Awakening Chronicles (A World Creation Novel)

Perhaps for a companion, I should scrap the Arachne. Not because I despise them or hate them. But because my companion would function as my face. That much I’ve decided some time ago. So, why not just be plain and use a human? That would be a simple choice and it would be an extension of my will‌. Especially since I wanted to protect humanity, and on the off chance that I found humans while we expanded, it would give a face to work with.

With my mind made up, I selected a human, and the console flickered.

This one stumped me. I mean, for starters while I could sit down and carefully craft every single aspect of him, a part of me thought that wasn't a good idea. I've spent my entire ascension process just creating, so why not let my first living being take its own path once? As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t fine tune everything.

I selected the randomized for all options, and then selected male, and sat back and waited for the console to finish processing. In the end, I think I would be fine with whatever. I clicked the randomize option, and the structure lit up. A large mechanical arm extended from the console out of the metal pillar. Near the end of the arm was a strange needle-like appendage with a hollowed tube near the end.

It reached out, touched the floor and a second later, what looked like sand poured out. The arm jerked from side to side really quickly as more flowed from it like water. First a set of pale white feet appeared, followed by a set of long legs. Then the machine seemed to have found its pace and sped up. First, the legs then slowly the rest of the form solidified. The sand began to flow around the body and condensed down into a faint olive tunic that tightly wrapped his muscular chest. The sand then poured from the tunic forming into a pair of tan linen pants that clung to the muscles in his legs.

Then the sand blew upwards as if yanked by a gust of wind, and a head appeared. His face was strong, but overly chiseled. If anything, I’d say it was the face of a man who took care of himself, but wasn’t over the top about it. His eyes though were like molten gold, and his hair was honey brown, and hung down to the middle of his back.

To me, he was beautiful, not because of looks, but because he was my creation. I stared at him quietly as he looked around. His eyes glanced around the room we were in, but whatever he was thinking he hid it well enough.

After staring at the newly born human, I carefully thought of his name. He was my firstborn. So I wanted something to commemorate that. So as with all things, they start with light, so I wanted it to reference that. Would he be a star? No, not just a star, but the sun. So, Sol? I chewed on that name for a second, but it seemed to fall flat. What if I took a note from Earth’s history, and named him after a god there? What was a god of the sun in Earth's mythology? Apollo? I shook my head at the thought that a second later. No, I was never a fan of Apollo. But what about Helios? That sounded rustic, and it had an appeal to it. So I typed it in and stared at it for a few seconds. Should I give him a last name? Was it really relevant as a godlike being? Its not like it would impact him if he didnt have it

With my mind made up, I confirmed my choice, and the console faded back to its original form, leaving Helios and I staring at each other. The silence between us was deafening. But at the same time it was comfortable.

“Helios, welcome.” The words crossed the distance like a bullet.

Without a word, he dropped to his knee and crossed his arm over his chest. “Administrator Kairos. It is a pleasure to be here.” His words came out as smooth as honey and far deeper than I had originally expected.

I kept an eye on him as I was trying to gauge him. But it would take more than a simple interaction to understand him. Granted I could easily pull him up in my tab menu, but I wouldn’t. I want to interact with him on a personal level and get to know him. "Come Helios. I’ve just finished my awakening, and I wish to get underway with my new job.” I tore my eyes from him, and walked over to the console, and pulled it up, and saw another flashing notification.

The screen flickered patiently while it waited for me to make a choice. But now, instead of going in blind, I now had someone to help me. “Helios, when I select a system, is it randomized and do I need to create it?”

“Yes Administrator. Any system you select will take you to a random part of the galaxy. As for creating it, no. That won't be till you have existed as an administrator for long enough.” His reply came from behind me, as if he was looking over my shoulder.

“Perfect then. Which do you recommend we start with?” I stared at the names, and while I wasn’t an astronomer, I could figure out from context clues. Unitary would be a one star system, binary would be two, and trinary would be three. Each seemed like they would be a good choice, but I wanted input.

“Unitary would be a superb first pick. But binary is alright too. The only one that I recommend against is trinary, and that is only because of the higher upkeep to keep the system stable.”

I only had the most superficial knowledge for space and space related stuff, so instead of going over the top, I selected the unitary system, and the console flickered.

“Well Helios, while we wait for this to be over, let's have a conversation, shall we?” I clicked yes, and the room shuddered violently for a few fleeting seconds. How cool was that? Traveling through space and claiming whole star systems. This was my wet dream when I was a human,

“Like what, my liege?” Helios asked as he crossed his arms and stepped back, eying me curiously. But again, he seemed distant, like he was just starting to come to.

“Just a few systems related questions, and then some personal ones. If that's okay with you.” I leaned against the console and crossed my arms. A few questions about work first and then I would gleam some personal information from my companion,

“Alright then, shoot.” He gave me a quick nod, and dropped his arms, yet he seemed to be uncomfortable..

“So what is a capital system?”

“It is for all intents and purposes your beating heart. It’s where your control system lives. Without it you will lose your powers.” As he spoke, he found his cadence a little more, and stood a little straighter. Was it because the system made him with very little substance? Did he have to grow a bit?

Ah, that makes sense. So that would mean I needed to add in an adequate layer of defenses, but for now, it should be alright. “Okay then. I have a basic understanding of what creation points are. Can you go more in depth for me?”

"Creation points are the currency that administrators use to build up planets and their administration rooms. Everyone starts with a thousand as a base and can earn it a few different ways. The first way is by having active civilizations and achieving milestones. Secondly, you earn it from fending off invasions and fighting other Administrators. The third way is creating new systems, races, and technology and posting them in the administration marketplace." He shifted his weight onto his back foot, and his voice finally seemed to find a pattern, and with it his confidence grew slightly.

Interesting, so creation points were essentially a monetary currency. Perhaps Alpha was trying to leverage currency with peace, while still offering the ability to wage war should some Administrators desire. How intriguing. “Thank you Helios. Now, a personal question.”

He stiffened slightly as his face twisted. I still wasn’t sure what he was thinking just yet. “That would be what my liege?”Liege eh? That title made me feel weird, but I supposed it made sense. I was an Administrator after all. “What is your favorite color?”

“I.. I don’t know. All the colors I know are what I’ve seen so far. I may have been born with the knowledge of the system, but I know next to nothing about the rest.” He paused for a second, and he brought his hands up to his face. “I see pale when I look at myself. When I see you, I see a swirling universe.. I know the names of each color that adorn your flesh, yet I’ve never experienced them.”

I walked over to Helios, and I sat my hand on his shoulder. “Ah, I understand now. Don’t worry my friend. Once we arrive at our home system, you and I both will get to explore everything. Because as it stands, we are both newborns in this world.”

He dropped his hands and gave me a strange look before a small smile crossed his face. “I think I’ll like that, my lord. Thank you.”

“No problem. Anyway, while we travel, you are more than welcome to explore this box we call home. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing so far.” I dropped the desire to seek more personal questions from him. At the moment, we both had nothing. I had a past that meant very little to me as time passed on, and he was just born. So, instead of inflicting pain, I think for now, we should just enjoy our voyage.