Universe's End

“Alright, where am I?” Rory questioned the strange galaxy being. “And who are you, like, really?”

“You are deep within your mind, within the Ascension Realm.”

“Generic name, but okay. And you are?”

“I am the personification of the System in a form your mind can comprehend.”

“Why’d you call me father?”

“The System determined that humans can better cope with potentially mentally stressful situations when ‘humor’ is injected. As you are the one responsible for the existence of the System, it was determined that an attempt at humor by referring to Precursor Rowan as ‘father’ would be potentially viewed as humorous.”

“Right, well, can’t say I saw that one coming.” Rory sighed, grabbing the chair on his side of the table and pulling it out before dropping onto it. “So, what, are you some sort of ‘world spirit’ like Aelia?”

“No.” The strange galaxy being shook its head. “The world spirit you know as Aelia is a proper living existence of the macro-verse. I am neither alive nor an individual. This is simply a form given to communicate in a way determined to be both easiest to understand and least taxing on the mind.”

“Fair enough.” Rory nodded, taking it in stride. “So, why exactly is the System invading my inner mind?”

“The System is intimately interwoven with all living beings; therefore, it cannot invade what it already occupies within.”

“Being told that some vast unfeeling System is residing within my mind could be rather off-putting.”

“Hence why communication is being utilized in a method which is determined to be least potentially dangerous or harming for long term development.”

“Well, at the very least, you sure do talk like some cosmic AI.”

“AI: Artificial Intelligence. The System is neither Artificial nor considered a proper intelligence, therefore-”

“Never mind.” Rory shook his head, interrupting the System from elaborating further. “Let's go back to the initial question. Why exactly are you here?”

“With the first proper Ascension, System possibilities become available. As Precursors, there is the need for explanation that cannot be found elsewhere.”

“Precursor. You mean like the Vocation title I have?”

“In essence. It is a grade of Vocation only obtainable through special methods.”

“Such as, let me guess, being some of the first intelligent life around?”

“That is one potential avenue.”

“Alright, seems logical. So, you’re here to explain things that otherwise we’d have no way to know?”

“Correct.”

“Then go on.” Rory waved at the strange System avatar to continue.

“As the Architect has noticed already, ascension provides a direct route for improvement and evolution of nearly all things, and the possibility of improvement that mundane methods or understandings could never replicate or match.”

“Wait, so if I were to dump enough ascension energy into my walls, I could get walls stronger than steel just like that?”

“Correct, though clarification is required. ‘Steel,’ as you understand it, is not a concept within this macro-verse but rather an archaic Pre-Collapse terminology. Similar materials exist, but as the material makeup of atomic scale structures differs-”

“Got it, got it. Technically, steel doesn’t exist anymore, but I’m still going to call whatever is closest to steel, steel though.”

“Terminology adaptation acceptable.”

“That aside, what do you mean by ‘Collapse’?”

“Collapse: Reference to the event in which the pre-System universe web structure was forcibly fused, leading to the current macro-verse being born.”

“Did the System name that, or did someone else decide to give it that name?”

“Your secondary assumption is correct. The Precursor’s Spear assigned the name, which the System has since adopted as official terminology.”

Precursor’s Spear? It seems like someone else got a cooler-sounding Vocation than I did.”

“So, back to what you were saying?”

“Ascension provides a method of evolution and improvement; in non-living aspects, this generally results in function or quality improvement. As a living being, proper Ascension evolutions take a different form.”

“What, do I get stats?” Rory questioned, half joking.

“Stats: Generalized term for Pre-Collapse ‘game’ data which-”

“You don’t need to define every single thing.” Rory sighed. “As I said, I’m confident I already know what it is.”

“Based on the Architect's definition of ‘stats,’ then no, the system does not contain such things.”

Oh, bummer.

“Due to the inconsistent and unreliable nature of formulating and defining personal capabilities through numerical display, ‘stats’ do not exist, but attribute evolutions and growth as a non-numeric display are components of Ascension growth.”

“So… Stats, just without the number display?”

“Not entirely accurate, but not incorrect.”

The System avatar waved a hand, and hovering over the table, several words appeared, like the display interface he’d grown accustomed to was unnecessary for the System itself, which could directly project information.

“Ascension resource basics: Durability, Growth, Cognition, Flexibility, Strength, Pneuma.”

“Wait, let me take a jab at these. Durability seems straightforward; it's how tough you are. With enough durability, could one become bulletproof? And before you say it, I’m aware bullets no longer exist as we remember them.”

“Correct.”

Relief flooded Rory. With how strong simple rabbit monsters were, the thought of proper monsters and how strong they could potentially be had left him wondering how one could ever hope to survive an encounter.

“Alright, so durability is straightforward, and I’m guessing strength is also. It’s how much force a muscle can generate.”

“Correct.”

“Are their… limitations?”

“No, aside from the limitations of the current body.”

Rory frowned at the phrasing before it came to him a second later.

Oh, duh.

“If you put too much stock into strength, your body will tear itself apart if it doesn’t have some measure of durability as well?”

“Assessment correct.”

“Same thing with flexibility, I assume. If you can run and punch and do all that stuff to a heightened level, you probably want your tendons capable of withstanding it, so that’s where flexibility comes in?”

“Correct.”

Rory was beginning to understand how the stats worked. It was a surprisingly logical and non-magical foundation that one had to understand lest one tear one's body apart every time they tried to move if they over-invested in strength, for example.

“So, I got those… I’ll be honest, though, I’m not sure I have even an idea about the rest. Is cognition how smart you are?”

“No.”

Rory frowned. He hadn’t been expecting to be wrong. Closing his eyes, he thought for several moments before he snapped two fingers, realization dawning upon him.

“It’s signal speed. If you could run fast as a speeding bullet or punch through not-steel, the signals of the mind and body need to be capable of moving fast enough to keep up.”

“Correct.”

“So, while it may not make you smarter, it will allow you to think faster. Whether your thoughts are correct or not is inconsequential.”

“Explanation is considered accurate. Intelligence gains are still personal achievements obtained through study or personal experiences.”

“Alright, well, the last two are stumping me completely. Growth and Pneuma? I’m assuming Growth isn’t merely how tall you can grow.”

“Correct.”

Rory leaned back, feeling like he was being subjected to a pop quiz.

“Well, I can’t come up with anything,” Rory said after another minute of silence. “So, fill me in.”

“Pneuma is the essence of energy manipulation-”

“Oh. Magic.” Rory interrupted.

“Understanding is basic, and details are lacking, but the core concept is accurate. Is further explanation required?”

“Uhm, maybe? How do you even do magic?”

“Such answers are not System-dependent in determining.”

Meaning it’s something that I can reasonably expect to figure out myself.

“Alright, then, answer me this at least. Does Pneuma refer to the strength of the magic or how much magic you can use?”

“Both.”

Well, that doesn’t answer anything.

Rory considered quizzing the System-Avatar further, but instinct said he was unlikely to learn any specifics of how magic worked.

“So… growth?”

“Growth: Singular merit-demerit attribute.”

“Merit-demerit? What the hell does that mean?”

“Growth functions as an attribute modifier. Increased Growth improves attribute density, reduces immediate ascension speed, and limits immediate attribute potential.”

“So… that… come again?”

Realizing words weren't cutting it, the galaxy-filled avatar waved a hand as a chart of all things appeared.

“Numerical values are for explanation purposes only, as there are-”

“No actual numerical values involved; yeah, I got it,” Rory said dismissively, looking over the chart. The first row was labeled ‘ascension requirements’ and seemed to follow a pattern that Rory had noticed himself, the first ascension requiring ‘10’, the next requiring ‘100’, and each increasing by a factor of ten. What the unit of measurement meant was irrelevant, as it made it clear that each ascension required ten times as much energy as the last. Beneath the first row was a second row labeled as ‘Attribute density’ starting from 0 and increasing by 100, all the way to a max of 2500.

“What exactly does attribute density refer to?”

“You may consider it the attribute evolution value you can gain per ascension. With each ascension, you gain attributes to distribute as you please.”

“So, a flat one hundred per ascension, with a total twenty-five hundred gained by ascension level twenty-five. Does that mean there are a max twenty-five ascensions?”

“Due to the relative infancy of both the macro-verse and its inhabitants, only twenty-five tiers worth of ascensions can be estimated for.”

“Got it.” Rory nodded, turning his attention to the next row, brow furrowing after a moment. It was labeled ‘Attribute Density-Growth Attribute factored,” and much like the prior row, it started with a flat one hundred, but that was where the similarity ended, the next value increasing to two-hundred and twelve instead of a flat two hundred, with the third value set at three hundred and thirty-nine instead of three hundred, and only growing at a faster rate from there.

“What does this mean?” Rory said, pointing at the seemingly random numbers.

“Potential attribute gains when fully invested toward the Growth attribute. Under typical circumstances, ascension awards a flat value of attribute growth referred to as attribute density.”

“Hence the row that increases by a flat one hundred.”

“Correct.”

“So, Growth allows for extra gains.”

“Correct. For each unit of Growth invested in, a 12.5% return is seen on the following ascension, plus the flat 100 gain.”

Rory glanced at the numbers again, making sense of what he saw. “And it compounds potentially?”

“Correct.”

Rory felt his eyes widen, flicking to the end of the chart. Without any Growth investment, the attribute gains maxed out at a measly 2,500, but with Growth, they maxed out at 14,000.

“That’s something like six times more potential.”

“Correct. That is the merit component of the Merit-Demerit aspect of Growth.”

“Alright, and the demerit portion?”

The System-Avatar pointed at the final row labeled “Ascension Requirements- Growth.” Whereas the Ascension requirement had been a standard 10x multiplier on the prior row, Rory quickly calculated that the requirements were increasing by 25%, compounding.

“Got it. The more you invest in Growth, the slower your ascensions become, potentially stalling out for… well, a long time.”

“Correct, as well as the function that Growth provides no immediate attribute boost, unlike the other attributes.”

“Is it a twenty-five percent effect, or is that simply for this example?”

“Due to the variety of attributes affecting objects, Vocations, and other such things of that nature, numerical rates can vary. The baseline effect of Growth slowdown is two times the return of Growth on attribute gains.”

A long way of saying no.

“Right, so attributes. Is that everything?” Rory questioned the totally-not-an-Ai.

“There is no more information pertaining to basic attribute comprehension.”

I’ll ignore the fact that it said ‘basic’ for now.

“Well, if that’s the case-”

“The System deems it mandatory for racial characteristics and evolution to be understood next.”

Ahh, of course.

“Racial characteristics? Evolution?” Roy asked.

“Correct.” The System-Avatar swiped upward as Rory’s interface was forcibly displayed. “Now that Ascension rank two has been achieved, the ‘Interface’ as you refer to it has been updated with further information.”

Pointing toward the Physique information, a new line appeared directly next to the overall health percentage.

“Proto-Human? And what’s with the ‘E1’ next to it?”

“What the Architect is observing is your racial classification—a Proto-Human, grade E1. As a human existing pre-collapse, your race is considered a Proto variant. The System projects approximately fifteen levels of standard evolution available to Human-based sapiens. Furthermore, other pre-collapse races are estimated at a similar fifteen ranks of linear evolution. Theoretical races not originating from pre-collapse cannot be estimated until racial progenitors appear.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Rory held a hand, stopping the System-Avatar from continuing. “I may not have been a proper biologist, but I have enough fundamental understanding of genetics and biology that at least half of what you said made no sense. Evolution doesn’t work like that. You don’t just ‘evolve’ into something different. Evolution and the changes of a species adapting are generational.”

“Based on the system's understanding of pre-collapse knowledge, such was true. In the current macro-verse, evolution is no longer constrained by the biological bottleneck that is procreation.”

“And that’s tied to ascension, I assume, then?”

“Correct. Species rank and racial characteristics may be enhanced through Ascension, though there exist routes for racial characteristics to be enhanced or altered outside of direct Ascension tier-ups.”

“If race rank or whatever maxes out at… what, A3? Does that mean Ascensions cap at the fifteenth ascension?” Rory questioned, curious as to whether that was the end of the line or not.

“Unknown. Theoretical models currently extrapolate the potential for upward to twenty-five ascensions for lifeforms such as yourself. Current practical data is limited, though, as the most advanced lifeforms within the macro-verse are an E1-Proto Human, ascension rank 2.”

Oh, that’s me, or at least I’m tied with whoever that is.

“Due to the limitation of current data, the System can calculate theoretical limits past ascension 15, but they are simply theoretical until further data is available.”

“And how exactly do you get all this data? Is it simply from being connected to everything? Because I doubt eight intelligent beings are enough to give you that much processing power.”

“Correction: The System-Avatar presented is not a ‘you.’”

“Semantics.” Rory sighed.

“While the System is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, a degree of higher-leveled understanding and reasoning is capable due to the aforementioned connection to current intelligent beings within the macro-verse, as well as an innate connection to pre-existing information seeded within the very fabric of reality due to the pre-Collapse dimensional layers containing an abundance of data-based free radicals.”

And we’ve moved outside my pay grade.

Rory shook his head, not understanding most of what had just been said, but the System-Avatar wasn’t done yet.

“As the macro-verse continues to develop, pre-collapse information will break down into simple energy and information decay, but in return, the processing capabilities of the system will be heightened due to the existence of more sapient intelligence of higher quality. Pre-collapse information shall at that point only be retained in surviving records as they are made.”

“So, basically, the System is only aware of things from before this universe existed because there are people around who remember those things, and if we disappear, the System’s connection to that would be lost?”

“Correct.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Rory scratched his chin, deep in thought.

We’re like external memory drives. Anything the System knows about the Pre-Collapse universe independent of what we know will eventually disappear as the ‘information’ decays into pure energy.

Rory knew he was crossing into the realm of true intellectuals when his head began to hurt even within the strange mind space, indicating it was time to change the subject.

“Back to the earlier topic. What about theoretical races and the entire ‘linear evolution’ thing?”

“Through Ascension, Linear Evolution is possible, the simple improvement of the original race. Linear evolutions lead to the reduction and eventual elimination of design flaws within the body and mind. Other racial alterations are also possible, such as race adaptation or modification.”

“So, like, a human could become something else entirely?”

“Correct.”

“So, I could become one of the other races of the universe? Pre-Collapse races, that is?”

“Correct.”

That was a novel thought—abandoning his humanity to become one of the other races. Technically, even pre-Collapse, there was some degree of racial modification, but it was only achievable through extensive biological modification surgeries. Even if the physical body could be changed, the base DNA was impossible to alter sufficiently to be considered a different race; unraveled DNA would break down or be entirely at odds with whatever chemical makeup existed in the other residents of the universe.

“What’s a race modification?” Rory suddenly asked, his train of thought continuing.

“Rather than linear evolutions, which are largely System-controlled, direct manipulation and alteration of a race's base genetics and traits are possible by utilizing the abundance of energy within the macro-verse, either obtained through Ascension or other means. Compounding racial modifications can even allow for entire diverging races, what are currently known as ‘theoretical’ races due to the lack of any practical examples yet.”

It makes sense if the current highest ascension is a mere rank two. Not many chances to explore tinkering with your race.

“Attributes, races, is there anything else I’m missing?” Rory asked after several moments of letting everything sink in.

“There are two final pieces of information deemed valuable by the System for Precursor awareness. Fifty percent of attributes are gained instantly upon an Ascension, with the final fifty percent gained over time. Low-ranked Ascensions are largely unaffected, gaining most of their attributes instantly.”

But if ascensions take years at a time, that might be important to keep in mind.

“And the last thing?”

“Vocational changes. Vocation upgrades may be achieved without Ascension, but guaranteed changes can be obtained upon an Ascension if some degree of Vocation experience was gained before ascending.”

“Got it.” Rory nodded. “So, nothing else?”

“Correct. All pertinent information has been shared.”

“Then, is this going to be the norm?” Rory waved around to the black void and the table they were seated at.

“Negative. Direct System intervention shall only be utilized in extreme situations.”

“Such as being the forerunners of a new universe? Not exactly possible for us to learn this stuff otherwise.”

“Correct.”

Well, that confirms there will be more people eventually.

“If there are no further questions, the System shall remove itself from your mental sphere.”

“Wait, there is one thing.” Rory stopped the System-Avatar from leaving, fading away, whatever it was about to do.

“Yes?” The System-Avatar tilted its non-descript head like a curious child would.

“Do you have to call yourself, itself, whatever, the System? System this, System that. Even someone like me can see how generic that sounds.”

“System classification is based upon pre-existing information that qualifies as -”

“Yes, I get that. But there isn’t any way to change that?”

The avatar was silent for several seconds before Rory almost imagined it sighing.

“System naming convention may be altered through a minor Law creation.”

Then, just like that, the table, chairs, and even the galaxy-looking avatar were gone, leaving Rory floating in a dark void, distant stars twinkling.

That was… enlightening. Rory thought to himself. Well, it's time to use all that new info.

Waving his hand, Rory opened his display. A new menu had appeared, dominating the display. At the top was a filled gauge, the words ‘Attribute Density’ appearing next to it. Below were the previously mentioned attributes, a slider beneath each one and a bell curve to the side of them. Curious, Rory clicked on the bell curve as a prompt appeared.

Average population placement of stat distribution. Rory read.

You can see how your attribute allocation compares to the average. Nifty. Rory mused.

It was an interesting little bit of info, but considering there were only eight people currently alive, or at least on their planet, it wasn't exactly going to be drawing from a large sample size.

“Now, for the real purpose,” Rory mumbled as he examined the attributes.

How exactly do I intend to do this?