Creation: Book 3: Strandbinder Complete!

"Thousands?" Walker asked in disbelief.

"That is correct." She said with a laugh and giggle, "You really stepped in it kiddo." She stretched her arms up then fanned herself with one hand, "I can feel the pull of it from here, oh my yes. I can't believe you found such a large amount of Origin material. It had to have been an unparalleled chance for not only that much to appear, but for you to absorb it as well. I know it's drawn to living creatures, but....wow." She said with an exaggerated shrug, "You're already seeing the effects there." She finished, pointing a finger at his hair.

He unconsciously touched the top of his head, "This is because of the Origin material?"

"Yep!" She began to sit, a swing and small tree appeared in the air to catch her. Moving and pumping her legs for motion, she continued speaking, "A marker of the Godeaters. You already have the Evolvers system within you. They designed it on the back of the Origin system, something even they don't truly understand."

"So how did they create it?"

She laughed, "Oh, it's quite the story."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Not yet. Okay." She let the swing settle as she looked at the sky, "To even get their broken thing to work, they had to steal away one of our most promising Awakened during the Origin war. A true visionary who worked with the system intimately. Millions died trying to get her back, and the Evolvers lost a lot of ground in their defense. But, eventually, they absconded with her to an unknown part of the Omniverse, leaving their old ziggurats, labs, and a broken Pinnacle in its place."

She waved her hand, "They've been conducting these trials ever since. These....renditions. Building more evolutions, more power, more creatures, and conducting research. If my memory serves me correctly, and it always does, it has been several million years since the Evolvers have had any power within the Origin, and thus, their influence has been squeezed from them like a rotting fruit." She pumped her legs for a slow swing, "They started with a few hundred worlds, gave them some tools to work with-"

"People."

She didn't respond, "And used them to spread out. When a world reaches the end of its path, another protocol comes into place and cleans it up, returning the resources used in its creation to the Center."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Tssk, you're not a bright one, are you." She waved a hand and his overlay updated.

Message from the System Administrator:

You're a fool

"You're the awakened they kidnapped."

"Ohhh, kidnapped. I like that word. Yes, that would be me. Let me see," She fiddled with the air for a moment, "you can call me Emily. I like that. No, Bill. No, Morgan. Yes, call me Morgan."

"Alright Morgan. So, what am I doing here?"

"Blergh," She said as an odd look dragged itself across her face, "Do you know how long it's been since I've spoken to anyone? I can't talk to those children," She said with a nod to the Tree of the Gods, "They're so pumped full of their own importance they don't realize how insignificant the members of the 10th line really are. BORING!" She yelled out at them, and Walker saw each of the Primigenials feeze in place before erupting in a flurry of activity, talking to each other and trying to pinpoint the source of what they'd just heard.

"Idiots. I like that one too." She said with a smile, pumping her legs quickly for speed and height. She circled the branch once and continued on, "This is quite fun!"

"How are you doing that?" He asked, realizing she was pulling moments from his life as she twisted in the swing, causing it to become unstable, "I know you don't have access to my memories or DNA."

"Too right, young....Padawan. Your soul is currently an open sieve. One of the things you're supposed to do at the end of the third stage is to close it."

"Is that why I'm here?"

"No, I was just curious as to who kept blasting out their Alma like it was a sideshow in a...circus. Oh, they're acrobatic."

"Stop that." Walker replied in an angry tone of voice.

The swing stopped with Morgan at eye level, "I don't think I want to. It's been crazy boring since I locked myself up in here."

"Okay." He said with a smile, then started parsing through his memories, pulling up embarrassing moments he'd come to terms with long ago. The time he laughed so hard he peed himself at a party and had to do the walk of shame before anyone noticed. A moment from his youth when he'd been asked to sing a song in the choir and had thought it was rap. Welcome to the Jungle would never be the same again, and the looks that latched onto him were one of the most awkward moments of his life. That time with Vanessa in his back seat where....

"Stop stop!" She said with a hand up, "Ughh, those were terrible. How do you live with yourself?"

Walker shrugged, "I've made mistakes. It's best to learn from them so you don't make them a second time."

A shudder ran through her frame, "I think I'd rather die."

"Can you?"

"If the Tree is destroyed, sure," The Tree of the Gods zoomed out behind her. Walker continued to stretch his neck in an attempt to see where the crest ended, but it was in vain. "This is mine, or more accurately after so much time has passed, this is me." They jarringly shifted right next to the trunk of the tree where she slapped the bark, causing a loud gong to ring out, "When I thought this up, in what you would call the first rendition, the idea was that they would never find me. I spent a portion of my life designing this as a protector for future generations. Sneaking it into the very system they'd forced me to create."

"How did they force you?"

"Family" She said with a curled lip, "and ones I didn't know were on their side. Not every Awakened is for the cause, just the same as not every Evolved holds with their councils. Of course I didn't know that at the time, but still, family is family. They held my niece and nephew, two bastards who deserve to be roasted slowly over a fire!" She punched the tree, causing each branch to shake and writhe before resettling. The Primordials all looked in terror at their thrones and the various branches around them, not knowing what would happen next. "Look at those idiots. Mmm, yes." She smiled, "They only know procreation and progressive building." Her eyes met Walker's, "You've had that thought yourself I've seen. Progress for progress's sake. There has to be a goal, something to push you forward, and this was mine."

They started to walk around the large trunk, much bigger than what Walker remembered seeing on Sonata. "I hid my little Tree, just a seed really, into the system at an opportune moment. The Awakened had pushed the Evolvers entirely out of the Origin, and in their haste and panic, a special one-of-a-kind reward was added in. At the time of the third rendition's beginning, a mysterious seed was gifted to an untalented Creator making an unremarkable world. Its Creator didn't second-guess the arrival, I made sure of that." An update arrived then disappeared in Walker's vision.

Congratulations! You've received a Seed of the World Tree!

"I threw myself into it, bonding my body and mind with the seed in the most painful transformation of my life. I modified the purpose of the World Tree from within, helping the hopeless Creator get through their battles and complete the Alpha Protocol. The Evolvers learned quite a bit from the Awakened they suddenly found gifted to them, but as their power was greatly diluted by myself, they only gained bits and pieces. Sure, they have spies and some of my people have turned on the cause, but with Awakened, it's about building a fellowship rather than individual power."

"So you hid in here and what?"

"I fought the war that needs fighting. I'm the one who created the Follower system. I'm the one who pushed for scriptures and helped those idiot tenth-ers create a collection point. Taught them how to open their soul to Alma."

Walker thought over what collection point meant, "The after-life."

"Yes, that's a stupid name though. We called them Unities. You know," she put her hands on her hips as she looked at the tree, "Your people really enjoy giving names that describe exactly what it is, rather than what it can be. After-life, Earth, that was a funny one. When you give a name to something like that, you put it in it's place. It doesn't allow for growth or the amazing potential in every small thing we behold."

"What would you have called the planet?"

"The Alpha Protocol calls it I4959826, which is even worse. I'd call it Haven, or Bloom. Something that describes what it really is. When the Creator completed the Alpha Protocol, they were offered the final choices that came with it." She leaned on the Tree and looked at him, already knowing he would ask.

Walker sighed, "What would those be?"

Morgan held up a finger, "You can leave, and go back to your original planet. You'll receive a few gifts, things that will help you personally while not completely upsetting the original balance of your world, but that's it. A thank you, smack on the ass, and you're off." She leaned towards him conspiratorially, "You can guess that your former Creator chose this one. I heard the 9th cohort talking about their Creator needing to head home to help her own people discover their Alma." She tutted, "Shame."

Morgan held up a second finger, "You can stay, and watch over your Creation. Maybe you join the Bravo protocol, and we see just how far you can really go. Maybe you join the Charlie, and your planet gets moved to the frontlines."

"The frontlines?"

"Did you think the war was truly over? Hah!" She laughed into a hand, "Sure, most of what happens is done through politics, but they have to act like they're still at war. How would those at the top hold power if they didn't?" Morgan laughed again, "ah, kids." She waved a hand as if she was erasing that conversation before it could happen, "anyways. The third option. You can join the Alpha Protocol Council yourself, and maybe work your way up the chain. I've heard the perks are tremendous. Of course, you have to be invited, but based on a few of those memories I've tasted, you're already far beyond acceptable."

"Why would I ever want to do that?"

"I don't know kid. Power? Fame? A chance to move yourself and your people to the Center? There are a lot of options there that you have no idea of. I'm sure you'll hear enough about it once you're standing before them."

"So you're sure that I'll make it."

"Yep, just as I'm sure I'll be right beside you."

That threw him for a loop, "You're going with me?"

"That I am. See, this Tree is special." She slapped the bark, "Until today, I've been absorbing every Awakened's soul for thousands of years. Each death has added to the power of this beauty. I even designed it to be used as a prison by its Creator, whilst they unknowingly had their alma slowly siphoned into her. Look up!" Walker craned his head toward the top.

"Thousands of what you call Primigenials are sitting up there, slowly feeding into the power of this World Tree. Not enough to hurt them, or even truly be noticed, but just enough so that I can continue my work. When you get called into the Council's chambers, you're taking us with you.

"For what purpose?"

Morgan took a step back, "What purpose? Haven't you been listening? This is a bomb." She gave a harsh smile, "We're going to hit them right at the beginning of all renditions."