weeks for Tsubaki to complete her first round of training. Did she go for the Trials of Blood method? This isn’t really the time for that, though!

Lifre stowed her snacks in her inventory as she jumped to her feet, her outfit once again switching to the military uniform that she had displayed previously. As everyone arrived in the living room, Tsubaki’s body began to emerge from the book. There was a look of frustration on her face, one which Dana immediately caught onto.

“How’d it go, Tsuba?” She asked, and Tsubaki shook her head.

“I ended up dying.” She responded, much to the surprise of those in the room.

“You didn’t go for your Trial, right? That wouldn’t be like you in a situation like this…” Dana began, and Tsubaki shook her head. “So, you were taking this entirely seriously, and still ended up getting killed?”

“That’s right.” Tsubaki seemed rather frustrated by her failure. “Kitsune are a rare breed in Hal Tua, so there was already attention on me as soon as I spawned in. Additionally, there is a very harsh social structure. If you don’t belong to a guild, you are treated similarly to a criminal. The system adapter didn’t make a guild name for me, so they tried to arrest me for ‘criminal disassociation’ as soon as someone scanned me.”

“From there, I was on the run from various police organizations, which all possessed tracking methods that countered stealth powers. Without a chance to catch my breath and find a way to get a new identity, I could only do my best to evade the police. Once the guilds got involved, I ran out of places to run to, and was eventually killed.”

Those listening to the explanation of events were surprised. “Did the Void Obscurer and Mark of Emptiness not work?” Lena asked in confusion.

Thankfully, Tsubaki nodded her head. “They did, but only for the first week. The Mark of Emptiness produced in this simulation has an energy lifespan of about one week. After that, it needs time to recharge, but I kept having to use it as soon as it had the smallest charge. The Void Obscurer worked, but it didn’t block the methods that they were using to track me.”

“Got it.” Lena nodded her head firmly. “I’ll go in next.”

Tsubaki looked over at Lena hesitantly, before nodding her head. “You’re the best infiltrator out of all of us. With the hints I gave you, I’m sure that you’ll be able to find a path to safety.”

Lena smiled slightly, before turning to address Lifre. “To clarify, the mission is completed when there are no enemies actively seeking us? Or is there another criteria?”

Lifre paused, sporting an awkward smile. “Well, there are a few possible endings. One is that you avoid detection, blending into the world. Two is that you manage to kill the Keeper, achieving a ‘perfect’ victory. Three is if the simulation lasts for one hundred and fifteen days. At that point, the mission automatically fails. The mission time starts one hour after you enter.”

Lena pursed her lips, shaking her head. “Change the deadline to eleven and a half days. If I were this Keeper, I would have a special region where time is accelerated, and remain in there during an invasion that looked like it was even the slightest bit dangerous.”

“Doing so might seem like a bad move from an outsider’s perspective, as it makes an invasion take longer in Standard Time, but this also gives greater time for strategic planning. It also minimizes the amount of time that will pass from the start of the invasion to the next month, which in this case would be the annual meeting.”

Lifre’s eyes widened slightly, and she nodded her head. “So, assume that there is up to a ten times acceleration?” She asked, and Lena confirmed.

“Any more than that would prove detrimental in the long run, as it would drag out normal invasions and prevent the Keeper from having as much time to prepare for the next round. Personally, I would do between five and ten times the time acceleration.”

“Got it.” Lifre agreed, focusing on the book.”This would be considered top secret knowledge, so it won’t impact the general outline of the simulation.”

After she said that, she sent Lena into the book just as she had Tsubaki. Meanwhile, Dana glanced over towards Tsubaki, reaching out to pat her arm. “This is what the training’s for. None of us can expect to succeed on the first try.” She encouraged, and Tsubaki nodded her head.

Dana knew that Tsubaki had always prided herself on being a perfectionist. No matter what she did, she wanted to keep trying it again and again until she received her flawless performance. Most likely, she was eager to go back into the book, and only agreed to let Lena go because Lena was truly the more skilled when it came to infiltration. Although the odds were slight, there was even the chance that Lena could succeed in killing the Keeper within the simulation, given her background as an assassin.

“By the way, who ended up killing you?” Lifre asked, looking at Tsubaki, who shrugged her shoulders.

“I think it was the Origin of War. I couldn’t say for sure. All I know is that a black sword appeared out of nowhere after a public broadcast showed my face, and cut my head off. They had designated me as a ‘potential dungeon break’.”

“Eh?” Lifre tilted her head. “What’s that mean?”

“It’s how Hal Tua handles invasions.” Tsubaki explained patiently. “If a dungeon breaks, some of its inhabitants will randomly appear in either Hal Tua or the territory of a large guild. These breaks happen at random intervals, so there are probably randomly generated ones as well, not just those from invasions. The point is that any person or creature from a dungeon break is considered an enemy of Hal Tua, and a bounty is placed on their head. This is all information that I learned from the Monarch during the previous invasion.”

“I see…” Dana nodded her head. “In other words, the citizens of Hal Tua are already conditioned to respond to invasions, and see them as just a random monster hunt. That will make the infiltration far more perilous once we’re discovered.”