Creation: Book 3: Strandbinder Complete!

Walker looked at the book again, "Making a Prime? You can do that?"

Athena nodded, "Oh yes. That is the collected knowledge of Odin, including his discovery and use of Nordic runes." She made a small shrug, "It is not guaranteed that reading the book will form you into a prime, but you have much better odds than without it. Odin documented his life in the form of a journal, from his original creation presumably until the time of his death. It is all in there." She said with a nod to the hefty tome.

Magni got up off of the ground, "How do you know all of this?"

"Hah", Athena scoffed at the man, "Odin and I corresponded from time to time. It doesn't hurt to speak to your matching pantheon. Every god or goddess of wisdom has spoken to each other for hundreds of years before the imprisonment. Just before he fell to Fenrir, he told me about the book so I could make sure if I saw it, it would come to the right hands." She nodded at Walker, "and his hands fit your Prime's request perfectly."

Walker hadn't really been listening to their conversation after Athena had described the powerful artifact in his hands. Once he'd received the book, it felt like it was hard to look at anything else. The weight of it belied its size, where even his prodigious strength felt a slight pull. He turned the book over in his hands and began to push the cover open, but it didn't budge. He applied all of his strength to it, but still it didn't move. Athena placed a hand on his arm, "Walker, Odin said you would need to reach the third stage before it will open for you. You are not ready for what it has to say right now."

Walker nodded and attempted to put it in his pants pocket, but it slipped through a rip in his clothing and hit the ground, causing a gasp from the three Nords. Blushing, he picked it up and held onto it.

"You need new clothes." The woman who gave him the book said, "If you'd like, I can do that for you."

"What is your name?" Walker asked, thinking he had been rude before.

"I am Vidar, Creator." She said with a quarter bow. She pointed at the woman beside her, "This is Idun."

"Vidar?" Zeus said, looking at her, "I thought Vidar was a man?"

"Vidar went through some...changes," Magni said, looking at the woman. "When the Creator bound us, a few...um....spoke out against the treatment."

"The Creator showed themselves to you?" Athena asked with a shocked expression.

Magni nodded, "After Ragnarok, when the battlefield was still rife with blood and vengeance, Vidar attempted to...talk....to the Creator as they surveyed the area. He...She, was quite rageful." He said, correcting himself.

"Why do I feel like you didn't try talking to them?" Athena asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I tried to kill them." Vidar said with a straight face, then turned to Walker, "I will not try again, Creator. You do not need to worry."

Ares came over, a piece of cloth held to his nose, "You couldn't if you tried, trust me."

"Trust a Greek?" Magni said with a scowl.

"Enough," Walker said with a small pulse. "I have work to do, but yes, new clothing would be appreciated."

"No" Athena said, wagging her finger, "I'll make it. I've made clothing before and I do not trust them." She sized him up for a moment, connecting her hands and roaming across his figure. After she finished, Athena walked away with a glare for Vidar and a smile for Walker.

Walker reached up to scratch the back of his head, then stopped himself. "Okay then, I have work to do. Please make yourselves comfortable for the time being and I'll speak to you when I can."

"You're not going to ask why Vidar is now a woman?" Zeus asked before he could turn away.

"No. If Vidar didn't say, then that is their choice. Prying just to pry is....gossip." Walker said with an arched eyebrow.

The two female Nords nodded while Magni scowled at him before walking away. As he left, Walker heard him mumble, This place is bullshit. There isn't even any mead.

A sigh slipped out of his mouth before he could help it. Walker called Virgil over to walk with him.

"Yes?" The massive squirrel said when he got closer.

"Do I have an office? I'd like to speak to the, uh, numbered people while I can."

Virgil nodded and handed him a stack of papers, "Certainly. I also have a series of notes we have written on each to give you an idea of where their talents lie. Please keep in mind they are only a month old, and thus not every talent has been measured to the utmost." Virgil pointed past the smithy. "We anticipated you would like a working area, so we built a communal hall and modified it for your use. The walls and floor are stone in case you have another...incident."

Walker smiled, "Thank you, Virgil. You think of everything, don't you?"

"Not everything." Virgil said with a pointed glance at Walker's hair, then walked away, "I will be working with Rimi on the starter monsters you originally requested. We have almost completed all of them."

Walker smiled again and made the fast trek to his office. He saw Minos leaving and asked him to send in the numbered people to his office one at a time. The Bronze Battler nodded and set off. He knew it would screw up whatever schedule they had for the day, but this wasn't something he wanted to put off doing. They were his people now.

Walker found the stone building sitting in the middle of an empty grass area. He thought it was likely they did that in case he somehow destroyed something, which wasn't out of the realm of possible.

Using the unique hinge latch he assumed Heph had installed, he opened the metal door and stepped in. The room was relatively empty except for a plain stone desk and chair, causing him to blink twice at a sudden realization.

That chair! He thought to himself morosely.

In hindsight, Walker knew he should've deposited the Creation Instrument's chair into the item system when he could. Maybe he could've found a way to resize it for his new stature, but it still would've likely collapsed under his weight.

Shaking his head at the distraction, Walker deposited the new chair and table into the interconnected item system, then stepped out and did the same with his office. A quick joke with John and a moment later he was sitting in an uncomfortably hard chair, looking at the notes Virgil had left for him.

Lucy was first, and he found many glowing remarks about her intelligence and vivacity. Although losing her arm had caused some of the updates from her various instructors to turn in a downward trend, it only lasted for the first few days before they recognized her tenacity in the training routine. Minos had written the word Hero under her name repeatedly with a deft hand, with Hades doing the same in what looked like an angry scrawl. Walker added a margin next to each Founder's name, marking their rank in the Unending Horizon. For those who didn't join, of which two had held out, he just left it blank. As he was finishing up, two pings of metal told Walker that someone was at the door.

"Come in." He said at the sound.

Lucy walked through, smiling brightly. "Hello, Creator."

"Walker's fine, oh," He said, realizing there was no seat across from him, "Just a second."

A moment later Lucy was sitting in an identical uncomfortable chair across from him. Walker attempted not to squirm, keeping to his previous decision of acting the part of God and Creator. He looked at Lucy, still smiling at him, then around the stone office, before settling back on her face.

An awkward silence settled in the room, before Lucy spoke up, "I wanted to thank you for making me....and us."

Walker nodded, not sure how to respond to that, "You're welcome. How are you enjoying your training on Sonata?"

The skin around Lucy's eyes flared for a moment before settling while she looked at him, "I do not have um...anything to compare it to." She said with a slight pause, her cheeks growing pink, "But, from what I understand of the outside world...it is well."

"Well? Oh, you're one of the Founders who passed the promotion test." He said, looking at his notes. "So you internalized my scripture and became an Explorer. Good for you." He palmed his hands on the stone desk, "What did you think of it?"

"The-the Scripture?" Lucy asked.

Walker nodded and smiled, trying to put her at ease, "Yes. What were some thoughts you had on it?"

"Umm...", She said, looking at the ceiling before her cheeks pinked and she turned quickly back to Walker, meeting his eyes, "It was wonderful. Truly amazing, Creator."

"Uh-huhhhhh." Walker said as he continued to look at her. When Lucy didn't respond for several moments, he coughed, "Okay. So, I feel it's getting close to the time for choosing your path forward."

"My path?" Lucy asked in a questioning tone, "What's that?"

"It's where you decide what you want to do with your life. My preference would be that you all become City Lords and run your own territories, but that is ultimately up to you. I can tell you to do it, but if that's not what...."

"I'll do it." She said, quickly standing up.

"What?"

"I'll become a City Lord. That would help you the most right?" She asked with a pleading expression, "To build a grand city devoted to the Unending Summit?"

"Yess....but Lucy, if you don't feel it fits you."

"No!" She said with a shake of her head, before putting a hand to her mouth. Her cheeks pinked for the third time since entering Walker's office, "I'll do it. You don't have to worry about a thing Creator. It will be done."

"Lucy..."

"I'm going to go speak with Elder Neus about Territories! Thank you Creator!" She said, the speed of her voice clipping her words.

Before he could say anything else, she opened the door and ran out. As Walker watched the door close, two knocks came as it clicked shut. He hoped they wouldn't all be like that. Encouraging his people to respect him and listen when he spoke with them was all well and good, but having others blindly follow him wasn't in line with what he wanted from his followers or Founders. He sat there and considered editing the Explorer's promotion test, but ultimately decided not to do so.

It was less about subjective opinions and more about plain memorization. How to build a house, different basic philosophies, and what a justice system was. Those were what he had considered important when he wrote it. Still, maybe he needed to teach essays too so his followers could have some critical thinking skills. As he considered his foibles as a teacher yet again, two pings announced his next Founder for the second time. Walker called him in.

Two was much faster than Lucy. The man was more interested in getting in and getting out quickly rather than speaking to him. His notes stated that he was interested in Territories which was a relief, and that he wasn't very physically skilled. Two had joined the Unending Summit but had yet to take the test. When Walker questioned him on it, the man said he was just very busy designing his future city and how to manage his citizens. Walker thought it was a lie, as the man refused to meet his eyes while speaking to him, but he didn't press him for more information. Walker ended up giving the man the name Thomas, and informed him that it could be shortened to Tom if he liked. The man nodded once before leaving without any further discussion.

Two pings announced the next in line and Walker sighed. This was going to be quite long.

Three and Four were apparently good friends. The man and woman both did about average in everything they worked on, with three having a slight lead in craftsmanship. In particular, it said that he did quite well with sewing of all things. Walker wasn't about to imply any gender norms from the history of his birth planet, so he just complimented the man on working so hard. Three had smiled to hear it and complimented his Creator's remaining torn-up threads he was currently wearing. Walker chose to ignore that awkwardness.

Walker named them together as if they were twins, which in a sense they were. Samuel and Sophie. He made a note on the paper to make sure they were placed not too far away from each other, that way their territories would begin within the same region, allowing them and their people to work together.

Five and Six became Olivia and Mason. Mason in particular was noted to have an outstanding aptitude in construction and residential planning, so Walker had some fun with the wordplay involved. Olivia was about average in all marks, but had also passed Walker's promotion test and ascended to the Explorer rank.

He was starting to get a hold of how to speak to each Founder as they came in. Each had their own personality, their own strengths and weaknesses. Athena had placed margin notes for personality traits she had discovered through study. Olivia fainted at the sight of blood, and would never be a warrior. Sophie was quick to anger, but always apologized after. For Seven, it just said unique. Walker didn't know what to make of that. Two raps at the door told him he would find out.

"Come in."

A sleek woman without any curves to speak of came in and sat down across from him. Her face was all hard angles and she had cut her hair close to the top of her head. Ares had a note next to her name saying Prodigy.

Walker took a different tack with this interview, "What's your favorite weapon?"

Seven snorted, "I would say it was the bow, but our trainers are fucking terrible." Walker raised an eyebrow at that, "Sorry. Elder Rimi said you had...peculiar feelings about using those words."

Of course, Walker thought as he nodded once for her to go on.

"I like the spear.", she said with a smile, "It's fast, it pairs well with a shield if you know what you're doing, and nobody can touch me if I don't want them to."

"So, like the Spartans? Did El-Elder Ares tell you about them?" He replied, stumbling and almost forgetting to add the honorary title the Primigenials and Assistants of Sonata had settled on.

Seven nodded with excitement, "Yep! 300! The great Spartans versus the Persian horde. They're amazing. I wish I had lived in their time and fought with them."

Walker nodded back, "You're a bit of a battle maniac huh?"

Seven gave a full-throated belly laugh, "Oh yes, I love to fight." She shrugged nonchalantly, "It's what I do. In fact..." Her face took on a sly look, "I'd love it if you would spar with me sometime."

Walker coughed, "That uh...wouldn't be a good idea."

Seven continued to smile, "Elder Athena has been training me in..." She paused for a moment, "Ping Pong." Her smile turned into a full-on grin, "If I defeat you in a best-of-three match, you owe me a fight."

"Oh?" Walker said with an arched eyebrow, liking the competitive edge he was seeing in the woman, "And what do I get if I win?"

"Um" She said, for the first time losing a bit of her confidence as she shifted in her seat, "Pride?"

"Nuh-uh," Walker said with a shake of his head. He began tapping the bottom of his chin for a moment, then had a sudden idea, "You have to be Elder Cagna's assistant on two free days in a row. Whatever she needs, you provide. If she wants you to fan her, do it. If she wants you to run circles around Sonata, thats your duty. Is that fair?"

Seven gave a feral smile, "Deal." She said, and stuck her hand out.

Rimi....really...Walker thought as he reached his hand across and shook.

"Now, for a name, I was thinking...."

"Already have one. Call me Runner." She stood up quickly, "Thank you, Walker." She said with a quick wave, then ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Runner.....really." He said with a sigh.

Walker spent some time with Eight and Nine before renaming them. It wasn't until he was stuck in the room with Ten that he had a sudden idea. Walker clicked Identify on the man.

Ten the Human

Name: Ten

Genus: Human

Organism type: Sapient

Modifications: Numerous Physical and Cellular modifications.

Age: 37 Days Old

Milestones achieved: 13

Milestone points held: 65

Religion: The Unending Summit: Rank 1 Pathfinder

The tracker recognized that Ten was only thirty-seven days old because that was when he entered the system. It couldn't tell that he had been forcibly aged twenty years before being seeded onto Sonata. Walker looked closer at the screen and found that he could view the specific milestones each of his people had already completed.

Milestones of Ten the Human

Explorer Series: 2 Complete

Religion Series: 1 Complete

Shield Series: 2 Complete

Sword Series: 3 Complete

Traveler Series: 4 Complete

Ten was currently talking about the joint spaces Hephaeustus had shown him when making the Arena, but Walker was mesmerized by seeing the first results of the Milestone system. He clicked deeper into the Explorer Series to see what it showed.

Basic milestone- To Find: Explore at least 50% of a singular territory. 1 point. Complete: 4 Days ago

Skilled milestone- Vanguard: Explore a newly raised territory within the first three months of its connection to Symphony. 10 points. Complete: 36 Days ago

Still ignoring Ten, he started to extrapolate the date he was being shown. It took a full day for the Milestone system to kick in, likely because all of the trackers had to update at once as they interrelated with all of the other systems Walker had built. Cagna had already created a sword and shield series, which he'd glance at when he found the time, and the Traveler series might be a little too easy to complete. Still, it was working, and that was the important part.

Looking at Ten's point total after over a month of being connected to the Milestone system and being arduously trained day in and day out, it seemed viable points-wise for what they had. If a person working extremely hard and without full knowledge of the intricacies of every series could gain over fifty points, then he had a good foundational idea for how the Class system could work and what to assign. Sure Cagna was teaching them a little bit in her classes, but the amount of milestones they had right now was small and limited compared to what would be out there when the dilation finally ended.

Yes....yes this could work. But I still don't like calling it the Class system....I'll have to think about it, Walker thought as he continued to nod at Ten, who began going into depth on how to create a fuller in a sword.

"That's excellent Ten." He interrupted him with a raised palm, "I'm happy you and Hephaeustus get along so well."

The dark-skinned man smiled at him, "Thank you very much, Creator. It has truly been wonderful to receive Elder Hephaeustus's training. While I would say he has a rough mouth, he is truly gifted in the art of the craft." Ten's chest puffed out a little bit, "He told me just the other day that I would soon get to work with armor. I am the only one to receive this honor so far."

Walker smiled and reached out his hand, "Well then, Balian, I look forward to what wonders you can bring to Symphony when you arrive."

"Balian?" Ten said, still holding Walker's much larger hand.

Walker nodded, "Yes. In my homeworld, Balian was an incredible blacksmith who helped fight off invaders for a time. I feel it is just to present you with that name."

"Balian." Ten said, tasting the name. He smiled, "I like it."

Walker smiled back and Ten left the room not too long after. When he left, Walker scratched an itch on the back of his head. For several hours he worked through all of the numbers, introducing himself over and over again and granting names that seemed to best fit them. One man in particular seemed to have a flair for drama, consistently showing a range of expressions on his face that would put a Broadway star to shame. Walker granted him the name, Hank. A woman wanted to know about how many humans would be arriving, when, how much time they would have with them, and much much more. Eventually, Walker had to ask her to leave so he could continue to meet the rest of the numbers. She seemed to ignore that, and only began raising her voice as she continued to ask questions. He'd had to send a pulse through the building to get her to stop talking, then asked her to leave, but not before he named her Karen.

When Thirty-Eight entered, Walker felt a different air come with him. He looked around skittishly, as if he had done something wrong and knew it. Walker felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise as he returned the nervous glance the man sent him with a level look.

"Please, have a seat."

"Th-Thank you." The man stammered as he quickly moved and sat down.

Walker had seen some of the Founders be nervous before, but it was nothing like what he was seeing before him. Of the thirty-seven who had entered the room before this man, most of the nervousness had been from meeting their Creator, or like One, had been nervous to speak in general to him. The energy coming from this man was markedly different, and Walker's chest pulsed in tune with that thought. There was something strange here.

"How are you?" He asked, aiming for a benign question to start things off.

"F-fine. Thank you." The man said, heavily leaning back into his stone seat.

Walker canted his head, and the man made a slight squeak, "What's wrong?"

Thirty-eight's eyes shifted left and right, "Nuh-nothing Creator."

Walker didn't believe him for a moment, so he looked at the paperwork before him. Nothing in the notes said anything strange, just below-average records and a few positive marks about clever resourcefulness from Hades. Walker Identified him.

Thirty-eight the Human

Name: Thirty-Eight

Genus: Human

Organism type: Sapient

Modifications: Numerous Physical and Cellular modifications.

Age: 37 Days Old

Milestones achieved: 8

Milestone points held: 35

Religion: None

Walker nodded his head, "I'm not going to punish you for not swearing to me."

"Wh-What?" Thirty-eight stammered as sweat began to drip down his forehead.

"I can tell who has sworn to follow my religion and who hasn't. I'm not going to punish you." Walker sighed, "I am not that kind of person Thirty-eight." He stood up and looked at the gray wall before him for a moment, "In fact, I believe it shows good independent thinking. What made you decide not to do it?"

"I-uh, don't know you. I'm not...not grateful for being alive sir, but I just don't know you," Thirty-eight's voice said behind him.

Walker nodded to the wall, "I see, and I don't blame you." He turned around slowly, "Do you have an idea for what you want your name to be?"

"Uh...I spoke to Elder Hades and he told me an amazing story. I...I think I want to be called Orpheus."

Walker nodded and reached out his hand, "Orpheus it is." When thirty-eight didn't reach out his as well, he sighed and said, "I'm not going to bite you. This is just my way of saying hello."

The man reached out a shaky hand and gripped his. Walker pumped it once then let go to the man's relief. "Thank you for meeting me even when you were this scared to do so. It shows bravery Orpheus. Please send in the next person as you leave."

The man nodded and walked out on steadier legs than he came in with.

Walker met a few more people, but his interaction with Orpheus weighed on his mind. It was an odd balance to strike, needing them to respect him and maybe even fear him a little, but not to be deathly afraid of him at the same time. He needed to ponder on how others viewed him even further. Public perception was everything when it came to massive populations. While ten thousand people was a drop in the bucket for his homeworld, here, when Symphony was first seeding, that was a massive amount. Walker was still considering it when the two-tone knock came to his door.

When forty-eight arrived and immediately sat in his chair without being asked, Walker knew he was about to have another encounter.

"I want to leave." The man said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"What was that?" Walker asked.

"I don't want to live here anymore, and I don't want to be on Symphony either. It sounds like a nightmare."

"Where would you go?" Walker couldn't help but ask, "Romulus and Remus would be instant death. The training planet is..." Walker disappeared from his chair, causing the man sitting opposite to jump up, before he popped back in a moment later, "almost done. But it's being designed for training only. It'll be quite a violent place once it's ready, although we're designing safe zones as well."

"That's just fine. Put me there when it's done." He leaned back.

Walker was flabbergasted, "Why?"

"I didn't sign up for your religion." He crossed his legs, "I don't like it here and I don't want to be around you people. I hate being constantly watched, and would much rather not have to deal with you at all." He looked Walker straight in the eyes, "I just want to be left alone."

"But what about your current training?" Walker asked, pulling up his notes on the man. There were several marks from Athena, Echidna, and Ares, with each showing a different perspective. Athena stated he had several social issues and didn't often interact with others. Echidna stated that he was very individualistic and self-reliant, with a special note saying he'd be much better off alone. Ares said he was a piece of shit and that was it.

"Give me a moment please," Walker said as he got up and began pacing behind his desk in thought.

I could let him go to the training planet, but for what purpose? He'd have to make a life out of nothing there. What would he do? Would he go insane from being alone? How would he live?

Walker turned the corner of his desk and started pacing to the other side.

No, there's gotta be something I can do for him. I made him, so I have a responsibility for him. But, that way lies madness. I'm planning on making thousands, millions of people and things. Am I truly responsible for all of it? Do I really need to find a way forward for every single thing that happens?

A thought coalesced. One that might just work.

"I'm assuming you don't like being called forty-eight."

He shook his head, "I already spoke to Zeus and he gave me some names, although it took a while to get the old man to talk. I go by Dion."

Walker nodded, "Okay Dion. Do you know what animals are?"

The man nodded, "Yeah we were taught about them plenty. Why?"

"Have you ever met one?" Walker asked.

"No, there aren't any on Sonata. Although the assistants-"

"Stay here please." Walker said with a palm out, then left the room.

Walker marched over to the Evolution chambers and grabbed an empty one. He spoke to Virgil for a long moment, arguing about his plan, but Walker won out in the end. They made a few new modifications, not taking much time at all for the Supreme Assistant, and then he went back to his office, Dion still seated in the overly large stone chair.

Something dropped into his lap.

"What the fuck is that?" The man screamed as he jumped out of his seat and moved around to the other side of Walker's desk.

"That's a dog, specifically a modified Labrador Retriever." Walker said as he looked at the two-month-old puppy wagging its golden tail at them, "In my homeworld, people who don't speak or see others tend to..." He made a balancing scale with his hands, "Go crazy. We've found that one way to combat it is to have a pet. This little fella is from a breed of dog that is found to be incredibly loyal, intelligent, and are considered excellent hunters. I've modified him to have a much longer lifespan, and for his intelligence to be a little higher than normal. If you treat him well, he'll watch out for you, and you'll have someone by your side you don't have to talk to."

Dion looked at the puppy, then at Walker, "I feel like there's something else going on here."

Walker smiled, "Good, you'll need those wits to survive. I want you to be my game warden. Your job on the training planet, when it's ready, is to watch out for the different species and make sure none of them die off too fast. I'll find a way to let you contact me, but that's all you'll do. Otherwise, you can relax, spend time with your dog there, and live your life the way you want to. If you do your job and do it well, I'll even grant you a territory on the planet. You'll have the only one there."

The man looked at him with a confused expression on his face, then at the puppy, then back to Walker again. He slowly nodded, "I tentatively agree, but first..."

"Great!" Walker said, interrupting him before he could try to change the deal at all. "The door is right there. If you'll excuse me, I still have many things to do today."

The man's face reddened for a moment before he walked past him in a huff. Just before he got to the door, Walker called out, "Don't forget your dog!"

Dion froze, and stiffly turned around, but when he approached the puppy and saw it looking at him with an excited expression, his resistance seemed to drain out of him. At least a little. He gently picked the puppy up and left the room. Outside Walker could hear people screaming at the unexpected monster appearing.

Of course, Walker had installed a kernel into the dog, but Dion didn't need to know that.

"Next!"