“Your life will be no better than the plans you make and the action you take. You are the architect and builder of your own life, fortune, destiny.”

  Alfred A. Montapert, American Author

  “There’s no other information,” Milly said to Oracle. “Just the same screen I saw at Research Station Omega.”

  “Hmm…,” Oracle wondered as she, with nimble fingers, playfully plucked the Spectacles of Hidden Design from Milly’s head and put them on. The screen vanished from Milly’s vision and appeared for Oracle. “Ah, he’s built this device within the God Contest’s foundational programming. It’s supposed to remain undetected by players, so I’m surprised you can see even the base screen.”

  “It’s your glasses,” Milly explained. It felt weird not to be wearing the Spectacles of Hidden, having grown so used to them over the past month. “They triggered an override that caused the system to recognize me as Oriane.”

  “Very curious,” Oracle wondered. Her fingers subtly flicked at her side, as if she were using a keyboard. “Taydon, why did you leave that back door in your design?”

  “You think it was intentional?”

  “Perhaps. Everything could be a clue, Milly. This is not a natural world after all. Each element was planned and created, though, admittedly, we copied much from the previous twelve contests. We only had forty years to create it after all.

  “You keep saying programmed. Like… a computer program?” Milly asked as Oracle’s fingers flicked and her eyes scanned text Milly couldn’t see.

  Oracle laughed. “Not even close. This version of the Contest has some of computer-like elements as we based it around your video games, but its creation is far more complex than that. This world isn’t just some program – it’s a very real, physical entity that exists at the center of the Nexus itself. Its creation involves careful manipulation of the Nexus’ own lifeforce to construct the physical matter of the world and its lifeforms, dungeons, arenas, and everything else. The whole process is one-part genetic engineering, one-part terraforming, and one-part… well, basket weaving, I suppose. Honestly, most of the gods don’t understand how it works either. Just us architects.”

  “Basket weaving?” Milly asked, surprised. “Seriously?”

  “Well, a complex cosmic basket,” chuckled Oracle. Her fingers stopped typing on the invisible keyboard, and she snapped her fingers in success. “There, I’ve gotten us access to the critical subroutines behind Project Rebirth.”

  Oracle handed the glasses back to Milly.

  “Oracle! We can activate the archipelago’s waypoints!” Milly exclaimed when she saw the first subroutine. Hope swelled up within her.

  Milly mentally selected the subroutine, and a second, smaller screen appeared, overlayed on the first.

  “Yes!” Milly shouted excitedly, before Oracle could stop her.

  Oracle snatched the Spectacles off Milly’s nose before she could answer. The screen disappeared, along with her access to the protocols. “Oracle, give those back! This is my way home.”

  “Milly,” Oracle said sternly, spectacles careful clutched in her hand. “We don’t know what the impact of activating these subroutines will be. For all we know, reconnecting the Waypoint Pillars could fundamentally change the nature of the game, placing your family at even greater risk. It could alert Taydon to our presence, and he might shut off our access.”

  “But…,” Milly started to protest.

  “No buts,” Oracle insisted. “I know you are desperate to return to your family. Trust me, I know what that’s like. But we rest upon the knife’s edge, Milly Brown. The Nexus cycle. Taydon’s plan. The corruption of the madness. Every decision we make may be the one to send us over the edge. We must learn all we can before we act, because we may very well hold the fate of everyone – your people and mine – in the palm of our hands.”

  Oracle reached out and placed the Spectacles in her palms. They suddenly felt like the heaviest object in the world.

  I hate this. All this responsibility. All these decisions. Why must their fate rest in my hands? All I want is to get back to my family – to live the life I’ve always wanted.

  Oracle gave Milly a quick hug. “I know it’s hard,” she whispered, her sternness transformed into compassion. “And I know it isn’t fair. But it is what it is, and we just have to live with that.”

  “I know,” Milly said reluctantly, donning the glasses. “Can… can we just get this over with?”

  “Sure,” Oracle said supportively, returning to the task at hand. “The barrier is the next subroutine. It seems to isolate Core Research Station from the rest of the God Contest. A bubble that has yet to pop. It’s not complete isolation – otherwise you and I would not be here – but I expect it is enough to keep the monsters at bay.”

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  Milly nodded. “There were monsters at Research Station Omega. And on the island where I found your tear.”

  “It would take a massive amount of energy to maintain such a barrier. Energy that would otherwise be directed to the resurrection progress. Perhaps that’s why the orb at Omega was dormant. Taydon did not have the energy to spare to protect Bestian and the others if they were resurrected, so he left them until the Core was secured. I’m willing to bet the other research outposts are currently dormant as well.”

  Guilt welled up within Milly. “I started their resurrection,” she said, mortified. “Bestian and the others. Oracle, did I just leave them defenseless?”

  Oracle considered this for a moment. “Omega was built atop a volcano, if I recall. It is unlikely the creatures of the island will be able to reach them. And Bestian is no pushover, Milly. He survived until the eighth year of our God Contest. Trust him to keep his people safe.”

  It won’t be enough. The monsters on that island were too powerful. The Waypoint Pillar. If we turn it on, I can get back to Omega and evacuate them to Core Research Station.

  Her eyes glanced towards the Waypoint Pillar subroutine, as if it called to her.

  “Milly…,” insisted Oracle, knowing her thoughts. “They are in no immediate danger. We can rescue them later. Please, open the God of Death Transmutation subroutine.”

  Milly took a deep breath, trying to bury her fears and anxieties deep in her stomach, and opened the overlay screen.

  There were thirty more milestones, all marked as incomplete, but Milly ignored them all. Her eyes were fixed on the ‘Betrayal of Friends’ milestone, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “Xavier, what has Cizen done to you?” Milly whispered, handing the Spectacles to Oracle as she felt the breath go out of her.

  Xavier was always an ass, but his personality changed so much after the Arena of Choice. That’s where he was gifted Cizen’s ring. How much control did Cizen have over Xavier after that?

  Addicted to Power? I felt the addictive power of Xavier’s black blade, hungry for death. Protected Cull? He slaughtered Passi’s clan. Would Xavier still have killed them if Cizen hadn’t been whispering in his ear? Possibly, but I can’t say for certain. I’m not sure about the other milestones, but its clear Cizen was pushing Xavier to achieve them.

  “So that’s why he changed the target,” Oracle whispered in sudden understanding.

  “What do you mean?” Milly asked, jarred from her own contemplations.

  Oracle took a calming breath before elaborating. “When Thoth and I launched the God Contest, it was intended to absorb Tokyo, so we had millions of players to maximize the odds of success. It was Taydon who changed its destination to the Castle of Glass. At first, I thought he wanted the Contest to fail. But if that were the case, he could have simply targeted the middle of the ocean where there were no people. Which means there was something at the Castle of Glass he needed.”

  “He needed a compatible host,” Milly said, piecing it together. “Xavier.”

  Oracle looked at Milly, impressed. “Indeed. He must have been one of only a handful of biologically compatible people on Earth. A pot of specialty soil for Taydon’s transmutation seed to grow – if you’ll excuse the rather blunt analogy.”

  “It wasn’t just biological,” Milly expanded. “Cizen needed someone who could not only survive in this world, but whom had a darker side that he could manipulate into completing those milestones. He needs Xavier to grow strong.”

  “The stronger the host, the stronger the eventual transmutation. Well done, Milly. You’d made a good architect,” Oracle praised.

  “Given what you’ve told me about the job, I think I’ll pass,” Milly replied. “Cizen has seeded Xavier, but that seed hasn’t sprouted yet. That means Cizen isn’t in the God Contest world yet, right? He’s still with the rest of the gods?”

  “Yes, I believe so,” Oracle answered. “Everyone at Core Research Station believes Taydon is travelling. It’s a hot topic of gossip amongst the residents. His return is… eagerly anticipated.”

  Oracle gazed curiously at the statue. “A little too eagerly. Taydon was certainly a well-known figure in our society, even before the God Contest, but he wasn’t a celebrity. Just a very talented researcher. There’s no reason why his name should be on everyone’s lips.”

  “He’s not coming back just to slip into his former life. He’s positioning himself as their savior. As their king,” Milly surmised. “As their god.”

  “A decision made because of his ego, or is there necessity behind it?” Oracle queried under her breath.

  “Why not just enter the God Contest directly, like you did?” Milly asked. “Why bother with Xavier at all?”

  Oracle thought about this for a long while before she finally arrived at an answer.

  “Because he would enter as an Oriane. But Orianes cannot win the God Contest, because we are not a species being tested,” Oracle concluded. “He is using Xavier because he must enter the God Contest as either a fairy or a human to survive its aftermath. And he has chosen to do so as a human – as a player – so he can regain his power. But that means…”

  Oracle minimized the God of Death Resurrection screen and scrolled through the list of hundreds of innocuous subroutines until she found what she was looking for.

  “Taydon, you genius,” Oracle said, eyes-wide with a combination of shock and admiration. “The man always knew how to work a loophole. Milly, how many fairies survived the Arena of Protection?”

  “Around three hundred. Why?”

  Oracle handed the Spectacles back to Milly.

  “I don’t understand,” Milly admitted. “All the fairies were at the Gathering. Does this mean there are more fairies out there in the world?”

  “No, it means there are fairies in there,” Oracle answered, pointing towards the black orb. “And in the city below us, and at Omega and the dozens of other outposts. Somehow, Taydon is resurrecting our people with just enough fairy biology that the Nexus, in its weakened state, recognizes them as fairies. It would explain why the Hephaestus in this world has a single webbed toe. My Hephaestus never had such a thing.”

  “So that’s how Taydon saves your people,” Milly concluded. “If we win, this world – including the Archipelago Research Alliance – will be given form in the universe, and your people will be carried along with it, just like the real fairies would be. And Cizen – the player – ascends with the other winning players and returns to being a god.”

  “Normally, yes, that’s exactly what would happen. And as the most knowledgeable got, the Nexus would assign Taydon the position of God Contest architect. A few millennia from now, he’d be subjecting his own people to the God Contest cruelty – thrust back into the hell he’d plotted so long to escape.”

  As Oracle spoke, it all came together for Milly, like pieces of a puzzle suddenly snapping into place.

  “He’ll kill every player, so he’s the only one left,” Milly said, angry fire flashing in her eyes. “It’s the only way his plan works. This world and his people are given form in the universe and Cizen – the sole survivor – ascends as a god. At that point, he finally kills the weakened Nexus, which stops the Nexus Cycle, and he’s free to spend eternity with Syune as the God of their new world.”

  “I’m impressed, Milly. You’d make a quite the Goddess of Foresight yourself,” Oracle said, a slight smile breaking through her worried frown.

  “So what do we do about it?” Milly asked with concern. “Oracle, I need to get to my family as soon as possible. If Cizen arrives first, he’ll kill them. I won’t let that happen.”

  “We have time. Taydon will want Xavier to complete as many milestones as possible, so he’ll be overwhelmingly strong when he enters the God Contest,” Oracle answered.

  “No, we don’t have time,” Milly countered angrily. “The next milestone is called Betrayal of Friends. Other than me, the only person I’ve ever seen Xavier be nice to is Rain.”

  “Milly, I know you care about Rain, but this is bigger than her safety. It’s bigger than all of us. We must have patience. Just give me three days to study the black orb and gleam what else I can from it. I still have so many unanswered questions, and the answers may lie within all those innocuous subroutines. At the very least, I should be able to find a map of the world so we can sail your balloon for the Castle of Glass.”

  “But the Waypoint Pillar…”

  “We’d have to take down the barrier, leaving my people vulnerable to the monsters. Taydon’s plan… it’s monstrous, but they are still my people, Milly. It is not their fault. Besides…,” Oracle said as she turned away, tears in her eyes. “I need a little time to say my good-byes.”

  A silence fell over them, and Milly lowered their platform back to the ground. They parted ways at the base of the statue, and Oracle, the Spectacles of Hidden Design perched on her nose, promised to meet her at her balloon in three days’ time.

  Lightning arced across Milly’s fingers as she stared out at the ocean.

  Three days. I’d better make good use of them. There were some islands a few hours drift from here. Islands with monsters. If I’m going to be facing off against a god of death, even in human form, I need to be prepared. I need to get stronger. Protect Rain, my love. I’m on my way!

  The Non-Canonical Aftermath: