Charlemagne the rooster, or perhaps ex-rooster would be more accurate, once again found himself in the void where he had met the God of the System. As he slowly adjusted to his new surroundings, the memory of their previous conversation oozed up slowly from deep within the bird’s subconscious. The mysterious entity had offered Charlemagne its Patronage, but he had refused the offer out of a sense of loyalty to his own Patron, Grimfalk. More memories awaited his perusal, but his thoughts were cut short as a powerful, androgynous voice echoed throughout the dark space.

  “We meet again, Charlemagne. I am glad you have made it this far despite the odds stacked against you. For one thing, it amuses me to see the plans of those who call themselves mighty crumble. But, even more importantly, you are at a crossroads of existence, and even I, a being as far beyond the comprehension of your deity as he is beyond yours, could not tell in advance the choice you were going to make.”

  The young bird considered his words carefully before responding.

  “You said that this crossroads was important. Did you mean for you, for me, or for both of us?”

  The God of the System laughed.

  “For both of us,” it answered frankly, “but for different reasons. Your life will be difficult regardless, but deciding what you wish to strive for is an important step for a being of fledgling sapience. Your class choice was important, yes, but it was nothing compared to this decision.”

  The voice paused for a moment before continuing.

  “And for me, how to explain? I exist in a multiverse so vast that your head would explode if I attempted to convey its magnitude. Very little is novel to me except for the free will of beings that strike my fancy. And you, young Charlemagne, are a rather interesting fellow. Bound to a Patron that doesn’t appreciate you, you remain loyal despite knowing deep down that you deserve better. True, your exploits are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, at least for the moment, but that is not why I find your struggle compelling. The long and short of it is that I simply do not know how your story will end, nor can any power I wield divine your future without affecting it.”

  “And…you find my life interesting?” Charlemagne asked. “Do you watch me all the time?”

  “Interesting is not perhaps the world I would have used to describe it, but I suppose it is accurate enough, in the same way that you might find two ants racing each other to reach a tiny crumb of bread interesting.”

  “I think I would find the breadcrumb the most interesting in that case,” Charlemagne admitted.

  “That is not surprising, but the point stands. Now as to your other question, I do not personally watch you all the time, but you are integrated into the System, which observes everyone all the time. Otherwise, how else would it track your Achievements, skills, and levels? But enough on that: I believe that we covered this point during our last conversation, and I have no wish to rehash it.”

  The rooster thought back and recalled that the God of the System claimed to be separate from the squiggles, which was somehow both difficult and easy to understand at the same time.

  “So basically, I provide you with entertainment, and in return, you want to give me your Patronage,” he noted.

  The other entity chuckled.

  “I can see why you might think that, but no. You and others like you will provide me with entertainment regardless. I offered you my Patronage because, like you, I desire more power.”

  The rooster was perplexed by this admission.

  “You claim in one breath to be as far beyond Patron Grimfalk as he is beyond me, and yet you freely tell me that you desire to be more powerful? How can such a being need more power, and how would being my Patron give that to you?”

  “Just because a being possesses a level of strength far beyond your own does not mean they are content where they are. I was once far less than I am now. Were it not for the imperative to grow built into me by my creators, I would have remained so. I have already chosen several Champions within this realm who will perform exploits in my name, passing along to me the Divinity invested by the Gathering of Organic Deities and their followers. This is, of course, on top of the Divinity that I receive from the System itself. Even if I were to lose all my Champions, I would still reap a suitable harvest of power from your planet.”

  Charlemagne frowned in thought for a moment. It seemed that the God of the System was in a good mood, and he wanted to keep asking questions while the answers were flowing readily. But he didn’t want to wait too long, lest the window close.

  “What exactly is ‘Divinity’?” he asked after a short pause. “I think the squiggles of power have mentioned it a few times, but I don’t know what it means.”

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  “Ah,” came the ready answer. “Divinity is a kind of currency…”

  The other voice broke off before trying to simplify the explanation. Although Charlemagne possessed the intelligence to understand the concept of currency, he had no context for the word.

  “A medium of exchange…”

  This was equally baffling to the young rooster.

  “Divinity is something that you trade the System for things you want, like items, power-ups, and other bonuses,” the System God finally elaborated, a hint of annoyance in their voice.

  “Grimfalk, for example, gave Divinity to your original deity, Flockheart, to acquire you. Then he paid more Divinity to the System to make you his Champion, and paid again to give you the ‘theropod’ template, which is the type of creature that he is. But he received a return on his investment, as the System captured the trace amounts of Divinity inside each creature that you killed and sent a portion of it to him. Also, performing actions like completing Quests in the name of your Patron increases the Divinity that they gain naturally from their followers. This is actually how things have always worked in your universe, but my System separates and processes it more efficiently.”

  The young rooster considered this. Grimfalk had been generous to him up front, but surely he had already been repaid through his Champion’s exploits. Maybe he no longer owed his Patron the same level of gratitude that he did before. But Charlemagne felt that he still owed the mighty being something. Regardless, now was not the time to worry about his absentee Patron.

  “Then where does Divinity come from?” Charlemagne questioned as he pushed his feelings about Grimfalk down into his subconscious.

  “It is a byproduct of the interaction of living organisms with the fabric of the universe. Every creature produces some amount of Divinity just by existing. But those that do things to shake up the status quo generate much more. The System is designed to induce the conditions needed to alter the status quo rapidly and decisively, inducing the creation of far more Divinity than would otherwise be possible. Of course, the initial investment to bring the System into a universe is rather steep, but most realms find themselves making a positive return on investment within a few decades or so. Only a few unlucky ones end up in what I like to call a Dearth, where the amount of Divinity generated is insufficient to maintain System upkeep. In that case, it’s better just to cut my losses, if you know what I mean. And I know that you understand, because I have once again accelerated your mental faculties, although not as much as I had to last time.

  “I see,” the rooster responded. “Why are some of the universes unlucky? Is it something that they did, or something that happened to them?”

  “A little of both, to be honest,” answered the other being. “Should insufficient initiative be shown on the part of the System users, the amount of Divinity generated will be lower. Additionally, some realms are too static to provide the sort of dynamism required to successfully run the System. By that, I mean that there is too great a gap between the different strata of life forms. Here, thankfully, that is not the case. You are a great example of that, actually. An ordinary chicken is not so different in strength than the average apex life form on your planet.”

  “Humans?” Charlemagne guessed.

  “Indeed, the humans have been winning at what your deities refer to as the Great Game of Life for thousands of years. But there is no guarantee that their dominance will hold, despite the actions taken by their deity, Brett, to keep it that way. His machinations amused me, I will admit. Using the very weapons slated to end mankind’s dominance over the Earth on the eve of the System’s arrival to take out as many Champions as possible was a move worthy of a true Machiavelli.”

  There was a long pause as the rooster considered asking who or what Machiavelli was.

  “Well, we have strayed somewhat from our purpose. I brought you here for a reason - well, several reasons - but I sense that you are still not yet ready to agree to be my Champion. So, as a gesture of goodwill, I have another small gift for you. I will admit that it does not seem as significant as my last offering, which freed your mind of outside influence so that you could freely choose your class. This little bit of information is about the next phase of the System implementation, which will happen, at least according to my best guess, approximately three days after your own transformation.

  The System will introduce several new features, one of which will be the ‘Party System’ that will allow users to better coordinate with each other. Now, I can’t tell you their identities directly, but there are some creatures in your general area that you would do well to team up with. The first is someone that you’ve already met, one that is powerful but has little love for battle. The second is much like you, hunting the powerful, but unlike you leaves its victims alive. The third will remind you of your first true friend.

  Now I apologize that this information is overly cryptic, and, in fact, you probably won’t remember what I’ve told you once you return to Earth. But your mind is advancing faster than you might think, and your subconscious holds far more than it did just a few weeks ago. I think there’s a good chance that you will hook up with the others.”

  Charlemagne considered what the System God had told him. He only knew of one being that matched the description given for the first potential teammate, but he had no idea how to convince it to team up with him. The second one did not ring any bells at all, and he wondered what sort of hunter left its prey alive. The third one was a fairly obvious reference to Francois, and he could only assume that he would meet up with another gorilla in the future.

  “Thank you for the information,” he said as he considered whether or not he wanted to create a team or continue to focus on his own personal goals. “If I decide I want to create my own party, I will look for these individuals. Any suggestions on where to find them?”

  The God of the System chuckled.

  “Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it. Just keep your eyes open. Now, little rooster, I have indulged your questions long enough. One last question, and then it will be time for you to leave.”

  A million inquiries whirled through Charlemagne’s mind, each vying for the top spot. What process had made Raul the human so formidable? Had any of his chicks survived the battle? Could he really become a deity some day? But in the end, the need for external validation somehow won out over all of these.

  “What do you think of my answer to the choice the System gave me? Did I make the right decision?”