Creation: Book 3: Strandbinder Complete!

Walker looked out across the previously barren landscape of Fortis. Crystalline bodies littered the giant, soon-to-be icy world, each in their own delicate pose after the conclusion of their final movements. He had a moment of surrealistic rejection as his eyes tracked just how many had died in attacking him. They had just kept coming; dozens, hundreds of them. The last batch had only been the last because he had zipped over to the portal, stopping its connection as hundreds more still waited for their turn on the other side.

Each pose was unique as he continued to stare across the world, assumedly the only living inhabitant of Fortis. Their bodies were splayed out for all the world to see. An arm raising here, a leg there, pieces of them shattered and broken upon the earth from battling the hungry Creator. His appetite was satisfied, but it was a hollow feeling. As if the souls of the Nomads were empty, unable to fill the void within his Godeater activated soul. He turned back to the portal, ready to return to Sonata and the work that awaited him when he noticed something unusual.

Stepping over to the Nomad who had started everything by throwing a smaller creature at him, Walker looked down at the broken shards of crystal on the ground. If he wasn't mistaken, it looked like the crystal was...melting. The smallest broken pieces were flat, rather than splintered as he'd expected, and many of them had connected to each other, forming white puddles spotted throughout the battlefield. It was as if he were standing in his own form of a Salvador Dali painting, the brush strokes never quite finishing their work.

Walker clicked into the World Editor, but received an error message when he attempted to delete them.

...Error...

The Creator cannot remove living entities

"What the fuck?" he said to himself quietly. It was the first time in hours that he had heard his own voice without the accompanying rise in volume and anger.

Looking away from his overlay, he found that even more of the puddles had connected now. Together, they were forming one large white disk on the flat land in front of him. Walker did a slight jog, moving a good amount of distance away. He wanted to see what would happen but didn't have the time to sit and wait. So, after wrapping his hands in darkness, he pulled a flimsy week of Temporal resources out with one hand, with an almost exact amount of Space resources with the other, and quickly combined them. Leaping overhead, he performed the same move he'd made on Romulus, creating a controlled Temporal Distortion that he shrunk using his intent and command of space. The blue swirl shrunk into a semi-transparent globe around the area, time speeding up accordingly.

Walker landed and watched the show. He nodded his head when he saw that the puddles were indeed semi-autonomous. Each piece of crystal melted where it lay, then searched for another puddle to form a greater whole. Due to the time dilation, he got a show of epic grandeur. As each connected, their radii grew until, within seconds from his perspective, a huge white puddle sat on the ice planet's ground.

After it settled, a single crystal lifted out of the center in the shape of a tiny three-fingered hand.

"Oh fuck." Walker said as he continued to watch.

Another hand followed the first, with a small attached head and shoulders coming after. He surmised that the crystal pool was a birthing apparatus. A way for destroyed creatures to be reborn. It also made him reconsider why they attacked him in the first place. If all they had to do to spread to a planet was die, then it could be that they knew exactly what they were doing when first stepping through the portal.

He still didn't know how smart they were, but it did cause him to consider moving up the timetable for Fortis's eventual seeding. After all, he didn't want any of the planets, Conservatory or not, to be filled only with one type of creature.

Looking back at the portal, he made a decision. He couldn't have the Nomads grow their little society right next to it. That wouldn't be fair for the Founders upon first arriving. Walker stepped into the World editor and started to cut a half sphere around the exact size of the birthing pool. Kickstarting his soul, he covered himself in darkness to gain a bit more power. Then, he reached down and, with a little bit of strain, lifted it up in the air.

Walker palmed the large sphere of earth in both hands, holding it directly over his head as he took a few steps away from the time dilation.

"Don't want any Nomad babies to boop me on the head." He said quietly with a snicker. Nobody could hear him, but that didn't matter in that moment. He had a new genus for Virgil to look at, his soul was filled, the hunger mostly sated, and things weren't that bad right now. He was about to leap when he realized what he looked like at that moment: a small partial sphere, many times his size, lifted over his head.

"I'm fucking Superman." He said with another laugh, then without further ado, he bunched his legs and gathered some darkness at the bottom of his feet. A moment later he leaped, soaring through the air with the genesis of a new inhabitant of Fortis cradled between his hands. It only took him a few powerful jumps to gain a relatively safe distance from the portal. He placed the boulder down, scooped out some of the earth using the world editor, and slid the Nomad Genesis into place. It didn't fit perfectly, but after a few hearty stomps, he decided it would have to do.

With a wave to a baby Nomad slowly exiting the large white puddle, Walker jumped back over to the portal. He had made the conscious decision not to fly, as he found it was too intense of a drain on his soul. Now that he better knew the consequences of running on empty as a Godeater, he decided to better and more efficiently use his soul in his day-to-day work with Symphony and its citizens. Leaping costs less than flying, and after the jump, he simply asked his Icon to turn off any remaining power.

Walker keyed in the portal for Sonata and appeared on the other side a minute later.

Virgil was waiting for him of course.

"Howdy!" Walker said with a friendly wave.

"Feeling better I assume?" Virgil asked.

"Much."

"Excellent, as you have just placed a parasitic element onto Fortis."

"Yep! They're awesome!" Walker said with a laugh, stepping off of the platform after it came to a rest, "Anytime I need a little soul pick-me-up, I can hop over to Fortis and kill some Nomads. I won't even feel bad about it as they'll pop back into place from their birthing whatever."

"You no longer feel any hesitation in killing them?"

He shrugged, "I mean, they're very warlike. To get the fight started they threw a baby at me. That's super wild in my opinion. Either way," He shrugged again, "Fortis was supposed to be a challenge for the Founders. It all worked out."

The large black squirrel shook his head, "Walker...." Virgil said, for once, slightly stunned for words. When Walker looked at him, his eyes unfocused then snapped over to him, "You have a few messages from the Alpha Protocol Council, would you like me to relay them?"

Walker nodded, already walking back to his cabin, "Just give me the short and dirty of it."

"I understand. They would like to know if you have any more inventions you would like to sell, and they are curious as to how you made the original Vaults in the first place. They are also curious if we have had any contact with the other councils."

"Maybe on the inventions, no on how to make Vaults. That can get us in some real trouble."

"Indeed."

"Regarding the other councils, have we?"

"Yes. The Psi Protocol is acting in a reticent manner, whereas the Bravo and Charlie protocols are metaphorically foaming at the mouth."

"How many have we contacted so far?" Walker asked as they skirted around the construction training site.

"Only Bravo, Charlie, Psi, and Omega have responded. Omega has not responded in the slightest. That is not surprising."

"Why isn't it surprising?"

They paused for a moment so Virgil could get Luna to stop yelling at the triplets, then moved on, "Omega is unarguably the most powerful of the Councils. Their members are made up of vastly powerful entities who run the majority of the Evolver's faction."

"Who is the overall leader then?" Walker asked as they approached his small abode.

"I do not have that information, nor is it a guarantee that they are a member of any of the councils. It is not within any of the assistant records at this moment."

They passed through the archway, Athena still missing. Walker assumed she was working closely with the Founders now that they were quickly approaching their trial period. Walker sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over at Virgil blocking the doorway.

The large assistant looked around the room, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, why?"

"Because you passed out the last time you attempted to use Temporal Energy."

Walker nodded, "Good pun. I was thinking about that. That was also around the time that I started dealing with the GodEater program."

"Yes, have you had any contact with the Origin's system since?"

Walker shook his head, "Nope. It makes me curious though."

"About what?"

"About the soul of a world."

Virgil looked confused, so Walker spent some time explaining what he'd discovered within the administrator program—about souls, constructs, and how the origin material within him was different from Alma's. He called out his Morningstar and talked about how he'd placed a construct within it and why he'd attached Mac to the metal world. When Virgil asked why he had been assigned to the rambunctious construct's system, Walker made a few shallow excuses and tried to shove the issue under the rug.

"So, the system is just a blueprint of a universal soul?"

Walker nodded on the edge of the bed, "That's what I think, yep. Based on what I saw in her memories, Kwaya knew it, and so did the system engineers within the Awakened. It's tricky. Everything is neat and organized within the System since the whole thing goes out of whack whenever something is added outside of its built-in harmony. It all comes down to souls."

"Souls... yes," Virgil said, his face looking deep in thought. Walker chose not to engage in that immediate conversation at the moment and moved on.

"Anyways, you were right about Fortis. I'm afraid you'll have to work on that before you can dive into Melody. Understand, I don't want to change up the order in which the Founders travel. It should still be Crescendo to Melody, Melody to Fortis, and Fortis to Cadence, the Desert planet."

"You have not spoken of your plans about Cadence as of yet."

He shook his head, "Nope, I'm playing that one close to the chest. You'll understand once we get there."

"I see. You spoke of Fortis as a giant planet."

"Yep. Everything should be grander. I don't want just upgraded Earth creatures; I want the wild and the mythical—strange creatures that force the Founders to change and adapt. They should be at that point after already moving through two stages of the Conservatory anyway. Crescendo gave them a nice and organized approach to monsters. Melody will challenge them to look above and beneath them. But those are still external signs. I want big, and I want brazen. The first real challenge aside from the Boss battles."

"Such as?"

"Let me see here."

Walker clicked on Entity, something he hadn't done in a long time. He scrolled through the options, finding the Magical Creature index only having a few names thus far, although the additions were interesting. Earth's creatures were as long as ever, and he didn't see any new names jump out at him. But the Mythological line had a new tab within it. Norse.

Walker clicked on it and found the list populated with a huge assortment of different monsters.

"I can't even say half of these words...." He said in lamentation of his failing linguistic skills.

"A polyglot you may not be, but thankfully, you can change names as necessary."

Walker looked over at him, "You don't think that's disrespectful to the original creatures?"

Virgil shook his head, "your world, your monsters, Creator."

Walker internally agreed with him and decided to make a laundry list of monsters for Rimi to create. The first step was, of course, the giants. It was impossible to have a supposedly giant world without literal giant creatures inhabiting it. Walker clicked on the Risar to see what it described.

Risar: Norse Mythological Entities

Description: The Risar were smaller, behemoth-classed beings who enjoyed living within hills. While their size was still large compared to Earth's inhabitants, it was nowhere near the famed Hrímþursar or the venerated children of Ymir, the Jötnar.

Average size: 8-10 feet.

Average intelligence: Average to low.

"There's a lot more information than there used to be."

"That is natural, considering your progress within the protocol and your new role. Which entities are you looking at, Walker?"

"The Risar, I think?"

"Ah, yes," He fiddled with his screens, "I have looked through all of the mythological lines at this point. If you are attempting to create a giant world, you may have to go quite a bit larger. I believe the Risar would be a more apt fit for Crescendo, personally."

Walker nodded in agreement, "Make it happen."

"I will. You should also look at the Greek Cyclops, the Hecatoncheir, and the Trolls of the Nords."

"Got it."

Walker pulled up each.

Cyclopes: Greek Mythological Entities

Description: The Cyclopes played a pivotal role within the mythos of the Greeks. Often, they were not as bloodthirsty as the other mythological creatures one could find within the Greek islands of Earth. Instead, they had a tendency to help those in need and were sometimes great craftsmen who built wonderous things.

Average size: 12-20 feet.

Average intelligence: High to low with great variation.

Hecatoncheir: Greek Mythological Entities

Description: The Hecatoncheires are mutated beings whom the god Zeus and his companions freed during the battle for Earth's supremacy. They were often called the Hundred-Handed Ones due to their tendency to have dozens of appendages, which they could control with great dexterity and mental agility.

Average size: 15-25 feet.

Average intelligence: High to Average.

Trolls: Norse Mythological Entities

Description: Territorial creatures, Trolls reproduce at vast rates after their parents' initial abandonment. They are known to be bloodthirsty creatures with a slow wit and almost singularly focused mind. Due to their need for constant sustenance, Trolls have a tendency to kill and eat their own, becoming more powerful in the process known as cellular hypertrophy.

Average size: 10-12 feet.

Average intelligence: Low to Very Low.

When Walker finished reading the description, a large set of ideas filtered into his mind. He better understood how Fortis would work now, especially with the Nomads buzzing around. But he had to know about the two giant types the Risar had mentioned.

Hrímþursar: Norse Mythological Entities

Description: The Second largest of the behemoth-classed entities found in the Nordic mythological line, these creatures historically held a xenophobic stance against anything that didn't fit within their minds as superior beings. Although the Hrímþursar do well in their natural frost environment like their greater cousins, they often became subjects of the elevated Jötnar, forced to work subserviently and under great abuse.

Average size: 20-35 feet.

Average intelligence: Average to Very Low.

Jötnar: Norse Mythological Entities

Description: The largest and most intelligent of the Behmoth-classed creatures in Ancient Earth's history, the Jötnar were a race of massive beings who often fought and won with the gods of the Nordic lands. With their massive size, the Jötnar were difficult to feed, and they would often enter into forced hibernation to stave off issues with their food supplies.

Average size: 50 Feet+.

Average intelligence: Very High to Low.

"What are you looking at?" Virgil asked when Walker felt his breath catch on the last description.

"Nothing."

"No, no Jötnar, Walker. That is a very bad idea. Did you really look at the Magical Creatures Index? Jötnar is listed there for a good reason." He tapped a finger on Walker's bedstand, "Do you really want one-hundred-foot-tall magical giants with high intelligence?"

Walker had to squish the little boy's imaginings that tried to pop up into place, "No?"

"Walker, it would be the end of Fortis."

He sighed, "Fine. Alright, I know what to do."

"Excellent. Let me go and procure Rimi so that we may proceed."

Virgil left, and Walker looked at the strands in his resources. Temporal energy was translucent, while Space was blue. Each gave a different feeling to them. Life was green, which fit the archetype Earth had long ago conceived. He had been nervous when he pulled out death, but it didn't feel hateful or angry. It was just part of the cycle of things. It came out a cool grey, rather than the black he'd expected. Karma was very interesting.

It came out as a clearly separated black and white strand intertwining within itself. The colors were in constant motion, pushing and pulling each other. He got a definite feeling from it, but it was hard to describe. One moment he felt like everything was going to be okay, then the next it felt like his doom was quickly approaching. He didn't know what to make of it, but he did feel a cold sweat slide down the curve of his spine.

Motion outside of his cabin let him know that Rimi and Virgil were approaching. He returned the strand to his resources, not wanting to waste it as he only had a few thousand.

The Blue squirrel hopped over, excitement stamped on his face, "What do I hear about making giants?"

"Hey Rimi," Walker said with a smile, "I haven't seen you in a while, really. How are you?"

"Doing great, Creator," He replied with a happy thumbs up, "It was a real challenge to make those monsters for Crescendo, but it's all set up now."

"You did a fine job, Rimi," Virgil commented with a rare smile.

"Thank you." He moved over and sat on Athena's chair while Virgil's large size blocked the doorway. "So," He said, looking back and forth between them, his tail sliding from side to side beneath his rear, "What are you trying to create now?"

"Giants...." Virgil said slowly.

"Giants?" Rimi replied, veritably vibrating in his chair.

"Yep. Giants. I may have kind of...."

"Set up a huge cluster of potential planet conquerors on Fortis? Yeah, me and Cagna saw." He finished with a flap of a hand, "It's no big deal; we can just send in the Founders to clean them up."

"Yeah, but we were a little worried that they would take over too much of the planet if we left them alone for a long period of time," Walker clarified, "Thus, we're setting up Fortis before we do Melody. I wanted some big entities for a big planet, simple as that."

"I see...What were you thinking?"

"I'm thinking rings."

"Rings?" Rimi asked while Virgil said nothing, curious about what Walker was asking for.

"Melody is going to be island-based. There will be lots of traveling and individual clusters of monsters. I think for Fortis, we seed the monsters in rings from where the Founders will arrive. According to the descriptions, a few of the monsters may even be friendly to humans, and I'd like to encourage that a bit. It's going to be a giant planet built on Factions, with different ones controlling different rings within the planet based on the initial seeding. Eventually, some of the monster groups may take over different areas, but that shouldn't be too big of an issue with enough of them in place. We want it to be a little balanced, this way the Founders will grow an appreciation for working together against stronger opponents."

Walker nodded at Virgil, "I know you're still working on the planet, and that's a good thing. See, I had this idea when fighting the Nomads. Whose to say all of the monsters were going to be bloodthirsty? I say we separate them with mountain ranges and include human-sized tunnels."

Virgil raised a hand, "If the monsters of one ring break into another?"

"Then nature takes its course. We won't have time to monitor Fortis while constantly managing Symphony. This is ideally created just for the Founders to push through and gain a better grasp on alliances and what to do when threatened by large creatures."

"Rings, okay," Rimi said with a thumbs up, "Which creatures are you thinking of."

Walker broke down all of the entities he'd read about except for the Jötnar. As much as he wanted one-hundred-foot-tall magical giants, Virgil was right. It would devastate Fortis. Maybe one day. He also spent some time renaming everything. Virgil was right about that, too. It was his planet, and he would do as needed to be done. Risar became Hill Giants, and Hecatoncheires, which was way too long, became Vicennials, meaning dozen-armed people. Lastly, the Hrímþursar became Frost Giants to make it easy. He also informed them both to make all of the wildlife much larger; otherwise, everything would starve. Virgil calmly pointed out that it would also require larger vegetation, which he agreed to.

"Okay, I think I've got it," Rimi said, hopping up from his seat as Virgil was already stepping out of the cabin.

"One more thing."

"Yes?" Rimi said, Virgil turning around to listen in as well.

"Make the giants a little dumber. I don't want super geniuses that are that tall. Bigger should be dumber, in my mind, otherwise they will certainly take over Fortis in its entirety."

"You got it."

Rimi and Virgil stepped away as Walker smiled to himself. Waiting a few seconds, then feeling that enough distance had passed for this last part, he yelled out, "And make the Cloud Dragons!"

Although he couldn't see it, Walker was sure Virgil was smiling again.